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[tanyujie]

Wujin Senior Middle School/GAC ACT Center Changzhou. A dream job that turned into a nightmare.

It all started when I was looking for a new job in Changzhou. I live in a suburb of Changzhou called Hutang in a district called Wujin. In my previous job I had to travel from campus to home. I spent more time on the bus than in the classroom.

When I found this job at Wujin I was thrilled because it is only a five minute walk from my house. I don�t need to ride the bus anymore. I also found out that the person that initially hired me was a foreigner from New Zealand. I�ll call him McGarrett.

To top that off I was the only female expat out of an international crew of five foreign teachers. Dream job, right?

Then it came to signing the contract. McGarrett says that he could only hire me on a part time basis but he would eventually like me to teach full time. He also says that it�s okay for me to find part time work at another institution. I go into the Chinese boss� office to meet with the Chinese boss whom I�ll call Zhou and his assistant I�ll call Tom. Tom tells me that it�s okay to find part time work as the school can only hire me as a part time teacher. They give me the contract and I take it home to read it and think it over.

While at this meeting Zhou and Tom start speaking to each other, I�m assuming, about my contract right in front of me in Changzhou-hua. I do not like that as it spells lack of transparency to me. But I was willing to give them the benefit of a doubt since I do not know them.

A few days later I sign the contract. I also continue my job search.

In April we had a bunch of new GAC students enrolled. I was thrilled that had McGarrett.given me more hours. I thought the school was finally delivering on its promise to turn my part time job into a full time one.

My joy was short lived.

McGarrett wanted me to teach the new students speaking, university survival and academic skills, as well as American culture.

In addition to teaching the GAC students, he also wanted me to teach a high school class as well as two promo classes at a local junior middle school also located in Wujin.

I was told that ALL of these institutions wanted an American teacher to teach American culture.

In the junior middle school and the high school classes I have a Chinese teacher sitting in on my classes. Usually I don�t mind teachers sitting in if they are there for disciplinary reasons or if they just want to learn western teaching methods. But this teacher, I�ll call her Lucy, would sit there and basically kowtow to the kids� complaints, legitimate or otherwise. The feedback that I kept getting back from Lucy was always negative. For example, I told her that at my previous school, kids would make their own Christmas cards.

�Students don�t like coloring.�

I taught the high school students how to dance the hula and something about Hawaiian culture.

�Students didn�t like that lesson because they say Hawaiian is useless.�

What the hell am I doing here then? I was livid. I sent an angry text message to McGarrett saying this. And then I hurled my canister of crayons at the wall when I got home.

The next day I had a private chat with . McGarrett. He was just as frustrated as I was. The schools don�t know what they want. If they want an American to teach American culture western style then that is what they will get. They can�t expect a westerner to teach western culture Chinese style using rote memory.

Then we had a staff meeting in which Zhou, Tom, Lucy, McGarrett, myself, and the three other expat teachers and two more Chinese staff members were called in. As the meeting was coming to a close and everyone was leaving Zhou tells McGarrett that I�m not to teach the GAC students anymore.

In my presence.

McGarrett goes flying off the handle and says a few choice words. But that�s all I hear. I�m so dazed and stressed out from attending two meetings in a row and all the so-called �feedback� that I�m left in a daze.

What the hell am I doing here?

Then the following week brings more bad news. I�m no longer teaching the high school class. This class has been given to another foreign teacher.

They did this without my consent and behind my back..

In the contract it states:

Both parties shall abide by the contract and shall refrain from revising, canceling, or terminating the contract without mutual consent.

They broke the contract.

So now I�m left with only the middle school students and I�m forced to look for another full time post just only after a month of working at Wuijin and getting all my legal paperwork lined up.

And, yes, that negative tour de farce Lucy, is still sitting in my classes and still kowtowing to the students� complaints.

I should point out that Lucy, Zhou, Tom, and the rest of the Chinese staff, are, for the most part, younger than the expat staff and that they are not much older than the GAC students that they teach. Also, only one of them has been overseas. In other words, these guys and gals have no real job experience. Their only purpose is to keep up the facade and to build up the school�s coffers. The only way they think to do that is to have Lucy sit in on the new teacher�s classes (as far as I know I�m the only foreign teacher that has a Chinese sitting in on my classes) and to kowtow to students because they�ve got MONEY.

