Job Discussion Forums

[Raindrops]

Geez!!!

CANTINE MANAGER
Once (long ago) my cantine card was denied (for 2 weeks) under these pretexts:
1) Laowais do not eat Chinese food!
2) Chinese food makes laowais sick!

LIBRARY MANAGER
My library card was denied (for a month) .... under these pretexts:
1) You are a teacher, why do you need to go to the library? Aren't you supposed to know everything?
2) How can we be sure that you will give back the books?

I then learned from my students that the cantine card gave access to the library ... soon I was in!

So ... indirectly "assuming" that the OP is a "rude *beep*" is plainly rude.

[Jayray]

[kev7161]

I guess the general consensus regarding your plight is that, yes this could happen due to the country we all currently reside in. Stranger things have happened for sure. Most of us aren't getting WHY it's happening. I understand miscommunication and confusion initially. It's bound to happen. What I'm not getting is why it is continuing to be an issue. Surely some higher up with a modicum of English skills can get you what you need with a minimum of hassle? I would get angry to if it continues to be an ongoing drama, but with the money-lady being confused and all - - I could understand that, count to ten, and then get my meal card. Yeah, an alleged 25 yuan charge just to have the card would be annoying, especially if I found out the charge wasn't a valid one (or a special "foreign" charge!).

[Raindrops]

Hahahaha! some people here are really taking us for a ride.

In my case, I was pissed when denied my cantine card, for real, and I am known for being a clown during my lectures (i.e. "happy forever teacher") messing around with DVD, CD, pics, musics, 2 computers and my overhead proj.

First, and for some, OP is not a "happy camper", now he is a "happy trigger".
OP isn't here to justify himself or asking for a lesson of morale.
He is pissed because the window lady took his 50 and trade it with a plastic card.
If the window lady had charged his card with a 25, she would have placed the card on the reader, messed around with the keyboard and recorded 25RMB as a +balance, and this takes 1 minutes and 17 seconds minimum for these people.
However, she had mad a trade, a 50 against the plastic thing, and her bad attitude has been going on for days ...

End of the story, there no need to always patronized others ...

[Jayray]

Perhaps I am now a happy trigger as Raindrops says, but when I am called a liar and challenged to catch dishonesty to the tune of 5,000rmb, I have not only a moral incentive but a monetary incentive as well. I have been told that the general manager will not pay me even though one of the managers acknowledged that they have been caught. Whether anyone believes me or not, I'd like to know what my recourse is since I cannot eat in the cafeteria.

Re: Not a happy camper. I actually like the school, the students, the administration, the Chinese teachers. I'm just taken aback that this has happened NOW. I get along with everyone; I am popular among students--- even those who are not in my class.

I know that once this sort of thing starts, there's no end. My aim is to bring it to the attention of someone who can issue a credible warning to the cafeteria manager and the vendors so that others who follow me won't have to experience this too.

Those students who did not eat lunch breakfast or dinner are undoubtedly upset because they couldn't (or didn't want to) buy a card. After the hubub started, there was an incredibly long line at the card window. Word got out that cash would not be accepted. Some students who arrived at the cafeteria when the card office was closed were turned away after I responded to the general manager's challenge. Cafeteria patronage is about one-third of what it was before this problem began after I returned and caught the servers giving food to those who had no card.

All the cafeteria managers had to say was "Sorry. Here's your card. It's all a mistake on our part." Instead, the manager denied everything, the card office tried to rip me off, and the manager called me a liar and challenged me to catch someone trying to pay with cash. I accepted the challenge. The general manager lost.

I don't care if anyone believes me.

Again, I ask: what is my (or anyone's) recourse?

[Raindrops]

At no point I am (was) calling you "not a happy camper", or a "happy trigger".
I was referring to members arguing your problem by questioning your potential bad behavior, short temper.

My last post sounds awkward because I was responding to a member that was directly insinuating that your were the source of the problem.
However his/her post is gone, leaving me like a D*ick on a stick!

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[OuterBanks13]

Sheesh. I've been reading this thread. Given your obnoxious behaviors, it's little wonder the younger Laowai teachers in this country are treated with disdain and a plentiful lack of respect. It would appear that with the least little perceived affront, a couple of the posters would go off on a tirade, fervently seeking justice and an explanation in the Middle Kingdom. In a word, GET OVER IT. Your are a visitor in their land. Show respect, listen, smile, get along. Your aggressive American attitudes and behaviors aren't worth squat here, and, quite frankly, they make us all look bad. GROW UP, YA'LL.

Tarheel from the Outer Banks

[Zero]

To the more experienced teachers and/or those who speak Mandarin: Do you think that speaking chinese helps in these kind of situations?

[Jayray]

One of the students who interpreted for me sent me a text message that read: "I am Chinese. This is my culture. Lies and deceit are part of the culture. How much is your dignity worth?"

I backed off after that.

I am now trying to get a meal card at an adjacent college. If I cannot get a meal card there, I will have to leave this college.

Re: aggressive behavior. Actually, I have been much more civil to the other parties involved than they have been to me.

If my schedule allowed it, I would take a forty minute ride into the city to eat, but my schedule does not allow for me to do that.

How does one "get over" not being served to eat? I can understand the response given the fact that others are not in my situation. My alternative is to eat street food and mystery meat on a stick.

Done that been there.

I am returning to the last Chinese college that I worked for to apply for another job.

I want to thank everyone for his response.

End of story.

[Katja84]

At my last university teachers could not get a card to eat in the student cafeteria (though, allegedly, foreign students could). The campus had a designated teachers' cafeteria where teachers could pay cash (which was, of course, much more expensive). At BLCU as a student I also seem to recall I was charged 50 yuan for a lunch card (or perhaps the minimum initial payment was 50, but I can't remember if they put some of the money on the card).

Could this have been a case of there being a rule that only students with a card could eat at the cafeteria (officially), but that exception was made for Chinese people but that some staff were too afraid to break the rules in front of a foreigner? Just a thought

[Raindrops]

OuterBanks13 I'll be responding to your "comment" via SM as per Dave's ESL Cafe rules.

However, I am not a guest in China.
I have been legally working since spring 2004, paying taxes, and actively contributing to PRC's internal economy.

Are we moving to Briberies & Corruption?
Because in that case I trust that old timers have lots to report ...

Once and to be vague ... one of my students, which never came to one single lecture, expressly asked to be given a pass grade at the end of the semester, grade that he absolutely needed to accomplished his school year.
He offered me on the spot 2000 kuais, and then excusing himself 3000 Kuais.
I reported him to my Dean, best ever Dean one can dream of, and the student ended paying 10.000 RMB.
The Dean reported with a big smile on his face: "This guys was a terrible negotiator".

[OuterBanks13]

[JGC458]

[eddy-cool]

Too many words and sentiments spilled here so far, so no need to dwell on details. I also want to spare the OP my personal impressions!

But has (s)he given the possibility any thought that the 50 kuai given to the canteen manager may include a 25 kuai deposit?

It might have been premature calling her a 'liar'...

[ymmv]