Magister
- 2012-10-26
It's good to hear that you felt the majority of Chinese people you met weren't racist towards you. For British people like us the idea of living in a multicultural society is not only normal but actually something that we enjoy and should actively pursue (although it's worrying to see a rise in the popularity of parties like the BNP in recent times). Most Chinese racism is born out of ignorance (they haven't been exposed to a multicultural society in the way we have) and the bulls@#t nationalist agenda of the Party.
A city like Hangzhou which has its fair share of expats as well as foreign tourists means that you're less likely to come across the blatant staring and sniggering that you, me and other foreigners would encounter in less cosmopolitan cities. However, you also admit that you don't speak chinese therefore it's going to be difficult to pick up on everything that is being said to you or about you.
We should also be careful not to fall for too much flattery from Chinese. If i believed half of what Chinese people had complemented me on then I'd be not only the most handsome man in the world but also the greatest teacher and most proficient speaker of Chinese in the country. Oh no, wait, I am! LOL!
englishgibson
- 2012-10-26
James, you seem emotional. I was the same 7 years back. I can relate to what you are posting, but as in past 7 years i've seen a lot more than EF cr*p I cannot agree with the attitude that blacklisting a few companies, schools or centers will solve the coming teachers troubles. In fact, stirring them away from one inadequate place may as well take them to another worse one. It's a real jungle out there and TEFL courses ought to prepare in that area a lot better than they do. It doesn't take one or two months to get trained for such deceitful wilderness like in this country.
Cheers and beers to your next 7 years in China :)
James Mcdougall
- 2012-10-26
Hi Magister,
Thank you for your kind comments. Sorry to be contradictory, but that was not my intention. I am happy you like my blog. I just meant that particular story showed a particular example of extreme racism, by paying teachers according to race. Whilst, I faced a lot of racism within the work place, I did not face this from my colleagues. I also did not face any sort of racism outside of work, for example in the street. Everyone was extremely nice to me, and older people in particular shocked me, as they said that they think Indian people are very beautiful and very nice eyes.
Re: EF - English First - Beijing
By:Magister
Date: 24 October 2012
In Response To: EF - English First - Beijing (James Mcdougall)I enjoy reading your blog James if nothing else for the tabloid like style you use for presenting information. EF "internal affairs" and "reputable sources" all sounds very cloak and dagger. I can imagine you now standing on a station platform being handed a brown envelope packed with info for lasted 'scoop'. Lol.
One thing I have noticed though is that your later posts seem to contradict some of your earlier comments, particularly when it comes to the issue of race and Chinese treatment of non-white teachers. Your initial post stated that"I myself did not find China to be racist or discrimatory towards me" and you made several other comments to that effect on this site.
Yet your latest blog post is entitled 'Racism in China' and goes on to describe the Chinese as fundamentally racist.
I know which one I feel to be closer to the mark. Do you?
James Mcdougall
- 2012-10-26
Hi Mr Gibson,
I do not think I am witchunting, as that will definitely not solve the problem. I doubt any of my posts have made anyone change their opinion on not working for EF, as I've seen many adverts of heavy recruitment at the moment, especially for EF Hangzhou. I just want to make sure people have the relevant information that was not available to me. So that they can make well informed decisions before taking up a position and being dubious as to what to expect from the situation. Not everything is cheers and beers in life and people know that. However, many people see going abroad as an escape and as something better. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it is not. The videos on Youtube, depict a highly inaccurate version of teaching life in EF, and I think that it's extremely important for people to realise the potential dark side, before they invest spending money on a flight there, which could be potentially lost down the toilet. I also know of many other instances, whereby people came to China, whereby they didn't have a clue what they were getting themselves into. They ended up getting arrested for something ridiculous and getting into a lot of trouble. Had they informed themselves appropriately, this would never have happened.
James, it's an informative post about an incompetent franchised operation; however, there are scores of such companies around. Witch hunting does not solve issues but provides power to some we may not want to deal with.Cheers and beers to balanced views on the country with scores of abusive employers and producers of loads of low quality of goods and services
englishgibson
- 2012-10-25
James, it's an informative post about an incompetent franchised operation; however, there are scores of such companies around. Witch hunting does not solve issues but provides power to some we may not want to deal with.
Cheers and beers to balanced views on the country with scores of abusive employers and producers of loads of low quality of goods and services
Magister
- 2012-10-25
I enjoy reading your blog James if nothing else for the tabloid like style you use for presenting information. EF "internal affairs" and "reputable sources" all sounds very cloak and dagger. I can imagine you now standing on a station platform being handed a brown envelope packed with info for lasted 'scoop'. Lol.
One thing I have noticed though is that your later posts seem to contradict some of your earlier comments, particularly when it comes to the issue of race and Chinese treatment of non-white teachers. Your initial post stated that
"I myself did not find China to be racist or discrimatory towards me" and you made several other comments to that effect on this site.
Yet your latest blog post is entitled 'Racism in China' and goes on to describe the Chinese as fundamentally racist.
I know which one I feel to be closer to the mark. Do you?
English First – Beijing
See: http://ef-hangzhou-china.blogspot.com/ for the full article.
Recent news is that EF Beijing has had to dismiss several members of staff, due to the not being able to apply for residency visas. EF in general has a very lax policy against hiring qualified teachers. Many of the teachers working in EF do not have proper teaching assessed TEFLs and go to China with online TEFL's. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, there is a significant difference between the two. Firstly, the cost. The cost of an online TEFL is around £150 and the cost of a full 4 week TEFL course with teaching practice is around £1600 pounds.
At present, internal affairs are keeping this very hush hush on this side of the world and they are trying their best not to leak this information. However, I was lucky enough to obtain this information from a reputable source in China.