Job Discussion Forums

arcueil_1 · Joined: 10 Jun 2006 Posts: 72 Location: China

"Has your 1 year stint in China turned into 2...3...5+ years?"

Yes, definitely. I came here to do one year and I'm now on my seventh... Amazing. I even got married about two and a half years into my "stay"... Since I came here, I've only been out four times: three very brief stays in HK (for a total of maybe three weeks) and a few months back in the US to take a break. Unreal...

2 over lee · Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:00 pm Post subject:

Hi Brian,

that does suck...and you are right the unscrupulous prosper in China. As for your school wanting you to have a passport in a week - hmm - well, it is just the way of the Chinese to make unreasonable demands - I doubt they actually expect yo to come up with it in that time. You can't be deported without a passport anyway.

Sharing an apartment with another teacher - and his girlfriend? Should be outlawed. Anyway, sounds like you have had enough - I hope you have a smooth exit, or move on to a better school.

Brian Caulfield · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Posts: 1247 Location: China

Thx 2over things should work out. My students here are good and the school is behind me. They just don't understand that quai dian doesn't work with foreigners. I showed them my corresespondance and made it clear that they said 15 working days before I can get the new passport. The officials who will issue me the visa want it right away.
Well to say it again , don't go to work at a school before you talk to the teachers and don't work at a place without a contract.

mandu · Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 794 Location: china

I was only going to stay for one year,now Iam in my 7th year.

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2199 Location: Jiangsu Province

Hi Brian I was just checking and found this!
.................................................................................

Carry your passport or photocopies of data and/or photo pages with you at all times; leave another copy with the NGO Forum office or at home

Report a lost passport immediately

Two reports are required, one to your country's embassy or consulate and one to the local police. In China, a police report is necessary for the issuance of a new visa.

Brian Caulfield · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Posts: 1247 Location: China

Done all that Anda. My problem is that the Chinese who issue visas want my passport right away and the consulate requires 15 working days.
They don't understand that a working day does not include Saturday and Sunday. It is the Chinese big voice rutine. But they want me to use the big voice on the people in the Consulate.
I disagree with you about carrying your passport with you at all times. Only when you are travelling do you carry it with you. I keep it in a safe place locked up. I have travelled and worked in many places. There is this universal law. When you have police asking for it and you don't have it they always wave you on. Police everywhere hate filling out forms and the last thing they want to do is fill out a form about some loawai who has left their ID at home. Believe me I have had this happen over fifty times in the world. Keep your passport in a safe place. Especially if you are black because your passport is worth much money. I am pretty sure my passport was picked somewhere near where I live. But I can't prove anything nor want to say this to the authorities.
The thing that irks me is that Canada tells all bearers of passports not to give it to anyone. I know this and when I came to China I told people they can have my passport but I go with it. This caused me much trouble and my passport since has gone out and in here hundreds of times. I have been waiting for my visa for a while now. I hand it in thinking I will get one and then they give it back and I must wait some more.