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BRING YOUR: Sense of humor, humility, patience.........
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Non Sequitur

Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:30 am Post subject:

Good OP. I�ve noticed that the ones with the poorest attitudes are those who arrive in China because they can�t get a job at home. I often want to say to them: �Your home country doesn�t want you, but China is prepared to give you a job. Even so, you seem to need it to be the same as the place you've arrived from', or �Why do you denigrate the place that actually feels that under all that attitude, you have marketable skills?�

haller_79

Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 145

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:04 am Post subject:

Quote:

Forget all this talk about bringing large shoes, deodorant, tampons, etc. If you look long enough you can find all those things in China.

In my opinion, the character traits or attitudes that you bring with you to your job in China are far more important than any material possessions.

A sense of humor and being able to laugh with others and also laugh at yourself will save your sanity. I have seen many here fail because they have no sense of humor. Most Chinese have a great sense of humor, and being able to share a laugh with them will make life here so much more enjoyable.
A sense of humor may be the most important asset to bring to be able to adjust to China.

Humility is needed in China. The arrogant will find themselves humbled or humiliated very quickly.

Patience is needed all day everyday until you can adjust to life here.
Losing your patience is a very quick way to "lose face".

Over the past few years I have seen many newbies arrive in China, and the ones that don't survive and thrive seem to lack patience, humility and/or a sense of humor.

Interesting, I've never been to China but always imagined the best qualities you could take there would be teaching skills and qualifications plus a certain level of Mandarin. Apparently it's more important just to be able to laugh at stuff? Does this mean if you can learn to not take life seriously you have a long term future in China waiting for you?

rogerwilco

Joined: 10 Jun 2010
Posts: 1549

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:00 am Post subject:

haller_79 wrote:

Most schools in China do not take the foreign teachers seriously.

Chinese teachers are expected to do the "real teaching".

Classroom management and teaching skills are important.
But, you will probably never enjoy your life in China if you take yourself too seriously.

Most schools just want foreigners for "edutainment" , exposing the students to foreign culture, and helping students with pronunciation.

If you have a sense of humor, and you can give a fun class as well as mix in some education, then you will probably be well-liked and respected.

If you take yourself and your job too seriously, then you will probably be disappointed and frustrated.

Speaking Mandarin will help you outside the classroom.
But, speaking Mandarin in the classroom is typically not needed or even desired by most schools and students.

One recent newbie at my school first told the students that the textbooks were incorrect and that the Chinese teachers were teaching "Chinglish", and not "proper English"

This same newbie then started teaching English while speaking Chinese to the students, same as the Chinese teachers.

The administration actually gave him the courtesy of trying to explain to him that he was insulting the school, insulting the Chinese teachers, and also confusing the students .

But, the newbie, in his arrogance, considers himself to be a "real teacher", and refused to change his attitude and teaching methods.

The newbie was allowed to finish his contract, but the school refused to give him any of the documents necessary for him renew his visa with a different school. He will also not receive the end of contract monies that the other foreign teachers have already received.

Fable105

Joined: 31 May 2011
Posts: 16

Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:29 pm Post subject:

wangdaning wrote:

Forgot to add that I like the post. Going in with flexibility and adaptability is necessary in a new environment.

Too many times people get off the plane and expect a whole society (the largest in the world in this case) to bend to their whims. Until you are Emperor of China that ain't happening here. It is difficult to not get frustrated, but minimizing your frustration is key. It is amazing what can be done when you relax and joke about it. For example, taxi drivers charging too much, often an issue. Making some jokes and laughing about it usually gets you the correct price. It gets me frustrated sometimes though, which leads to me waiting forever for a taxi (which compounds the frustration).

This doesn't just go for China though, it is quite good advice wherever you are.

I am angry and frustrated with my school right now so I am going to criticize your post.

