The earthling
- 2007-06-10
Well Martin, the words speak for themselves. Now you have no doubt read all the posts in response to your queswtion. What say you about all of this?
callmefred
- 2007-06-07
Who are we Martin,?
We are a collection of aged farts living in a Home For Distressed Gentlefolk, and have far to much free time on our hands since the committee suspended us from the Over Eighties Nudist Glee Club.(Pole Sitting Team)
In previous years we used to spend our leisure time at the Old Time Music Hall (Vaudeville to the US readers) until they pulled it down and built a supermarket.
It's such a shame to think that where some of the greats performers like Little Titch, Ethel Merman, Max Miller and Jimmy Cagney once strutted their stuff, there is now nothing more exciting than'two-pence off Liver Sausage' this week.
So you see, it's only by masquerading as teachers, pundits, recruiters and general busy-bodies, that we can justify our existence, and by entering into verbal badinage with each other and the occasional visitor, we maintain the delusion that we, though well past our sell-by date, are still running with the pack.
Excuse me now, I have to empty my colostomy bag, I hope I have gone some way to answering your question.
walking wounded
- 2007-06-07
Dear fellow Earthling,
Great post! I couldn't agree with you more...
As for Fish's retort: "Grouped Frequency Distribution," this is yet again (so typical) another example of Fish's attempts to create "data" to make a feeble point (and of course to deny his own uber-prolific presence in this forum). If one should take the time to count ALL of Fish's (a/k/a/ Fish4esl) posts since the beginning of this forum (from 2004), I would safely bet that his frequency of postings far exceeds that of any other person (human, alien, or sea creature).
Come on, Fish, just own up to the fact that you dominate (in so many ways) this forum.
Keep up the challenge, Earthling. Fish and his tiny school of followers DO NOT represent what most FTs in China feel, witness, and experience.
BDJK
- 2007-06-07
Yes, I'm exceedingly exploited. So much so that I can barely keep my head above water. Yeah man, I'm drowning in this sea of exploitation.
The biggest problem is that I only earn enough money to eat anything I want, when I want. Next of course is the fact that I can barely raise enough cash to add fuel to my bicycle. And those damn noodle dishes, geez, I paid only three remimbi last year and now they're 3.2 - my God - how will I ever manage? Oh yeah, I better quit smoking -not for health reasons alone, but because damn it I'm paying the equivalent of 75 cents for a pack of cigarettes. And clothes? Don't even get me started on that subject. I've got eight suits hanging in my closet, all tailor made from excellent material,that cost me on the average around 36 bucks a shot. The last one cost me about 2 dollars more than the first one! Guess I'll have to stop being such a clothes horse. And the bike, oh man the bike; damn thing cost me nearly 800RMB - what a rip off. I just checked into the cost of one made specifically to my specs from the ground up. Yeah, you guessed it, way too much money - around 2,000RMB. Talk about a rip off. I'd only have to pay around 1200 dollars for the same bike back home - you do the math.
Okay, all kidding aside, the truth is that one should be somewhat concerned about salary situations in China. But forget about the inflationary aspect. It's simple - don't accept the low paying positions. I've been saying it here in the forum for a couple of years. If you're working for less than 6000, and if you sign a contract that doesn't include overtime payments and bi-yearly or yearly increases, you're getting ripped off and you're contributing to the system that will happily pay you little for a lot of work. And who can blame them - it's capitalism at its best.
No, inflation is not the issue. Gullibility is the issue. You will be told that you are making so much more than the locals and how the cost of living is so low that you can save money and so on and so on. If you buy into that old song and dance, you've got no one to blame but yourself; furthermore, I've got some swamp land in Florida that I'll be glad to make you a deal on.
It's the same deal here as it is at home. Don't sell yourself short. Moreover, if you accept low paying positions, it's also the same as home - you're just padding the pockets of the fat cats who are laughing all the way to the bank, and beyond that you're just setting the next guy up for the same situation.
Oh well, I know these words fall on deaf ears. Many of you will just keep on accepting those low paying positions because you want to "experience exotic China" and blah, blah, blah and then later you'll complain about the low salaries and the harsh conditions and the ball will forever be in their court. Meanwhile, some of us will watch our bank accounts grow because we're nobody's fool and we get paid a decent wage for what we've been trained to do.
The bottom line is that nobody will force you to sign your name on the, well, bottom line. The choice is yours.
The earthling
- 2007-06-06
I check these pages every so often to see what is being talked about and who is doing the posting. I was shocked that for three or four days now there has been no postings from FISH! Come on ole boy, did someone fail to change the water in you tank or what?
I also want to tell you all that, as some of you already know, you are being grossly underpaid and either being lied to about it or they are still trying to plea that they are a "poor" school or country. If you are still negotiating a contract you had better ask for a COLA clause (cost of living adjustment), as inflation is rearing it's ugly head. 15-50% in most sectors in the past year, especially food and fuel. If they protest, simply tell them you will sign the contract on the condition that if the rate on inflation continues to increase in this dramatic fashion you will break it and leave. It's about time the Chinese administrators and leaders begin to accept how important English instruction is for China and start paying fairly for it. STOP THE EXPLOITATION OF FOREIGN TEACHERS!!!!