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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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 Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 1:44 am Post subject: |
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| big3bc wrote: |
Thank you for your response Struelle.
I was assured by the recruiter that Ezhou is much less polluted than Wuhan, and the traffic isn't nearly as bad. Of course, I take whatever a recruiter says with a grain of salt |
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That's a good call to take with a grain of salt. Well, the local traffic is better out there but I actually found the pollution worse. On a more practical note, how are you going to travel around the country during your breaks? Just getting to the airport is going to be an epic journey ... and it was already like this for me while living out in Wuchang (same side of the river as Ezhou). Although you do have a train station out there, it would not be convenient to reach most other cities from the rails ... you'd have to go into Wuhan first for that, which is also difficult as that line is all under construction and the trains go at a snail's pace.
Based on all this, I would expect you'd be staying in Ezhou most of the time there, and spending your free time and hours off work in that area. You'd probably be socializing with students and coworkers and doing local stuff ... this is fine if you're OK with it, but I'm puzzled as to how a major international city of Istanbul didn't offer much social life. Surely there were lots of available girls there. Ezhou, possibly, girls are open-minded in some sense but it's still a very localized hick town. They've likely never been outside their home province.
Then again, you never know ... it could work. If you're up for both a lot of adventure and staying put at the same time, however strange that sounds, then it's ideal. |
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big3bc
Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 132
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:38 am Post subject: |
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Istanbul is an incredibly expensive city when it comes to night life. It is also common for teachers/ writers (myself) to work 6 days a week. I have to get up at 4:30 to catch the first bus over the Bosphorus and not deal with the horrible traffic. For these and other reasons, I almost never go out.
There are basically 2 kinds of Turkish women- 99% are family oriented, virgins and want nothing to do with foreigners. If you do marry one, you are also marrying her family. Women looking for American visas comprise the other one percent.
Getting back to China, my recruiter says the university is on a beautiful lake and the pollution level is usually low. After reading stories about inadequate teacher housing in China, I had several questions for her. She said the apartment is on the fourth floor, will be clean, has a Western-style mattress, has hot water in the kitchen and has a fairly new TV and refrigerator.
Her office is in Wuhan, so I can confront her if she isn't being truthful (if I can make it through the traffic). |
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big3bc
Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 132
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:38 am Post subject: |
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Istanbul is an incredibly expensive city when it comes to night life. It is also common for teachers/ writers (myself) to work 6 days a week. I have to get up at 4:30 to catch the first bus over the Bosphorus and not deal with the horrible traffic. For these and other reasons, I almost never go out.
There are basically 2 kinds of Turkish women- 99% are family oriented, virgins and want nothing to do with foreigners. If you do marry one, you are also marrying her family. Women looking for American visas comprise the other one percent.
Getting back to China, my recruiter says the university is on a beautiful lake and the pollution level is usually low. After reading stories about inadequate teacher housing in China, I had several questions for her. She said the apartment is on the fourth floor, will be clean, has a Western-style mattress, has hot water in the kitchen and has a fairly new TV and refrigerator.
Her office is in Wuhan, so I can confront her if she isn't being truthful (if I can make it through the traffic). |
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dharma86
Joined: 05 May 2009
Posts: 187
Location: Southside baby!
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:19 am Post subject: |
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| struelle wrote: |
| Well, the local traffic is better out there but I actually found the pollution worse. |
That's the same as Xiangfan city.
| struelle wrote: |
On a more practical note, how are you going to travel around the country during your breaks? Just getting to the airport is going to be an epic journey ... and it was already like this for me while living out in Wuchang (same side of the river as Ezhou). Although you do have a train station out there, it would not be convenient to reach most other cities from the rails ... you'd have to go into Wuhan first for that, which is also difficult as that line is all under construction and the trains go at a snail's pace.