You are expected to be flexible. They (in this case I am talking about a school administration) will not be flexible. The administration I work for is the most rigid organization I have ever encountered. X has to be done like Y. It would be easier for you and maybe even them if X was done like Z. But X has to be done like Y because those are the rules and breaking the rules is bad. This example can be applied to countless things. You have to adapt to them. They will not adapt to you unless you put up a fight. I do not want to put up a fight but I am always pushed around. I have done favors for the administration in the past thinking that someone will realize that I have helped them and they will pay back my kindness. No one cares.

I never came to China thinking everything would go my way. But I am frustrated right now because everything would be so much easier if they could try to be flexible. I have tried to be patient. Yet it feels like I always have to scramble to cover up someone else's mistakes.

isitts

Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Posts: 193
Location: Korea

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 12:10 am Post subject: Re: BRING YOUR: Sense of humor, humility, patience.........

GuestBob wrote:

rogerwilco wrote:

...tampons...If you look long enough you can find all those things in China.

I agree with everything you say apart from this.

I was thinking the same thing. I mean, what do you do in the meantime? Just say to yourself, �Well, at least I brought my sense of humor and humility.�

wangdaning

Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 3154

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:53 am Post subject:

Fable105 wrote:

wangdaning wrote:

Yeah, these things are definitely not a catch all to make all of China good. All you can really do is try you best at your end, but things can still turn out bad. I think, and I could be wrong, that the OP was trying to say that these things are needed, not that having these things will make everything good. Sorry to hear you're in a pickle, hope it works out in the end.

rogerwilco

Joined: 10 Jun 2010
Posts: 1549

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:04 am Post subject: Re: BRING YOUR: Sense of humor, humility, patience.........

isitts wrote:

GuestBob wrote:

rogerwilco wrote:

...tampons...If you look long enough you can find all those things in China.

I agree with everything you say apart from this.

I was thinking the same thing. I mean, what do you do in the meantime? Just say to yourself, �Well, at least I brought my sense of humor and humility.�

Maxi-pads....almost every store in China has them.

Tetris

Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 24

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:29 am Post subject:

Quote:

While in principle I largely agree with the OP, I'm also going to have to second Fable's sentiment here.

I showed up to China determined not to be one of those angry foreigners who expects 1.3 billion people to bend to their will. I made up my mind that I would be very patient, keep a smile on my face,not fight with my school, and not take the job too seriously.

That attitude wound up getting me screwed over. The management expressed disapproval because they couldn't visably see my anger; I was made to feel that I wasn't taking responsibility for myself because I wasn't beyotching at the school 24/7. It was only when I got aggressive that I got any respect at all.

I guess as foreigners we are expected to act a certain way; I also guess there's a happy medium between being patient/taking nothing seriously and being demanding/inflexible. I didn't find it. I was pretty much forced to be as hard-line and stubborn as possible, contrary to my prior intentions.

Lesson learned.

rogerwilco

Joined: 10 Jun 2010
Posts: 1549

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:37 am Post subject:

Tetris wrote:

Your experience seems very unusual. I have worked at several schools in China, and I never felt as though management wanted to see anger or aggression from me.

Maybe the management at your school was sadistic or crazy ?

Tetris

Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 24

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:01 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Probably both, given the way my time there ended...

I'm not sure they WANTED to see my anger--but it seemed to be a prerequisite to getting anyone to listen. It was my foreign manager especially (though he was American) who kept telling me that I wasn't being pushy enough and that his higher ups (obviously, Chinese) didn't think I was having problems because I wasn't complaining enough. I was trying to be patient--I don't like showing up to someone else's country and bossing the locals around. But my good attitude was seen as a sign of weakness, I guess.

In some ways, I suppose it was very unusual; in other ways, it was just typical Chinese management--using any excuse to be difficult.

And to be fair--some of my more fiery colleagues went through the same things I did, with just as little success. I got things done because I held my passport in my hand and threatened to walk off the job and leave the country unless my basic needs were satisfied.

It's a story for the grandkids, anyway.

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