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Post by Will Teach For Tea on Jul 30, 2006 14:45:57 GMT 7
Hi Folks,
This is my first post, so be gentle.
I've been planning to go over to China to teach starting September, and I've been actively searching for a month or so (a little late, perhaps, I know). I've made a tentative agreement with the Joy English School in Luoyang.
Does anyone have any experience with this school? I've had a good impression from speaking to the head teacher.
Any thoughts on Luoyang? I've heard its a bit on the poluted side, and it's clearly not as glamourous as other cities.
I still have the option of accepting a more questionable job in Dalian, so I'm eager to hear your thoughts.
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Post by Missi on Jul 30, 2006 14:58:41 GMT 7
Howdy and welcome!! sorry, I haven't heard anything about that school, but becareful when just speaking to the headmaster of the school. They are not always the best people to be talking too. Ask the school for a previous foreign teachers email or phone number and talk to them. You would get a better idea of what is going on.
Words of advice, be careful. And good luck!
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 30, 2006 15:06:45 GMT 7
A quick search didn't turn up any reviews of this school. You are right in that Luoyang is not the greatest place to go in China...kinda dirty, polluted, and boring.
We have members here who have lived in that region; maybe they can offer more on both the city and the school.
Dalian IS a nice place to be, but ate up with dodgy jobs. Who you talking to there?
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 30, 2006 15:08:41 GMT 7
PS: Welcome aboard, teach4tea!  |
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Post by Will Teach For Tea on Jul 30, 2006 15:08:53 GMT 7
Thanks!
I've gotten this advice before and stupidly have not followed it in this case. And I likely won't be able to reach them again for another 10 days. I'll will ask them first chance I get.
This process, as I'm certain has oft been said, is not easy. So much to keep in mind...
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Post by Will Teach For Tea on Jul 30, 2006 15:15:17 GMT 7
Thanks Raoul! (That last post was a response to Missi btw) Dirty and boring, eh?  The place in Dalian is a Shane franchise. My friend in Harbin tells me that I'd be farmed out alot there and other unfun stuff. Also, I have yet to be able to speak to a teacher from there, having emailed one and gotten no responce. |
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Post by Will Teach For Tea on Jul 30, 2006 15:20:13 GMT 7
Raoul- since I've got ya on the line,
Say I go over there and decide it's not for me (either immidiately or a couple months in). Can I scram, get another job, all the while retaining my Z visa?
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 30, 2006 15:23:42 GMT 7
Ooooh...Shane is generally pretty bad news. The internet is just crawling with complaints about their schools across China. I can't recommend that you work for them.
I'd also warn you away from the numerous Future Schools (AES or Aston) in Dalian. I personally was badly ripped off by those people.
I'm glad you're starting early. The search process is not easy.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 30, 2006 15:32:36 GMT 7
Let me say that I think we all endorse honoring a contract you sign as long as it's possible to do so.
Sometimes things happen, or conditions are so horrific or unfair that you have no choice but to bolt.
Many newbies come here and decide they can't do it. A lot of these just go back home and forget the whole thing.
Basically, you CAN bolt if you feel you must. Again, we'd hope it's pretty dire indeed before you punt a contract, but it can be done. And yeah, you can always find other jobs here. Like anywhere else, it's the really good ones that are tough to come by.
The complication is the Z visa. Your Z visa/residence permit will remain good through its valid date as long as you don't physically hand it over to the school or the police to be cancelled. You may be told otherwise but it isn't true. However, if you want to transfer the Residence Permit (the Permit is much more important than the visa once you actually get here) to another school, or renew it when it starts to expire, you will have to have a Release Letter from the old school. It must be stamped with the school's official seal.
You'll only get a release letter if you leave on at least half-decent terms. Without it, you have to get a new invitation letter, step out to Hong Kong, and start the entire process over from scratch.
It's always better to leave friendly if you can.
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nolefan
Barfly
Quod me nutrit, me destruit!
Posts: 686
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Post by nolefan on Jul 30, 2006 16:45:02 GMT 7
what raoul said!
Luoyang is not as bad as some people make it out to be. I spent a week in the city a last year and was pleasantly surprised at the rich culture of the area. The shaoling mountains are not far away, it's easy to spend time in Kaifeng and learn about the lost jews of China.... Oh, and luoyang used to be the capital of the country a couple of centuries ago
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Post by Ajarn on Jul 30, 2006 17:42:25 GMT 7
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Chian
Upstanding Citizen
Cool Raoul, Relax Max, Lucky Mary, ...
