Program Outline:
E-mail w/ in-country teachers
At the time this website is being put together communication with new prospects and in-country teachers is achieved by informal email correspondence. This is a useful way to get a ¡°real¡± picture of the current situation and to ask specific questions you may have that are not answered elsewhere. Generally the in-country teachers are more than willing to share their experience.
Contract
Show current contract as sample.There is no contract until you arrive in China . It needs to be signed in country for some reason. See China ..visas, et al for cautionary comments.
Visa
Obtained prior to departure at the embassy/consulate nearest you. IT IS BETTER FOR THE COMERS TO GET A WORK VISA. IF TIME IS URGENT, YOU CAN GET A VISITOR'S VISA BUT YOU MUST MAKE SURE THAT PROF. KATE ZHOU APPROVES OF THIS. These do not need a commitment of a job
on the part of the in-country host ¨C which is difficult if not possible to obtain (remember the language barrier, limited understanding of internet methods, etc.)
A tourist visa can be issued for one to three months and is valid from the date of your entry into China . Since it takes some time for the Foreign Affairs people to get up and running it might be advisable to get one for more than a month. At that time you will get a working visa. The cost for the additional month/s is negligible.
This seems to be an every changing issue and it is worthwhile to note that the details given here were those of the intake group 2003-2004.
What to bring
A supply of reading you like to begin. Your predecessors have left a range of books but it's probably helpful to have some with you. There are dictionaries available in the foreign teacher's apartments; a set of diskettes w/ Chinese lessons; some general materials on cultural information.
Apartments have television sets but all programming is in Chinese. They have VCD/DVD players and bootleg disks are easy to come by (quality iffy, but what the hey?). There is NO FACILITY for playing VCR tapes!
Two of the apartments have additional internet hookups so if you have a laptop you might want to consider this. The 2003-2004 group lobbied for this: you might want a third ¡°installation¡± in the other apartment.
Food¡.well, this is totally up to you. You family/friends/support group at home can send you many things. There is a supply of coffee beans in one tea shop and one apartment has a coffee grinder ¨C manual (you'll have a great right bicep eventually). One apartment has a supply of western spices (oregano, basil, etc.) which you may find useful when Hunanese food and dining out pales.
Clothing¡.incredibly casual . If you are a 20-something, you're probably comfortable in clean shirt and jeans. Older teachers may want a sense they are more professionally dressed. We are ¡°strange¡± no matter what, so our choice of dress is often associated with our foreign culture. Your choice as to how you want to handle that. DO BRING long underwear if you have it (can be purchased here as well though size is a problem); heavy American rag wool or cotton socks; a heavy winter jacket (remembering that you often wear this indoors and always to teach in).
To purchase clothing and shoes can be a shopping problem since the average Chinese man/woman is quite small. If you search you can find L and XL in sweaters, etc. for winter wear (but the pretty, feminine stuff is generally way too small ¨C unless you are tiny ¨C not just slim, tiny ). Shoes for women are possible up to maybe an American Size 8 ¨C but for the men it's more difficult. HOWEVER¡you can always have things custom made¡from long underwear to dress slacks/skirts/jackets for women¡and while not investigated yet, probably shoes. There are many small shoe shops and tailor shops along the street ¨C price of a pair of women's slacks¡$2.50 for the seamstress, @$4-5 for a meter of cloth. A few have had traditional Chinese silk ¡°costumes¡± made for them at a cost of about $35-40. The students are always willing to help you find a tailor and translate! There are a variety of prices¡from el cheapo to a high of $10 - $12 (shoes often more) and therefore a variety of quality.
Electronics¡.tape players, disc men, shortwave radios, etc. as well as adapters are available. A high ticket item (w/ a brand name) might compare in price (when converted) to the US , but there are rip-offs available. Buyer beware.
Cell phones¡Many people have cell phones (not American mode!) which are considered to be inexpensive (@ $50) and @$25 will buy you several months of minutes of use. These are convenient emergency means when traveling to stay in touch w/ home base. They work all over the country.
