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Post by OZgronk on Jul 3, 2005 17:38:32 GMT 7
Millana,
Regarding Omeida School in Yangshuo.
I know this is about a month late, but you've got to give me a fair go as I'm new here, so here goes.
It is a small private school owned by Owen Buckland's brother and is in fact right next door to Buckland group HQ. (Buckland's are my agent)
I met a few of the FTs there in March this year who seemed happy enough and even ran an English corner there one night which was my very first experience in China having only arrived the night before. The students were very motivated and all in their early twenties to thirties.
I don't have enough experience with private schools except the one I teach part time here at Ningyuan to say much, but it seemed OK, housed in one of those typical Chinese buildings that people live and work in, about 3 stories high, with 2 or three classrooms on the ground along with the office, and living accomm upstairs.
Of course the big attraction is its location right in Yangshuo (the one near Guilin), with those skinny mountain things right around you and of course it is one of China's best known holiday destinations but is totally unspoilt..... a great place.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 3, 2005 23:29:53 GMT 7
OZgronk,
I will be curious to hear how things go for you with Buckland.
They have a pretty sad reputation, and I am not too fond of agencies. In fact, I am a pretty mouthy AAA (Anti-Agent Activist). So I would like to hear how it goes for you.
I hope you are an exception.
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Post by Jollyjunklass on Jul 4, 2005 4:06:07 GMT 7
Well for anyone interested here are my dealings with Omeida. A little pissed, but no biggie. The owner and I went back and forth for quite a while. I settled with him and told him, under no circumstances would I come to China under anything but a working Visa. He said he understood and would send me the documents in the mail so I could apply for my Visa.
Now, had I not met you guys and gathered knowledge I may have been a lot more pissed than I am now.
Two documents came about a week later. Now anyone with no knowledge of these docs would have taken the documents and traveled to the closest city to retrieve the Z Visa. Only to get there to find out they were not government approved, therefore. would have been issued an F Visa.
Had I done this I would have been very pissed, it can be expensive to travel there and back only to waste my time. However, because I am so paranoid, I asked around, as to the validation of these documents.
One guy, who is working closely with Omeida said not to worry.
Anyway, I write back to Omeida, asking why he didn't send the proper documents, this was his reply, Nice to receive your email. Sorry for the late reply. Guangxi province follows these guidelines you mentioned. I helped one foreign teacher to apply for Z visa only once because it is time and energy consuming. I need to go to Nanning (capital city) 3 times to finish all the documents from each department. It is nearly 400 Kms away from Yangshuo. Sometimes the officials are not efficient. I need to wait there for one more day. I have to mail them to you. It also takes time. My letter will help you to get a 3-month F visa. I have told you that Yangshuo is famous tourist town. F visa is good enough for you. There are many teachers in the other schools even hold a L visa (tourist visa) only. Well it would have been nice if the guy would have told me this in the first place, when I stressed I needed the Z Visa.
I know he thought he would pull one over on me, I would get to the embassy with my documents, take the F Visa, be happy about it.
So, although it seems people like working there, I'm not impressed with the manipulating bullpoo he tried to pull on me.
This is the joke. If what he says is true and his school is legal to hire foreigners, but he just doesn't want the hassles of traveling to deal with Nanning and the inefficiencies of their departments. I feel like yelling, buddy, so sad. I'm traveling all the way to China, getting a million things in order before I leave, then dealing with all the bs of the so called bureaucracies and you can't take a day or two out of your time to deal with this. NO THANK-YOU, next.
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Post by Jollyjunklass on Jul 4, 2005 4:08:25 GMT 7
Oh and sorry there OZgronk, I got carried away and forgot all about you. Thanks for the info. I appreciate it, better late than never. Nice to meet you.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 4, 2005 18:00:31 GMT 7
Good on ya, Millana. There are too many other jobs out there to take this. Keep looking...
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Post by con's fly is open on Jul 8, 2005 20:16:47 GMT 7
Anyone heard of an outfit called J & L? they have a school in Suzhou. The is in a high school , pays 4500Y and demands 18 hours a week... which ain't that bad. Okay, not exactly an enviable job. But are these guys at least legit?
