Only FT on campus

[Newbs]

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Okay, I'll admit it. I've just posted a similar post over at the spoon, and now I've come here for absolution (and something stronger than coffee and abuse, which seems to be what you get over there.) However, I digress.

This semester, like last semester, I will be the only FT on campus. This has both positive and negatives, but I reckon the negatives outweigh the positives. I miss the banter, the sharing of ideas, and the attempts to analyse/explain the latest bits of craziness that the middle kingdom throws up from time to time.

A forum like Raoul's is great and it has saved my sanity from time to time. But I reckon all you guys (non-gender specific) might have a few ideas. All suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks guys.

[Lager]

My 1st China job I had 1 co-teacher who was always at her boyfriend's in the next town...

I enjoyed that term as I felt it forced me to get out into the "real China>"

Honestly though i dont know if I good take it again---that was in a hic town also.

(I'm obviuosly getting too pissed to carry this on so I'll re;ply later.ITS DARK IN HERE.

[Lotus Eater]

There are 2 of us here - one Japanese teacher plus yours truly. The Japanese teacher is always being mistaken for Chinese (so can I count it as being the only FT? Uhh, please, please uhh). It does force you to live a more Chinese life.

Previously I was one of 40+ FT's and had a very active social life - always someone to go out with, eat with etc. BUT if I hadn't already had an entree into some Chinese friendships I would have found it very difficult to make Chinese friends. When FTs travel in packs (i.e. 2+) the Chinese won't talk to you.

I think it is easier to move into friendships with Chinese people if you are alone. But having confidence to do it takes time, and although still totally up-the-creek my level of Chinese language has improved enough for me to be at least civil and ask some basic questions, so that helps. Trying it with no language would be harder I think, but still possible.

Have fun - it can work.

[con's fly is open]

Newbs, for the first 8 months of my gig, I was the only laowai within a 100 km radius. Once they hired a second Canadian, the time went by much faster.
Are you the only foreigner in your school, or in your entire town? If not the latter, you should be able to score a beer once or twice a week outside of work. The mental health benefit? Priceless.
If not, cultivate some hangouts, and some hobbies.

[Newbs]

Thanks for the replies guys, and taken in the spirit in which they were given. Okay, a little more background. When I say I'm the only FT there is a Japanese teacher, and she speaks very little English, so although I get on well with her, like Lotus, I count myself as the only FT.

I'm in Hangzhou so there are other foreigners around and off campus there is something to do, places to go, and a social network to get established. It takes time, but that's okay, the slower the better I feel.

Since I've posted that I've talked to a few other teachers who are the only FT on their campus. The consensus seems to be that they like it, as there is not the bitchiness, politics and playing off one against the other with the principal. Also, you are your own boss.

Con, you mention getting off campus. (I live on campus, by the way, but that's another story.) There are some days when I deliberately stay on campus, to prove to myself that I don't have to go down to a bar every night, and there are times when I feel the cabin fever growing, and I know I have to get out into the real world for awhile. It's a question of balance, I guess.

Like all things there's positives and negatives in it, but hey, that's life.

Maybe I can talk to some of you in real time about this up in Suzhou, before the first beer, or before the second beer, or at least before the third beer, no make it the fourth. Strewth, it doesn't matter, by that time I'll have lost count anyway.

Again, thanks guys.

[con's fly is open]

I lived on campus too: killed the privacy, and the cabin fever was hideous at times, but you can't beat the commute.
i suppose the trick is to find a place to hang out without drinking. After 6 pm, that's easier said than done.

[Lotus Eater]

I have only ever lived on campus since being in China, so can't compare. But to date I have had no difficulties with privacy - even when there were 40+ foreigners drifting around I managed to have a private life.

Here I have had parties that last forever, people staying over, visiting etc and no-one bothers to comment.

Very rarely did the guards at the foreigners compound gate of the previous place ask anyone who they were visiting - only when they wanted to crack down on some of the religious activity happening in some of the foreigner's apartments and then just Chinese students had to state who they were visiting and why.

Here my visitors walk through the front gate, find my building, ring the bell and come on up.

