Job Discussion Forums

[thunder_god]

I was wondering what can I expect if I'm supplied with a free apartment? Can some members post pictures of some of the apartments supplied? I just want to get a realistic idea of what type of environment I will be living in? I'm hoping they won't be supplying their teachers with a rat/roach infested crap hole the size of 100 sq ft.

Will a typically be given a single bed or double/queen size?
Will their be a fridge/ Stove/ Microwave
Private Shower/Bathtub?
Sofa/Tables/Chairs

etc.

[wangdaning]

It varies too much for an accurate answer. I suggest when talking with the employer you ask for pictures of the accommodation. My place came with two rooms, with queen size beds, a stove, fridge, sofas, tables, tv, closets, desks, well pretty much all the furniture. Oddly, my original flat at my work had a shower, with a bathtub (bathtubs are not common).

It had all the essentials and was pretty nice, except no one fixed things that were broken (ended up just doing it myself as it is really cheap/also cheap to hire someone if it is something you have no skills to do). If it was a major issue it did get fixed, but if they felt it was minor it took ages (malfunctioning toilets-minor/caved in bathtub that made even showering impossible-major). It also came with the foreign expert building management department, pieces of sh t that only got nice to me after I threw a PC across the room and yelled at the lady she was a stupid (expletive). They know no English so all she knew is I was pissed.

Needless to say, after living there for 5 years I grew tired of it, and although I have that free apartment I rent one outside for peace of mind. Not very expensive actually, and I have a nice landlord, pay rent in three month chunks and deduct anything that I pay for maintenance, my wife just alerts him to the situation and tells him how much.

-Sorry for the semi off-topic ranting.

[roadwalker]

Yeah, the living situations vary. The outside of the building might be modern looking, or it might be old and dingy looking. Inside, the apartments I have lived in were more finished than my Chinese neighbors for the most part, although many of my Chinese colleagues bought/acquired much nicer apartments when they had a chance. By finished, I mean a tile floor instead of cement, nicer doors and finished doorways to divide rooms, nicer bathroom fixtures, etc. If you were to take a university job outside of Beijing or Shanghai, you should expect:

Electricity will be 220-240 volt 50hz. Power strips/extension cords often come with universal sockets that can take most plugs. If from N America, check any electric items you plan to bring along to see if they are compatible.

It will probably be spacious with an extra room or bedroom.

It will have solid walls (i.e., not framed and walled with sheet rock or plaster, but brick adobe or cement). It's less of a fire hazard and is decent sound protection, though not enough for some neighbors sometimes. It also means that it can be difficult to put up pictures and wall decorations, but not impossible. Even if you are on a high floor, your windows may be covered by iron bars to prevent theft. Makes me nervous when I think of fires, but the building itself probably won't burn and my way out usually wasn't cluttered with flammable objects.

The furniture can vary too. You'll usually get a bed, a desk, a sofa and a stuffed or wooden chair plus some type of kitchen table with chairs.

You will probably get some kitchen utensils and dishes and bedding. If you don't you can easily find something in local supermarkets, but maybe not exactly what you're looking for. Buy the absolute minimum at first and then ask around and shop around before making major purchases.

You should expect a small to medium refrigerator and a microwave. No standard oven but you may have a range/cooker built into the countertop or sitting on the counter. Alternatively you may have a tabletop induction cooker (those magnetic ones that need a metal pot for heating.) And they'll throw in a rice cooker which can be used to cook other things (there are some threads on this).

The kitchen may look like a western kitchen except without an oven, or it may look like a small cooking nook of a square meter or two, with your refrigerator across the living room somewhere. The counters will invariable be placed at a level to hurt your back unless you are about 4'9".

Speaking of squatting...your bathroom will most likely (but not absolutely) come with a throne/sit down toilet, as opposed to a squat/floor toilet or a rough hole in the floor. The sink may or may not be in the same room as the toilet and the shower will probably be in close proximity to the toilet without any separation, such as a wall or shower curtain. The water heater could be either an electric small tank, or a heat as you go type, either electric or gas. Be careful of exposed wires in any of them or delays in the gas ignition on the heat as you go type.

In the north, your apartment will include heat after Nov. 15th or thereabouts and it will shut off in spring, by law I believe. Some landlords go strictly by the calendar while others may start the heat when it gets cold and end it when it stops. In the south and the not-so-south your building probably won't have heat at all. But you will probably have an air conditioner that can be set for heating as well. Hot water bottles, electric mattress pads and/or portable heaters may be necessary.

In most of the coastal areas, and much of the inland areas of the east, the humidity can be really high, and an air conditioner is a must. Most foreign teachers' apartments that I've been aware of came with at least one air conditioner. One or two of the apartments I lived in came with a mosquito net as well, but they made me feel claustrophobic. I found that a fan blowing over the bed usually kept the mosquitoes off of me, if the air conditioner alone wasn't enough.

