Paul Fox
- 2016-08-20
You have a point. Concentrating on areas of China where there are already a lot of Chinese Muslims is a good idea. As for Xi'an, I wouldn't know because I've never been there. I'm in jiangsu province, in a city that's rife with stereotypical mindsets.
Former FT in China
- 2016-08-20
You are gonna hate this, but you asked.......All seems good except your ethnicity. Sadly, Chinese people are often racist, even bigoted. Being from the Middle East puts you in danger of being labeled a Muslim and as such, your chances are slim. Maybe you should consider UAE as a teaching destination?
My school just refused to hire a teacher simply because they said "he looks like a Muslim". It's not good, but it's true, and definitely something you need to take into account. You could end up applying for heaps of jobs and as soon as they see your photo......bye bye ! It's a shame because China needs teachers.
Not a hopeless situation for the original poster in my view!
About a decade ago, I helped a Canadian former Afghani asylum seeker get a job teaching senior high near Urumqi. He eventually had to cross the border of one of the former Russian republics of East Asia to convert to a Z visa.
My suggestion is that the jobseeker focuses his jobsearch on Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Ningxia Autonomous Region, Qinghai Atonomous Region and Sichuan province. Chinese people in those parts of China might well accept Canadians who look like Muslims as there are Chinese Muslims in significant numbers living there, unlike in Xi'an!
Paul Fox
- 2016-08-20
You are gonna hate this, but you asked.......
All seems good except your ethnicity. Sadly, Chinese people are often racist, even bigoted. Being from the Middle East puts you in danger of being labeled a Muslim and as such, your chances are slim.
Maybe you should consider UAE as a teaching destination?
My school just refused to hire a teacher simply because they said "he looks like a Muslim".
It's not good, but it's true, and definitely something you need to take into account. You could end up applying for heaps of jobs and as soon as they see your photo......bye bye !
It's a shame because China needs teachers.
Hello all. I am a Canadian interested in teaching in China, but not sure what kind of offers I may or may not get and do not want to start investing time and effort in applying if my prospects are no good.
I hope all experts can review the following, and let me know what they think the kind of offers I might get (school type, salary amount...etc)
Male
36
Canadian
Non honours BA-English Literature
100-TESOL
Mid Eastern ethnicity. Did my schooling in Canada from grade 7 till University
Native fluency (no foreign accent)
Between 2-3 years ESL teaching experience (mostly adults) pre and post graduation in the MidEastern country I was born in.