Job Discussion Forums

tomseslcafe · Joined: 25 Feb 2015 Posts: 17 Location: Bangkok, Thailand

After living and working in Shenzhen, China for two years there are some things I love and some things I hate about the city.

Things I like:
It has a wonderful, modern subway with all the names of the stops written in English.

People are generally friendly to foreigners, especially the Chinese tutors at the school I work at.

The weather here is nice, it's subtropical so the winters are mild and the summers are hot but not too hot.

The cost of living is reasonable, I have been able to save $10,000 in two years.

The Chinese are more family oriented, I would say us Americans are more career oriented and the lack of emphasis on relationships is readily apparent in weaker and fractured families.

You can get Chinese herbal medicine at the pharmacy and it is very effective.

The students are wonderful, they are eager to learn, excellent at memorizing new vocabulary and make a sincere effort. They have always been respectful toward me (as a teacher).

Things I don't like:

The huge amount of smoking that goes in here, it is especially obnoxious when people smoke in elevators.

In China the best person for the job does not always get the job, quiet often it is given to a friend. There are many people in my school's administration that must have gotten their job through friends because they obviously have no idea what they are doing, but this doesn't matter what matters in the relationship not how well you do at your job.

My school regularly offers free language lessons but I am too tired after teaching 40 hours to be able to take them so I have only learned a few basic phrases.

There is no one child policy, people are having babies like crazy, there is absolutely no awareness whatsoever about overpopulation and the strain that it is putting on the world's resources.

I have one student who's English is at a very high lever and he is utterly uninterested in current events and the news so he has no idea what is going on in the world. I find this to be very sad.

Son of Bud Powell · Joined: 04 Mar 2015 Posts: 179 Location: Since 2003

I'm glad that you haven't succumbed to the "Bad China Life" syndrome. I happen to like China, warts and all.

What you dislike isn't so unusual. It's a good thing that you haven't experienced things that others have experienced to make them go barking mad. One needs a sense of humor and the ability to count to ten before getting PO'd. You may have already realized that what you don't like about China are some of the very same things that many Chinese don't like.

In China the best person for the job does not always get the job, quiet often it is given to a friend.

It happens everywhere, but it is certainly often brazen in China and angering, considering the riff-raff that often blows in. They're the ones who don't consider ESL teaching in China a professional job.

There is no one child policy, people are having babies like crazy, there is absolutely no awareness whatsoever about overpopulation and the strain that it is putting on the world's resources.

I wasn't aware that Shenzhen was exempt from the law. International publications have mentioned the PRC's consideration of lifting the law. This is interesting.

I have one student who's English is at a very high lever and he is utterly uninterested in current events and the news so he has no idea what is going on in the world. I find this to be very sad.

Only one? Get used to it. Hopefully, you've encountered the many students who seem to be a bottomless well of desire to learn and know.

Stick with it. You seem to have a balanced view of China.

happyinshangqiu · Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:17 pm Post subject:

All my buddies in Shenzhen love living there.

It is probably one of the easiest cities in China for westerners to get used to.

All my China experiences came with living in Henan and that was pretty tough, it took me two years before I got used to it. There would be many days where I was spitting feathers.

I realised that Chinese politese, courtesy and manners are different than to the west, not inferior and what we consider important (like jumping a queue or smoking in a public place) they don't. For example, when I stopped being so British and mentally observing the order of the bus queue and just barged in when the bus came, nobody around me rebuked me or even cared - and that is when I got it and started becoming happier with my life here.

It is my perceptions that were making me unhappy. I also understand that I had to be more proactive about things I didn't like - smoking in elevators - don't get on with a smoker or get off on the next floor, in a restaurant, move to another table, that kind of thing helps.

And another thing to remember is that there are as many jerks here as there are back home. I don't verbally or physically confront every arsehole back home and I don't here, same rules apply.

water rat · Joined: 30 Aug 2014 Posts: 1098 Location: North Antarctica

happyinshangqiu · Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:46 pm Post subject:

LarssonCrew · Joined: 06 Jun 2009 Posts: 1308

Realised that this was a troll when I came to:

You can get Chinese herbal medicine at the pharmacy and it is very effective.

I actually laughed for 2 minutes straight.

JoeKing · Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 519

Hey tomseslcafe (or anyone else familiar with Shenzhen), do you and other expats that you know get over to HK very often? Is it a very easy and worthwhile trip to make on a weekend? I am considering a position in Shenzhen and the close proximity to HK was one of the things that intrigued me about it.

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

MuscatGary · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:20 am Post subject:

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

MuscatGary · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:28 am Post subject:

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

happyinshangqiu · Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:33 am Post subject:

Markness · Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 738 Location: Chengdu

Yeah, I agree with some of the above. If you get used to the habits here then you don't feel stressed out at all. I am bigger than the average character around here so if they bump/shove into me then it usually doesn't work out too well for them. I am better then them at their own game now Smile

My only gripe is yeah.. the over-population as you mentioned tom, but that's something we kind of should have known before coming, heh. I still get annoyed a little bit with the gorillian people in the courtyard of my apartment blocking the paths/little kids with terrible spatial awareness almost crashing into me as I am trying to get through but meh.. there is way more goods here than bads IMO.

Also, I never see violent morons here. At home you can visit a bar and your quota can be met very quickly. People are pretty chill and it's really nice. The only thing that gets a bit tiring is people yelling in my ear that I have big feet. I'm aware of this already, thanks! haha.

tomseslcafe · Joined: 25 Feb 2015 Posts: 17 Location: Bangkok, Thailand

I appreciate everyone responses, I wanted to reply to a few people.

@Son of Bud Powell, regarding the one child policy, as far as I understand if people have more than one child they have to pay a fine and this child may have trouble going to school unless he or she goes to school in their hometown. The Chinese love babies and feel that they more babies you have the more happiness you have so they don't seem to care much about the one child policy.

@ Larsson crew, you can laugh if you want but I find Chinese medicine to help me a lot. China is very polluted which has caused me to occasionally get sick. Chinese herbs helps with things like sore throat.

@Joeking, it is pretty easy to get to Hong Kong from here, I usually go about three times a year. It takes about 40 minutes to get through the checkpoint if you go on a weekday. Get an Octopus subway card so you can use the HK subway.