Documents¡bring hard copies of your degrees/transcripts , etc. Don't agonize over obtaining these if you don't have them (we've used copies of our CVs which look official enough for most uses. You may have sent these to Professor Zhou in Hawaii , had them forwarded here ¡. They get lost easily! They may be necessary to obtain your Foreign Expert designation and/or to change money at the end. A copy of your ¡°letter of invitation¡± should be included. This can be pretty vague ¨C again just make sure you have something to show.
Reading list
Prior to coming to China it's probably a good idea to do some reading ahead of time¡mostly to get a flavor of the culture rather than specific details (since much changes everyday!). A few favorites of people on site includes:
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress , Dai Sinjie
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China , Jung Chang
Waiting , Hia Jin
River Town , Peter Hessler
Iron and Silk and Lost in Place , Mark Salzman
It's worthwhile noting that much of what is available in English that is current in the US (in fiction and sometimes in non-fiction) is often written with the background of the cultural revolution and the immigration of the author as important caveats. Guide books (see China ) are dated quickly as the economy grows and as things pop up and die within matters of weeks!
Internet information
The internet site for China 's news agency Xinhua ( www.xinhuanet.com ) is a daily source of what's happening ¨C albeit by the official folk. But it is quite useful. This site also has maps (check Hunan Province, you'll find Jishou on the map it calls up ¨C not bad information for an area that's hard to find for the outside world ¨C as well as others in China ¡°Where?¡.Jishou¡.where?¡± It has position papers on some interesting topics and the lighter stuff (sports/entertainment) gives a nice sense of ¡°what's happenin'¡±.
Everything you read is subject to change ¡°yesterday¡±! So don't come feeling too informed.
Jishou University has a web site which gives you some idea of the area ¨C but be cautioned that we are ¡°the teacher's college¡± and quite different.
For anecdotal reading one of the 03-04 foreign teachers, Cat Lem, has an on-line journal that is informative and a lot of fun to read.
Culture at first sight
Each teacher in the program has a slightly different ¡°story to tell¡± about entry into China and Eastern culture (see comments ¨C Judy and Angie August 2003 entry and Cat's on-line journal beginning October 2003). Generally you are directed to fly to Beijing (although some have some through Shanghai and Changsha ). This is dealt with by Professor Zhou in Hawaii and she makes every effort to allow you some ¡°sightseeing¡± as you meander your way toward Jishou.
No matter what you will probably have an overnight train ride or two to reach western Hunan which will give you some sense of the immersion in the language ¨C no English to speak of! The food in Beijing/Shanghai will prepare you for typical Chinese food and get you ready for it's Hunan variety ¨C similar with incredible spices, usually loved by the end of the first month!
A very few comments: more people than you can imagine; no English; BIG buildings, monuments, temples, etc.; incredibly smiling and friendly Chinese people who will stare at you but in the most well intentioned way possible. Finally you will possibly be very very surprised how long it takes you to get to Jishou/Baojing. You are in the ¡°real¡± China .
Contract and Permits: Visa / Residence / Foreign Expert
(Again be warned that this is written by 2003-2004 intake teachers and in May 2004 seems to be changing pretty radically. )
Foreign Affairs Officer This individual is your contact between your employer, the college or middle school administration, and the local ¡°police¡± authorities who issue your visa and residence permit. S/he can be efficient or slow to act on these regulatory details. This may be very frustrating to an American used to following rules, planning ahead, using time efficiently. Experience proves that one must be firm about having this done in a timely manner so the foreign teacher is not left in violation (disturbing to the individual, not of much consequence to those who are more casual about such matters) A few days after your arrival your FAO will meet with you to sign your contract
Specifics: The contract has language which describes your ¡°duties¡± and cautions you to be sensitive to the morals and values of Chinese culture; it warns you against any religious proselytizing. It has a clause discussing how you wish to be paid ¨C local currency or dollars and the standard percentage is 70% in US dollars¡In actual fact this does not mean payment in dollars, but rather that you can without penalty take 70% of your total pay out of the country in dollars. (There would really be no need to get $$ while you are in country unless you were traveling abroad where $$ would be a more convertible currency.) At Jishou Teacher's College the rate of pay is 2500 Yuan a month (which we were told is the max to avoid having pay local taxes ). This amount is in your contract w/ the Chinese authorities.
