I have been in Hefei, Anhui, China for 4 days and so far I have liked what I've seen and eaten, which I guess is a really good thing. I remember when I first got to Xianyang, I was scared and didn't know anything or anyone. At least here I have a friend and I am a lot more tolerant towards Chinese society and cultural quirks. This city is a lot larger than the one I was in before, so it's always busy (reminds me of LA when I see the crazy-ass traffic) and of course a lot more complicated. Yet there are also definitely a lot more things to do here in the ways of food, shopping, movies, bars/KTV, sports, close traveling, sightseeing and meeting new people.
On arrival we had an apartment set up, but it was missing a few things; closet, sofa and
internet (also food but that's quite normal when you go to a new place). The apartment is quite nice and new; we are on the 9th floor (elevator baby! Yes!). I got my own room, with a balcony view of the Anhui University soccer field and it even has a desk (its bigger than my last room) and I even got my own closet on the third day! Our living room is nice, although it is usually hot there even with the ceiling fan turned on, and the couch adds a nice personal touch to it. We have a kitchen table, water dispenser and a fridge. Our laundry room is also attached to my balcony and it has a nice high-tech washer (high-tech for China to say the least). Our bathroom is very clean and pretty! Our kitchen (which I believe I will be the only one using) is also very beautiful and clean; I plan to keep it that way to! We got internet by the third day, so after that we were happy.
The school, I should say schools because we have 4 in this city, are in a big mess. The four schools are located in different parts of the city (the schools have expanded too quickly and don't seem to be making as much money as they should). School 1 has 600 students enrolled (my school in Xianyang has over 1,000 and is approximately the same size area wise), School 2 has 300 students, School 3 has 100 students and is mainly an Electronic Whiteboard school (this is the one I mainly want to teach at), and School 4 has only 60 students. So far there are eight teachers for the four schools: Me (with 25 hours), Eric (with 15 hours), Hope (an American guy who has worked here before), David (a regional fill-in teacher here for another 3-4 months), a part-time teacher (only works one day a week, can we say useless!) and 3 South Africans (Boyfriend/Girlfriend and mother who want to live/teach together and who have never been to China --> these are the ones we are worried about the most because if one doesn't like the school then they all don't)... So literally we have 6 full-time teachers (We're going to be busy!). We were also supposed to have another teacher coming in from America, but because of lack of communication from the school he decided to go to another place in China.
Problems like these are so silly, but very common in China if no one is told what to do and
how to do it (usually it is just the Chinese management telling us what they need and want, but not really addressing the real problems). In America if someone did stuff like this they would be fired, but here it is quite different. The schools themselves, at least 1 and 2 need redecorating and some remodeling done to attract new clients. The schools have told us they wish to increase enrollment, but we realize we can't even focus on that because of all the other underlying issues and the fact that we don't have enough teachers to increase enrollment right now even if we tried!
It seems as though within the last couple months the schools relationships with its foreign teachers has completed dissipated. No one knows the real reasons why because it seems everyone has a different side to their story, so it makes it very confusing to understand anything. Yet there are a few things you can easily see that need to change in order to make new foreigners want to stay, such as:
1) Communication - the lack of communication and timely/courteous communication is really bad here, if we can somehow fix it or improve it then a lot of minor and major problems would be solved.
2) Timeliness - Don't be late, especially an hour late and don't expect someone to be on time when you give them shitty directions in a city they have never been to or been given a map.
3) Maps - We can follow maps, it makes it easier for us to travel and find things with these.
4) Schedules - As foreigners and especially as teachers we need a schedule in order to understand what we are expected to do every week.
5) 24 Hour Notice - Unless it is an absolute emergency, give us some notice - at least a day notice.
6) Have a Plan of Action - Don't drag us everywhere all day because you didn't call ahead of time and make sure of everything!
7) Friendliness - Foreigners like to be treated with friendliness because we came to China to experience good things, not someone just telling me to "Go, Stay, Sit, Wait!" without saying please or sounding sincere. The nicer you are the nicer and happier we are.
