Job Discussion Forums

[milly123]

Hi there,

I have been teaching ESL in a middle school since March. There are very few "westerners" around (so few, that strangers take photos of me with their i-phones in the street...). The nearest city is about 25 mins by taxi, but locally there is not much to do in the evenings or weekends. There is not much of an expat scene, or a chance of a social life and when i am with the chinese englsh teachers, they speak to each other in chinese. I have been spending most of my evenings alone in my dorm room reading or on the net. I guess I am starting to get very lonely and bored.

Also, the school said they would provide a work visa for me. Last week I was sent to Hong Kong. I should probably mention that I am new to teaching ESL, so I wasn't sure about the visa process. Unfortunately, neither was anyone in my department. They wanted to send me on the Tuesday, but they did not have the letter of invitation ready, so I had to go on the Wednesday, the day my visa expired. I asked a few times for my medical cert and they would not give it to me and stated that I would not need it. In hindsight I know I should have insisted!
They school said they would not book a hotel online for me I should go to Hong Kong and just find a hotel when I am there and they would reimburse me when I got back. This was totally acceptable to me, except I went to check my bank account and the school had not paid me my salary. (I was owed for about a month and a half). So the school lent me money and I had to sign an IOU. (which at the time I found funny because they owed me more than they were lending me...)
The school told me they had organised a driver to bring me to airport. They driver was late and didn't know where the airport was, so I missed my flight. A chinese coworker that was sent with me to the airport managed to get me on a later flight. I went to HongKong and to visa office and of course I needed medical cert. I rang school and they had to fax it, twice because they only sent about 10% of the page the first time. I got visa and came back.
I did not say anything about what happened, but another teacher has told me that the head of our department has been going around the school telling all the other teachers that the entire situation was my fault because I am lax. I was very offended by this, because I work hard at my job and sometimes I visit the students in the evenings in my own time just to talk to them and help them practice. I have also been told that the last time someone was sent for a visa, their salary was also delayed until they came back. They have also included my photo on a flyer when advertising a new school project, saying that i will be teaching business and maths, which is not true.

I am just wondering if this kind of thing is normal?? Or does anybody have any advice, because I am lately I am on the verge of tears!

Thanks.

[7969]

[Sinko]

Hi Milly,

Sorry to hear of your problems. This happens often in China, unfortunately. Badly run schools trying to milk the innocent FT. I suggest you go see the headmaster and chat with him. Tell him you enjoy the classes and whatever other good things that happen. Then lead into the late pay, re-imbursement, etc. Have it all written out and leave it on his desk. Tell him you are sending a copy to the Education Department. Then, I guarantee things will change. Please do not lose your cool. Just sit back and be patient. If things don't change after a while, then GO to the Education Department. Let me know how you get on.

I was in a small town in my first year, but was fortunate to have 2 other FTs with me. I suggest you go to that nearest city on the weekend. Overnight there if possible. Look for foreigners (usually in the bars on Sat. evening....) and make yourself known to them. You might strike up a friendship with someone.

Also, get even friendlier with some of your students. Rather than visit them, suggest a party one evening in a private room in a nice restaurant (say...Friday after school), with permission from their parents. Get everyone to sing a song or do something to entertain, or whatever. Bring out the child in you and have fun. It can be very rewarding and satisfying.

[choudoufu]

the day your visa expired?

what kind of visa did you enter on?

what kind of visa did you get in hong kong?

no advice really until we know the legal situation.

[Laurence]

you are probably working for less than US$1000 per month, right?

That's not enough compensation to justify stress from childish gossip spread by your boss.

Soon enough you will have a year of solid experience, which could facilitate a move to pastures new.
Don't, on any account, waste your energy being caught up in petty squabbles in your office. Your boss said you are lax? who cares? Do you honestly value his/her judgement of your character?
Just keep doing your job. Keep your head down and your own house in order - you're not going to be there forever.

Whenever I have found myself in a period of downtime, I have used it to build up knowledge of photoshop, HTML and Chinese characters (all of those continue to be useful skills).


Also, if you are beginning to feel a bit depressed.. do you exercise regularly? Because it helps a lot.

Sport is a really good way to socialise too - your students would probably love to play badminton with you ~

[milly123]

Thanks for the feedback everybody.

I suppose it's just the honeymoon period wearing off, a bit of culture shock finally kicking in, topped off with bout 20 mosquito bites!

Will just ignore gossip and keep my head down and work out my contract. You are right I shouldn't care what the principal thinks of me! I suppose I was just a bit shocked. Seemed a bit petty, like he was getting his story in first so people would not believe mine. (don't know if that makes sense...)

As for the social side, I have asked around. Nobody seems to know of any bars/clubs locally. So maybe I will take a trip to the city like someone suggested. I run most days, but I might give badminton a shot. It is more social after all!