An addendum to the college contract has to do with an additional (600 RMB) pay which is to cover food, pay for phone, Internet fee and so on. These are relatively minimal charges which you pay in country. In Baojing and at the Jishou No. 1 Middle School there are arrangements for someone to prepare your meals. Various foreign teachers have renegotiated this for cash in lieu of service.
In a very loose fashion it says ¡°the college will provide expenses for one way ticket to those who teach here for a semester and ¡°double way¡± tickets for those who teach two semesters. In reality the maximum is $1000. A country of bureaucratic details, the authorities want to see an actual airline ticket (with some sort of official ¡°stamp¡±). In practice when this is lacking they are slowly coming to understand that an electronic ticket receipt is all we have to offer. For a full year contract one can bargain half the amount of this ticket in January for extra cash for New Year travel ¨C but this takes time and effort!
Visa: Your FAO will process your working visa w/ the local authorities. This is issued for six months or one year ¨C the date tied to your contract. You may get pressure to sign a one year contract (time saving for permitting process) even though you only plan to stay for six months. Your decision ¨C after reading the contract's ¡®escape' clauses. Experience has present foreign teachers cautioning you to be clear that you want a multiple entrance visa if you plan to travel outside China (including Hong Kong ! ¨C not including Tibet ) during any of the longer holiday periods. There is an extra charge for this ¨C negotiate!! If you do not have a multiple entrance visa you will have to have an entire new visa issued prior to travel to allow you back into the country. Be careful.
Residence permits: When you get your working visa you will get a small green folded card which serves as a Residence Permit. It can function as a passport for purposes of checking in to hotels, etc. However you may want to take your passport or a photocopy of same with you whenever you travel.
NOTE: One teacher lost or had her passport stolen (somewhere on the train or at the station in Changsha . To get a replacement from the US Embassy in Beijing took two weeks (had to be in person, drop-off information and pick-up new passport). This meant two train tickets, lodging, etc. as well as the cost of a new passport ($85) which is only good for one year . In addition this teacher needed a new visa (@$50). Expensive experience. Be wise!
Foreign expert card: This is a hardcover small booklet which is necessary to change money to dollars. This (we understand) must be obtained by the FAO in Changsha , the provincial capital which is a bit of a foot dragging exercise. Again, be careful about its length which is tied to the contract.
Salary
You are paid on the anniversary date of your arrival in China . The 03-04 group negotiated a single payment day since the process involves signatures/banks, etc. and the FAO always makes it seem that s/he is caught in the middle and to only have to do it once a month makes his/her life easier. The administration was open to this idea.
The Chinese are very casual about payment of salary. It is almost never on time though we have struggled with this concept. (It is our understanding that the Chinese teachers often wait several months for portions of their salary to ¡®catch up'.) This is generally not a problem except at the end of the terms. Most foreign teachers want their cash in hand for travel, or for exit. We have no suggestions for solving this problem.
When it is time for exit from the country the issue of changing money back to dollars has been a continual hassle. Technically you are allowed 70% according to the contract. How this has been ¡®recorded' (supposedly on your Foreign Expert Card ¨C which we have had trouble procuring) is an issue. There is also the problem of changing the money that is reimbursement for your air fare. And, again, it takes time ¨C and that is never an issue for the Chinese whose concept of ¡®tomorrow' is a firm part of their culture! So¡..
Medical issues
Two general ¡®issues' we all encountered: the toilet rush and pollution. After arriving and about one to two weeks into residence, just when you think you have beat the diarrhea potential ¨C WRONG! Everyone has some reaction and it's severity and length depend on whether it's a general or a specific reaction¡is it just too many fruits and veggies and spice, or did you actually get a piece of bad meat, seaweed, whatever. Bring a supply of Imodium and the best thing is to drink water, drink water, drink water (bottled of course). Sometimes you are served water with your meal ¨C don't drink it! The tea has been made with hot water¡safe! Toilet rush will come back from time to time ¨C but then you'll know what you did wrong.
