I'm a teacher, show me my limits!
Tuesday, 10 May 2005 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cathay_stray*
Написал тут в коммьюнити по tefl. Может, интересно кому.
*
They invited me to their office to finalise the timetable and some minor arrangements.
I called the vice-principal asking her for directions.
"Take the tube to ABC station, then change to 123 bus", she started to explain.
"Thank you but I think I will go by car", I interrupted.
"Then call me as soon as you get into the car, and I will tell the driver how to find our place."
"Err... there will be no driver."
"Oh I see, a friend will give you a lift... No matter, just ask your friend to call me and I will give directions to him."
"I will drive myself, so please could I finally get the directions if it doesn't sound demanding too much?"
"Oh, you know you can't drive in China!"
"Why so?"
"You must have a Chinese license."
"I do."
"But you can't have a car."
"And why is this?"
"Teachers don't have cars!"
I could have kept on pressing and at the end of the day perhaps I would have got the bloody directions. But what I did was - I cancelled the meeting and nulled our agreement. I was not desperate for a little side income I could have earned from them - and other chances to reap a dollar or two are plentiful around. Sure, they didn't mourn much over losing me - in fact, they very probably got someone twice cheaper. Maybe that someone was even able to cater to their needs well. I don't know. What I know is - as soon as "they" start telling me what I can and what I cannot, it is time for me to hang up, or, if the conversation is held in person, to stand up and leave without bothering to look polite.
Honestly, I don't have a car at the moment. I sometimes borrow a friend's VW Passat. But not having a car means nothing as I am simply between the cars, a new one not bought yet as I had to buy a flat and put too much cash into that deal. I think I will buy a car some time late this year or early next. Still, in my 8+ years in China at least 7 years were behind the wheel, and this is what "they" chronically fail to fathom. "They" experience problems trying to understand you are not a backpacker, but a businessman marketing yourself and not willing to lose a single fen of your possible earnings or a single square inch of a flat you want "them" to rent for you. If you come to an interview driving your own unluxury but fancy car, "they" start hiccuping, and if you mention you had bought this car for the money you made as a teacher in 7 months, this is when "they" faint. "They" hate you knowing too much about the trade. "They" much prefer you naive, silly and flap-eared.
When I was sniffing around before deciding to relocate to Guangzhou I met a man who offered me a teacher's job. We had a [more or less] nice conversation negotiating the conditions of the contract. The man, let us call him Jason for convenience, offered me a room in the dorm.
"I don't live in dorms."
"Why??" - he looked really perplexed.
"I just don't."
"But it is a nice place, and you should already feel privileged to have a separate room with a private shower."
"Jason, you know my number, please don't hesitate to call me whenever you think you are ready to talk business", I stood up and proceeded to the door but was stopped and asked to stay.
We did sign a contract for a year at that time. He had to put up with most of my demands. Next time he nearly lost his consciousness was when he saw my 39 crates, boxes and containers delivered to my flat (2 bedrooms, big living room, big balcony, 3 aircons) that he had to rent for me.
"Oh, you have so many things."
"Don't you?"
"But..." - "but you are a teacher", I could read in his eyes the words he was too cautious to utter.
This is it. You are a teacher - hence, you are stigmatised. Depending on your age, you are seen either as a yesterday student, wet behind the ears, easy to cheat, enslave and totally fuck up - or as a lifetime loser, deserving even less respect. You are generally taken as a person for whom a coffee at Starbucks is a Sunday treat. Forget all that crap about a holy mission of spreading the word of English "they" give you. "They" are going to make money on you, this is a material world, and the Chinese are world champions in materialism. "They" will perhaps spend hours telling you about low costs of life in China and about how cozily you can live in a shared flat "they" provide for a salary of 3500, or 5000, or even 6000 yuan. Thing is - yes, really, you can live cozily for that money. But the sums mentioned above are for the first-timers and real losers. Facts are - being an English teacher you can easily make 8000 - 12000 yuan a month, and this is not a limit if you are willing to work hard and if you know how to dodge attempts to cheat you. For "them" it is practically impossible to get a white foreign teacher for part-time teaching for less than 120 yuan per hour, and 150-180 is more or less average (more in big cities), so don't waste time if "they" offer you 80 or 100.
Of course, if you know a thing or two about the situation in the labour market. But as a newcomer to China you are mostly likely going to be cheated, harrassed and intimidated. You will find your work load twice as heavy as stated in the contract - and you will be asked to take it thus making a contribution to the development of China. Trust me - you only need to take it once, and you are done forever. You will have to beg "them" for weeks to fix your shared washmach. And so on and so forth.
But the problem is - it is your fault, not "theirs". "They" simply know that if time is not pressing, "they" will anyway find you - a naive newcomer, recruited through David's ESL cafe or some other place, screw you, cheat you, squeeze you and dump you.
So please, be armed by the information above. Don't feel embarrassed to ask for more input. I will happily help you in every way - not because I am so good (I am not) but because I don't want you to break the market for me. Don't forget, I have to make enough for a car, and I want it soon.
