| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
PyRoT
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 42
|
 Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:06 am Post subject: |
 |
|
7969: Oh no I don't mean to devalue the kickass nature of Beyond1984's job in China. It's amazing. I know that I could not hope for a job like that here in Oz either, unless I worked part-time which would not really allow me to support myself properly. The main obstacle would of course be finding a job that pay enough part-time. Plus one would still miss out on China.
I was simply referring to his comment on making enough in a few weeks to support yourself over 50. That is perhaps the top-tier of English teacher in China though I'd need a lot less to be happy (such as the 34/18 week work).
The government job you mentioned sounds ok. Still full-time hours but if the long shifts aren't a drag then it would be cool. Unfortunately, these best case scenario jobs are rare.
The interesting thing I have encountered when talking about such working conditions to westernized people is that they don't seem to fully desire them. Some say that there would be too much free time and they'd be bored. Some say it would make people take up bad habits. Some even see the social status of being a teacher nullify the lifestyle benefits (this includes a Chinese woman who works 80hrs a week).
It's quite sad that anyone can think this way. I think that if a person is bored because hey have a lot of free time, then it is them who is at fault, not the situation. Extra pity on those who would rather work +4 times as much as some English teachers, in order to have a higher social status. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
| PyRoT wrote: |
| 7969: Oh no I don't mean to devalue the kickass nature of Beyond1984's job in China. I was simply referring to his comment on making enough in a few weeks to support yourself over 50. |
i believe they call this retirement.
| PyRoT wrote: |
The government job you mentioned sounds ok. Still full-time hours but if the long shifts aren't a drag then it would be cool. Unfortunately, these best case scenario jobs are rare.
The interesting thing I have encountered when talking about such working conditions to westernized people is that they don't seem to fully desire them. Some say that there would be too much free time and they'd be bored. Some say it would make people take up bad habits. |
i think people will find something negative about anything if they look hard enough. how many times have you heard people begging for summer to come when its winter, and then the exact opposite when the scorching summer finally arrives?
anyone with a worthwhile hobby (getting drunk doesnt count) would be happy to have plenty of free time to pursue it. arent people always complaining they have no time to do the things they enjoy in life? which is why i think we're lucky here. most of my chinese friends work too much and never have free time (they're not always working hard i admit, but they do have to be in their office, whereas most of us dont). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Beyond1984
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 462
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:40 am Post subject: Boredom is disbelief in God. |
|
|
"Some say that there would be too much free time and they'd be bored."  -PyRoT
I have encountered those with a similar attitude back in Concord. 
As I have noted on another thread, some are "industrious," and appear to love labor for its own sake, or perhaps because it keeps them out of worse mischief; to such I have at present nothing to say. 
-HDT
Those who would not know what to do with more leisure than they now enjoy, I might advise to work twice as hard as they do, - work till they pay for themselves, and get their free papers.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
eddy-cool
Joined: 06 Jul 2008
Posts: 1008
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Peter Wales wrote: |
| eddy-cool wrote: |
| China is treating us laowais much better than it treats many of its own citizens. |
That's not difficult..... |
...but it's real, man, it's real and you can FEEL it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Peter Wales
Joined: 02 Feb 2009
Posts: 63
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| eddy-cool wrote: |
| Peter Wales wrote: |
| eddy-cool wrote: |
| China is treating us laowais much better than it treats many of its own citizens. |
That's not difficult..... |
...but it's real, man, it's real and you can FEEL it. |
Yup! You can feel it! That's for sure! (It's called brown-nosing.) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
basman
Joined: 29 Jan 2009
Posts: 14
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
i don't know why anyone would think life in china is bad
my entire life when i lived there was a never ending party, with easy pretty girls, cheap beers, and great food,
sure I didn't get paid that much (7000, but the exchange rate was much worse between the rmb and the canadian dollar) and my boss was kind of a dick but it was still awesome...
