Job Discussion Forums

Irish Blood English Heart · Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 3:47 pm Post subject: Job offer in Ya'an Sichuan

Hi, I've had this job offer from a public middle school in Ya'ab Sichuan and I was just wondering what people thought of it?

There are 16 periods a week and the pay is 4000 Yuan, all the usual terms and conditions, Im really intrigued by this offer as Sichuan is the place in China that interests me the most, there is also the cities of Leshan and Chengdu nearby as well as Yunnan and I think this might be the oppurtunity to live in the real china, also a city in the mountains with a population of 140,000 sounds a lot cleaner and less polluted than the other offers I've had so far.

The thing is though they want me to go over in July to teach at their summer school, what's this all about?

Has anyone taught in this part of Sichuan (or Sichuan in general) before, what advice would they give me?

I think I might just go for this one the only thing that bothers me if the complete lack of info about the place on the net.

Danny

ilunga · Joined: 17 Oct 2003 Posts: 842 Location: China

Don't know anything about the place but as for the summer school.....rather you than me. I can't wait to escape the humidity when July comes around.
Hope you like spicy food as well.

Irish Blood English Heart · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:39 am Post subject:

Havent heard anything about the place other than good.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=1503204&postcount=14

Just the sort of city i'm looking for really.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Do it, by all means: do it.
But: do you know what it's like, teaching middle-school kids?
Did they inform you of how many kids per class there are?

I currently teach ten periods a week on top of my regular job. This part-time job also is in a middle school. I have 60 kids to one class. I tell you it's a challenge, but it's feasible.

My take-home money is RMB 4000 per month if it has four weeks, more if it has five weeks...
Summer camp? Who will enrol?
And: how do they remunerate you for that time?
You know, summer camps can be very lucrative. You should only accept it if they promise (and live up to it) a work visa right from the start!

Otherwise you might be going there on your own, find out that after summer camp they have changed their minds and found another FT!

garbotara · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 529 Location: China

Many times I have been through Ya'an on the way to Kanding and beyond. It seems like a cute little city.I am a big fan of Sichuan Province .I think the people there are great.The food in Sichuan is amazing as well.Ya'an is famous for it's tea.

Irish Blood English Heart · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:30 pm Post subject:

Hey guys, cheers Smile

Luckily I have a Chinese friend who has managed to track down lots of photos of the place for me.

Roger, a guy off this forum contacted me after seeing my post. He is an American (I believe) who is there at the moment. He gave me a pretty honest assesment of the city, the school and who i'll be working for. He said he personally refuses to do the summer camp as its a 13/15 day programme teaching 11 year olds for 4 periods a day. On the plus side though its 4000 yuan for 2 weeks work and then a month off to tour Sichuan and Yunnan. Theyve had foreign teachers before (4 a year usually) and it all seems pretty good so far. So im definitely going to take the job its just a matter of whether I do it for July or September?

Danny

noodles · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 67

I would reccomend doing the summer camp. I think i'm right in saying this is your first teaching job??
My first experience teaching in China was a summer camp, it was hard, i mean real hard. They tend to work much longer hours than normal teaching. They may say you are only teaching x number of hours, but more often than not your actualy working all day, as the kids need people to look after them.
The plus point about doing this is that you will learn a lot in those 2 weeks and your normal schedule will be a breeze if you can cope with the camp.

ilunga · Joined: 17 Oct 2003 Posts: 842 Location: China

Good to hear Danny, hope it all works out well.
My only reservation would be that a town of 140,000 is a bit on the small side. Is it far from any larger cities?
I'm in a city of 1.5m which is just about the right size for me.
Whatever floats your boat anyway, all the best.

Irish Blood English Heart · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:09 pm Post subject:

Its only about 70 minutes away from Chengdu by express bus which leaves every 20 minutes or so during the day apparently so that should be ok.

