Job Discussion Forums

[beingandbrian]

I'm teaching in China in several weeks and in terms of teaching materials and personal materials, I'm not sure what to bring or how much to bring?

I kind of wanted to save money but from what people are telling me I should buy a kindle.

I should also try and bring clothes which I wouldn't mind leaving behind in a year?

For stupid things like deodorant should I bring a bunch or have my fam. mail it to me?

Any other suggestions?

[wesharris]

Bring as many armaments and nukes as your ships can carry. There's something scary out there.

[Lobster]

The two things that I've found available but expensive here are deodorant and shaving cream. Everything else should be no problem. Large-sized shoes may be difficult to find if you're not in a major city.

RED

[seamallowance]

Bring two sets of heavyweight polypro long underwear and a warm hat that fits. Make sure that your laptop plays DVDs and sign up for a proxy server.
I also wish that I had brought along Sesame Street DVDs, Dr. Seuss books and a world map IN ENGLISH.

[Old Surrender]

Lined index cards do not exist here.

My wife has sensitivities to scented laundry soap, shampoos, etc., so if you have those problems stock up before you come. I found unscented All at a carrefour in Dalian, but that's the only place I found unscented laundry items.

Also, some Western OTC drugs are good to bring. My wife is allergic to dust and mold so we brought a couple bottles of Claritin and Benadryll.

[Miles Smiles]

Bring a year's supply of disposable razors. Chinese razors are expensive and they don't keep an edge for longer than 2 shaves.

Deodorant? In my small town of 2 million, it took me about a month of hunting before I found it. Luckily, I brought one Mennen stick with me.

Yes, I suggest that you buy a kindle. I will be returning with one.

If possible, bring a good 8th grade level grammar textbook. This will help you when you need to make handouts to address specific problems in grammar. (Sure, there are plenty of resources for this sort of thing, but the ones that I know of aren't printer-friendly and usually don't provide enough work for those days when you need to throw them some busy work.

SEWING NEEDLES and the color thread you'll need.

If you need music, load your CDs onto your laptop. (Don't use school computers. They're buggy). When you arrive in China, you can buy a good computer speaker system for about 200 yuan.

[kev7161]

Speaking of Kindle: You can get Kindle for your PC or Laptop. Just do a search at Amazon and it is easy (and free!) to download. Then you can download their free items, their 99 cent items or their fuller priced items directly to your laptop. To be sure, carrying around a Kindle is certainly more lightweight and manageable, but if you are sitting in an office somewhere with nothing to do for a couple of hours and you have your laptop with you, you can fire up your Kindle right there. They give you three free sample books to look at once you've downloaded and the font and everything else is just like the portable Kindle.

Also, speaking of Kindle: It has been rumored that the Kindles will be free by this November. You would have to buy some sort of Amazon package/program thing (like a membership to get discounts or something I think), but the Kindle will be included as a bonus for signing up for the program (so "free" is kind of a loose word) - - akin to a mobile phone plan in the states I suppose.

[kev7161]

Hey Mods! Can there please be a sticky about this? No offense to the poster, but this question gets asked over and over again. Of course, everyone has their own priorities as to what should be brought over, but every thread seems to always list a dozen or so of the same items each time.