Job Discussion Forums

[MESL]

No micomanagement or office politics from the language department dean or language department vice dean for teaching affairs. The exceptional was a culture course for the junior English majors, and it was a complicated situation. Flexible curriculum. Cooperative students. Technology in the classroom. If I told you my lesson load and schedule, you wouldn't believe me.

I had the option of staying in the international dorm instead of the staff housing. In the staff house, if you had a problem with your apartment, maybe the foreign affairs officer could get a maintenance man to come, maybe he couldn't; when they would arrive and whether they could fix the problem remained to be seen. In the international dorm, the staff was on the problem immediately. They usually solved it the same day, often within the hour. They took out your trash every day, cleaned your bathroom 3 times a week, and vacuumed your carpet twice a week. They were super helpful and super diligent. They were just too good to be true.

The canteen had 3 floor and a dozen restaurants. The variety, quality, taste, and price were all surprising.

Right on the third ring road. Bus stop around the corner. Subway 20 minutes away. Several buses going to the subway. West train station 25 minutes by bus. Carefoure within walking distance.

An army of eager translators, many of whom had exceptionally good skills.



The down side: Salary was 5000. No contract completion bonus. No travel stipend. Half airfare because I was already in China was I was hired. An office with the second worst possible location on campus, the worst being in the middle of the basketball courts. No English Corner. The lovers found a quiet, secluded spot, which just happened to be right outside my dorm window. You might have to teach a few lessons at vocational college on the other side of town and those students are a different species. But for the last year, they've hired their own teachers.

Mixed experience with the foreign affairs officer. If he was in the mood to help you and if he wanted to help you, he could be Mr. Diligent. If not, he could find a 1000 excuses and play devil's advocate all day. I had to complain to his boss only once. That was the time he messed up my visa. Several months later, the visa mess caused me a lot of problems and cost me a lot of money.



Don't let the name China Youth University of Political Science mislead you. You won't teach any Marxism majors and very few political science/political education majors. A lot of economics majors. A lot of social work, social science, and social welfare majors. A lot of Chinese majors and journalism majors. Some public administration and youth work majors.

I made a dozen bilingual maps and lists for all the bus stops, subway stops, supermarkets, landmarks, and so on. The foreign affairs office has the originals and the dorm desk both have copies.

[Pardon the typos. I'm using a sticky keyboard at an Internet cafe in Cambodia.]

[kev7161]

Wait a minute . . . you had CARPETING?

[North China Laowei]

[hereinbeijing]

I'm glad you liked your job.

[MESL]

Did I mention no paperwork? I didn't even have to give final exams to non English majors. Sweet.

Just remember to stay on the FAO about visa situations. Go over his head if necessary.

[killian]

5k RMB is sweet? of course they were good to you.