They also have no idea about the service they are selling which is American culture. In the case of the GAC and the high school students they are planning, or thinking of studying in the USA.

This past May we�ve been making pi�atas in honor of Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) a Mexican-American holiday that is celebrated in the boarder states of California, Arizona, and Texas as well as Puebla, Mexico. The purpose of this lesson was multi-faceted; 1. Students learn about Mexican-American culture. 2. They learn creativity and innovation. 3. They learn teamwork.

Just before May arrived I needed to prepare a sample pi�ata. I needed a balloon, newspapers, flour, and water. The school was to provide the balloon and newspapers. I provided the flour. When McGarrett and I asked Lucy to get a single balloon for me, she talked back.

�Why do I have to get it now? We still have the May 1st holiday!�

�Just DO IT!��

Lucy has no idea that my pi�ata will need at least four days to dry.

Then it came to teaching the middle schoolers on how to make their pi�atas. After they had dried students had to decorate their pi�atas. I had paint, colored paper, paper cups and plates, and extra newspapers for students to create whatever they wanted. However, I could not carry everything on my own, especially the box of paints.

I consolidated as much as I could into my backpack and two plastic bags. However, I could not carry the box of paints. My desk is right in front of Lucy�s She could see me struggling with all of these items. A few days ago she could see me decorate my pi�ata which I turned into a grenade.

By this time I�m not even talking with this naive woman. I left the office early to prep the classroom. I took my backpack and two plastic bags full of art supplies. Lucy, however, carried only her handbag to class.

When it came to decorating the pi�atas I had placed the colored paper on several desks along w/ the rest of the dry art supplies. I had no idea what the students were going to make. So I just told them to take what they needed.

�You should blah, blah, blah��

Lucy�s lecturing me on this as I�m walking around the classroom punching holes in the pi�atas � with scissors in my hands.

By this time I had begged McGarrett. to get Lucy out of my classes. He tried to keep Lucy out of my way but Lucy, in her mind, answers to Zhou, another person who kowtows to kids. After I had made that request I was surprised to see her in my class.

�I wasn�t expecting you to be here,� I blurted out.

I got so fed up with the situation that I decided to write a resignation letter outlining ALL the shortcomings of both the high school and the middle school from lack of transparency to inexperience, to what students will face when they get to the USA, etc�

I also had a list of demands. One of them was that no Chinese teachers be allowed in my classes. I gave no reason why. I thought that the school would already know the psychological toll it has taken upon me. I knew that McGarrett. was speaking on my behalf because he�s seen what Lucy�s negative presence was having on me. But unfortunately, like me, he doesn�t have the final say in the matter.

I turned in the letter on May 14th, two days before my 42nd birthday. I had also learned that another foreign teacher was also resigning. I thought, Great! A crisis situation! Perhaps Zhou would start listening to his teachers now.

I was wrong. The next day Lucy showed up.

�Oh crap!� I blurted out in front of some of the students. �You�re here!�

By then I picked up the habit of plugging into my ipod and singing to some tunes. I usually don�t use an ipod. But it was the only way to keep my sanity in check and I have seen McGarrett. do it in the office when he gets pissed off at Chinese staff. At one point Lucy said something to me but I sang her out.

I was fuming on the way back to the office. On my way I happened to bump into Tom. I didn�t recognize him because I only saw his back. When he turned around he tried to say something to me but just as I did with Lucy, I sang him out.

I was livid because Zhou didn�t seem to care about the well being of his employees. I was also mad because someone stole my pi�ata!

When I got home I sent an angry message to McGarrett. reporting what had happened. Then I flew into a rage. I threw my keys down on the floor. I also smashed my glasses on the floor. Anger seethed through my veins and I started hyperventilating so much that I could not breathe properly.

The next day McGarrett and I were to team teach the middle school students on The Wizard of Oz script. But at the last minute he got called on by Zhou to stay at the high school because a T.V. crew were coming to film the foreign teachers� classes.

I cracked. I started crying. I slammed my glasses down on my desk and buried my head in my arms. I could not bear the thought of being in the classroom with Lucy looking over my shoulder and recording every little thing I did �wrong�.

