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View Thread · Previous · Next Return to Index › Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer).
Ambientman - 2010-11-07

You made a few mistakes in your post, but first:

Maybe (or even likely) this is just a simple case of hindsight making me realize more than I did at the time. Because I did not like the school, nowhere did I say those words. How could I like it when the leaders were so poor (and invisible) and some of the people I had contact with, who represented the leaders, so uncaring (Catherine/Cooper)? Again, positive feelings were mostly because of the students and very good friends I made in the city and have nothing to do with the environment, location, leaders, apartment, the school itself or anything else, which all sucked. Friends have an amazing power over emotions/judgment sometimes, almost every human being has experienced this. Maybe I let my students constant questions of whether I would stay or not get to me. Again, this is a complicated situation, maybe more than you realize.

But in the end, I would not recommend anyone work at this school. The point is, they are slow/stagnant on repairs, have poor leaders, hire dubious characters to deal with foreign teachers and don't care about foreign employees, my situation being good evidence of that. Plus, sometimes it takes a long time for us to realize just how bad things are/were, again, no problem with that. You seem to think everyone can just realize a bad situation right away, or within a few months and simply leave. I guess it took me more than a year to fully grasp it.

Mistakes:
#1: They did not "can" me for having cancer and nowhere did I say that. If it somehow sounded that way to you, it was unintentional, my mistake, but I don't think I said anything even closely resembling that. What I said was, I was diagnosed with it, purchased a ticket and told them the next day I would be leaving. Didn't I say somewhere that I was yelled at for not giving the school enough warning? Come on. The occurrence of events during this time was rapid, but they did not "can" me. I told them I was leaving to get treated back home. I left, I was NOT fired. But they still acted like assholes.

#2: I am not trying to reduce the crapiness of the place. Besides the students/colleagues, nowhere else did I mention anything positive of the school, it sucks, as do the leaders, as I have been saying for some time.

#3: I am not making anything sound trivial here and do not put words in my mouth. In hindsight there was more that I could have done, but it has nothing to do with being a pushover. Instead, if anything, it has to do with me not having enough knowledge (understandable too) of how to take action, like the number to the arbitrator. In retrospect, if I had known about the arbitrator and his/her number, I would have given them a call to talk about my situation. There is a lot (legally) the FL needs to do, that the foreigner (me for instance) may have no clue about. In other words, the FL can get away with not doing something because the FT just doesn't have a clue, giving the contact info of the arbitrator being one of those things (that she did not do).

#4: If it sounds like I am somehow downplaying anything..well, maybe cancer will do that, but it does not excuse their past transgressions. Most things pale in comparison to this illness. Maybe it shows in the writing? Maybe not.

#5: You say staying for the students is a foolish mistake. A subjective opinion and one that is debatable and even wrong. Maybe you don't really get close to many of the students, I have no way of knowing, but perhaps it is the case. But I have good relationships with many of them, especially after I am done teaching them. Not to mention, once again, all the cool friends I made in the city. But the school still sucks. So please separate my positive words for the students/friends/colleagues from the UNI.

#6:
"It sounds like you liked the school"

How in the world did you come to that conclusion based off of what you are quoting or what I have said as a whole??????? I mentioned nothing of the school in what you have quoted. I mentioned things about my students, the friends at english corner and the city and my colleagues. Where does it say in that quote that I liked the school, or even hint towards that sentiment?

Read it again:

"Being from the country side, for the most part, they were more simple than students from larger cities, but seemed interested in learning from a foreigner none the less. Plus, I had a lot of friends through English corner and around the city, so leaving that behind was not as simple as you make it out to be. Plus, I liked my colleagues and befriended a number of them. So try to see both sides, man/mam. Plus their were rumors that the FL might be promoted to tutor, so I signed the contract thinking their could be a new FL and a new start for me and my relations with the UNI." OTHERWISE, THE SCHOOL SUCKED. Nowhere did I mention anything about liking the school.

Students. The school. The two can be separated. I can like the students while hating the school.

#7:
"Now it sounds like you didn't feel that way"

Then you are not reading correctly?

I can not continue to argue this, doc says I need to not stress myself. I thought I made myself clear, maybe not.

1. Students were mostly cool. Friends around the city, colleagues, etc. added to this feeling.
2. But the school sucks, they did a lot of BS things, as I mentioned. None of which are trivial, and never did I word it in a way that made them sound trivial.
3. I was not a pushover persay, but I suppose that their are more things I could have done, especially in hindsight. If I had more knowledge of the system, some of which should have been given to me in the form of documents and contact info, I could have done more. Foreigners can't know EVERYTHING, after all, as much as we would like to think otherwise. How could I know what an arbitrator was or that they existed for my potential aid/benefit? In hindsight, that is the first thing I do if my heater is not fixed within two weeks after first notice: Call the arbitrator and note the part in my contract that talks about living conditions.
4. The leaders especially sucked.
5. The school still sucks. Never did I say I liked it.
6. The way they treated my cancer situation was especially an abomination and naturally and obviously overshadows all other atrocities, maybe that is why my writing appears the way it does to you, that other matters seemed trivial (to you). Well DUH, compared to cancer, they are trivial. But by themselves, they are not.

Messages In This Thread
China: Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Ambientman -- 2010-11-06
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Dragonized -- 2010-11-08
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Visas Schmisas -- 2010-11-09
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Ambientman -- 2010-11-12
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Visas Schmisas -- 2010-11-06
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Sanguine -- 2010-11-06
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Ambientman -- 2010-11-06
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Sanguine -- 2010-11-07
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- homie -- 2010-11-12
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Welshwales -- 2010-11-12
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Visas Schmisas -- 2010-11-07
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Ambientman -- 2010-11-07
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- crymeariver -- 2010-11-06
Re Think twice before working at Hui Hua UNI in Shijiazhuang, China (and don't expect sympathy if you get sick (even if its cancer). -- Former Shjg FT -- 2010-11-06
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