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Denim-Maniac
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238
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 Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:10 am Post subject: |
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| muffintop wrote: |
| Yeah..not to derail this thread but D-M you have been lucky so far. |
Maybe ... As someone else said I lead a charmed life 
| muffintop wrote: |
| The second guy was a pill popper and drunk who would sit in his room all day and night. I think I saw him twice in passing. I never encountered such an individual before in my life and hope never to again. |
If you never encountered that kind of guy before, you probably arent likely to again. Just bad luck I think. Those types arent common so ruling out a job on the basis of shared housing wouldnt be my choice.
Ive had plenty of roomies. One from Hainan came to visit me weekend before last. He is a chemical engineer in Brazil now and we have stayed in touch since 2006. My second job in Hainan also gave me a life long friend ... who is also friends with the guy from Brazil and is himself flying to Brazil next month to visit. Good guys.
Since being in Yangshuo I have roomed with an American photographer, a Hawaiin dietician, a young American with an odd sense of dress (that could just be an American thing tho!), a 62 year old Aussie woman (best house mate ever!), The American photographer again (people keep coming back for new contracts here), an American writer (a little eccentric but an absolute diamond guy), a Polish guy who was as serious about teaching as I am, a 6 foot 1 inch tall Blonde American girl who was quite Amazonian, an American rock-climber, the American photographer again!, and am currently sharing with a 60 something year old Portugese woman who is studying Chinese and a young Brit who hardly ever stays in the apartment as he pretty much lives elsewhere with his GF!
I cant be that lucky to not encounter a lunatic surely? Some of the above have been great, some I hardly speak to, but none of them would be deal-breakers in my jobs. |
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Javelin of Radiance
Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West
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| Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| Denim-Maniac wrote: |
| nonconsilium wrote: |
I was instructed to come in on a tourist visa, and to sign the contract in person after arrival...
I honestly don't mind living with fellow staff as someone who has never been to China, let alone worked there ... |
Addressing the later first ... I live in shared housing, have always lived in shared housing ... and would probably prefer to live in shared housing. I can understand people having a preference for living alone ... but its certainly not a deal-breaker IMHO. I have never had a bad experience, have sometimes had fantastic experiences I wouldnt swap and to be frank .. living with someone who can show you the ropes is a positive thing in my book. |
Living together isn't a prereq for showing someone the ropes. Your mentor can show you the ropes and at the end of the day go back to their own flat, which in many cases here isn't too far away. If you like it though, then I'm happy for you.
| Denim-Maniac wrote: |
| I cant be that lucky to not encounter a lunatic surely? Some of the above have been great, some I hardly speak to, but none of them would be deal-breakers in my jobs. |
The people you live with right now could be kind of loony; you may just have a very high tolerance level for the kind of idiocy that's common among the foreign teacher population here. I'd say you're the only person I've ever heard of in China that would accept shared housing willingly. Then again you only seem to be in China for short stretches, not on a permanent basis, which makes a huge difference in what you might be willing to put up with. Yeah I've lived in shared housing before too, and that's why I'm so opposed to it. If I'm coming here to work for a relatively low salary there better be other benefits available, nice furnished single apartment away from potentially off their rocker co-workers, to offset that. Guess that's one of the main points for me, I'm not willing to be paid less and then let my employer cheap out on the housing and other benefits too. I have more respect for myself than that.
If the person who started this thread is ok with shared housing and coming over on a tourist visa, go for it. Just be prepared for the worst, because there's a half decent chance things will go pear shaped to some degree, or you might get lucky. |
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Denim-Maniac
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238
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| Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:33 am Post subject: |
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The other thing, which I have been considering since my last post ... is that Im the loony guy everyone else is complaining about! 
| Javelin of Radiance wrote: |
If the person who started this thread is ok with shared housing and coming over on a tourist visa, go for it. |
Not fair to lump those two things together though. One runs this risk of being illegally employed, the other is just a personal preference. |
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nonconsilium
Joined: 07 Apr 2008
Posts: 12
Location: New York
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| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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I'm wondering why I posted at all? Not a single direct answer to my question about what sort of deals others have had with similar gigs  Totally got derailed into a discussion about the merits/pratfalls of shared living spaces. |
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U99A
Joined: 12 Jan 2013
Posts: 64
Location: P.R.C
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 6:52 am Post subject: |
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| nonconsilium wrote: |
| I'm wondering why I posted at all? Not a single direct answer to my question about what sort of deals others have had with similar gigs Totally got derailed into a discussion about the merits/pratfalls of shared living spaces. |
Big wup. |
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Bud Powell
Joined: 11 Jul 2013
Posts: 1736
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:30 am Post subject: |
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| nonconsilium wrote: |
| I'm wondering why I posted at all? Not a single direct answer to my question about what sort of deals others have had with similar gigs Totally got derailed into a discussion about the merits/pratfalls of shared living spaces. |
The problem may be that you asked the wrong people. This is a forum for teachers. I don't think you'll find many admissions folks here. |
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Big Worm
Joined: 02 Jan 2011
Posts: 171
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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Run, don't walk.
Commission = no.
Shared housing = no.
"Just learn Chinese along the way and you can make 12,000 per student in a few years" - LOL.
24 hour on call = In your dreams.
Guessing they will want you to be a and independent contractor and not a contract employee = illegal (I think).
Probably can't get you a visa legally. Might not even be a legal company, just a dude with a website sittin' in his one room.
This is just a hairbrained scheme from some desperately greedy guy with his head in the clouds. You find the students, do all the work, put up with insane parents and a spoiled little prince (24/7?? Seriously???), all of which have unrealistic goals, and (maybe) get them into a college. He collects 15,000 USD, and pays you 400 USD.
Hey, can't blame a guy for trying! |
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