Info on these schools or Provinces?

[gretch]

Hello all, my first posting! I've been doing sooooo much research via internet I think I've actually become more confused than when I started I've taught in Beijing, but only for 4 months (I got released early due to SARS) in '03. I currently teach HS here in the states, but no ESL experience or certs in that area. I would like to go to a province/city that is not so westernized, but more authentic. I don't need western luxuries, etc. , but I don't want to be pitching up my tent in a field watching grass grow, either... So any advice, info , etc I'd love.....My brain is going to explode

I've applied to many schools and have received offers from the following:

Shaanxi University of Science and Tech. in Xianyang city, Shaanxi Prov.

Nanyang Institute of Technology in Nanyang City,Henan Province

Jiangsu College for International Education

Shaanxi University of Science and Technology

SanQiao English school in the city of DaQing of HeiLongJiang province

Also, I am very drawn to the beauty of Guangxi Prov. , but I understand that they cannot hire FT legally? Is this true? All I've seen is Buckland and Omeida...same family....bad reviews, any info?


I haven't applied to these, but am very interested in Sichuan Province:

Sichuan university

Chengdu University of Information technology

Guangxi University (Nanning)

Thanks in advance and I'll be zombied out in front of the PC awaiting your responses!

[Nate M]

There's a brief overview of Nanyang in Burl's old school review, posted here:
www.chinaschoolreview.com/index.php?module=reviews&func=showcontent&id=74

You also might want to check out the city-area information area in the forums here to see if anything there interests you. I lack specific information on pretty much everything else, though.

[con's fly is open]

Howdy and welcome aboard, Gretch!

What age do you want to teach? And what climate are you looking for- mild winter or mild summer (both is pretty much out of the question)? And location: seaside? Mountains?

[Ruth]

Welcome, gretch. Sorry, I don't have any info on the schools or places you have asked about. Mr. N lives in Nanning, I think.

Ask the schools to give you email contact information of FTs currently there or who were recently there. If they are above-board schools this shouldn't be a problem.

[Lotus Eater]

Xi'an is a highly livable city - still plenty of 'old China' while having everythng else you could want. There should be plenty of jobs floating around in Xi'an - it has over 70 university type institutions! Have a look at Xi'an International Studies University on the web - they have 40+ foreign teachers (highly multi-national - Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, French, and various English speaking) so you can have as little or as much company as you want. Really easy introduction to living here.

Xianyang is just down the road - but in terms of doing stuff, way quieter and fewer foreigners.

[Mr Nobody]

Nanning is a great place - see the reviews in the review bits.

Guangxi University is apparently pretty good to work for, but they never answered any of my emails when I was applying. I plan to apply there again in a month or so for the next Semester, but they will probably ignore me again. NOt sure why - maybe I lack the needed experience.

[con's fly is open]

daoding said:

Nanning is a great place - see the reviews in the review bits.

Guangxi University is apparently pretty good to work for, but they never answered any of my emails when I was applying. I plan to apply there again in a month or so for the next Semester, but they will probably ignore me again. NOt sure why - maybe I lack the needed experience.

They probably saw your headshot. Rimshot!

[Raoul Duke]

Welcome, Gretch.

Don't know any of the schools in bold. Run- do not walk- run away from Buckland and Omeida.

Southern Jiangsu Province is nice. Anything north of Nanjing is probably best avoided.

Nanning gets great reviews from all.

Xian is nice. Don't take anything in Shaanxi outside of Xian. Don't take anything in Shanxi anywhere.

If you can stand bitterly cold winters, Heilongjiang Province has some nice moments. Daqing is definitely not one of them. Avoid.

Henan Province falls into the same mold as Shanxi, Northern Jiangsu, Shaanxi outside of Xian: Don't go there unless you are immune to dust and boredom, and like animal husbandry.

[gretch]

Wow! you guys are great! ;D And Rauol, big thanks to you, I've kept coming across info good and bad, nothing set. I think the good came from those who knew no better

Thanks again to you all, you are decreasing my stress and worry bit by bit.

