Posts and Posts
Tomorrow I’m going to the campus I’ll be teaching at for the second time. A few days ago I got the grand tour and made some comments about the contract they offered me. Tomorrow I’m going to review and hopefully sign the revised contract I expect to be presented with. The apartment they’ve got me and another foreigner sharing is plenty big (astonishing would be a more accurate word to describe my first impression of it’s size compared to the size of most rooms and restaurants I’ve been in thus far) and the hours, pay, and class size seem very reasonable. Probably the biggest plus is that the staff I talked to were all very friendly. The largest draw back is that the campus manages to be quite removed from a major city center while not rural enough to be enjoyable for quaintness. I like to think of it as "save and secluded" though =P .
The timing of this post is really inspired by two things. First, I was searching through Google for other blogs from foreigners teaching in China. Networking and comparing situations and what not. Second and more impacting though is an article I came across tonight by Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff titled An American Teacher in China: The Unquiet Death of Darren Russell. Now I know this is going to drive my mother nuts to read, but I is something that I want to put out there. There are many horror storied about foreign teachers getting treated like dirt but this is the the most seedy I’ve come across. My heart truly goes out to Mrs. Russel (who runs http://whiterabbitsmom.org/). Any one who’s considering coming to China to teach should read this story as it so vividly underscores the importance of coming repaired and keeping escape plans ready in case the dream of teaching in a mysterious foreign land turns into such a nightmare. Know the city you’ll be in. Make friends outside the school who can help if you need it. When we can’t count on governments to keep us safe, we have to count on ourselves and each other.
Travel safe.