Написал тут в коммьюнити по tefl. Может, интересно кому.
*
They invited me to their office to finalise the timetable and some minor arrangements.
I called the vice-principal asking her for directions.
"Take the tube to ABC station, then change to 123 bus", she started to explain.
"Thank you but I think I will go by car", I interrupted.
"Then call me as soon as you get into the car, and I will tell the driver how to find our place."
"Err... there will be no driver."
"Oh I see, a friend will give you a lift... No matter, just ask your friend to call me and I will give directions to him."
"I will drive myself, so please could I finally get the directions if it doesn't sound demanding too much?"
"Oh, you know you can't drive in China!"
"Why so?"
"You must have a Chinese license."
"I do."
"But you can't have a car."
"And why is this?"
"Teachers don't have cars!"
I could have kept on pressing and at the end of the day perhaps I would have got the bloody directions. But what I did was - I cancelled the meeting and nulled our agreement. I was not desperate for a little side income I could have earned from them - and other chances to reap a dollar or two are plentiful around. Sure, they didn't mourn much over losing me - in fact, they very probably got someone twice cheaper. Maybe that someone was even able to cater to their needs well. I don't know. What I know is - as soon as "they" start telling me what I can and what I cannot, it is time for me to hang up, or, if the conversation is held in person, to stand up and leave without bothering to look polite.
Honestly, I don't have a car at the moment. I sometimes borrow a friend's VW Passat. But not having a car means nothing as I am simply between the cars, a new one not bought yet as I had to buy a flat and put too much cash into that deal. I think I will buy a car some time late this year or early next. Still, in my 8+ years in China at least 7 years were behind the wheel, and this is what "they" chronically fail to fathom. "They" experience problems trying to understand you are not a backpacker, but a businessman marketing yourself and not willing to lose a single fen of your possible earnings or a single square inch of a flat you want "them" to rent for you. If you come to an interview driving your own unluxury but fancy car, "they" start hiccuping, and if you mention you had bought this car for the money you made as a teacher in 7 months, this is when "they" faint. "They" hate you knowing too much about the trade. "They" much prefer you naive, silly and flap-eared.
When I was sniffing around before deciding to relocate to Guangzhou I met a man who offered me a teacher's job. We had a [more or less] nice conversation negotiating the conditions of the contract. The man, let us call him Jason for convenience, offered me a room in the dorm.
"I don't live in dorms."
"Why??" - he looked really perplexed.
"I just don't."
"But it is a nice place, and you should already feel privileged to have a separate room with a private shower."
"Jason, you know my number, please don't hesitate to call me whenever you think you are ready to talk business", I stood up and proceeded to the door but was stopped and asked to stay.
We did sign a contract for a year at that time. He had to put up with most of my demands. Next time he nearly lost his consciousness was when he saw my 39 crates, boxes and containers delivered to my flat (2 bedrooms, big living room, big balcony, 3 aircons) that he had to rent for me.
"Oh, you have so many things."
"Don't you?"
"But..." - "but you are a teacher", I could read in his eyes the words he was too cautious to utter.
This is it. You are a teacher - hence, you are stigmatised. Depending on your age, you are seen either as a yesterday student, wet behind the ears, easy to cheat, enslave and totally fuck up - or as a lifetime loser, deserving even less respect. You are generally taken as a person for whom a coffee at Starbucks is a Sunday treat. Forget all that crap about a holy mission of spreading the word of English "they" give you. "They" are going to make money on you, this is a material world, and the Chinese are world champions in materialism. "They" will perhaps spend hours telling you about low costs of life in China and about how cozily you can live in a shared flat "they" provide for a salary of 3500, or 5000, or even 6000 yuan. Thing is - yes, really, you can live cozily for that money. But the sums mentioned above are for the first-timers and real losers. Facts are - being an English teacher you can easily make 8000 - 12000 yuan a month, and this is not a limit if you are willing to work hard and if you know how to dodge attempts to cheat you. For "them" it is practically impossible to get a white foreign teacher for part-time teaching for less than 120 yuan per hour, and 150-180 is more or less average (more in big cities), so don't waste time if "they" offer you 80 or 100.
Of course, if you know a thing or two about the situation in the labour market. But as a newcomer to China you are mostly likely going to be cheated, harrassed and intimidated. You will find your work load twice as heavy as stated in the contract - and you will be asked to take it thus making a contribution to the development of China. Trust me - you only need to take it once, and you are done forever. You will have to beg "them" for weeks to fix your shared washmach. And so on and so forth.
But the problem is - it is your fault, not "theirs". "They" simply know that if time is not pressing, "they" will anyway find you - a naive newcomer, recruited through David's ESL cafe or some other place, screw you, cheat you, squeeze you and dump you.
So please, be armed by the information above. Don't feel embarrassed to ask for more input. I will happily help you in every way - not because I am so good (I am not) but because I don't want you to break the market for me. Don't forget, I have to make enough for a car, and I want it soon.