Gretch

[Mr Nobody]

Oh, yeah, places in Guangxi can hire legally, no problem. maybe you are confusing guanxi with Guangxi? guanxi is "relationship" and no, you can't run a school or pretty much any business without it, while Guangxi is the southern coastal province that has Nanning as the capital.


Plenty of places here that aren't buckland or omeida, but the pay in this province is low, as is the cost of living, though. Nice people, food second only to Guangdong, and much cleaner.

[Dr. Gonzo]

If interested in Guangxi, look at Guilin. I spent 2 good years at the Guilin University of Tech. Pay's low, but so's the cost of living. They don't do airfares but will pay you over vacations.
There are others in town. Check out this listing:
www.findaschool.org/index.php?Country=China
If money's an issue, Guangxi Uni in Nanning pays pretty well.

[OZgronk]

Run- do not walk- run away from Buckland and Omeida

Whilst it is not in my nature to disagree with advice offered on this board, I would like to offer some first hand advice when it comes to Buckland.

We are into our second contract with Buckland and can find nothing with our relationship that would make us want to go elsewhere.

I have written this so that anyone thinking of going through Bucklands can get a better idea of how that agency works and I welcome any questions and hope I can answer them as best I can and in an objective manner.

When Mrs OzGronk and I arrived at Bucklands in March this year, just after the term had commenced, all of what we at the time, would have termed "popular postings" within his list of schools had been taken up so we settled into the week long induction course and enjoyed a free holiday in Yangshuo to see what would turn up.

The induction and familiarisation course was run jointly by a lovely retired Canadian university lecturer who brought us up to speed on writing lesson plans including tips and tricks in handling Chinese high school students (and their teachers) and by Owen Buckland himself, who presented very entertaining sessions showing us how to handle the Chinese people, food, banks and systems as well as teaching us a bit of survival Mandarin. It was a good adjunct to our Australian TESOL course.

We got to try out our skills on real Chinese in the classes and English corners held at one of the Omeida schools so we would feel more comfortable when we were sent out into the wilds.

Owen pointed out that most of the schools on his books are in smaller towns, as he felt that people who came through his agency for usually just 6 months, would get more out of a stint in such towns rather than big cities.

Whilst in the middle of our induction, an urgent call came through from a town in Southern Hunan that wasn't even on the map, and a couple of days later a car came to pick us up to drive us the 300km to Ningyuan (see my posting earlier this year in the towns section).

Everything in our contract was honoured at that school apart from having a squatter instead of a western bog, which we accepted as it meant not having to put up with a wet toilet after showering.

However, the foreign director at that school was a real weasel, in that he took the bit in our contract that said we would do the "occasional P.R. job for the school" as an invitation to use each of the 6 Foreign teachers on a rotational basis to give "demonstration lessons" that were designed to attract pupils to his own private school, not for the middle school at which we worked.

After 4 months the six of us FTs told the Foreign Director that we were all leaving, as none of us could handle his attitude and on the last day of term we all cleared out, amid much pleading to stay as the school suddenly realised what was happening.

We and the other two F.T.s on the Buckland books headed back to Yangshuo, the other two who had signed with the school independently went off to search for other work. (During those last few weeks, we found that we from Bucklands were being paid about 1000Y per month more than the independents).

At Bucklands we were given sympathetic hearings and offered the pick of the postings for the next term, Hainan Island and Guilin.

The Canadians of course took Hainan but coming from QLD, Asian beach destinations hold no attraction for us, so Guilin with its airport links and clean surroundings suited us but when we checked out the school, found it wasn't our cup of tea as the hours were too long (we have both had 40 years of working long hours....been there, done that!).

Bucklands were understanding and asked us if we would like Yongzhou, which we took, and we couldn't be happier. Everything in our contract is honoured plus a few unexpected extras and our accommodation is perfect. Just 15 lessons a week isn't too hard either!

Owen has visited Yongzhou twice since arriving here in September, to see us and the two teachers at a nearby school, which resulted in the school being prompted to re-plaster the entire stairwell leading to our top story flats, (we have one each...well, thats what the contract says we are to have!)

All in all we can't fault our treatment by Owen Buckland and he seems to give the schools a bit of stick to keep them in line. He even held back sending anyone back to Ningyuan until the school got rid of the Foreign Director, which we understand, they did.

