Finnigan
- 2009-03-01
Readers of these forums, and contributors as well, should take to heart what Mr. Latimer has written. Without overt condemnation and by maintaining a tone of neutrality, he has provided comments on and advice about a theme that is one of the common denominators here.
I would only add that "truths" are often obscured by the simple convenience of omittance. To take at face value the warnings offered by certain individuals is all well and good, but I often find myself wondering what they have left out. The picture they want to paint, then, seems a bit clouded.
Quite recently, for example, a poster provided all the negatives he could think of about being employed by Guangxi University. Here's what said poster left out and also misrepresented.
1. Guangxi University has three colleges that hire foreign teachers for their language programs.
2. There are three different locations on campus where foreign teachers are housed. Moreover, it is possible to rent one's own apartment off campus.
3. There are many teachers at Guangxi University who sign new contracts every year. There are a few teachers that have been there for five years and others who've been there nearly as long. I spent three years there and left somewhat reluctantly.
4. Guangxi University has a beautiful campus. Yes, in some places it is too noisy at certain times of the day, but it is possible to find peace and quiet. A good night's sleep, by the way, is not that hard to come by. Interestingly, I recently got an email from a past colleague who moved into the new apartments close to the cafeteria. His only complaint was the noise from other FTs coming home drunk every night. Funny how the poster omitted that sad truth.
5. Some teachers don't make it past the first term before being asked to leave. Usually, it's those who find the most to complain about without actually having taken the time to realize that whining won't get you very far. (Oddly, what I noticed at GXU was that those who whined the most and got fired the quickest were those with no qualifications and zero experience. For some reason they thought they had all the answers and were going to solve all of the problems with the Chinese education system in their first term.)
6. Yes, security is weak; however, foreign teachers have the option of locking their bikes in rooms provided for that purpose. New teachers usually have their bikes stolen quite quickly because, though warned, they rarely heed the warnings until they've lost their first bike.
7. Two of the colleges that hire foreigners are quite close to two of the apartment houses. The third is a ten minute bike ride, or a two kwai cart ride away. Some teachers enjoy the walk and see it as good exercise.
8. During three years at Guangxi University, I only went without hot water once or twice when they were working on the water system. The power goes down about twice a year, but they're working on making it better. The apartment was one of the best I've been provided in China.
9. The university is laid out in such a way that there is East Campus and West Campus. East Campus has some advantages over West Campus and West some over East.
10. The provided computer connection totally sucks, but it's possible to sign up for a connection provided by private companies. I paid 650 kwai for a year so that I wouldn't be bogged down by the university provided connection.
I can imagine that there will be some who are dissuaded from going to Guangxi University due to believing the post that I alluded to above. Unfortunately, they may be missing out on a situation that could work out quite well for them. I witnessed the growth of many young teachers who went there for their first jobs. They didn't pretend to have all the answers. They asked for advice when it was needed. They didn't judge the students, the Chinese staff or the administration. They simply did the best they could and worked hard for a few years before returning to their home countries with valuable experience and good recommendations for future employment in the field of second language acquisition.
Always tell the truth. That way you don't have to remember what you said.--Mark Twain
Time allows, as previous engagements have been canceled!
I notice a big discrepancy in the postings of certain posters. When they post an essay it is well written and rational, but when responding to an individual poster the wording is as different as night and day. It borders somewhere between low end English and crude English. It is analogous to the smart-ass repertoire of a child who has reached puberty. They accuse, insinuate, and use conjecture, with little or nothing based on fact.
This leads me to believe that some posters are like a "song and dance man", in this case a "copy and paste man.
The computer has made it very easy for one to appear knowledgeable, when in fact that may not be the case. It only takes seconds to look up a subject and plagiarize a piece of work, add your name and say it is your creation. Plagiarism as we know may not be limited to one source, many people take a bit here and there to try to create a paper that appears original, but is not, and is very difficult to trace to the original sources.
This in mind, I would like to warn new readers and would be posters to read previous posts before making an inquiry or posting to get a feel of the regular poster's past history. Do not take it for granted that the reply you might receive is coming from the pen of a reliable source, or a person that will answer questions truthfully and honestly. Many of these people are shooting from the hip, based on hearsay and from their own personal bad experiences, and not on fact. When one reads a report of a bad experience it should be further investigated. There are instances when the individual is responsible for creating a negative experience and not the school or training center. A bad experience for one person is only fact for that person and not necessarily an experience shared by the majority. If you are requesting information, or stating a center or school you are working for, or have worked for, is fair and honest, I doubly warn you to read the history of their attacks and replies. Anyone inquiring and seeking an honest reply should take the reply given with a grain of salt.
Do your homework and find as much information as your can about the prospective center or school before making a commitment. There are many bad training centers and schools but not as many as the marauders on these posts would have you believe. I myself have worked for bad training schools. If you happen to find yourself in an unfortunate situation at a school or training center, stand up and be strong. Think logically, do not lose your cool, for every action there is a reaction. Animals smell fear in people and take advantage of that fear. If one truly shows no fear, the animals can sense it and will usually run to easier prey. People are only a higher form of animals. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and move on. When one door closes, another door opens.
Time moves forward and the names change but the stories, answers, and attacks remain the same, from the same people. These people seem to think, that for some reason they run (own) these posts. The truth of the matter is they are only a small group who try to appear superior in their experiences and knowledge of teaching in all foreign countries. These are the been there, done that people. These people think they have and know all the answers and can save you the heartache, but these same people may also cost you the loss of an experience you might have truly enjoyed if you accept their rhetoric as fact.