Pollution is not particularly visible although you are located in a valley and can see the haze morning and evening. However you will probably have one or more bouts of something that could be nasal, worst-case-scenario respiratory (one teacher had to leave early due to an inability to shake an ear-nose-throat infection that even Western medicine in Shanghai could not cure/solve). Indoor pollution involves lots and lots of second-hand cigarette smoke. These issues seem to be more difficult for older teachers to shake.
Independent travel - holidays, travel, hotel/hostels
If you are to stay for a full year you will experience three major Chinese ¡°breaks¡± which will allow you time to travel. ( See School Schedule) The National Day break in October is about one week as is the May Day one in that month. The break over the Chinese New Year can be as long as six weeks depending on your teaching schedule.
These holidays have proven very very very frustrating for the foreign teachers for several reason:
• It is difficult to determine from the FAO/his assistant exactly when classes end and when they begin. For the end of term in January/February which begins the New Year period you may be free as much as two to three weeks ahead of the actual date shown as term end. This has to do with exams, etc. Foreign teachers are asked to give exams outside (previous to) the exam period. Be careful to find out if some classes in the two one-week breaks have been rescheduled for weekends to comply with number of class days mandated by the school/government. Experience in 2004 was that school closed about two weeks before the New Year (reputed to be early February in 2005) which is a full week/ten days, and reopened about one week after. So¡that's possibly five/six weeks break¡a long time.
• You truly cannot imagine how difficult it is to get tickets to travel ¨C ANYWHERE! While the Chinese train system is really excellent, and would seem to be computerized efficiently, in actuality each train station apparently ¡°controls¡± a certain number of tickets. You may not book in advance as you would in the west; and you must almost always ¡°know someone¡± ¡£ If you are really willing to ¡°hang loose¡± you may be able to get tickets at the last minute; but if you want to sleep for a long ride to a major destination, you will find this difficult. Jishou is on the main line to certain places, but the central hub is in HuaiHua, about two hours away and that is where most tickets are booked.
Most foreign teachers have used Lonely Planet and have found it helpful, but NOT as good as experience with its publications for other countries¡maybe China is just too big.
FYI prices to Wuling Zhan (Zhang JiaJie ¨C the big national park) are only 11 or 22 RMB and only about an hour-and-a-half away. There is a daily train to Beijing which departs Jishou @8:30 a.m., arrives next day @11:00 a.m. or 26 hours; return leave Beijing noonish, arrive Jishou @3:00 p.m. ¨C hard sleeper 379 RMB o/w. Daily train to Shanghai leaving Jishou @ 1:30 p.m. arriving about 26 hours later ¨C return similar hours in reverse. Jishou/Changsha overnight about 12 hours, same on return (although VERY difficult to book return) ¨C 156 RMB o/w. Holiday travel included Jishou/HuaiHua ¨C 17 RMB o/w and then booked soft sleeper @18-20 hours (luxurious and sometimes only thing available) HuaiHua/Kunming 395 RMB o/w; Kunming/Chengdu soft sleeper @ 20 hours, 373 RMB o/w.
Experience in hostels includes the Camellia Hotel in Kunming ; Holly's Hostel (or Sam's) in Chengdu (both in Lonely Planet); and Global Caf¨¦ & Hostel in Yangshuo/Guilin. In Beijing Lu Song Yuan Hotel in the Hutong District is a nice splurge at $40-ish for a double, but they have dorm rooms as well. NOTE: In Beijing you can ripped off by taxi drivers. When possible see if you can get a Chinese character name for the hotel to show the driver.
The City
Jishou is considered a small Chinese city and has anywhere from 250,000 to 300,000 depending on your source. It is growing rapidly and the city government center is being moved several miles from the current downtown in the near future (lots of construction and blasting). It is very dirty by western standards (the students will tell you this right off). There is a convenient city bus service; taxis are cheap; but most of the facilities you will need are within easy walking distance.
