Job Discussion Forums

[lmorin]

Hello,
I worked for these people for a Summer School last Summer and it was hellish. 12 hour days and not very good pay to begin with. Some very badly behaved children but nothing was ever done about it. One of them even punched a teaching assistant (who were unpaid) and she was moved to another class-the student stayed. I got the impression that all these people care about is money and more money.
We (myself and 3 other teachers) were put in an apartment in the middle of no where with no gas hook ups, utensils or way to cook. When we asked for a gas hook up we were told we were supposed to eat at the school (where the food was inedible). We spent a lot of money on take out food.
I ended up getting stuck an extra month and worked for them longer than expected as I was having visa problems in the country I normally work in. I asked them to help me apply for a 2nd extension on my chinese visa but was told that I would have to go to Hong Kong (as it was possible to get a 60 or 90 day visa there and only a 30 day in China) and that I was paying all of my expenses myself. I suspected it was cheaper to keep me working for as long as possible so they did not have to bring in another teacher from overseas and hence, the reason for demanding I go to Hong Kong to get a visa.
Then, After spending all of my money to go to Hong Kong, I was yelled at by the authorities there as I had been working illeagally on a 30 day tourist visa. They ended up granting me a 30 day visa extension. Ivy (the human resource manager), a true snake if I have ever met one, had assured me that it was fine to work on this type of visa knowing full well it was illeagel and she was putting me in a compromising situation. The manager only asked if I had named GLV when I told him what had happened. When I told him my other visa came in and I would be leaving the next week, himself and his wife (a co manager) yelled at me, then stopped talking to me and gave me the 'cold shoulder' from that time onwards.
I had to force them to pick me up from the train station (they said that they do not do that) by losing the directions they had provided and I ended up paying their cab driver to take me to the airport at the end of my time working for them (it looked like he was picking up another teacher from the train station anyways) despite having been nice enough to provide rides for the other teachers who had left earlier. The train station was in a different city and an expensive cab ride away from GLV. It was a fitting end to my experience working with them.

[rogerwilco]

So, why did you stay with them for so long ?

[Javelin of Radiance]

The part about the visa, well that's on you. Despite what you were told by someone it's pretty obvious that a tourist visa is for tourism and a work visa is needed for employment. You mentioned you were having visa problems in another country where you usually work so you're not exactly new to this concept and should have known. Many horror stories on this forum start out with "I was working on a tourist visa" or something like that. Another lesson for those considering coming to work without the proper documentation.

[zactherat]

[doogsville]

You didn't tell us if this GLV is the same outfit as Global Language Village, who are sometimes known as GLV. Also, which city were you working in? The GLV I know has at least two schools, one in Zhuhai, and another in a city I don't remember the name of right now.

You also don't mention why, since this happened in the summer, you've waited until Christmas day to tell us about it.

Then there's the stuff already covered about working on a tourist visa, in any country.

It all sounds a bit odd to me.

[Javelin of Radiance]

[choudoufu]

[canrun30]

I feel pretty sure it's the Hangzhou branch he's referring to. Zhuhai is a well-run operation, all things considered.