Posts: 120
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Post by Chian on Aug 4, 2006 1:50:32 GMT 7
Y'all stay away from that place, nightmares guaranty, followed by midnight runs............. |
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Chian
Upstanding Citizen
Cool Raoul, Relax Max, Lucky Mary, ...
Posts: 120
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Post by Chian on Aug 4, 2006 2:05:25 GMT 7
Hi Folks, This is my first post, so be gentle... It all depends on your experiences abroad... Have you lived in Senegal or Indonesia? Have you lived on an 12 miles x 6 miles Island? Have you lived in the Gulf? Are tough mentally? Are you an old wolf? Can you manage nonstop monkeys for 10 month? Do you have A, B and C plans ready 24/7? You got my points...Choose an easy town like Shanghais, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Beijing... Make your class, learn about behaviors… then, and only then take the trail... Work for a large school with lots of FT, if you are old enough AND genuinely qualified, try a U. China will break you in thousand pieces... |
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Post by ilunga on Aug 6, 2006 0:22:06 GMT 7
I've said it already but Luoyang is a good place. Quite possibly the fastest developing city in China as well.
Dirty? No worse than any other city in central China imho.
Polluted? Yeah in winter but so is Xi'an (which rarely gets any stick) and the vast majority of Chinese cities.
Boring? It's not the liveliest of places but once you've made a few good friends (and they're very easy to make in Luoyang) you won't be that bored.
You'll find it a lot more rewarding to spend a year in Luoyang than in a Shanghai, Guangzhou or Shenzhen. Plus, once you've spent a year in Henan, I believe you can happily live anywhere in China. Do you really want to be hanging out in bars full of rich businessmen who will bore you silly? Because that's what you will get in the big cities. And if bars, western amenities etc aren't important to you, then there's really nothing to put you off a smaller city like Luoyang (which actually has a carrefour and a walmart these days).
It sounds like your best option so you might as well give it a whirl ;o)
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Decurso
Barfly
Things you own end up owning you
Posts: 581
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Post by Decurso on Aug 6, 2006 1:55:53 GMT 7
Ilunga..did you live there?If I'd known would've contacted you before I went.I found it quite possibly the most boring Chinese city I've ever been in.Of course..that was before I saw Tangshan.
No..it's not that dirty.Actually could be considered clean by Chinese standards.But for a city of a 6 plus million there were absolutely no signs of life that I could detect.Maybe I didn't look hard enough,but I walked for 8 k and was completely unimpressed.
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Post by ilunga on Aug 6, 2006 2:42:46 GMT 7
Yeah I lived there for two years decurso. I think there's about 1.5 million people in the actual city. It's like anywhere, you need to know where to go. I was in Budapest a few years ago and couldn't find any nightlife. Obviously I was looking in all the wrong places.
If you were near the train station in Luoyang then you wouldn't find anything besides pink salons. There's four or five clubs/boom boom bars in Luoyang, all of them quite close to Peony Square. About the same amount of decent bars but like in a lot of places, the bars aren't exactly buzzing. There's probably a few new bars popped up in the last year though. So much changes in that city in the space of just 2/3 months.
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Decurso
Barfly
Things you own end up owning you
Posts: 581
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Post by Decurso on Aug 6, 2006 13:57:26 GMT 7
I wasn't looking for bars so much as cheap BBQ joints with draft beer and yangrouchuan.
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Post by Meihou Wang on Aug 13, 2006 8:44:43 GMT 7
IMHO..
I must agree with Raoul--Don't break your contract unless you're in dire straits.
I know you've been planning to go to China for a long, long time. In fact. you helped motivate three of our friends to teach there, not including your truly. you don't want to ruin your reputation by flaking out on your employer.
To that end, make bloody sure you're going to live where you want to live. I know there is a sizable necessity to poo you pants, jump in, and swim. Just make sure Luoyang (is that correct) is the kinda' place you'd like to call home for the next year or more.
Plus, will you have time to visit me in Zhejiang? Well, that's assuming I don't go for one of the many uni jobs in Henan.. but that's a different topic altogether.
Ciao ciao
~N~
aka: ~*Ridiculous_Niculous*~, the one and only
~*Meihou Wang*~
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Post by solongtinik on Aug 13, 2006 17:35:19 GMT 7
im not gonna answer ur query my fellow newbie (well, not really).
im in shouguang in shandong,the vegetable capital of china. it's really clean. wide roads. friendly people.
2 hours away from qingdao. 3 hours from jinan. 45 minutes from weifang.
btw. 1millisecond from boredom.
my school needs 2 more teacher, if u're interested i can send u their number!
g'luck!
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