Yeah I think the summer school might be a great thing for me, 2 weeks thrown in at the deep end so i learn on my feet, than a month to spend acclimatising without having to worry about any work Smile

garbotara · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 529 Location: China

The road to Ya'an from Chengdu is not bad either.It is 148 kms from Chengdu.I would figure on around two hours, but that is not bad either. There is so much to see in that province!The beauty of Sichuan is astounding- the area around Litang just to name one area.

Irish Blood English Heart · Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 5:05 pm Post subject:

Im just waiting for my official invitation to arrive in the post then I can book a ticket to Chengdu and be in Sichuan on July the 2nd, this gives me a week before the summer school, then after that I get 4 weeks off so plenty of time to climatise to Sichuan or travel around Sichuan and Yunnan if I so wish (I will I imagine). So all pretty exciting really!

khmerhit · Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 6:24 pm Post subject:

looks bloody nice. A city aintr a city unless it has a river what runs thru it..

youll have a blast

kh

ps good luck and have fun Cool

Nate · Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Posts: 61 Location: Korea

Congratulations! I like reading posts like yours since I plan on being in China by the end of the year. Very Happy

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

IBEH,

I lived in Chengdu, Sichuan from 2000 to 2003 and during the first two years of my tenure, I was involved with a program that traveled to several middle schools to work with the students and teachers.

Although I have never stayed in Ya'an, I have passed through there. I wouldn't worry about it being a smaller city. Use that to your advantage! It seems to be a place where you could enjoy a greater degree of intimacy in becoming more familiar with the Chinese culture and language. I am sure you will be a star there, the people will love you and it won't be difficult for you to get to know people. There is a big music square in the city where, I am sure, a bunch of cultural events occur, like evening fan dancing by the older folk and taiqi exercises.

Seventy minutes to Chengdu is an underestimated time; nonetheless, you could be in Chengdu in two to three hours, not that big of a difference.

As garbotara hinted, I would be excited to be in Ya'an because of the prospects of heading the other way. That would be exciting to take day trips on your mountain bike westward (your legs would be huger than Dan the weight smashing fool's!) and to have Western Sichuan more accessible to you.

I don't know about the summer camp, but I presume that it will be enjoyable as well as exhausting. Perhaps you will conduct classes in the morning and structure some type of activity in the afternoon, i.e., sports, movies, English talks. As noodles mentioned, it will probably be hard in that it will be hot and you will be busy all day every day.

I did a summer workshop in Suining (Eastern Sichuan) for two weeks with middle school teachers and there was always someone who wanted my time and attention, even late at night! The people are great but they may tend to stretch you too thin. Learn to decline some extra activities when you feel you need to. Expect to eat all of your meals with a group and don't be surprised if you are constantly watched and always offered a escort when you go out. It may not be understood that you want to go out by yourself. "We must take care of you!" That may be the biggest downer, but wait and see if that happens or not.

I strongly encourage you to continue to learn as much Chinese as soon as possible and as consistently as possible. Make this one of your major goals and you will be surprised and pleased how much more you will have learned after you will have worked hard.

Regarding this aspect of living abroad, hit the ground running! Find teachers and people who take your desire to truly learn the language seriously. To have an ideal language environment such as could be found in Ya'an and not fully utilize it would be a shame. While many people will want to practice their English with you, Chinese-only speakers should be greatly accessible to you. If people don't open up to you immediately, don't sweat it. They just need time to get used to you. Barriers will break down if you are politely persistent. Take each minute as it comes. When something goes wrong, sleep on it and wake up and start all over again.

Sichuan is a great place. I am glad that I started out in Sichuan and not on the coast. It breaks my heart that I had to leave so suddenly.

Best wishes to ya!

fat_chris

Irish Blood English Heart · Posted: Sun May 02, 2004 1:41 am Post subject:

I thought id replied to this? Maybe the reply was deleted I dont know?

Just wanted to thank everyone esp Fat_Chris and I had some pics of Ya'an, let me find them!