Owenz here
- 2011-04-19
when it's far more interesting to squat on the pavement on a plastic stool, chat to the locals and get the same beer for 3 RMB a pint.
I agree on this, the problem is the cheaper beer is normally fake and gives a rough hangover...but I do miss the bbq places
Apollyon
- 2011-04-18
Some FT's have no idea about conserving money. KFC, nightclubs, beer in a fancy restaurant at 20 RMB for half a pint when it's far more interesting to squat on the pavement on a plastic stool, chat to the locals and get the same beer for 3 RMB a pint. They can't seem to walk anywhere and swan around in taxis. A reason why one FT can manage on 5000 and still holiday in Thailand and yet another needs 12000 and must make do with Dalian. Have a good week.Tom.
Bavarian Bier
- 2011-04-18
Silverboy is very wise, you should listen to him.I have a friend, he's 68, a yank, he works in a gigantic university. He's always trying out new things and never moves from the campus(during term). His young studentesses are very kind to him and he helps them with their English in his free time. He even talks to his students on QQ and has a very direct approach " Come round and try my tasty pies and don't bring a friend" He likes to cook and bake and it wouldn't be unusual to visit him and find a sultry Miss, hands covered in flour getting cookery lessons. He does spend his long fully- paid holidays in Thailand where he lies under the tropical palms drinking cold lager(a flaw in his education) watching one of his students playing in the surf. I'd be scared to lose all that for hard-faced Germans who get all sensitive if you mention the war.
I am not doubting Silverboy, we actually worked at the same place once...and emerged, hopefully ahead...the guy we worked for is now out of business, and I would never rail against an FT, esp. one from a commonwealth country, in China, as we should all band together and not be GW's, but that is just me...
Nowt wrong with your seppo friend, I liked working at most public unis in China, just a shame the salary is so pitiful, and yes Chinese teachers do earn more when you dice it all up. Agree the young studentesses are kind, but I valued my privacy, and didn't like having it invaded by offers to steam chicken feet in bamboo in my kitchen, or eat pork dumplings when I am a vegetarian...fussy yes I know, but different strokes for different blokes surely?:=)
As for his holidays in Thailand, it takes money? Beyond the realm of a salary of a university teacher, although who knows, maybe he is a phd holder and is earning 30-40,000 rmb a month as a teacher of some arcane subject? And nowt wrong with cold lager, at least by me, as long as it abides by the reinheitsgebot (no additives!)
And, btw, I am not in Germany anymore but those 50 euros an hour classes surely helped me out and I do miss the beer...anything that is worth doing, is worth doing to get paid and enjoy yourself right...otherwise, why bother...
Anyone enough typing, two more days and weekend here.
Adios amigo,
Alejandro
Apollyon
- 2011-04-17
"Every time we walk through an open door, we create a sense memory that encourages us to move into the new fearlessly!"
Teaching in China is not the same as teaching in Japan, the Gulf, or the Eurozone...better to diversify than end up burnt out, stuck in a rut, or scared of change and stuck in China in your 40s...what doesn't kill you et al comes to mind, why be resistant to trying out new places, new methods...but that's just me?
Silverboy is very wise, you should listen to him.
I have a friend, he's 68, a yank, he works in a gigantic university. He's always trying out new things and never moves from the campus(during term). His young studentesses are very kind to him and he helps them with their English in his free time. He even talks to his students on QQ and has a very direct approach " Come round and try my tasty pies and don't bring a friend" He likes to cook and bake and it wouldn't be unusual to visit him and find a sultry Miss, hands covered in flour getting cookery lessons. He does spend his long fully- paid holidays in Thailand where he lies under the tropical palms drinking cold lager(a flaw in his education) watching one of his students playing in the surf. I'd be scared to lose all that for hard-faced Germans who get all sensitive if you mention the war.
Bavarian bier
- 2011-04-16
I don't mind disorganisation and dirt, so I'll stay put
in the PRC. The beer is cheap and the nosh is very much to my liking here. I can do
without the likes of a plate of uncooked fish and Japanese arrogance!
Japanese food isn't all uncooked fish.
The beer is excellent and far surpasses anything one could drink in China, IMVHO!
Say you don't mind disorganisation after you contract cholera or hepatitis/hiv from a dirty needle in China...and then get back to me!
Bavarian bier
- 2011-04-16
I'm happy enough teaching in China. Better the devil you know!
Teaching in China is not the same as teaching in Japan, the Gulf, or the Eurozone...better to diversify than end up burnt out, stuck in a rut, or scared of change and stuck in China in your 40s...what doesn't kill you et al comes to mind, why be resistant to trying out new places, new methods...but that's just me?
"Every time we walk through an open door, we create a sense memory that encourages us to move into the new fearlessly!"
Silver Star
- 2011-04-15
Japan, excessively orderly, clean, tidy...obsessively so.
Ugh, I don't like the sound of that! I don't mind disorganisation and dirt, so I'll stay put in the PRC. The beer is cheap and the nosh is very much to my liking here. I can do without the likes of a plate of uncooked fish and Japanese arrogance!
Bavarian biers
- 2011-04-15
I'd have thought that FT's who had worked in Japan would have been at home in the PRC
From having been to and worked in both places it's like comparing peaches....Japan, excessively orderly, clean, tidy...obsessively so...and China well...you do the fuzzy math?
K R
- 2011-04-15
I'd have thought that FT's who had worked in Japan would have been at home in the PRC, and would know how to keep on the right side of their students.
I'd have thought so too. That was until 5 weeks ago - my predecessor here in China was dismissed after just a fortnight's teaching by my present school. My agent arranged for me to lie in wait for 7 days until the Canadian had been forced out of town. Word has it my school wanted shot of him just after a week of his employment. I also heard that he was an experienced teacher who had taught in Japan as well as in China.
I wonder if there are any significant differences between teaching in Japan and teaching in China. Not that I want to test the water there. I'm happy enough teaching in China. Better the devil you know!
About a year ago I was teaching in the wilds of Sichuan during the 2nd semester of my two- semester contract when a foreign teacher arrived who had been part of the JET program in Japan, something of which he was proud to have been involved in. But he begged me after two days to help him pull a runner, which I reluctantly agreed to do, and did with minimal delay. Subsequently another Japanese import arrived as his replacement, but the school could hardly wait to shed him. I was told the students had complained about how unkind he was to them, and that he was unfriendly to the Chinese teachers too. He lasted exactly 7 weeks, until the end of the semester. Those FT's were both provided by a Chengdu recruiter. The latter import had seemingly earlier been let go by a college in another minor city of Sichuan after his month of probation in that post. I'd have thought that FT's who had worked in Japan would have been at home in the PRC, and would know how to keep on the right side of their students. Any comments on the above?