I know, I know, I have been warned. I have come over to China with an open mind, ready that there will inevitably be some problems, as most new teachers face. But just where do you draw the line? I think now is time, in my situation.

DO NOT COME TO LONDONG UNIVERSITY, GANSU PROVINCE!!! They have no regard to foreign teachers whatsoever and have treated me like dirt since I arrived, what with visa problems etc, story below:

Mr Gao (FAO) appears to have no intention whatsoever of assisting me with obtaining suitable Chinese/ Mandarin lessons as per the contract. He did not hold a banquet when I arrived (which the others believe is very 'shoddy'). He appears to have no regard for my contract whatsoever (as well as the pay issue recently)- he has simply said 'find a student who will teach you, and assist them with their English', so the bottom line is I will be offering free English lessons. I have spoken to the other teachers about this and they said 'No, I am entitled to suitable lessons by a proper teacher.' There have been a number of problems with Mr Gao and complaints by teachers over the years, to the point that I have been told he should have been replaced over 12 months ago. There is also a volunteer organisation from Britain called VSO who have several teachers here at the moment, and have warned me about issues involving Mr Gao and his treatment of foreigners. A new teacher, the first independent one before me (but not from VSO) was sent here in September, and he also had major issues with his visa- Mr Gao made him serve a probation period, during which he refused to do this teachers visa paperwork, and in the meantime the visa expired. The teacher had no choice but to travel all the way
to Bejing to fix Mr Gao's errors, then when the teacher arrived back, the university refused to pay him one month's salary simply because he went away!

However, this is just the beginning. We had a Christmas banquet on the 26th December and I asked the head of the department what I may be teaching next semester. He told me I would be teaching 14 hours of intensive writing classes to Grade 2. One of the other teachers (Jennifer) overheard and she got really angry. She told me this is way too much for a beginner inexperienced teacher and that they are testing me as they know I am a naive foreigner who would probably accept this if I had no advice off the other teachers. Jennifer said this is way too much work and wouldn't even be given to a young Chinese teacher.

On the very same night, I spoke to Dean Xi about the upcoming holidays, and out of the blue he said he was
sending me to a middle school in a nearby county for a week, assuming that I would just go without asking me what I was doing for the holidays. I told him it was too late, I already had something planned (I did not mention the winter school in Shanghai, and I know it is certainly not definate, I wanted to see what he would say).He even told me that he has actually told 'the company who recruited me' (which means you) BEFORE I arrived here! I said to him I have never heard anything about this whatsoever- and of course if I had to do this you would not have told me about the position in Shanghai! I am sure I am under no obligation to do anything the university demands of me after the 21st January (official end of semester). Again I mentioned this to the other teachers and they are completely outraged at the treatment I am receiving from this univesity. They have told me to outrightly say no, as the university is basically using me as their new foreign 'pinup girl' and any foreigner without experience (or the help from others as I have) would simply go along.

If I leave, I think I should go quietly, just get on a bus to Xian then get the train to Shangai for the winter school as I would have done, THEN, and only then, call the university to tell them I'm not returning. I would never ever do this, however, I really do think these people are going to give me a hard time, even go so far as call the police to make me stay if I do the 'right' thing and give notice, have a chat to them about the problems etc. I keep reminding myself that this is no longer diplomatic Australia where we can simply sit down and discuss problems, if no solution then leave.

What I would like to know is: if I can find another job here in China within the next 3 weeks (I'm staying this long so I can make sure I get my final pay , are both my green Foreign Residence permit and my red Certificate/ visa transferable to another position (I am assuming they are)? I just want to make sure I do everything legally and correctly and give them no reason to go hunting me down later on.....sorry this is SO long!

Songbird