Job Discussion Forums

[extoere]

Roger, with all due respect to your post --- and I do admit to the possibility that you were merely being satirical --- I don't think there was anything 'racist' intended by Lee-Odden's use of the word 'caucasian.' Maybe it is a dated term; I don't really know. What I do know, however, is that government agencies at all levels throughout the U.S., including the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as major institutions such as our press, continue to use the word 'caucasian.' And bureaucracies tend to be ultra-sensitive to PC language nuances at all times. Hence, the use of such terms as 'Native Americans,' as opposed to, for instance, the traditional use of the word 'Indian,' however improperly the latter has been used. With, of course, the usual consequences of some persons being able to abruptly change their racial classification at will. Case in point? My three sons, all of whom were classified as 'Caucasian' on their original birth certificates and listed as such on at least one 10-year-census. Later, however, each of them chose to classify himself as 'Asian/Pacific Islander' and can now choose a new 'Multi-Racial' or 'Mixed Race' category. While I find justification in all this, sometimes it's a bit arbitrary when one is a genetic composite of, say, five distinct races and seven or eight different ethnicities. Which is not all that uncommon in places like Hawaii.

We do live in interesting times, eh?

cheers,
estoere

[Norman Bethune]

[quote=]

[blackguy-n-Asia]

HAHA.

I had some crazy son of a gun try to take a look at my snake while I took a leak at Canada's Wonderland. This chinese dude was so obvious and anxiuous to look, he made himself the object of hate for everyone in that john.....lucky to escape with his jade stalk in place. Strange!

[Teacher Lindsay]

blackguy-n-Asia

[blkgrlinchina]

I�m living in Shenzhen now and I�m African American. I have lived here 2 years. You'll have to judge whether or not Chinese people are racist. I don't want to over-generalize. They won�t spit on you and there won�t be any protests in the streets of Shenzhen. However, be prepared to be stared at. They stare at all foreigners�but if you are tall or have red hair or black skin you are an oddity. When I�m out with my friends who are all Caucasians I tend to get the popularity award in this area. Just be prepared to deal with the stares.

You will have plenty of girls hanging on your every word, but that�s because you are 1) male and 2) a foreigner. Hell, in this city I could have all the Chinese girls I wanted, if I liked girls. I would be careful of the types of girls you attract. Shenzhen can be a dark and seedy city. That means whatever you want you can find it. Foreigners come to Shenzhen to make money and the Chinese are no different. Girls from all over China come to �make it big�. Sometimes that means a legitimate job, but sometimes that means marrying a foreigner or at the very worst prostitution.

I think you may find some problems finding teaching and tutoring positions. This is where you�re being of African descent matters. I came through a program to SZ and I asked why I was placed at my school. I was told point blank, off the record that sometimes it is difficult to place african-Americans and this school was very accepting. Nevertheless it doesn�t mean you won�t get hired. It just means it will be a little more difficult than if your skin were white. They would just rather have a Caucasian woman�.part of it is prestige��We have a white foreigner teaching at our school or tutoring our child�.

I wouldn�t let any of this stop me from coming to Shenzhen. As I have said I have lived here for two years. That's has to be a plus for Shenzhen. You will find people here who are ignorant of the outside world but you�ll also find some very enlightened people who have had the opportunity to travel outside of the country, especially in Shenzhen. Supposedly, Shenzhen has the highest percentage of English speakers and also the highest income per capita, which affords them the luxury to travel outside of China. So, I�ll leave you with this quote from Mark Twain; �Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn�t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.� BlkGrlinChina

[LSP]

Hello, I'm new here. I'm also an African-American thinking of teaching in China and Japan.

It seems that everyone agrees that black people have the wrong skin color for getting some jobs in China, so what are some good placement/recruiting agencies that I can use to get in.

I've been studing Mandarin Chinese for about 3 years off and on and I'd say I'm at the intermediate fluency level. My Chinese teacher and I both feel that the only way I'll become fulent is if I go to China, so I figured I could get a job teaching English while finishing up my languege studies.

[Victoria]

[jg]

lsp,


Nevermind the snide comments of Victoria. I doubt he/she is in China, and if so, often seems to be interested in nothing more than agitation.

You should forego recruiting agencies - I imagine most posters would second that. In Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, you can look in that's magazine, and the internet is the way to go for everywhere else. Finding offers here is easy, just be sure to negotiate for a fair salary and reasonable hours/duties. Being black here is not some death sentence, I am in the midst of another GREAT day and I fully expect to have another one tomorrow. Doesn't mean that I don't have bad, or very bad ones, but it is just to say all days aren't gloomy.

www.thatsshanghai.com - use this link to switch to the city of your choice.

As far as fluency, being here will be a tremendous help, but 20 years? What sort of formula came up with such a specific timeframe? I have met many people here who speak extremely well after only a few years. Depends on you and your motivation. My coworker is reading 1000 characters and speaking pretty well after only one year.

Good luck!

[Kurochan]

[Victoria]

You smart "educated know-it-all" - "been there done that" - "2 years 1/2 veteran show off" explain the word: FLUENT


Molecules agitation is transformed into frictional heat, if are you too hot open the window and jump that will cool you off......

[LSP]

As far as my Chinese level is concerned Victoria, I'm in the final level of a college Chinese course. In fact I'm so far ahead of the rest of the class that the level I should be in isn't even offered by the school and I had to work out something special with my teacher and tutor. I can already read and write 1500+ characters, but that's mainly due to book studies done outside of class. I just have trouble putting a sentence together and understanding what is being spoken sometimes due to me not using the aural part of the language that much.

Sorry for the rant. It seems to be the consensus of everyone here that recruiters are evil and I should avoid them. I was just a little concerned about me having trouble or getting stranded due to a school not accepting me after I got there is all. Trust me I'm not letting the black thing get to me. It's just that a couple weeks ago all I knew was that all the Asians I ever met here in America were cool with me. Even the exchange students and immigrants. Then when I seriously started looking into coming here to teach I was bombarded with "oh they don't like black people over there," or "you may have some trouble finding a job," so my world has been rocked a little. In the end I just want to learn Chinese. I should be able to get to the level I want to be in a year and a half, and I know I'll have some cool experiences along the way. I'm still going, I just needed to clarify a few things.

and by the way sometimes when i type at 3am i don't bother using the spell check

[Kurochan]

[Victoria]

[Giantbudwiser]

"jg and kurochan definition of "Chinese fluency" is base on how soon can they bargain a banana and a hooker in Chinese...."
Haha, I liked that.

[LSP]