Job Discussion Forums

toxley · Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Qinhuangdao, China

Hello Everyone-
I was recently offered a teaching position at Linyi Normal University. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on LNU? I'm curious as to how well they treat their faculty? I haven't found out too much about the city of Linyi itself. Does anyone know what it is like? Is it modern? That kind of stuff. Lastly, in the contract I was offered, I'm supposed to pay for my own electricity and internet. Is that normal?

Thanks for your help!!
Tyler]

Indiana Jones · Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:36 am Post subject:

I was looking at Linyi myself, mainly for Shandong Province (a lot to see there!). Google Linyi and you'll get quite a few travel sites which'll give you a basic picture. Search here too, I remember someone saying it has no night-life and can be boring, but others liking it.

tofuman · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Posts: 937

Paying for your own electricity and internet is not what I do, but it may save you a lot of hassles if you do pay for the internet. An ADSL line may cost you a hundred a month. Bring a laptop with your own English softwear. That can save a lot of grief as well. When the school was first paying my electricity, I had monthly blackouts for 3 or 4 months because they did not pay on time. Easy to fix, though. Not a big problem

In a money dispute, administrators told me that utilities cost as much as rent, about 1000 yuan per month for both. I believe that is a lie, but for them business as usual.

If your salary is good, paying the fees may be allright, but still a hassle. I would opt out of it.

JJ711 · Joined: 17 May 2005 Posts: 36

I have been working as an English Teacher at Linyi Normal University since November 13, 2004. Most of the English teachers live on the North campus, in hotel rooms (i.e., the International Exchange Center). We do not pay for our own electricity. I paid the school 100 yuan (RMB) in November, to use their LAN network, and have not been asked to pay again. Linyi city is growing quite rapidly, and has a multitude of reasonably-modern recreational facilities. The school itself is in the midst of a very ambitious construction project, which will purportedly make it the largest school in Asia (according to some of my students). To help achieve this goal, they hope to increase the number of Native English teachers to fifty. I don't know exactly how many there are now, but I counted nine recently. Personally, I like the school and what it has done so far, but some of the other teachers are not satisfied with their "treatment", etc.