FYI: Jishou University is on the other side of the city (short bus ride) and the relationship w/ foreign teachers there varies with personalities. Those who actually teach in Jishou City at the University are instructing non-English majors. There are currently four people doing this, two specifically for the law program. Jishou University 's English major program is sited in Zhang JiaJie and you will probably socialize with these folk from time to time. There are about 15 teachers there ¨C a mix of Americans, Canadians with an occasional Brit thrown in for good measure.
Our Accommodations
Normal College : Currently there are three very sizeable apartment which are shared. Each has three bedrooms (tho' two use the extra for a computer room), a dining space, galley kitchen and sizeable living room. There is a computer provided, dated but adequate.
No. 1 Middle School ¨C These are very nice ¡°rooms¡± along the line of dormitory space with private bath. The common space for computer and relaxing is across/down the hall. Cooking is done one floor down (not convenient really) in a kitchen that it technically the preserve of the foreign teachers, but in actuality shared with some Chinese teachers who also live in this building. There is no apartment as we know it.
These spaces are within the gates of the Middle School complex ¨C nice, landscaped but a tad noisy from time to time.
Phone Numbers ¨C See Jishou Number s ¨C listed by names in 2004 but likely to be used by apartment location.
The apartment is provided gratis but teachers must pay for their telephone usage (within the city, from one to another less than 50 RMB a month); bottled water is 7 RMB and bottled gas is 65 RMB. The latter are delivered with a quick phone call ¨C in minutes really. The water lasts ¨C well, depends on usage, as does the gas¡based on cooking and hot water for showers. At this time internet access seems to be free though there are rumors of a charge in the future.
Each apartment has a VCD player provided by the college and a DVD player purchased by teachers in the 03-04 intake. Pirated discs are a dime-a-dozen ¨C well actually 8 RMB or about $1 to purchase or you can rent them for less. Their quality may be iffy but it's a great way to relax. There is no English language television except for the occasional piece of news or sporting event. But there is LOTS of Chinese language television.
Our ¡®library'
The 03-04 teachers have worked hard to keep a kind of library of teaching resources on hand and will leave these, hoping that each successive group will do the same.
Teaching resources include a number of literature anthologies (from American middle school level to college level) ¨C fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama. There are some ESL methods books with ideas and sample lesson plans. Sets of language flash cards in English and Chinese as well as American history and world geography cards are on hand.
Friends from home have sent books; we have traded at hostels when traveling; and we all brought some books with us. The range is from Nora Roberts, through Pat Conroy, to Mario Puzo.
Books on Chinese culture, adaptation, Mao's biography and English novels with Chinese subject matter are also available. A few dictionaries, a couple of travel guides round out the library.
Some of this material may be useful to the students and Chinese teaching peers: we have lent it out and found that it is always returned. This is important as the availability of English language texts is limited in the college library.
Social notes
The group at the Teacher's College has numbered five or six for 03-04. Given a wide variety of age it has been a very congenial mix. Interacting with the foreign teachers at the Middle School (often arriving in China in the same entry group) has been on a daily basis. The teachers in Baojing (about three hours away by bus) have numbered about five or six. They come to ¡®the big city' of Jishou from time to time and have always been welcomed to a sofa or bed. And, as the 03-04 term has progressed, Professor Zhou's gang has interacted socially with foreign teachers at Jishou University as well as their English Department sited in Zhang JiaJie. It's ALWAYS a GOOD TIME!
Hospital/pharmacy
Jishou has several hospitals and 2003-2004 teachers used two of them. You must take a Chinese translator with you (the students can be really helpful). But communication is difficult. The conditions will probably shock westerners used to antiseptic conditions, etc. But those who've had contact with Chinese doctors felt comfortable. There are many ¡°pharmacies¡± where you can be diagnosed and receive Chinese style medication; some of the doctors have prescribed what they themselves term ¡°western medicine¡±.