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Post by Seth on Jul 27, 2005 22:53:27 GMT 7
Hanzhou SCHM School: What up? I got an offer from these guys today. They teach kindergarten through middle school, offer "20 classes/ teaching class" , and boast of a big, swanky campus. They are private; the company also has a tourism sideline, and affiliations with several Western schools (haven't heard of the Canuck one). www.huameiedu.com/english.aspHanzhou's not Shanghai or even Suzhou, but it's roughly (I believe) in the area. They're offering 4000-5000RMB a month, the merit of which of course depends on the number of hours involved. Anyone heard of this outfit? I don't know if it's too late now, but I've taught at this place. It's huge and swanky, and apartments top notch, the area lush and beautiful, and only slightly corrupt owners. The only problem is, though, that the kids there are the absolute worst you'll ever see. They're the most spoiled of spoiled Chinese rich kids (and even a few white kids - children of western doctors in Shanghai) , and there was no discipline at all. I was even spat on once and regularly screamed at for being a foreigner. My coworkers got the same treatment. Having a 7 year old berate you and say 'you people are no good' over and over again is certainly an experience you'll not want to have. Every time I complained about it, I was told 'not to worry' and they're bad to Chinese teachers too, not just FTs. They were right...I sat in on a few classes and they actually treated the Chinese teachers a bit worse. I made friends with one Chinese teacher and he confided in me that he hated his job, he's just a babysitter. I'm telling you, the kids were horrendous. My apartment was right across the hallway from the principal, who spent most of his time shagging the office girls. Also, the school is in the boonies...it's a 30 kwai taxi ride to Hangzhou city. The place drove me nuts and I left after 1 month. I'd give it a pass, there are plenty of nice universities in the city proper.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 8, 2005 19:12:59 GMT 7
How about Eden English, in Nanning? Or Nanhai Normal university? Or Idea Space in Shenzhen?
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gengrant
SuperBarfly!
Hao, Bu Hao?
Posts: 1,818
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Post by gengrant on Aug 9, 2005 10:26:34 GMT 7
I emailed Idea Space with my CV and contact info; never heard a peep from them...no response...nada...zip...zilch...followed up with an email asking if they had received my info...not a peep, no response, nada, zip, zilch...
just my interaction with em...you might have more luck (or guanxi?)...
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Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 9, 2005 13:30:41 GMT 7
Idea Space emailed me said they were interested and were sending my cv to the manager, then zip (so far). Cash sounds good. Too good.
Eden, the contract is for like 32 lessons per week! Good money for the area, but man, these guys want you to work all year, only 2 weeks off, plus only 1 week at New Year, 6 evenings and days per week, including weekends. Wow. Giving them the big miss. The people and the school seem nice, outside of that.
I assume a normal university is pretty normal, heh.
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Post by con's fly is open on Aug 9, 2005 18:10:35 GMT 7
32 CLASSROOM hours a week?
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Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 9, 2005 18:49:43 GMT 7
36 in summer
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gengrant
SuperBarfly!
Hao, Bu Hao?
Posts: 1,818
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Post by gengrant on Aug 9, 2005 21:03:14 GMT 7
Ouch! I would hold out a little, Nobby...32-36 hours is high...I would say go for the 20-24 range somewhere...(even that is high for some peeps standards!)...there have to be other schools...are you in a hurry to find one? are you particular as to ages, etc...? 'Normal' universities are those that train teachers - USAnia used to have Normal Colleges, then they called them 'Teachers Colleges' now they are just departments absorbed into larger Unis... Funny story: I received my M.Ed. from 'Sam Houston State University' in Huntsville (Prison Capital of the US - that's another story), Texas...good 'ol S.H.S.U....used to be 'Sam Houston Institute for Teachers' though...S.H.I.T. - finally wised up and changed their name! I have a sweatshirt with the S.H.I.T. logo on it...I think it's a collector's item...
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Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 10, 2005 7:55:24 GMT 7
Good story. No, I am in no hurry to find a school, even the girlie doesn't want me to take this - I calculated what her pay would be for the same hours, and it is around the same. So, no go.
I have enough cash to last until at least the end of the year without work, if I don't do anything stupid or have any disasters.
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Post by Beausie on Aug 12, 2005 14:53:33 GMT 7
Hi guys. I too would be interested in any info on Nanhai College of South China Normal University. Contract looks okay, but I don't know the anything about the college or the area.
Ta
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Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 12, 2005 17:45:26 GMT 7
The area, Nanhai is part of the city of Foshan, and is industrial, and a bit gritty, not too large, but big enough, not very cosmopolitan, but the people always strike me as very friendly. Not much to see unless you are into Kung Fu, as I am. It is the home to Wong Fai Hung of Once Upon a Time in China movies etc, a cultural hero, and to Wing Chun, the most popular Chinese combat art, outside of China, anyway. I know the area reasonably well, having been there any number of times, and have friends there. Night life is fine, cost of living quite low, food bloody excellent and has the best Juk restaurant I have tried anywhere at all. Bloody fabulous.
