Larrrie White
- 2007-06-14
Thank for exposing the fish. The only way China will clean up her is if we force her to. I am in Guangzhou and myself and other FTs want to Organize if only to keep track off and record our situation here. One FT was even killed here after quitting his job and foul play was suspected. Organize organize its the only way these fourms are nice but we as professionals need to take some positve action.
Grassroots baby
Luv soul bro
Crass SOB
- 2007-06-13
Hello, MJ,
Thanks for taking the time to chronicle in detail, your horrific experience in HeFei. I was teaching in HeFei last year as well. I loved the city and the HeFei people, but I too worked for a very bad school. After reading of your experience, I feel comparatively lucky!
My students in HeFei (at a "college") were so angry with the "headmaster" (i.e. private owner) that they threw rocks and mud at his office and private limousine for the horrendous living and classroom conditions he had given them in exchange for the huge sums of money he had taken from their parents. This happened one month before my arrival.
Again, I'm sorry to learn of your terrible experience. China is a beautiful country, but it is also riddled with these loathsome "schools!" Your story is very sad, but also sadly, not surprising.
If you're wondering why I call myself "crass SOB," it because I was labelled as such by a financially self-serving ESL recruiter (who calls himself "Fish")in the ESL discussion forum of this website, for trying to tell stories similar to yours.
The fact that you took the time to report your experience will perhaps save some other single female from a similar fate. I wish more people would do what you did, rather than silently getting on plane and never "going public" with their experiences in China. It might be one of the best ways to force China to "clean up it's act" in the ESL community.
I arrived in China hoping for a wonderful, exciting and a complete eye opening cultural experience....
What i got was Jordan's Language school in Hefei. Hefei is so beautiful and so incredibly hot i love it here, however, this school has destroyed six months of my foreign experience. It started with lack of privacy. They had keys to my apartment (which they provided) and continuously barged in unexpected and unwelcomed. Didn't matter if I was sleeping or in the shower...and being a girl alone in a forein country this was very disturbing. I got a chain lock installed on my door..so that i could have some sence of security. One morning i slept in late and heard banging on my door...I didn't feel like answering so I tried to go back to sleep. The one guy who is a driver for the school started to bang so hard that he actually busted the door. They refused to fix it. So welcome to Jordan's if u don't mind a lack of privacy.
Next situation made me so sick to my stomach. I quit right after this. I had just finished teaching the cutest kinder students. I love and miss them so much. As I rounded the corner I saw 2 teachers and an administrater holding one of the 4 year old kinder students buy the arms as another teacher was yelling at him and threatening him with a sharp screwdriver. The little boy who yes can be a handful but still the sweetest thing ever was screaming and crying. I stopped and asked WTH are you doing? They said oh we are just joking. They then seperated ..one teacher took the little boy back to class. I told them they were all sick. I left and was so sick and could not stop crying over this incident. It was the most disturbing thing I had ever seen.
I had everything packed and promised a 10 notice. Which was fine with me...I had to say goodbye to all my students.
When time came for them to pay me they decided they had to do a thourough inventory check and check every corner of my old rundown apartment they had allowed me to live in. We headed back to the school so they could pay me and handed me a slip where half the pay was missing. I admit after almost 2 hours of fighting them on this I gave up. I wanted nothing to do with this school any longer. I wanted out of there. I had, had enough.
This is just a warning to any potential teachers out there. Be warned about this school. Protect yourself. Some of the teachers there are just wonderful, and I remain friends with them to this day...others...well lets just say they need help....serious help if they think threatening a 4 year old is a joke.....they are the joke.
I worry about those kids. They are threatened all the time...with tape to cover their mouths...teachers smacking them...yelling at them.
I sure will miss those kids. They are amazing and incredibly bright.
take care of yourself...really check the schools out before you sign the contract, and always becareful of what you sign.
MJ