Experience has been that out of pocket medical expenses (usually for medication ¨C the visit is not charged) are reimbursed in full for little things or up to 60% for hospital treatment.
- The School ¨C known variously as the Jishou Teacher's College or Jishou Normal College .
Facts to know
Mailing address to receive letters and packages from abroad (seems to be no problem, packages not opened).
Name, ESL Teacher; International Education Center
Jishou Teacher's College,
Jishou City 416000, Peoples Republic of China
The international code to China from the US is 86; the Jishou Area Code is 743 (see Jishou numbers for each apartment).
The college ¡®campus' is located about one hundred steep steps behind the apartment location. One building is designated for English students; several for students preparing to be teachers and a brand new computer building we assume for IT related courses.
There is a big track for runners and courts for basketball. The No. 1 Middle School has similar amenities.
It's small by American university standards, more like an old liberal arts college, but in general a pleasant, green environment.
Teaching Schedules
( See sample schedules for fall 2003 and spring 2004)
Teaching schedules vary from 10 to 14 hours per week in general. The actual schedule is given out with very little advance time to prepare (like two days maybe). Classes meet for two hours with a 10 minute break in the middle.
There are three major breaks for national holidays. The first is over October 1 st or National Day and is about a week in length; the third is the May Day/Labor Day holiday over May lst; and the middle is the Chinese Lunar New Year (sometime in February 2005) which is variably three to five weeks.
There is some finagling with the schedule for the National and Labor Day holidays which requires that a few classes be made up on the weekend to allow for a full seven day break. The Chinese do not always make this clear and it is a last minute decision as to when/how it works¡be advised.
Since the New Year comes at the close of the first semester there is the tricky question of when you are ¡®free' to travel - when exams are over (see Curricula/Exams). We were never quite clear as to how the decision was made for the start-up of the second term ¨C and it was supposedly made at the last minute. Best to check with the students¡they always seem to have the best information.
Curricula
There are ¡°sub-groups¡± of students in addition to those registered full time at the college. One group (see schedule) is labeled SE and these are students who are 15/16 years old who have come directly to college in effect skipping the two years of senior middle school. They are enrolled in a 5-year program, the final three of which are the English centered years of study. We understand this program is being phased out.
The second group is comprised of currently practicing teachers (see Teaching the Teachers) who come from XiangXi prefecture in a kind of ¡°continuing education¡± sense for about eight weeks in the spring and fall. These students do not require examinations.
Students classes are referred to by the year of entry, i.e. in the fall of 2005, the freshman class will be ¡°the zero fives¡± and the classes who are seniors will be the ¡°zero-zeros¡± and the ¡°zero twos¡± ¨C students who entered in 2000 under a five year program and those who entered in 2002 for a three year diploma.
The regular college class size in about 40 students. The SE groups are smaller as are the teaching teachers (20 plus).
Foreign teachers are expected to teach Oral English and Listening mostly. There was a phonetics class for incoming freshmen in 2003 and classes in writing and literature for the final year classes were established in 2003 at the instigation of Roberto Azula ¨C these continued in the second term. There are no established curricula and there are no texts for foreign teachers to use (there are texts for classes in American culture and ¡°integrated skills¡± which, for anyone who has taught ESL in another country, is recognizable as a mish-mash collection of readings, etc.). There is two quite sophisticated listening labs with individual monitors for the students, internet access (generally), one overhead projector, dual tape players and DVD players.
Oral English is almost anything you want it to be. It's difficult at first to call it ¡°discussion¡± since the students skills may seem limited at first. The students are also not only chronologically young but provincial and the discussion of worldly topics is just outside the realm of most. So the curriculum is up to the individual foreign teacher: a mix of pronunciation, performance skits, group work and discussion is probably the norm.