Anyway, apologies for whining on here. Thanks again. I think half of my problem was having no where to vent the stress. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to answer.

[catinthehatter]

So, in short, you were not professional enough to do the proper research before flying half-way around the world?

You willfully entered China illegally and worked illegally? You are surprised about the "run around" on issues when you were not...

ugggg

It is stunning to me how many people are willing to just spend thousands of dollars and have trouble in some new country and accept no blame or responsibility.

Another deserved deportation.

What does YOUR country do with illegal immigration?

You knew NOTHING about ANYTHING when you chose to come to China and you think...

A M A Z I N G

[nickpellatt]

Hi Milly

I also worked in a similar sounding place; no other Westerners in town (and none visited the place either), no bars, no Starbucks/KFC/Western supermarket etc. I was lucky in that I house shared with a good FT and we became close friends and did a lot together.

Regarding the advice to find friends outside the school, I know that isnt always as simple as it sounds....In almost two years I only met one person outside my school who could speak nearly enough English to befriend. In some places, that just isnt going to happen.

I think you need to persevere with the Chinese teachers a little more. It may never result in wonderful friendships, and you may often find you are on the outside due to language, but its a start. Let it be known you want to learn to cook Chinese food, are interested in Chinese calligraphy, want to learn to play mahjohng (sp) and take up pretty much any opportunity you get to do something with them. Go to KTV with teachers.

Recent threads have discussed student/teacher friendships, not always positively, but again, you might want to look at developing greater bonds with your students. Join the boys when they play basketball, ask a female student can you watch/join their dance classes. Take them up on invites to visit their family home and make yourself available to them as much as possible, and as much as the school permits. If there isnt an English Corner, try and start one. Go to KTV with students. There may not be bars, but there will be KTV!

I know some of this advice might go against the grain with many members of the forum, but having been in a similar situation, I know how difficult it can be.

Other things to suggest, assuming you see the job out, you need to make the most of this year in other areas of your life.

if you dont speak Chinese, this is the perfect time to learn. You may find students or teachers to help you, but find a good resource and learn and study at home in your free time. Just being able to go out and exchange pleasantries with the locals is the first step and adds some human contact that is easily missed.

Learn something else, or practice something else. I was lucky in that I was studying a distance learning course with my University when I was working in an isolated environment. Having the academic stuff to do was something to fall back on when I had those weekends of literally see no-one, talk to no-one.

Concentrate on your teaching. Try new ideas, experiment and even invest a little money in buying things, cutting things out of magazines etc etc. Study English language teaching, brush up on your own teaching knowledge etc.

Find yourself a cosy friendly little internet cafe (again, your town will have them) and seek out things like Prison Break and Lost etc. I always knew that Wednesday afternoons I had no class, and rather than sitting in my room at home, I would trot off to the internet cafe, buy a drink and a cake and work my way through the seasons of whatever TV show I fancied. Yeah, you probably could watch them at home, but its little things like this that get you out and about and give you something to look forward to.

Someone suggested photography, this is a nice little hobby. Writing and blogging also is nice in such situations too. Assuming you have a camera, set yourself little photography projects 'things that are round', 'Interesting looking people', 'Chinglish' and spend sometime working on these.

Some of these suggestions may sound silly ... but it doesnt really matter what you do, you just have to do something. You'll go stir crazy if you dont! Ive been in a similar situation, and I do have many fond memories of those days, but I wouldnt go back to that kind of job now.

[milly123]

You are right, there is KTV! I will have to start warming up the vocal chords!!! Thanks for all your suggestions. They were really helpful. We have a couple of days off next week so I will try and explore the place a bit more. I am especially liking the sound of photography challenges!

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

[wesharris]

[milly123]

@happyeveryday. I bought a gift back from Hong Kong for the girl who brought me to the airport and for the other teachers in the office. I didn�t mean to come across like I was blaming them or ungrateful. Thanks for the rest of your advice. Where did your post go? I had to go and double check my email account. For a moment I thought I had imagined the entire message.

[milly123]

wasn�t trying to offend anyone with the post. I know the situation could have been a LOT worse!! But every time I asked the person in charge about the visa or the documents, I was brushed off. I was just annoyed because I hadn�t complained or mentioned it and still they were saying things beyond my control were my fault. When it was all over and done I was all hyped up with nowhere to vent and no one to vent to and then other minor problems just seemed magnificent, hence the rant on my post in this forum.

I am over it now though...well�almost. I was just wondering was anyone else in the world silly enough to make mistake, or if it was actually just me. (I realise I have left myself open here for a certain someone to say �it�s just you, you know NOTHING, go home� etc�) I will work out my anger in KTV.

Again, I am very grateful for everyone�s reply and advice and I will definitely be giving them a try.
Thanks for your time.

[davidjfrancis]

Hey Milly, your venting is very mild compared to some people over far more trivial situations. You seem to be doing everything you can, hope it all falls into place soon.