Haven't lived there, so do not know of the availablity of western stuff, rent or other conditions. I can find out pretty quickly I think, though, have friends from there I talk to online every few days.
It is also the home of Southern Chinese Lion Dance. They are pretty damn good. Also, many kung fu styles in the area. (None of the others are as good as the one I like, natch. maybe a bit of prejudice there, though. ;D)
Only thing I do not know is what it is like to work there as a westerner.
Beausie, I also haven't seen a contract yet. If you are willing, PM me and I will give you my email so you can send it. Please give me any other info, and when I find out some, I will tell you what I find out, if you want. I am phoning the person in my email tonight, though, so maybe this is redundant.
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Post by Dr. Gonzo on Aug 13, 2005 2:48:46 GMT 7
There maybe more than one Nan Hai. A satellite city of Shanghai, sitting on Hangzhou bay goes by this name. Maybe 1.5 hours to Shanghai, and is the ferry port for trips to the Zhejiang Archipeligo [sp?].
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Post by George61 on Aug 13, 2005 3:44:54 GMT 7
Blokes, Beausie is talking about NanHai College in Guangdong.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 13, 2005 6:33:22 GMT 7
So am I. Got wires mixed though, so am trying to get back in contact with them. They gave me the phone number of where they were staying on hols, and the email led me to beleive to ring it when they got back.
Sent an email again. Sigh.
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Post by acjade on Aug 13, 2005 9:19:19 GMT 7
Today I'm going to Bao ji a two hr. train ride from Xi'an. I've been booked into a decent hotel and tomorrow morning I test a group of biologists whom the company are getting ready to send to England and Europe.
Looks like I've found a part time project for next semester. Depending on the pay. Two hours for 5oo kwai isn't bad but it's really an overnight comittment. Don't mind doing it as it gives me something different to do but I wouldn't want to do it every weekend for 5oo. But it could work out to a lot more.
The kid's mother bought the train ticket which is refunded to me anyway. I could have gone by private car this morning with the director but I didn't want to miss my early morning badmitten game.
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Post by Dragonsaver on Aug 16, 2005 2:15:09 GMT 7
Ok, now it's my turn. Started sending out my resume on Friday. I have two offers today and another one possible. I need advice on the two, that have said they want to hire me. Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo City, Henan. I applied for this one direct to the University from info on internet. I used China TEFL Network. and Hubei Shiyan Technical Institute, this is through a recruiter. They got my name from where I took my TEFL course. I got a phone call from a recruiter (also through TEFL course) from eslinchina.org. I told her I had an offer from a University that I applied direct to and she almost had a kitten. Said that anything off the net is suspect and the school may be no good and won't honour the contract etc etc etc etc Then she said she would call the University on my behalf. Not going to happen. Anyhow, please, help, advise, etc Thanx
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Post by Jollyjunklass on Aug 16, 2005 9:14:41 GMT 7
DS,
The recruiter is full of poo. I have contacted many, and I mean many Universities directly, through the foreign affairs office. If I were you I would dump her/him. Most Universities, that I know of, do not use a recruiter.
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Post by Dragonsaver on Aug 16, 2005 9:35:54 GMT 7
Millana you changed your name. Took me a second to figure it out, probably because it was Jolllyjunklass in thread but Millana as being online. Cool.
Thanks for info. I figured she was ooooooooout to lunch. The Hubei job doesn't sound too good now that I have reviewed the contract. Still hoping the Henan one is goooood. Hoping someone has heard of them.
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Post by Jollyjunklass on Aug 16, 2005 9:48:21 GMT 7
LOL, Changed my name because when I get to China, I don't want my partner spying on me. I'm now incognito, or so I think!
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Post by con's fly is open on Aug 16, 2005 20:49:07 GMT 7
Are you jolly in Canada? Maybe "Uglyrottenbitch" would throw him off the scent.
DS, the Chinese, in business, will slag each other without restraint. This is marvellous opportunity to examine what they say, suss out their motives, and see their hearts. They're so reserved otherwise. Blow that recruiter off: she's a sleazebag.
LISTEN UP: I just discovered what the bounty is for a recruiter who supplies you with a laowai: 500 kwai a head. That's not enough money to make it worthwhile, unless you deal in bulk. Sheds light on why you should never trust them.
In fact, the way to reform the system would be a "laowai pay" system. Hear me out: that way, they don't have to give a poo what the schools think. And, being Chinese, thay'd sniff out every scam.
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