Based on all this, I would expect you'd be staying in Ezhou most of the time there, and spending your free time and hours off work in that area. You'd probably be socializing with students and coworkers and doing local stuff ... this is fine if you're OK with it, |
I totally agree. |
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nickpellatt
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 1522
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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| best bet is to get in touch with other teachers there and see how they find it. Might also be worth looking on you tube? You might find something there that shows you first hand what the place is like? |
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5h09un
Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 140
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:19 am Post subject: |
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| i'm being paid 4,500 at huanggang normal university, which is right across the river. i have a bachelors degree and only a few months of classroom experience, so you should expect a lot more than that with your background. |
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5h09un
Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 140
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:24 am Post subject: |
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| struelle wrote: |
Ezhou? Don't do it!
Admitedly this is a biased view but I spent a year in Wuhan with serious regrets ... Ezhou is even more backward than Wuhan and it's way out in the sticks to boot. |
wuhan? backwards? please don't listen to this person. that is a wonderful city.
ezhou isn't that bad. and it's not that far away from wuhan if you feel bored there on a weekend and want to get away. wuhan is one of the largest cities in china and it's pretty easy to have a blast there. |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| We'll just have to agree to disagree on this point ... admitedly, this is a biased view I had about Wuhan, since I spent 4 years in Shanghai earlier, another 3 years in Dalian, and then tried out Wuhan. From that point of view, it was a flop. Perhaps it will work out better for others -- Wuhan is most definitely a developing city with a edge to it. Shanghai it ain't. |
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big3bc
Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 132
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| One more question for you Struelle- all of the flights I have checked out from Shanghai or Beijing to Wuhan arrive late at night (11:00 p.m. or later). Would it be wrong to get a hotel for the night and ask whomever is coming to pick me up not to come until early the following morning? It seems more sensible to me; however, I have no idea if such an idea might be thought of as rude in China. |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:31 am Post subject: |
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| big3bc wrote: |
| One more question for you Struelle- all of the flights I have checked out from Shanghai or Beijing to Wuhan arrive late at night (11:00 p.m. or later). Would it be wrong to get a hotel for the night and ask whomever is coming to pick me up not to come until early the following morning? It seems more sensible to me; however, I have no idea if such an idea might be thought of as rude in China. |
I think that's both a smart and considerate idea. The late-night flights are invariably delayed, so it's quite possible you wouldn't actually be landing until midnight or so. For your hosts to pick you up, it's a 2 hour trip for them, and then 2 more hours back there. They would do it of course, for the sake of face, but then it would just be a lot of work for them and they'd be tired. Try to come up with a face-saving way for them to show up in the morning next day, and it'll be a win-win for both.
Steve |
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big3bc
Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 132
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:21 am Post subject: |
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Is the traffic really that bad late at night?
I thought of another question- I am on an anti-anxiety/ depression medication called Seroxat. Is such a pill available in China? If so, do I need a prescription? Here in Turkey, unless you want something addictive such as librium or xanax, everything can be obtained over the counter. |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:33 am Post subject: |
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| Is the traffic really that bad late at night? |
If you go through Wuhan city, yes. I've discovered the traffic in that city is so bad it is sickening. Day and night, peak hours and off-peak, it never lets up. Even on a Sunday morning, or at 11pm at night, you'll hit congestion.
The solution, however, is to avoid the city areas and take the toll freeways. I'm sure your hosts will do that. If they don't, then insist on it. Offer to pay the tolls if need be. The best route is to take 'wai huan xian' -- not the 3rd ring road, but the total outermost one, which avoids Wuhan traffic like the plague. That particular road links up with the airport expressway right off the bat, and will connect you with the Wuhan-Huangshi expressway, otherwise known as Wu-Huang Gao Su.
It'll cost money for that road, but you could knock the time down to an hour if you do so.
| Quote: |
| I thought of another question- I am on an anti-anxiety/ depression medication called Seroxat. Is such a pill available in China? |
Not sure -- you'd need to ask locally for it, but I wouldn't know how to call it in Chinese. Interestingly, I'm sure such a pill would be a hot seller here, as stress and anxiety levels are now running rampant in this country |
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