Listening is probably the skill with which the students have the most difficulty and one almost impossible to ¡°assess¡± easily. There is a text/tape series that has been used ¨C Step by Step in four levels ¨C that has both American and British speakers. While these may be useful in theory, in practice the topics covered are so far beyond the understanding of the student in any language that they are seldom used by foreign teachers. There is a series of VCD tapes and elaborate (and good and useful if very advanced) workbook set called ¡°Family Album¡±. Produced in the US in the 90s it is a good, if upscale, view of a suburban family. The students love it and it is enough real world that it's a useful tool. The workbook is in Chinese and English which also makes it useful. However it's expensive and not ¡°required¡± that the students purchase ¨C so it means a fair amount of photocopying for the teacher.
Exams are, again, devised and scheduled by the foreign teachers. It is practice that our exams are given outside the actual ¡°exam week¡± ¨C which means one or two weeks prior to that period. There has been some disgruntled reaction that our exams are less ¡°important¡± than the Chinese subjects: however, we are required to have them, grade them (numerically) and give the students a final grade for the course. Re: Chinese New Year, this allows some flexibility as to when you are free to begin that break.
Photocopying is done by the college and paper for the teachers' computers is supplied. Generally office supplies are available on the market.
Additional ¡°duties¡±
One teacher in the 03-04 group was asked to spend about 45 minutes each week at the local primary school with a group of 10-year olds. This seems to be an enrichment program for the best students (they are remarkable!) and there are about 40 boys and girls and three teachers present. Curriculum??? Lots of songs, games, Christmas celebration ¨C just plain fun. There is some pay for this which doesn't seem to be clear at the beginning (it just arrives in an envelope).
Foreign ¡°experts¡± are asked to be present at interviews of prospective teacher candidates for the college: we did this once in each semester. Candidates give a mock presentation of an English class and are then questioned about their methods and/or generally their understanding and use of English as it applies to the classroom. Given the problem with listening this can be excruciating for them. The final hiring decision is made by administrative/party people who no English (but who are present at the interviews). So go figure! But the dean of the English department usually takes the foreign teacher's comments quite seriously so it is not a useless exercise.
English Corner: this is a traditional gathering in Chinese cities we gather. At our college it is Tuesday evening from 7:30 until 9:30 . It is held in the ¡°square¡± on campus, outdoors except for heavy rain, and takes some getting used to. It is supposedly a chance for very informal conversation with the students ¨C there have never been Chinese teachers present ¨C and in the beginning it is a question and answer session which can be exhausting since you are the only one talking. But as the term advances it can be a very rewarding experience and the students do relax and are quite forthcoming with questions and their own comments. If you need your ego stroked ¨C this is the place!
In the spring term there is a speech contest which you are asked to judge. For several weeks prior the students will ask for help in preparing their speeches and this may seem a ¡®conflict of interest'. In reality it all goes smoothly and is a great experience for the kids.
Invitations from college officials have come at Thanksgiving and Christmas; more informal invitations have come from teachers groups; and, of course, one forms ones own friends. These almost always involve a meal ¨C from the formality of a restaurant to a riverside picnic. We are honored guests and it is important that we accept these offers in the spirit they are intended.
Interacting with the Chinese staff
These interactions are actually more difficult than those with students. Many of our teaching peers have had little opportunity to use spoken English and they are both shy and embarrassed when directly confronted with a native speaker. One hopes that each new intake of foreigners will have less problem breaking the ice as they acquire more self-confidence.
They also ¡®have a life' outside teaching ¨C husbands/wives/children ¨C and are not their free time for socializing is limited. Some of the younger teachers, unmarried or with no children, have become quite relaxed. In the spring term Catherine Lem began an informal weekly tea/discussion which opened many doors for mutual discovery and understanding.
The deanship of the English Department has been a moving target in 03-04 and this has created problems from time to time. But it's always best to follow the chain of command.
The administration
There is almost no real contact with the college administration probably given the language barrier. The foreign teacher's contact here is the Foreign Affairs Officer. However, if there is a feeling that one needs to go to the top, careful choice of student interpreter is not out of the question. And some have found that formal, written communication at least lends importance to one's problem: the FAO has found this useful we think. We have met some of these people at formal social welcoming dinners, etc. and they nod and smile when met on campus. Frustrations ¨C listening, timely payment, time certain, planning (teaching/travel)
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