Luckily I am not the manager, although my friend is, and thank god he is up for the challenge
this school will bring us in the next year. I am the Senior Teacher, so demo-classes and open houses will be mostly me, but honestly I am comfortable with those things. Hopefully we can fix a lot of these problems with meetings and team-building exercises, it will take time and I know this. The school realizes it's not doing so well and that their relationships with foreigners aren't stable, so I believe they are willing to change or else their school will likely fail in the coming years as many Aston schools are already doing slowly but surely. There is a lot of work to be done.
I believe having a challenge builds you up, keeps you on your toes and raises your ability to adapt and take on anything that is thrown at you --> Like Po in Kung Fu Panda 2 when he catches the fireworks cannon ball and throws it back at them (that is how I see myself).
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| SKADOOSH!!!! |
I can't believe it has been a year already! It's hard to believe it's coming to an end so quickly. I haven't written a blog post in a long time, mainly due to the fact that I haven't had a single day off in 2 months (Summer Intensive, plus normal classes = no breaks for me). I am writing one now knowing that I only have 6 hours left in Xianyang, Shaanxi, China, literally my first home in China. I know I will miss this place, especially the people I have come to know as my friends.
Sometimes I ask myself: Why are you leaving? You are comfortable here, you know everyone! Then I realize I didn't come to China to settle down, I came to China to explore and gain experiences during my travels that know one else can have except me. Some people have worked in the same place for more than 5 years and never really went anywhere else to see what they had to offer, I won't allow myself to get stuck in one place. China is so big, and I really do want to experience as much of it as I can.
My new city, Hefei, is about a 17 hour train ride from Xi'an. I am also going to a whole new
province, Anhui, farther down south and more towards the east and the coast. It will be a little warmer, sadly, but also much wetter and less cold during the winter. It has a huge natural lake as well, so local seafood (from the lake) is caught. Hefei is also the capitol city of Anhui, so it is a large city with a metro and lots of foreign stores and restaurants. I chose this city because I have tried out a smaller city in China and now I want to see what the bigger cities have to offer, whether it be more or less in some areas. I will be the Senior Teacher at the new school so I will be working 28 hours a week, unlike here where I worked 25 hours a week. I am excited because not only do I get paid more, but it also looks good on a resume!
One of the hardest things about leaving any place is deciding what to take and what to leave behind. I hate packing because I hate choosing. I had to get rid of many things that I would have liked to keep but knew I would never use anyway.
Turns out I have too much stuff so I will have my friend ship me two things (some winter clothes and laptop case with documents in it) after I get to Hefei. Sometimes I wish I could pack like a guy...
I have many friends here in Xianyang and I will miss them greatly, but I have learned a lot about
how the Chinese and Foreigners work. Chinese teachers usually come and go frequently and unexpectedly because of being mistreated or not being paid enough and sometimes because they are pregnant. Foreigners have contracts which are either 6 months or a year, so after that time has passed most of them travel to someplace new like me. No one makes decisions based off friends, they aren't going to stay for you.
A lot of times in the past I have made decisions because I wanted to be closer to my friends, but in the long run you have to do what is best for you. After realizing stuff like that I made a decision to leave this city in order to do what I came to do, travel and explore. Of course I want to stay, solely for my friends and my own comfortability, but I know it won't always be that way. The Chinese teachers said that I should stay because I am a good teacher and I know they are also nervous about having new inexperienced teachers to deal with. I will definitely come visit them, plus my friend JJ (from Arizona; we met last year when we were both applying to get certified to teach in a foreign country, so I have been helping him out by answering a lot of his questions) will be in Weinan, which is a city near Xi'an. I will go show him some good places to eat there.
Hopefully in my new city I make some awesome friends again and meet some really nice
people. I'm trying to keep my expectations low so I am not surprised or saddened by anything, but China always has a way of surprising you at the weirdest moments.
I will miss most of my students quite a lot and I hope I have made a difference in their lives and taught them to think outside the Chinese box and into their dreams. Maybe when I return to this city for a visit I can see my students again and they will remember me (Chinese students have so many foreigners come in and out of their lives, that it is common for them to forget).
