thinking about China? READ THIS...

[GandR]

So my partner and I have been teaching in China for a year. We thought we would share a few thoughts as no one offered honest answers for us before we went. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS JUST OUR PERSPECTIVE

Good Stuff:
1. Excellent eager students willing to learn, help, and participate in and out of class
2. Cheap to live
3. Taobao is an online shopping site, where you can get what you need and save. They deliver to your door.
4. The long break at Chinese New Year allows for extended travel (we went to HK, Vietnam, and Cambodia easily)
5. Easy to save money and pay off old debts

Bad Stuff:
1. Not all schools follow the Western Calendar. Our school resided inside another, and were thus dependent on their schedule. This makes it difficult to plan travel because the Ministry of education doesn't tell you there is a holiday until 3 days before... and usually makes you work on a weekend to make up for the holiday. We worked 6 weekends in a row when we arrived, and we were not explained how the holidays worked. Basically, we didn't have any holiday time until February for the New year.

2. Everyone in China has the exact same holiday time. As this is regulated by the government. Prices go up, and it is hard to book plane or train tickets without paying a large amount. Travel within China is accompanied by millions of others, and it is very expensive despite the low cost of living.

3. People are generally very nice once they know you... however, people on the street can be very rude (spitting, coughing, peeing, staring are common daily events) It would appear to be a lack of respect for others. This can be difficult and overwhelming to have to handle daily.

4. No one speaks English. We have traveled and enjoyed Hong Kong where none of things seem to occur... however China is not Hong Kong. It is difficult to get taxi's, food, clothing, and basic things. You cannot even open your own bank account or transfer money without a Chinese Local to do it for you.

5. The pollution is worse than you think. We expected a bad air quality, but until you go there... understanding how terrible and difficult it is to be outside (it causes difficulty breathing, eyes burn, headaches, skin issues, ezcema). The water quality is also low and can affect skin after a shower. check out the pollution index website and compare to your home. Almost every city in China is at dangerous (300+ppm). We were in a supposedly cleaner, nicer city on the ocean... and it was still over these unbearable levels.

Please feel free to ask us questions if you want, and we do know teachers who are going back and liked it more than we did. However, if the majority of the staff leaves each year, this should give a good indication that there are some issues, Thanks for listening.

[CDNTEACH]

Whereabouts in China and what curriculum?

Very detailed - I appreciate it!

[GandR]

we are currently in Qingdao, which is on the coast between Beijing and Shanghai. We teach a Canadian BC curriculum, and we teach secondary.

[grdwdgrrrl]

We did 14 years in China til just about a year and a half ago. I could have told you all of that. When you say no one told you. Maybe you didn't ask the right person.

[GandR]

As new teachers to overseas, the questions one needs to ask are not always obvious. And we did ask questions, but got no straight up responses from other teachers. The purpose of this was to inform first time teachers considering China, who may or may not know what to ask or look for.

[HereThereEverywhere]

Based on your post I will assume two things which very much may not be true for people who teach in China, or may be so depending on the job they take. First, it seems that you have taken a job in an international wing of a national school. Secondly it seems that you were not in one of the 5 major cities where most people end up. I will proceed with those assumptions.

Ok, agree with your good stuff. Totally true and basically the big reasons people go to China are to save and because China is the new west as far as opportunities goes. Bad stuff, I have some qualms with. Assuming you are in an international wing of a Chinese HS,
1 Yes, they may not follow the western calendar. Why should schools in China follow the western calendar? Some do, some don’t, some mesh. Really depends on the depth of the internationalization of the school you teach in and the government’s stance to it. There are advantages and disadvantages to both calendars which you nicely point out later. 6 weekends in a row is insane, which also leads me to believe you were in an Int wing of Chinese school and not a full fledged International School.
2. This is true and can be frustrating. Yes, prices go up. Have you ever travelled on Christmas/Easter, etc. in the western world? Welcome to the eastern equivalent. Completely agree with the fact there a billion people moving around during these times, perhaps more like 1.3 billion give or take. It can be terribly stressful to travel inside China during these times, avoid it. Stay home or go abroad. At other times travel in China can be very cheap considering the breadth of the country and the service received.
3. Agreeing here with point 3. People are generally very nice once they know you, by western standards. They do spit, cough, pee, and stare. Remember that China is experiencing the most rapid movement of populace from the country to the cities in the world and most likely these people are first time city dwellers. Take it in stride, take it as the way it is. To do otherwise will drive you insane because that baby with the split pants who just pooped on the subway platform, that’s not the last time you will see something like that. Just remember, no one else blinked an eye.

