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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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 Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 12:03 am Post subject: |
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oooops
In my post above I was referring to a response TO Nick as being close to a flame.
I was NOT referring to a post BY Nick. |
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Greg 09
Joined: 30 Jan 2009
Posts: 169
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 3:59 am Post subject: |
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Well, I did get a reply from the FAO at the Uni in question, and he answered all of my questions except... drum roll... the one about off-campus housing. I just had to laugh. In fact I'm still laughing, but more quietly now. 
I guess no answer is the answer. He did give me an email addy for an alleged current teacher there. We'll see how that pans out.
You guys are a good bunch, so let me run this offer by you.
I'm 52, BA (unrelated), second rate (Oxford) EFL Cert and 25 years or so business experience, including starting and running my own for 15 yrs. Lots of business training exp (corp.), which I played up on my CV.
Offer:
Uni in Henan Province
6000rmb/mo - 16 hrs
2br apt, ON campus
14,000rmb air allowance (!!) payable in halves, after 1st sem/EOY
500-2000rmb sliding scale performance bonus per semester
2400rmb per year travel
Visa/Permits
Chinese lessons
100rmb/mo for utilities
Usual holidays/winter break
OT 60rmb/hr (yeah, low)
Seems to me that's a stellar air allowance, and I've not seen too many, if any, performance bonuses at Chinese Unis, assuming its even attainable by human standards. Overall it seems like a nice gig for a beginner, unless there's a very large shoe that will drop in week one.
Geez, reading these boards have made me too darned cynical.
Anyway... I've gotten other offers, but none really match this one. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:40 am Post subject: |
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| Looks good to me Greg |
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Lobster
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 2040
Location: Somewhere under the Sea
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:50 am Post subject: |
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Some folks don't need much privacy and treat their accommodations like a hotel room. They don't care about restrictions on movement, people coming and going or others entering their rooms.
Other people treat their accommodations like home and want/expect a high level of privacy. Any unautorized entry is violation of their space and they want unrestricted movement with no cufews etc.
The right choice for you is based on your characteristics and expectations.
Personally, I'd never live on campus because I'm not that sociable away from work. I'd trade convenience for independence any day.
By the way, some school dorms cut off the power at 10-11 p.m. Others have a lights-out policy. No problem if your whole life centres around eating, sleeping and working.
RED |
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kukiv
Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 8:55 am Post subject: |
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Not being given an answer to the simple question - Why can't I live off-campus - seems an interesting start to your new job - and you still haven't got to China!!!!!!
Somebody in another thread wrote -
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| -In their hearts, a lot of Chinese people view foreigners as kind of childish or cartoonish. Wherever your way of things differs from theirs, they assume it's because foreigners are unrefined, dimwitted and na�ve compared to the Chinese. |
I wouldn't go quiet as far as the above - but in the case of an employer not wanting to discuss the topic of living off-campus - I must admit the author of those comments may have a point.
If you were offered a job in a uni back home - and told you had to live on-campus - for such a huge lifestyle factor, you'd at least expect a reason to why this rule existed.
Most clued up FT's in China would also ask this question - but it seems there's still enough newbies coming through that will blindly plod on - no wonder EFL china has had years of stagnation with regard to conditions and quality of employment!!!! |
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Gilka
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 54
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Not being given an answer to the simple question - Why can't I live off-campus - seems an interesting start to your new job - and you still haven't got to China!!!!!! |
I think that not realizing the obvious answer to that simple question is a little silly.
The question is basically "Why do you want me to live in on-campus housing that is free and easy instead of either giving me money to rent an apartment or inevitably helping me with all of the issues with finding and maintaining an apartment since I've never even been to China before and will have no idea how to go about it?"
If it is that important, keep bringing it up, but do your own research first to show that you do have some clue about how difficult it would be for you to rent an apartment in a foreign country. Do you speak Chinese? Do you have Chinese friends or family that could help you? I worked at a uni that also had a "no off-campus housing" policy, but they made exceptions depending on other factors. |
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kukiv
Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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What is so difficult about renting an apartment in China????? Of course it takes a little time to get grounded - but after a term or so's experience, of life out here, it shouldn't be that difficult?????