[Non Sequitur]

..and the biggie for me is apartment proximity to classrooms.
My first job was 50 mins by bus from classrooms and that 50 mins was not paid time.
Amazing how standard apartments are across China. That last post by Roadwalker could be describing my apt in Qingdao.
There will be a clothes washer in the bathroom which discharges down the shower drain.
The night you arrive make sure the water heater unit is 'on' otherwise that hot shower in the morning, won't be.
I've slept under nets and with a mosquito coil smouldering away.
I found the best was those plug in the wall units with the replaceable pads. Raid?
Proximity to dining hall might be question to ask. I ate breakfast in my apartment but used halls for lunch and dinner.
I hate cold food and usually take my purchase back to apt and nuke it a little in microwave.
A manageable personal space can make all the difference to getting to grips with your first job.

[Nano]

The above posters answered your questions really well so I'll just show you some pictures of my current apartment provided by my school:
http://oi60.tinypic.com/scbdlf.jpg
http://oi58.tinypic.com/16aoc8y.jpg
http://oi57.tinypic.com/dzt8w9.jpg
http://oi62.tinypic.com/j9yp7a.jpg

I'm pretty happy with where I live. Having a clean/modern apartment makes a huge difference to my well being when I work somewhere. If I didn't have a decent place to stay then my overall happiness would decrease drastically. But it really depends on your school/city as well. You can also search on YouTube for apartment tours. Many ESL teachers in china have video tours of where they stay.

[wangdaning]

Not too bad nano, bit the kitchen picture is strange to me, seems you have a flat grill? I would go for one of those, but never seen them.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

My experience is that there is a range of offerings in the university apartments.

Some are converted one room dorms with a shower room and one room that has a bed that is a step above a park bench. The kitchen consists of a stainless steel counter that was originally intended to be used as an autopsy table. (No joke). Avoid one-room converted dormitories because they're the same squalid conditions that the students live in with the exception being a smelly fridge, a hot plate, and an air conditioner/heater that was added as an afterthought.

In my experience, the standard university dorm is usually a good deal. The traditional set-up is a separate kitchen with pots, pans, cutting board, etc., refrigerator, shelves, etc.

There's a main room that adjoins the kitchen. It functions as a living room and a dining room. The furniture is Salvation Army -type stuff.

Adjoining the living room will be a bed room with a queen/king size bed that may have been designed for use as a helicopter landing pad. Chinese beds are hard. None of the chairs are upholstered, and there isn't anything for two people to sit on.

The other room is called a computer room. It's a bit smaller than the bed room, but it had a sunny glassed-in porch that is called a drying room where you can hang your wet clothes after you wash them in a Samsung Fuzzy Brand washing machine that usually needs to be babysat because they all have a tendency to stop running as soon as you leave your apartment. Some of them have the additional clothes shredder add-on.

At some schools, you'll live in the school hotel and live among employees. This is a crap shoot. This could be a one-room affair with a bed, a desk, a computer, and a bathroom. I got lucky at one school. I lived in an apartment in a school-owned hotel that was a lot like an extended stay hotel accommodation. It was actually a nice place but the cheap furniture was quite uncomfortable to sit on. I ended up buying a lawn chair to sit and sleep in. It was well-lit. The ceiling in the living room was lined with LED lights that lent the room the atmosphere of an operating room. I ended up buying three incandescent lamps to use instead of the industrial grad overhead lights.

My Chinese friends told me that the incandescent lights made my apartment look like a cross between a local expensive restaurant and a wh*rehouse. They preferred the more modern overhead LEDs.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

Nano, your apartment is a step above the best apartment I've lived in. The couch actually looks comfortable. Congratulations.

[thunder_god]

Ok thanks, this gives me a good idea of what to expect.

[Non Sequitur]

[Nano]

[maxand]

nano....everyone wants to know....does your school need a teacher for the upcoming school year?

[wangdaning]

[Nano]

[Listerine]

There was/is a guy on here 7869 or 7689 or something who posted a lot back in 2012 or so. I remember he started a flickr page where people were uploading pics of their "environment" including apartments and stuff. There were some great ones in there, but a handful of real dumps too. Do a search for the flickr link.

Agree with the others - there is massive variety with what you will get on arrival - be prepared to outlay a big chunk of your first pay to supplement missing crap or things which might make your life a little more enjoyable... Oven, blender, PS4 etc.

There was another thread too a while back if you can find it about "How clean was your apartment when you arrived?" and most people's experiences varied between barely inhabitable Dhaka-esque slum and flea ridden dog kenel. Be prepared to do a big spring clean when you arrive.