And then I let my anger get the best of me. I figured that the only way to get the Chinese staff�s attention was to blow up in front of the office like I had done earlier at home. I stood straight up, slammed my shades on my desk, stomped out of the office, and slammed the door as loud as I could before running downstairs. And just as the night before I found myself hyperventilating. I struggled to breathe.

Since McGarrett wasn�t able to help me with the class we decided that after reading Oz that the kids could smash their pi�atas. To do that, I got a baseball bat.

That could be potentially a VERY dangerous situation.

And that is when I decided that to call for outside help. If the school wasn�t going to listen to McGarrett.or me, then outside help is warranted.

I have, in the past, bitten a woman for assaulting me at an ATM machine. I have kicked out the housing manager at another school because she entered my apartment without my permission. I have tried to convince my bosses� boss to fire my boss because he tried to get a fellow teacher in trouble by encouraging her to work on a tourist visa and for endangering her life. I placed another employer on probation because he tried to hire me without the proper license. I was provoked into doing these things because Chinese just don�t know how to treat foreigners. They are afraid to admit that they don�t know what they are doing because it�s more important to save face than to save the live of a teacher.

So I contacted someone from the local foreign affairs bureau. I�ll call him Mr. Liu. I have contacted him before on several occasions and he�s lived in the USA. He has a reputation for being sympathetic to foreign teachers and he�s helped me on many other occasions so I knew I could count on him.

I e-mailed Mr. Liu about my current situation with Wujin Senior Middle School. I forwarded him the letter of resignation I had given to Zhou and told him that someone could get hurt if Lucy was not removed from my classroom. I repeat. Someone COULD get hurt!

Anyway, Mr. Liu contacted the school later that week to ask what is going on. And I FINALLY managed to get Lucy out of my classes.

Later that week Tom sends me a text message asking me if we could meet. I remembered what happened at the last meeting; the ridiculously rude �feedback� and the like. By this time I did not trust the school to keep its word and so I decided to make a secret recording of this meeting using my cell phone.

At first it was just Tom and me. I very much loathe the fact that Tom and Zhou make McGarrett. look like a liar and that they try to turn us against each other. After all, McGarrett is in the same boat I am. Tom says that Zhou and McGarrett have talked about my work and Zhou and McGarrett have decided blah blah blah.

That ticked me off. So I got up, grabbed my phone and went to go look for McGarrett.. He was busy talking with another Chinese staff member. So I waited in the teacher�s office.

I waited. And waited. And waited. I waited for about an hour before asking where McGarrett had gone to. I had no idea that Tom, Zhou, and McGarrett had already re-started the meeting without me.

Behind my back the three of them decided that my services were no longer needed. Just like that. My letter of resignation stated that my last day of class would be June 26th.

At first I was angry at McGarrett because it sounded like he was taking the Chinese side. But then I remembered that I had told him that if I could leave sooner, the better.

Then we really got into it. I had brought in a copy of the contract, the resignation letter, McGarrett�s recommendation letter, and my e-mail to Mr. Liu. I was armed to the teeth.

The first issue was the promise that this school would make my part time job into a full time one. Promise broken.

Then I brought up the issue of taking my high school class and giving it to another foreign teacher without my consent. I pointed the issue out in my contract.

Then Tom goes to the office and gets the original contract. He flips to the appendix page and points out the following:

Party B (the foreign teacher) shall not undertake any part-time job without Party A�s permission that my compromise their ability to fulfill the teaching tasks in this school.

I laughed. But Tom mistook my laughter as surprise.

�You seem surprised. Didn�t you read the contract before signing it?�

I don�t take too kindly to being patronized by someone who is at least fifteen years my junior who has very little professional experience and who answers to twelve year old kids. I felt like saying didn�t you read my request to have the Chinese teacher removed from my class?

But I had my recorder on.

�Yes, I did. As I recall, the school had informed me that, and I quote verbatim, �oh, we don�t care if she finds a part time job. We don�t care if she leaves the province.��

Then I looked at my resignation letter. I had stated in my letter that flip-flopping is �unprofessional� and �rude�.

