Job Discussion Forums

[Scrabble King]

I notice there are a lot of countries that pay a lot better than China, so I am just curious what you guys think about the pros and cons of working here. I have been teaching here for five years myself and here is what I think...

BEST PART:

1. Great selection of foods
2. A lot of ancient historical sites
3. Very friendly women
4. Not a lot of hard work - less than 30 teaching hours per week.

WORST PART:

1. Air pollution
2. Too many scams (See: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140913101623AAWvOdx)
3. Low pay
4. No career path working for Chinese employers

So why did I stay? Chinese wife and family now.

[SH_Panda]

Best parts:

- Not many hours

- High pay

- Cheap food, beer etc


Worst part:

On the run conmen with mental health issues living here and creating multiple internet personas in order to (in his own warped mind) bring the EFL industry down in China.

[roadwalker]

Teaching in Chinese universities has always been enjoyable for me.

The last year or two of the hydra snake of posters warning potential teachers of scams and then listing a circle of linked websites to supposedly protect them from the evil scammers, has been annoying and probably has driven otherwise good posters from these forums.

[toteach]

Best:
Muslim noodles, cheap and tasty in every province
China's a convenient base from which to explore Asia

Worst:
Constant construction. Like this morning. Directly above me. 7 a.m.
Unwanted attention from locals, no matter how well-intended, when you're really just trying to blend in

[Listerine]

Best:

-Wide food variety (including imported stuff)
-Generally friendly people
-Relatively cushy work hours - 1.5 hours a day, 3 months paid vacation a year? Nice.
-Reasonable pay considering the above.
-Still see WTF stuff daily (good or bad, at least it keeps it interesting)
-Fascinating place to travel around. I haven't felt the need to leave the country in 3 years.

Worst:

-Most of the cheap food available is vile, bacterial muck.
-Girls with armpit hairs.
-Filthy water & air.
-The "me first - screw everyone else" attitude that pervades so many situations...
-Poor communication, late notice regarding everything, but most annoying work-wise.
-The weather where I am (Jiangsu) is generally hideous.

Overall I'd rank my China experience until now a solid 8/10.

[water rat]

Best: safety lack of violent crime potential, cheap dark beer, amazing history and culture - second to none, who but Egypt, Turkey or a Hopi reservation are even in the competition?

Worst: no cheese, no cheese and no cheese - in my town even the processed crap is as rare as hen's teeth. (You're talking to a rat, remember)

My town has no pollution or litter problems to speak of, and I am an old married man, so don't care about friendly or pretty girls (bless'em)

[SH_Panda]

[water rat]

[wangdaning]

[drjtrekker]

lol,

Good answers.

[Scrabble King]

I totally forgot about the cheese! It amazing the Chinese love our pizza yet their supermarkets don't sell any frozen pizzas or cheese.

I also think China's big cities should have at least one 24/7 Denny's or maybe at least an A&W drive through open all night. I mean come on, Beijing is the 5th largest international city in the world and the subways and buses shut down before 11pm - even on weekends!

[Trebek]

Good: Low hours, fair salary usually with shitty apartment. Can walk down the street drinking a beer without hassle unless causing a problem.
Hot women who dress like sluts, but most aren't like that.
Dumplings cheap.
Beer Cheap.
Friendly people, mainly outside the tourist areas.
Many of the parks are very nice.
Safe from violent crime.
Great transportation infrastructure.
Most students are polite and want to learn.
Chinese women like foreign men.
Chinese men like foreign women but dont do to well.
Cheap flights to other places in China and South East Asia.



Bad: Dont trust anything to be real.
Don't trust your employer.
Watch where you step.
Fireworks 24/7
A contract is merely a piece of toilet paper.
Pollution. And lame excuses about pollution. "We are a developing country"...
Crossing the street and making it across.
Stupid nationalism and occasional racism.
Watch your pockets, bags, and bicycles.
They treat animals badly and tend to eat most of them.

[thechangling]

"They treat animals badly and tend to eat most of them".

Very funny but sad and true. Comedy gold.

[maxand]

[Bud Powell]

Wait. We're talking about LIVING in China. I see no mention of teaching or any reference to it (except Trebek's "Dont trust anything to be real...Don't trust your employer...A contract is merely a piece of toilet paper. "

Good: I have been treated very well by most employers.

Bad: I've been treated like TP by the rest.

Trebek is correct in saying that contracts are like toilet paper, only less useful. I had an assistant city FAO tell me not to count on my university to make good on its contractual obligations. He summed it up when he said that "there are some realities that are beyond your comprehension." He was right.

Bad: some universities have really bad oral English textbooks. Some have NO textbooks for oral English.

Good: (See above). I've created and collected enough handouts to teach all but the basic level of English. I found out that my work made it to several Chinese teachers at one school who requested copies of other lessons.

Good: I've gotten very good, useful feedback after in-class evaluations.

Bad: I've gotten absolutely crummy, useless, and non-applicable feedback.

Bad: I'm sorry to say this, but I've met the most useless westerners in China.

Good: I've met some very dedicated teachers and really nice westerners in China. I always look forward to meeting Australians. My Australian friends are among the most outrageously funny people I've ever met.

Good: Teaching English majors in a university or a college setting is USUALLY a wonderful experience. Many of them are starving for knowledge. I enjoy my students. I like going to lunch and dinner with them when I can.

Bad: I seem to attract hangers-on, mostly males who I find out are teachers in the Chinese badlands and need help making things work. I know that they mean well, but I really don't want to spend my free time helping them develop a curriculum.

Bad: Though I have fewer and fewer of them, the "Bad China Days" can be maddening. Like Charles Bukowski said,"It's not the large things that send a man to the madhouse...but a shoelace that snaps
with no time left …"

Bad: No heat or cooling in the class rooms.

Bad: My schools (generally) don't give much thought to where I teach. Invariably, I find that at least one class is assigned to either a tiny break room or a toilet.

Good:I take advantage of this by moving around to different class rooms. In the winter, I take an unoccupied room with good exposure. In hot weather, I go to a cool side of a building.

Bad: CTs generally, won't talk to me, not even the English teachers.