Unfortunately I cannot provide any worthwhile comments on the Omeida schools run by Owen's brothers except that teachers there seem happy enough. It should be noted that Yangshuo is China's backpacker central and I guess that many of the teachers at Omeida are doing fairly short term stints but I may be wrong.

Owen himself is opening up 2 schools, one in Yangshuo, the other in Hainan.

[Mr Nobody]

I've heard the good, I've heard the bad. Why, then do these schools have such a bad reputation? The people here have no interest in the schools or their compeditors.

Maybe the good is right.

My paranoia says - look to your asses. I'll look to mine. I hope I am wrong. I live and hope to mostly stay in this province for a good many years, off and on.

One day I may have to work for them.

Who knows?

But they are low on my list for more reasons than this website.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Over the years there has been a huge debate regarding this group. A search on Dave's should provide interesting reading for those interested.

[Nate M]

Some people have said they believe there are two different Bucklands with vastly different philosophies regarding how they treat their teachers.

[Mr Nobody]

One thing I can add is that one of Dave's regulars (or ex. I checked and couldn't find a recent post) works for Buckland and is a friend of Owen or so he says, and likes it very much. However, I consider that person to be actually insane (not joking - I think he needs help. His contact with reality is very tenuous, judging by his posts), so this isn't a recommendation.

[gretch]

Hello all!!!

Any one any info on Guangzhou city/ area, or even Zhongkai Univ?

I'm getting a call from them today.....

Thanks,

G

[Jollyjunklass]

There are more than two Bucklands. They are all brothers and they operate out of Yangshou. As far as I now it is next to impossible to go to Yangshou with a z visa in hand. OZgronk can correct me if I am wrong.

I have spoke with many people who work at Omeida, most have enjoyed it there. However, they are not working with a z visa, which can be dangerous. The school can control your every move or get rid of you easy.

The problem I have heard with Bucklands is that they will tell you, ahead of time that you are going to one place, only to change it when you get here. And where you work matters a great deal here, the city anyways. Like I said try to get to a University, these private schools will have you working long hours, while University will be 12-16 hours a week.

Don't worry, one bit, about not having ESL, it does not matter here. Your degree matters more here, especially if you want the visa. Many people here have no teaching experience at all.

[OZgronk]

The problem JollyJ, with Bucklands is not so much that you are promised one school and sent to another, rather that they don't promise you any school before you arrive at their H.Q. in Yangshuo.

This is understandable however, as I can see big problems in trying to run a business, by matching teachers with schools before the teachers actually arrive in China.

The high numbers of no-shows would rival that experienced by airlines, and would greatly disappoint the teachers who do arrive but don't get the "good" postings because it has been "promised" to someone who doesn't end up coming.

On the other side of the ledger, the schools who maybe thought they were getting a couple and prepare a 2 BR flat, find their promised couple don't arrive and instead end up with 2 single people necessitating separate flats.

I have now taught at two middle schools and visited 3 others who are all clients of Bucklands and they seem to fit a fairly standard pattern and uniform quality of accommodation.

One good thing is that you can do some research on the schools and locations listed on the Buckland web site beforehand

The Omeida schools are very small and don't appeal to me at all, as I like the infrastructure afforded by the big campuses.

I fully agree JollyJ that where you go is important, but I would also say that going to a place you don't know is all part of the adventure of coming to China or indeed anywhere on Earth....within limits.

Our main priorities are to be in a place serviced by both train and express bus links and with an airport within an hours drive. These three things will, by their very nature, mean that we will be somewhere with a few niceties and perhaps an espresso machine or two.

And we like our creature comforts, so a well equipped and comfy flat, with good PCs each, high speed internet and a nice big telly, all for free suits us nicely.

If I come back for a third stint I would like to have a bash at a Uni, but I am happy with senior middle school students as I can have some fun with them and they don't have too many hangups. And the work is dead easy!

[Mr Nobody]

And another good thing - the whole area is very nice. Yanghuo, Liuzhou, Guilin, Nanning, are in a great area. Scenic, good food, friendly people, things like that. Guilin and Yanghuo also have western "scenes" apparently, while as far as I can tell, Nanning doesn't.