Kevin
- 2011-02-04
This is exactly what I am saying, we have the advantage that many Chinese do not. Yes they can make our lives difficult but ultimately we have the ability to choose whatever it is we want. If a school tries to take advantage of their foreign teachers then it is up to the teacher to say I will not accept this. If a new teacher is aware of what they can do there will be less chance for them to be mistreated.
I went to WEB Fuzhou a few years ago and was told to sign a contract with a boatload of stipulations that would require me to pay them money. If I was late or unprepared i would have to give them 50 RMB as well as other such stipulations. When asked how they would reimburse me should they fail to live up to their end of the bargain I was told that it never happens so they would give me nothing. As well for the amount of money they wanted to pay it did not match my experience. I declined their offer and left, very simple. Without the teachers they have no school, if all teachers declined their offer they would have to rethink their hiring strategy. Unfortunately they have been able to find other teachers willing to accept their terms. They will continue to operate as long as they have people willing to accept less than fair contracts. This is where the real problem comes in.
Do not accept substandard conditions ever and the experience will be better.
Dragonized
- 2011-02-04
Your words of caution are well founded, you should tell us more about the situations that you've come across when a laowai was confronted. However pissing someone who is of supposed importance off in china and then having them make life tough for you doesn't give you the incentive to back down, but to fight back in whatever way you can. I mean how Chinese do you really want to be 
? Justice is on your side, not on theirs. The more they abuse their power, the more they justify their country and culture's status in this world.
Bullring
- 2011-01-31
silverboy, you stated you want a wife and to live in China right?
I'm not against you man, and I have called out people on bs in china before, both chinese and foreigners, but at times I decided I needed to rethink where I was. I have heard of people kicked to the outer regions of HK and Macau, and left to the mercy of the relevant SAR authorities there as to whether or not they can stay in those China-lite places.
Problem is guanxi and connections are everything in the PRC,all it takes is to piss off one person higher up who feels wronged and has connections and your life can become very hard...no rule of law or right to recourse unlike the Commonwealth countries, not last time I looked.
And the large audience thing? Ever seen a rabid chinese crowd against a single laowai? I have and it ain't pretty, and can flare up over a very trivial matter, it's always better to tread wisely and watch your back in a country where people are locked up...and worse...