Job Discussion Forums

[Ilja]

Hi there!

I just got an offer from AES school in Hsin Chu. I've done all my research about the country, but I have very little insider's information....Can anyone tell me a bit about the school and/or the city it's located in? Also, what is the appartment situation like in this city? Are there many foreigners I could possibly room with for a while? Let me know all the ins and outs!! Happy Chinese New Year!!

Ilja (Ottawa, Canada)

[killian]

everything you want and more is at your fingertips. check out the job information journal at the top of the page. lotsa AES entries there.

[Ilja]

Yes, I've checked out those posts...but several of them are quite old already..I was just wondering if anyone is there currently? And also what the city is like in terms of size, things to do, activities, etc.
Any info would help me make an informed decision!
Thanks in advance!
Ilja

[brian]

This seems to be another ITI scenario. There is a lot of information posted about the school, some of which is very negative. What strikes me most however is the fact that some of the foreign staff are willing to publicly refute the negative claims made and stand up for the school. There are plenty of other schools that receive negative comments, and have no one come to their defence.

There are no guarantees in life. My advice would be to look at the complaints made about the school and decide if they would be a particular issue for you should they prove to be true. For example, if you are a qualified teacher with an independant personality, then claims of managers being intefering types (if these claims are in fact true) may suggest that you should avoid the school. If however you are laid back then this may not present such a problem for you. Give it some thought and weigh up the options. In the worst case scenario you could always leave.

[Pop Fly]

It's been a few years since I worked there. There was a lot of trouble back then. IMHO, it was started because the teacher's were a greedy bunch. A couple of bad seeds tried to renegotiate the contract 2-3 months into it and it created a huge rift resulting in 90% of the original staff leaving by CNY.


AES has its problems. GB, the director is a meddling bee-yatch and K, the CBC head teacher is an idiot. He suffers from an over-compensating inferiority complex and its not pleasant to be around. Last I heard, both these negative influences have moved to another campus. Hey, if you take the job, judge for yourself. Come back here and refute or confirm my allegations. That said, the chinese staff are superb. The owner is tough but fair.

The school is clean but the bedrooms are small. You will most probably be at their campus in the Science Park. Forget night life out that way, but if you take the 200NT taxi ride downtown, you will discover a fair share of pubs and cafes. There has been alot of work done to make the downtown more presentable, in particular along the uhhm...river.

You will work your ass off working for AES and your hourly rate won't be comparable to other schools. Considering AES is one of the most expensive schools in all of Taiwan, one would think they could pay a decent wage. If you work kindy from 8-4 and Buxi from 4:30-6, they pay you about 65K/month. Do the math....You can do better. Then factor in that you end up spending another 3-4 hours a week prepping and completing weekly progess reports for each student, that rate drops even more. That said, the kindy classes have two foreign teachers and no chinese teachers. While the parents think this is great and are willing to pay such exorbinant tuition fees, be sure this is what you want to do. Yes, it splits the workload, but classroom management is a fickle thing. If you are unlucky enough to be paired with someone like myself, and you yourself are also an accomplished leader and visionary, then your class becomes a clash...of wills. And they are really hesitant to change you if you are having problems with your co-teacher, as it affects the kids..and it does.

Hsin Chu is home to the upper middle class, therefore, the private lesson market is strong there. Unfortunately, you will be too tired from your week at AES to do any privates. It is cheap there though. Unless you try to eat in a foreign restaurant every night, you will save money. You can find very comfortable (by Tw standards) shared apartments for 5-7K NT. There is an ex-pat community.....and if you like to party, try and find The Buffalo Club....if they are still meeting, you can find them at the bowling alley on the 1st Friday of each month...but beware and be warned....these guys go hard.

PM me if you would like my considered opinion on your particular situation.

Pop