Job Discussion Forums

[mat chen]

I don't see the problem. You buy the guards a small bottle of baiju or cigarettes and then you can come and go as you please. Face it the job they are doing is boring. What I found funny is how quickly they report you when you are travelling with bags. Just because you are in China doesn't mean you must act like the Chinese. Say Ni hoa to the people you see everyday even thought they are not high up in the Communist party.

[Jayray]

The guards should know who you are and why you're there by now. There's anti-west sentiment running rampant among some folks in China and I believe that it is being condoned on an official level.

I tried to buy lunch in my school at mid-term and I was refused. On the last day of school, I was terminated for "health reasons". A few days later, I was literally dropped off at the airport. The #@!!*%s wouldn't even stop for me to get my bags out of the van. I had to chase the vehicle.

I'd love to know who you spoke to at SAFEA. My experience with those #@!!*%s tells me that they AREN'T in the business of looking out for the FTs.

Go get 'em.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[mat chen]

So far I haven't felt this Jay Ray. I drink tea daily with the guards at my school and we share cigarettes. At least you got an airline ticket. I worked places where they fired people and then put them on the street.
I find Chinese here to be very friendly. It is just they really don't understand how difficult it is for us to teach without a curriculum or any support.
The trick to doing the gig is to have your own accomidations then if you lose your job you still have a place to live. Like everywhere in the world a good neighbor is your best security guard.

[cmknight]

Mat,
How much Chinese can you speak? I can speak very little. You can afford to drink tea with the guards because you can converse with them. I can't.

The head of security at this uni wants me to teach him and his guards western security techniques. That I can do, but I need a translator. These people have absolutely no training whatsoever, so if I can help them become better, more efficient security personnel, then I'll try to help out.

There is this attitude in China that being a "security guard" gives you the right to kick the crap out of people. They don't know HOW to be security guards. They don't know HOW to be professional.

I think most ex- military members have, at one time or another, been security guards. When you first get out of the military, you think that it's about the only job you are qualified to do. Nobody wants to hire a paid killer, so you get into security as one of you first civilian jobs. Then you find out that there IS a real world after all, and you go on to bigger and better things.

[LoPresto]

My Chinese is minimal, but, my paper dictionary and electronic translator work wonders!

Still pointing and typing 5 years later!

Good Luck!

[A'Moo]

[YankeeDoodleDandy]

A' Moo, That's priceless. YDD

[mat chen]

My Chinese is so so, but after teaching English in four countries, I got good body language. A smile and a nice ni hoa will work wonders for communication. Have fun with them when they ask you how much you make. I tell them five hunded rmb a month.
We had this prime minister in Canada called Pierre Trudeau. Pierre didn't like sucurity and liked to travel unprotected. One day I saw him talking with a door man at a big hotel. I came back three hours later and he was still talking with the guy. But if he didn't know you he wouldn't say hello. The world needs more Pierre Trudeaus today instead of these leaders who travel in black cars with tinted windows. No one knows what they are up to, including their wifes.
All I can say is that anywhere that there are security guards looking after you, you should learn their names and be civil.

[chinatwin88]

Quote:security guards looking after you, you should learn their names and be civil.

Security guards are often the source of theft and other petty crimes. County boys given a broomstick to patrol without so much as a certification has led Beijing to crackdown on these fly by night firms. My own complex suffered a rash of thefts until I maneuvered their ousting and now with no security, thefts have been reduced and mostly only those apartments close to the street still have burglars creeping into first floor apartments (as suffered by a couple of Spanish fellows last week)

Quote: You can afford to drink tea with the guards because you can converse with them.

Why drink with �hayseeds� who will consider you little more than a night�s entertainment. Never get this close with a Chinese security as the familiarity works against you and they will feel more confident in pushing their authority around. Foreigners should use the buddy system to intimidate the authority and never less than two of you should travel through the gates. When problems arise, a crowd of foreigners could transcend the opening to bring the point home. These are country punks who likely need to be taught only one lesson.

[mat chen]

Ok they are thugs but they give me hot water to put in my fruit jar that I have my cheap green tea in. Being a hand to mouth kind of guy that can't even afford to pay my way back home I bum cigs off them. Been here 8 years and the people who rip me off are the foreign affairs people who hire me.
Twin you got a problem with country people? I find them honest. And like you said " Your place got rid of the guards and theft went down" It is the same as what I said " The best security is good neighbors"

[chinatwin88]

Do I have a problem with country folk; I�m country folk. NO just realize their limitations as to interpersonal relationships. As far as I can tell, you is a have and they is a have not.

Quote: It is the same as what I said " The best security is good neighbors"

Absolutely agree and will further add; Tall fences make good neighbors, especially among the undereducated and under socialized peasant stock most of these folks come from.

[wangdaning]

The security guard where I use to live, Dongguan, took me out to eat. He was Hunanese and a really cool guy.

Where I live and work now, though I have had no issues, the security guards (taking this into the building managers at unis) have hit my boss's sister and bashed a co-worker with a stool. Provocation shouldn't be an issue if you are a professional. Restrain don't beat. Most guards are not professionals. They get hired through guanxi and then do what they feel like. They can be nice or not.

No security guard should be hospitalizing people if they aren't a real danger. Face or no face.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

[mrwslee003]

Hello there,

I am new here and I read your comments with interest and I like to share
my experience with you:
I joined a local staff in China in 2007. I was an unknown to the guards
at the gate. When I enter the gate the first day they thought I was a local,
they came after me with "hei, hei, hei.." After which I turned and told them I have a class to attend to, in their dialect. I am Chinese Canadian.
After that they just went back to their posts.
From then on I knew they just wanted acknowledgement, so I say "ni hao"
to them everytime I enter their gate. I had no problem after that.
Peasant or not, they just wanted to know that the gate is their turf. I think
all of us know we all have our turf. Just like someone comes into our classroom without knocking or saying hello with an introduction.
So, ladies and gents, regardless of their education background and their
status in the social ladder, try and give them the respect they deserve.
I think things will go better, especially if you are from outside the country.
We had parties which included the guards and we "ganbei"ed in the parties
just like we did with our peers. We stayed until this July, and in general,
we had a wonderful experience.