After that I worked in korea, which was completely different, and without a doubt it was the most boring place on earth...
now i want to go back to china,...
i just want to find a job teaching kids in big city, getting paid about 10000 a month with housing... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TapRed
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 24
Location: Los Angeles, CA
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:36 am Post subject: China is bad... |
|
|
Why is China so bad? I think the CCCP says it all.
Here is a nice video for those of you planning on going to China soon for a dose of culture vulture action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkMcj4vQtRU |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Beyond1984
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 462
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:54 am Post subject: Don the mantle of exalted power! |
|
|
"...it's real, man, it's real and you can FEEL it." -eddy-cool
We all are Foreign Experts.  No one in China has such an exalted title.  Like popes, we are infallible. We are empowered.
-HDT
What is once well done is done forever. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
eddy-cool
Joined: 06 Jul 2008
Posts: 1008
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Peter Wales wrote: |
| eddy-cool wrote: |
| Peter Wales wrote: |
That's not difficult..... |
...but it's real, man, it's real and you can FEEL it. |
Yup! You can feel it! That's for sure! (It's called brown-nosing.) |
You are tiring the most tolerant people out with your sarcasm, mate! I know what 'brown-nosing' is but I hold you cannot decide on my behalf whether I am doing that or not.
I have had several interesting jobs lasting two years or longer and in those cases, it was the employer who 'brown-nosed' in order to retain me.
Has it never occurred to you that whatever you are describing here in your unflattering way can be found in the West? Brown-nosing is so pervasive in the West that I turned my back on that part of the world. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
YankeeDoodleDandy
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 428
Location: Xi'an , Shaanxi China
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:00 pm Post subject: Brown Sugar |
|
|
| Last semester a student asked me the meaning of brown noser and I told him that it would be a person who flatters and compliments one way overboard. I asked him if there was a Chinese equivalent and he provided me with the English translation of " as* kisser ". Who says that things have to get lost in translation. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vikuk
Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 1842
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Has it never occurred to you that whatever you are describing here in your unflattering way can be found in the West? Brown-nosing is so pervasive in the West that I turned my back on that part of the world. |
Eddy you make a very interesting point - but when considered in comparison to the normal FT job (as in teaching here compared with the job in the west) - no matter how much brown-nosing goes on back home - it aint easy to get that specialist job - such as a teacher - if you aint got no qualification!!!!!
Maybe the reason it�s so easy to entitle any white body as teaching expert � is one of the bad things about this trade � after all many China Ft's wouldn�t be qualified to be a school cleaner, back in the dear ol' west, let alone a teacher 
By the way Eddie after all those China years - what kind of job could you now find if you did go back home  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
evaforsure
Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1217
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
it aint easy to get that specialist job - such as a teacher - if you aint got no qualification!!!!!
Maybe the reason it�s so easy to entitle any white body as teaching expert |
Don�t let the book go to your head, unless you have a cert issued from a teacher�s training school, no one in China considered you a teacher but perhaps your students. There are provisions to award honorary certifications but only a few foreigners I know have been awarded them and no one even bothers to list them in a public bio. If you really want to see the respect given to a western teacher, observe an educator who has been a guest lecturer arranged for by a cooperative effort between a university in the west and a school in china. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vikuk
Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 1842
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 2:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Eva I think you misunderstand the core point of my post - which is about comparing the west and China.
After all the book counts for so much back home - while here (at least for the FT) - its mostly appearance!!!!!
I suppose you could also call that a good thing - if you were unqualified but wanted to get a teaching job - but with regard to professional standards within China EFL.....................................
I suppose in such circumstances, where the book doesn't count for much - then being a good brown-noser would be an excellent qualification to get further along in your China job |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Itsme
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 624
Location: Houston, TX
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I enjoy the way you pose the question.
It reminds me of the logical fallacy where the lawyer asks the defendant
"Do you still beat your wife?" implying that the defendant is a wife beater even if he said no. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vikuk
Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 1842
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Brown-nosing for the China Ft may also not be only focused on the boss - for an easy life and to enhance their value as the company cash-cow - the poor ol' Ft may also be openly encouraged to brown-nose those fee-paying students |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