�You tell one foreigner one thing. And then you tell another foreigner something completely different! And now you�re telling me that I�m breaking the contract because I�m now looking for another job?�

Then Zhou asked me why I called Mr. Liu.

�I trust him,� I said. �He has helped me before and he�s lived in the States. I trust him.�

�You hurt my feelings when you did that.�

This comment raised my eyebrows.

Really? Good!

After everything was settled I went home and thought about that comment. I did have another reason why I called on Mr. Liu to intervene on my behalf. I didn�t bring it up in the meeting because I just couldn�t think fast enough. I was hoping that I really didn�t need to bring it up because I thought that Zhou and Tom would be smart enough to draw their own conclusions, but I guess they�re not that smart. After all, saving one�s face trumps saving a teacher�s life in their warped minds.

Anyway I have found another job in a nearby province. I leave Changzhou June 18th.

[xiguagua]

ugh if i was ever as angry as you were at your job i'd be gone in the middle of the night. they dont deserve respect or tact. who cares if you screw them over.

[Opiate]

It said in your SAFEA approved contract that you were to teach a specific class for a specific period of time? If not then they did not break the contract.

Truly, I'd have fired you long before they did. You seem to act like a person who always knows better than everybody else around them. Your bosses are dumb, they don't know what they are selling, they are inexperienced...etc. Maybe you are right about all of that but so what? It's not your school.

Also, you do not seem mentally stable. Exactly what would have gone wrong with a baseball bat in the classroom? A bat you brought in yourself. Who were you worried about? Why mention you had scissors in your hands when Lucy was pestering you about something? Throwing crayons at the wall? Throwing temper tantrums and slamming doors? Singing when your bosses are attempting to talk to you? Wheeeeee!!!

In your post, Lucy said nothing negative about you to the students, but you say "Oh Crap" and �You�re here!� in front of them when she enters the class. For somebody who seems to think they are more professional than others around them...this behavior is a little odd. I get it, you did not like her because she did not say what you wanted to hear when you asked her questions. Perhaps not asking for her input would have been a simpler course of action. You also said she did not know it would take 4 days for your pinata to dry when you asked her for a balloon yet you barked �Just DO IT!� at her because of it instead of acting like a rational human being and either explaining why or simply getting the damn balloon yourself.

You are surprised a for profit business cares about profits...wow. Naive much? I suggest you either find a real International School that cares about results only (if you have the qualifications to support that move) or pack your bags. From reading your post, it sounds like the second option would be best for all involved.

You frighten me on many levels and if you do not pack your bags I hope your next job is nowhere near the city I reside in. Speaking of next job... I have to wonder how many jobs you have had in China. I am willing to bet that few schools have asked you to renew a contract. Understandable.

[maxand]

Saturday, May 26, 2012 [email protected]

Aloha TEFLers,

Yes, it has been a LONG time since I've posted.

Here's a question for you.

Would you record a meeting? I don't mean taking minutes or notes. I mean would you walk into a meeting with a cell phone or a cam recorder taping the meeting? If so, then would you inform participants that this meeting is being recorded?

Just throwing out this question for you.

Jada Rufo


just throwing out this question for you....sureeee you are

[TexasHighway]

tanyujie wrote:

[Simon in Suzhou]

I'm missing the part where this was ever a dream job. It takes a little more than working 5 minutes from my home to entail a "dream."

To be honest, I couldn't get more than halfway through this rant. But did I read correctly that you bit someome at a scuffle at an ATM machine?

I'm at a loss for words...

[maxand]

[sainthood]

[JamesD]

[JamesD]

I had a great job at a good university with professional colleagues until someone stole my pi�ata!

[johntpartee]

I don't think this is real. If it is,

[LarssonCrew]

Did this remind anyone of Jerry Springer or Jeremy Kyle?

'Such and such said such and such, I hated that such and such said such and such.'

[Non Sequitur]

If I can find the thread on Job Offer Checklist I will ad something about asking re Chinese teachers who are not there to assist but to sit in judgement.
There is a note about commute times on that thread and everyone who is negotiating right now should check out that factor.

[choudoufu]

dance the hula?
color xmas cards?
make pinatas?

that school sure got their munny's worth!

[roadwalker]