4. Now that is just not true. Many people don’t speak English, but a lot of people do in urban centers. Yes, it is hard to get around even in the most urban places, but you can. Learning 100 words of Chinese gets you 90% of everywhere and having a friend who is Chinese gets you the extra 9%. Its odd that the poster says in section 4 that its hard to get, “clothing, and basic things” when in number 1 they say you can get everything on Taobao. If you live in an urban center you can get anything at all. The end. Yeah, you can’t buy your red cheddar at the corner shop but hey, you are living in a foreign country with different priorities. Take a cab ride or underground to get what you like in any major city. Its there, you just have to take an extra step for it. True, you need locals to open accounts and transfer money, which sucks.

5. The pollution is worse than you think. Really, it is. This is because you come from the west and because it is terrible much of the time even if you are from China. In this case it doesn’t matter much where you live. Pollution in China seeps into everything. Air is bad, water is bad, etc. you really have to look for the bright spots. I look at the AQI a lot for the major centers and much of the time it does read above the highly polluted levels, but there are cleaner days as well. My advice here is to just be careful. Get a mask, put filters in your home, watch the AQI and buckle in for the ride. If it’s not clean outside then watch a movie at home. Get out when you can.

As a general information I lived in a major center of China for a few years and am about to go back again. Yes, go back. Despite the warts there is something about China that attracts, besides the high salaries. It’s a place where things seem to be moving and shaking and if you keep your priorities straight you can probably find a nice little slice there. If you are a nature lover who is adverse to eastern culture you will hate it. Just choose carefully.

[tdaley26]

China is such a large country that generalizations such as these are meaningless. I have been in Shanghai for 2.5 years and I have never had to use Chinese in a place of business except for the local wet market. The staff at my bank, supermarket, clothing stores, the guy on the corner who sells bootleg dvd's, fast food places, coffee shops all speak basic english. Shanghai's metro and bus system are easily navigated because signage and maps are in english and chinese. I share this experience, not to discount the OP's statement, but to clarify that their experience of Qingdao won't be your experience if you work in Shanghai or Beijing.

[Flyingpigs]

Just an observation--its China. Why should anything be in English?

[tdaley26]

Flyingpigs wrote:
> Just an observation--its China. Why should anything be in English?


It doesn't ….. But in most world class cities, multilingualism is encouraged in order to encourage economic investment and tourism. English is usually the most convenient language.

[Flyingpigs]

Yep, for sure that is the case-I agree with you that in world class cities, English is prevalent.
What my point was, that because it is starting to be everywhere, we start to expect it to be everywhere--and if it isnt, sometimes, the foreigner tends to get annoyed and frustrated because everyday life is so much harder when we have to navigate without English.
Everything is so much harder when you dont know the language of the country you live in, and its easy to fall into the trap of expecting English to be everywhere...and being annoyed that it isnt.

[buffalofan]

I've written off mainland China as a place to go teach and live. For mostly the reasons above, and some others. I really don't care about how much money there is to be made there, as I didn't get into this lifestyle for the money.

I would go to HK though. Much easier place to live and be a foreigner.

[grdwdgrrrl]