The security guys have been obliging about opening gates at 4-5:00am. Previous place they left the gate about 18" open so we wouldn't have to wake them

No chance for cabin fever yet. I have a masseur come once a week, a Chinese lesson twice per week at my place (one evening, one afternoon), have started my fortnightly 'open house' for the students.

I have Chinese friends who have nothing to do with the campus and we usually get together once a week. The rest of the time there is always something to do. Went to a concert at the Conservatorium last night - and arranged to go out with the Russian pianist for food and frolics.

Gradually making friends with the Chinese teachers which should also open more doors.

My solution - talk to anyone breathing! It works.

[Wolf]

Well, I am the only non-local teacher now at the local campus, and there are only five of us in total in the Board of Education. In China, I was the only visible minority (and non-Chinese speaker) on campus for a period of about 7 months.

Here are The Tips (tm)

1. Internet = yes. Having access to the outside world in some way will be an essential asset. Lesson plans, reading material (if you're into classics), wastes of time great discussion forums, pirated software; it's all there.

2. Learn the local lingo. If it is at all possible, try to learn the language of the land. Anything that opens up possibilities of socialization is a real plus. This is a real trick though. Regular classes help, as it allows to develop study habits. This also gives you a challange with a goal; espeically if you plan to stay much longer than a year.

3. Try to make friends with the locals. This, in the end, is the true clincher, at least as far as I'm concerned; when it comes to finding long term contentment in another place. It is true that for many people a series of complexes are activated upon sighting a foreign face. And I don't just mean the need to speak in English; the whole discoursive approach will be different. It can feel like a neverending dark tunnel to try to get past that with everyone. However if you are lucky enough, you can find people willing to see past that (even if it takes practice and time.)

4. Make friends with other nearby FTs, but this is very much a double edged sword. First of all, it can be such a safety zone that you might not interact with the Chinese as much as you could (and in retrospect might have wanted to.) Secondly, FTs can be a real mixed lot. There is a possibility that you might end up near FTs who you wouldn't be comfortable making friends with. While another FT will have likely shared in many similar experiences as yourself; there is no guarantee of a blood bortherhood because of that. A glance at the spoon's China forum will show you what I mean.

4. Develop a hobby. If you can develop a local hobby, then so much the better. If you live in a region where you presence isn't quite as disruptive as that of an A-list Hollywood star, you might want to consider taking classes in something. I saw Tai Chi in every park there was on every weekend. Work on that novel. Get banned 10 times a day from the spoon. Learn to fish/knit/play the er hu/write in hanzi/touch type/take over the world.

5. Have your students take you to wierd places. I had my students take me on a few day hikes. A few of your students will bound to have similar interests to you. Drop a few hints and you'll probably have a full calender in notime.

6. Don't rely upon langauge exchanges or part time teaching gigs to allieviate loneliness. Language exchanges are often abused by language leaches (both inadvertently and otherwise); and part time work should only be done for money. Which, by the way brings me to

7. Don't work all the time. You must do something more. Or you will turn into Bertie. And then we will have no choice but to hunt you down.

8. Go places. Domestic travel is no longer insanely cheap by any means (espeically if you factor in comfort) but it can provide a great means of varying the pace.

9. Try not to live too far from the costal centers, if you can. I was 700km from Guangzhou and about 1000km from Shanghai. The other FTs I knew kept insisting that I just pop down to Guangzhou every weekend or so to lighten up. Traveling the length of a medium sized nation just for a decent day trip to civilization is not a reality one can face for any long term and remain sane.

10. Like teaching. If you hate the classroom you will not survive. There were times when the fact that I liked my job was the only thing keeping me going.

11. Cautiously try the local food. I think I was sicker in my 18 month stay in China than the rest of my life combined. That being said, I ate only local food except on a tiny handful of occasions; and for the most part it was enjoyable. Follow basic heath tips available elsewhere, and eat well on a teeny weeny fraction of what "our" food costs. Don't exclude that occasional splurge for a meal consisting soley of two kilos of cheese and unsweetened real bread.

12. Post here every single day. It's been clinically proven to improve the loss of sanity process. ;D