L in Guiyang
- 2008-06-25
Sounds like you had quite the bad go.
I just wish it hadn't soured you on Guiyang. I never met any of the FTs from your school (I don't go out much, more of a homebody) so I can't agree or disagree with your experience. It sounds like par for the course though, but it's not like it's hard to see where it comes from... Chinese Teachers (CTs) have to go through 4 years of tests and all the nasty bureaucracy that comes with the Chinese education system. Then they sign contracts for 5-10 years with their schools, AFTER havng paid bribes just to get interviews (and before you scream "foul" about bribes, think of it this way, 4 million people graduate, 1 million jobs... it's dog eat dog)and here comes a guy (regardless of education) who can walk in and get a great salary, benefits (apartment/airfare/cleaning staff) and walk away whenever they want... it's Envy mate (or "Hong(red) Yan(eye) Bing (Sickness), and I'm NOT excusing it, just saying don't make it sound like they are degenerates.... (expect for the underwear thing, that is twisted)
I came here from Canada quite some time ago and did 2 and a half years in north China, before coming to Guiyang. Yeah, Guiyang is poor. Yeah, there are issues with literacy and what us Expats may call "civility", but they aren't monsters!
I've stayed here for almost 4 years now, I married a local girl, and most of my friends are Chinese from Guiyang or the surrounding cities and villages. I find MOST guiynag people to be friendly (if sometimes rudely curious)and genuinely interested in learning more about the outside world (and English for that matter).
So please, your experience sounds awful and I have nothing but sympathy for you and your wife, But don't condem an entire city because of your experience.
Take care!
(and before the puncuation/spelling/grammar police come down on me, I confess , I'm a bit lax in my self-correction!)
Anon
- 2007-10-30
Just be thankful you're not working for Beijing New Oriental - now there's one really f++ked-up company!!!
Yvette
- 2007-10-29
I feel sorry for your experience, but I were in that school for around one year, I mean as a student. I was born in Guiyang and grew up there. they are just a little bit silly since guiyang is one of poorest cities in China, people there just don't have enough money and chance to take a look outside world. the students and professors there are actually nice, but since you are an outsider, so they probably just won't show their friendly. I hope something good happened when you were there, and can leave you a good impression. For steal, I guess everywhere have that problem, you should know how to protect yourself in China. I am in the U.S. now,and my credit cards and bank cards were stole from my apartment for three times, total around five thousands. lucky bank covered them. So, the only thing I can say is protect your properties by yourself no matter where you are. you probably can go shanghai and take a look. I spent my middle and high school there, my second hometown, big and nice city. good luck on your ESL journey.
anon
- 2007-07-24
I'm not suggesting that working conditions weren't sub-par, but I have a hard time believing your attitude and apparent lack of skill (you're teaching ENGLISH?) had nothing to do with the problems you experienced.
To be frank, I've seen elementary school students with a better command of written English than you.
Pollo Loco
- 2007-06-18
Well MS. White I'm glad you like abuse so much or at least that you've lowered yourself so much that's it's just become a part of you daily life and have become used to it. As for me I do care about the kids, but not to the point where I will allow people to treat me like an asshole no matter what they've been through. Look There's honesty and desency all over the world and then there's rudeness, stupidity and low class behavior no matter what culture you find yourself surrounded by. Besides you really think most of those kids aren't laugh at you at home with their parents? Trust me I'm married to a chinese girl and I know want those sweet inocent kids are doing and thinking with their parents. My wifes parents are decent people that don't cheat anyone, So there's proof that it isn't just they've been mistreated BOO HOO. You call yourself a Nigga then you gonna be treated like a NIGGA! ME? I'm gonna raise some hell and make life hard for all these thieving lying bastards.