HereThereEverywhere wrote:
> Based on your post I will assume two things which very much may not be true
> for people who teach in China, or may be so depending on the job they take.
> First, it seems that you have taken a job in an international wing of a
> national school. Secondly it seems that you were not in one of the 5 major
> cities where most people end up. I will proceed with those assumptions.
>
> Ok, agree with your good stuff. Totally true and basically the big reasons
> people go to China are to save and because China is the new west as far as
> opportunities goes. Bad stuff, I have some qualms with. Assuming you are in
> an international wing of a Chinese HS,
> 1 Yes, they may not follow the western calendar. Why should schools in
> China follow the western calendar? Some do, some don’t, some mesh. Really
> depends on the depth of the internationalization of the school you teach in
> and the government’s stance to it. There are advantages and disadvantages
> to both calendars which you nicely point out later. 6 weekends in a row is
> insane, which also leads me to believe you were in an Int wing of Chinese
> school and not a full fledged International School.
> 2. This is true and can be frustrating. Yes, prices go up. Have you ever
> travelled on Christmas/Easter, etc. in the western world? Welcome to the
> eastern equivalent. Completely agree with the fact there a billion people
> moving around during these times, perhaps more like 1.3 billion give or
> take. It can be terribly stressful to travel inside China during these
> times, avoid it. Stay home or go abroad. At other times travel in China can
> be very cheap considering the breadth of the country and the service
> received.
> 3. Agreeing here with point 3. People are generally very nice once they
> know you, by western standards. They do spit, cough, pee, and stare.
> Remember that China is experiencing the most rapid movement of populace
> from the country to the cities in the world and most likely these people
> are first time city dwellers. Take it in stride, take it as the way it is.
> To do otherwise will drive you insane because that baby with the split
> pants who just pooped on the subway platform, that’s not the last time you
> will see something like that. Just remember, no one else blinked an eye.
>
> 4. Now that is just not true. Many people don’t speak English, but a lot of
> people do in urban centers. Yes, it is hard to get around even in the most
> urban places, but you can. Learning 100 words of Chinese gets you 90% of
> everywhere and having a friend who is Chinese gets you the extra 9%. Its
> odd that the poster says in section 4 that its hard to get, “clothing, and
> basic things” when in number 1 they say you can get everything on Taobao.
> If you live in an urban center you can get anything at all. The end. Yeah,
> you can’t buy your red cheddar at the corner shop but hey, you are living
> in a foreign country with different priorities. Take a cab ride or
> underground to get what you like in any major city. Its there, you just
> have to take an extra step for it. True, you need locals to open accounts
> and transfer money, which sucks.
>
> 5. The pollution is worse than you think. Really, it is. This is because
> you come from the west and because it is terrible much of the time even if
> you are from China. In this case it doesn’t matter much where you live.
> Pollution in China seeps into everything. Air is bad, water is bad, etc.
> you really have to look for the bright spots. I look at the AQI a lot for
> the major centers and much of the time it does read above the highly
> polluted levels, but there are cleaner days as well. My advice here is to
> just be careful. Get a mask, put filters in your home, watch the AQI and
> buckle in for the ride. If it’s not clean outside then watch a movie at
> home. Get out when you can.
>
> As a general information I lived in a major center of China for a few years
> and am about to go back again. Yes, go back. Despite the warts there is
> something about China that attracts, besides the high salaries. It’s a
> place where things seem to be moving and shaking and if you keep your
> priorities straight you can probably find a nice little slice there. If you
> are a nature lover who is adverse to eastern culture you will hate it. Just
> choose carefully.


Yes, yes, yes!!!!!

[grdwdgrrrl]

We seriously think of going back all the time. We miss it. Two of my kids were born there, it's like a second home. I miss the challenge, the language, the food, the people. I also hate the challenge, the food, the people too. It's a crazy, wonderful, dirty, strange, dynamic, interesting place. We were never, ever bored. However, my parents would disown us if we took our kids back. Really, the pollution is a worry.

[skonamaj1]

China is a strange and wonderful place. Everyday I both hate and love it. It is not for everyone, but everyone should try it for themselves.

[Artrageous]

I think the OP has some interesting observations to share from their perspective. I have been here for 2.5 years in Shanghai, and I would have to say the main reasons for myself not enjoying it are the pollution (so bad at times that the students have to stay inside for sometimes a week at a time during playtimes) and the lack of transparency over food regulations. It worries me eating here- I don't mean to sound paranoid but if you believe things you read about dyeing or bleaching food, adding colours to meat, vegetables, fruit, the state of the soil that things grow in, the cloning of pigs, the chemicals and hormones they add to food to make it look more appealing, it becomes a bit of a worry. We order from Fields, which is a company that sources its food from "safer" farms and has organic meat, and we eat imported food mainly- but be warned this is costly. I am not an obsessive person but I do worry about my kids' health. The upside to being here is we can save pretty well (live on one wage and send the other home) and my school is great, so I enjoy my work. We have explored a bit around Shanghai and beyond and enjoy the cheap metro/train system and there is some cool stuff to see. I have to say that I am lazy at learning Mandarin and that my few phrases and words have gotten me by so far. I still haven't gotten used to the spitting, pooing etc but figure it's all part of the experience. We are signed on another year but not sure after that.