And if the question over off-campus is so easy to answer - why has the FAO totally ignored it???????? Best source of info for any jobs in China are other FT's who have worked for the same employer - theyshould be able to give more balanced and truthful opinions over a potential workplace. |
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Woopwoop
Joined: 18 May 2010
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 7:00 am Post subject: |
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| If you live on campus, can't you put on your own lock to stop snooping? |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:44 am Post subject: |
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| The local police station adds your address to your official computer file - this on-line info is then available to the main - indeed any - PSB office. |
Is it really that centralized? I have no idea what's in that PSB computer file, but from experiences, I doubt they are able to keep track of all your movements and local residences. Doing so would mean that any PSB office has access to this information, and the ability to communicate with other PSB offices to track your history.
Do we really see that happening?
What I've found is that various PSB offices can type in my passport number and locate the entry and exit locations and dates of where and when I went through customs -- but that's about it. This is the same information as what would be available at the border checkpoints when they type in the same passport number.
The local PSB offices might be able to get that same info, but in terms of registering local addresses, they only deal with matters in their jurisdiction. For example, let's say I lived in Guangzhou for a year and registered with the PSB, then I lived in Fuzhou and registered there. I seriously doubt the Fuzhou PSB would have a clue about the previous living experience, or if they did, they would say 'go back to Guangzhou' if there was any problems
The similar principle applies to an even more localized level with this living off-campus issue .. the university wouldn't have as much control or ability to get information on the FTs whereabouts if he lived off campus, as it would be outside the "jurisdiction" of the university bao an.
When it comes to China, think localization, and then localization some more. |
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kukiv
Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:20 am Post subject: |
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| Is it really that centralized? I have no idea what's in that PSB computer file, but from experiences, I doubt they are able to keep track of all your movements and local residences. Doing so would mean that any PSB office has access to this information, and the ability to communicate with other PSB offices to track your history. |
This summer I was amazed when going for my new visa how the PSB can now track your movement through the form-filling we do at hotels. This amazement stemmed from the fact that my local police station had used the wrong residency registration form, and to make a quick fix I booked in at a near by hotel to get my address there. Going back to the main PSB visa office we then had to wait for them to verify the address - the information going via the hotel to their local police-station and then that police station adding this info to a central system which includes your personal PSB computer file. The whole process from booking into hotel to going back to the visa office and waiting for the them to be able to read my hotel address on my online file took about 2 hours.
Last winter an ex-pat friend had to answer some PSB questions - he was also amazed when he was asked about various hotel stays he had made on various trips throughout the province, which were recorded on his online file - he also had thought filling in those registration forms was of little consequence.
These incidents of tracking occurred in one single province - in my case in one single city, but in the case of my friend through travel to different parts of the the same province. However since it seems this is a nationwide that just a provincial system - I think each time you fill in one of those address forms - in any part of China it'll get registered onto your central file. |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:15 am Post subject: |
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| The whole process from booking into hotel to going back to the visa office and waiting for the them to be able to read my hotel address on my online file took about 2 hours. |
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| Last winter an ex-pat friend had to answer some PSB questions - he was also amazed when he was asked about various hotel stays he had made on various trips throughout the province, which were recorded on his online file - he also had thought filling in those registration forms was of little consequence. |
Well that certainly is amazing ... how far back did these records go?
Here's what I'm wondering. Let's say you're traveling around during the summer break, you cross several provincial borders, register in a hotel every now and then, but you also stay at friends' places. So there are a few "gaps" in the tracking. Yeah I know you're supposed to register at the local PSB if you stay at a friend, but nobody does that. Would the PSB be able to piece together all of that, even if you crossed borders?
On a more worrisome note, what about entire months or years without being registered at the PSB? In fact, I lived in Wuhan for a year in that particular case. Nobody simply bothered to do it, because the rules are so lax in that area and we were living in an upscale apartment complex (Wanke Gardens). So almost the entire staff got away with a whole year of not being registered. Would this be a problem later on? |
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kukiv
Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 328
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:38 am Post subject: |
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I don't know how far these easy to access on-line records go back - but I have a feeling that the system has only been working for months rather than years.i make this assumption through the fact we had problems with my address registration because they have recently changed to a new form and on-line registration process and my local police station - I live in a village - used the old form and process. The new process seems to have been introduced with the on-line registration - which means, out here it's under a year old.
I don't know of how effective it is on a nationwide scheme and I have no real idea about the consequences of having long gaps between registrations - where you have lived in unregistered addresses - but don't think there will be any problems. For visa purposes you should have an address registered at least once a year - this is where registration is most important!!!!! In larger cities where there are security checks because of special events such as Expo or the Asian Games - it can also be a good idea to have your present address registered - if it differs from that given on the visa. For those traveling the hotel registration provides an address for the police - but like many here, when we travel we often live in Hotels that don't require registration. |
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