Larrrie White
- 2007-06-14
I feel your pain bro. The level of meaness and stupidity is mindboggling ( mind you I'm from the USA where a cartoon Character is Gov of California and the President is a former cocaine sniffing born again idiot) as we speak I am sitting in a room in Guangzhou waiting for my pay which is 7 hrs late. (Hey Fish howyadoin'). Heres' how I see it . Most of the smart people here split in 49 or got in tight with the commies leaving the reast to flounder in a sea of bullshit and uncertainty . Lucky for me I was born in just that sort of enviorment (South Bronx) so hell, for the most part I get along fairly well here. In sort I am a nigga'. Now don't get upset. But in order to live with people like this you must understand the nigga' in them. They feel inferior to westerners so they want to hurt you or at least make you feel bad too. These people have been eating lies and crap since 49 so they feel its thier turn to dump on someone . Now here you come. making more money than they do acting cool and all that. Well naturally they get an attitude. The can't take their aggression on the real source of thier misery(the government) so they pick on us lowly teachers. Yellow on white crime. In order to get along with anybody you must first understand thier pain. The way I do it is I first recognize that I came here for an expereince good or bad. Then every day no matter how bad I find a way to fall in love with China and last I focus on the kids not the crap.
Luv
Soul bro
Fed Up FT
- 2007-06-14
As always, I'm very saddened, but also not at all surprised to read your story. Welcome to China!
People, pay attention! Thos of you reading these posts from your home country, please think very carefully before venturing to China for teaching work. If you want to enjoy China as a tourist, fine, but living and teaching here are another matter entirely!
This poster's experience is as typical as the positive ones (in my opinion, more so). What you get here is a real gamble. If you're negotiating by phone from your home country, agents/recruiters will often say in response to your questions and concerns: "Don't worry about that!" or "That will be OK, trust me."
No, you SHOULD WORRY, and yes, you should not trust any agent or recruiter fully. Try to get EVERYTHING as solid and credible as possible before you board the plane, because I can ASSURE you that no matter how much problem-solving, trouble-shooting you think you've accomplished in advance, there'll be surprises aplenty waiting for you at your school destination.
And when you point out some issue/contract term that you believed was understood and agreed upon before you left home, they'll likely respond with the usual: "Oh, there must be a misunderstanding." I honestly think this is the first English phrase people in the China ESL business learn to speak! They also know by the time you're standing in the middle of China, your power of negotiation is very much weakened.
Good luck and be careful! This poster's experience is all too common here.
What can I say, well to show you that I'm not just angry about something petty I will say that No.6 high school has a very good salary probably the best in the province, and great holiday benefits, But the people here are just mentally retarded. First the teachers got angry with me for taking x-mas day off which was in my contract. They had to work so should I was their attitude. Second I'm never informed of changes in schedual until someone calls me angrily asking where I am. Thirdly I have a 20 class per week schedual and I often do extra volunteer classes, well I get dirty looks from teachers if I'm not there 5 mins early for a volunteer class and often ask me how much I get paid for extra classes. I get paid NOTHING for extra classes. The Chinese teachers here are the most unprofessional I've ever seen. They discuss my personal life with their students, like my salary( and actually tell them I shouldn't get that much and there displeasure with my salary), I was robbed while living here and some of the teachers thought it would be funny to joke about it in class, when walking down the hall students would pretend to rob me and run away laughing.The english teachers can barely speak english and some even claim to have a masters degree. What a joke!
Students here are terrible, I hear "Fuck you" at least once a week, they throw dirty mop water on me when my back is turned, refuse to take part in class just listening to mp3s and reading mags. The teachers can't disipline students because their grade aren't good enough for high school and their parents pay lots for bribe money for them to attend. When it comes to exam time I have to make up fake grades so the parents will be happy,( this is a public high school remember).
The cleaning people steal from my wife and I, they stole some pots and pans, cans and bottles and beleive it or not even my wife's underwear!(what they gonna do with her panties?) What makes me even more angry is that the person in charge of the telephone somehow tapped into our phone and we were paying for both our and his phone bill!.
The people in this city are pure redneck farm people, no manners they would steal the shit out of your ass if you let them.So far I'm the only teacher who managed to stay 2 semesters, everyone else just runns away. You can decide for yourself if you like abuse, being cheated and lied to,and just plain rudeness then this is the place for you.
PS: I've had enough and I'm gonna run away too!