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A running joke between some coworkers and I was about the mattress one of them got stuck with. It was pretty much a piece of plywood with a box-spring cover wrapped around it with "Mirage" emblazoned on it.
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Nov 12, 2014 04:43
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Wow, that thing about the long-duration visas looks like it really is going to affect both American and Chinese citizens: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/fyrth/t1209254.htm 10-year tourist visas and 5-year student visas for the mainland coming down the pipeline apparently.
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Nov 12, 2014 06:21
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WTF is a 10 year tourist visa for? Just so you can come and gently caress around whenever you want without reapplying?
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Nov 12, 2014 09:36
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yes. I am going to try to get a 3-year multitrip visa to Real Chinar for that very reason.
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Nov 12, 2014 09:41
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VideoTapir posted:WTF is a 10 year tourist visa for? Just so you can come and gently caress around whenever you want without reapplying? Elaborate ESL "Teacher" Honeypot.
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Nov 12, 2014 10:09
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Yeah, it seems like something that could easily get abused for that, or for people running businesses too small to get all the necessary visas. L is the new F, I guess.
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Nov 12, 2014 10:16
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VideoTapir posted:WTF is a 10 year tourist visa for? Just so you can come and gently caress around whenever you want without reapplying? It's what they already give Hong Kongers applying to go to the US. I guess it's like saying "we trust you enough that you only have to apply once a decade, but not enough to give you visa free travel."
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Nov 12, 2014 11:16
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Had a wee moan about the pool being closed and got a room upgrade, so I'll just be staying at the Harbour Grand. How much difference there is between a 'superior harbour view room' and a 'deluxe harbour view room' isn't clear, but I don't know if I can be bothered changing.
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Nov 12, 2014 15:04
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Chas McGill posted:Had a wee moan about the pool being closed and got a room upgrade, so I'll just be staying at the Harbour Grand. How much difference there is between a 'superior harbour view room' and a 'deluxe harbour view room' isn't clear, but I don't know if I can be bothered changing.
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Nov 12, 2014 15:39
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Ceciltron posted:In the hotels I looked at for Hong Kong, these usually determine which floor. The better the adjective, the higher the floor (i.e., less likely to be obscured by low-rise buildings or traffic.
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Nov 12, 2014 15:44
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You can't actually stay for 10 years though I assume. Like you can apply for a year long multi entry to China now but I think you can only stay in the country for 60 days at a time and depending on the visa you can only enter a certain number of times. So I'd imagine it's like that, you don't have to reapply for 10 years but you can only be in China for 120 days of that year or whatever.
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Nov 12, 2014 15:53
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My last tourist visa was a one year 120 days per entry visa. If the ten year is the same then you could live in Beijing and hit the Mongolian border three times a year for ten years.
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Nov 12, 2014 15:59
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kenner116 posted:My last tourist visa was a one year 120 days per entry visa. If the ten year is the same then you could live in Beijing and hit the Mongolian border three times a year for ten years. Though you're not supposed to be able to get an apartment without a residence permit but there are probably about a hundred thousand ways around that, including the time-honored "residence permits look like RMB notes, dui bu dui????"
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Nov 12, 2014 22:48
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blinkyzero posted:Though you're not supposed to be able to get an apartment without a residence permit but there are probably about a hundred thousand ways around that, including the time-honored "residence permits look like RMB notes, dui bu dui????" I've had two apartments. One in a Chinese friend's name and the other with the teaching agency. Never even thought of needing a residence permit for that.
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Nov 12, 2014 22:56
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kenner116 posted:I've had two apartments. One in a Chinese friend's name and the other with the teaching agency. Never even thought of needing a residence permit for that. Yeah, exactly. We had permits of course but we never handled that stuff directly. The university did it for us. Is a residence permit even required to rent an apartment (let me translate that for you, gbm: flat :nignog:)? I mean I figure it has to be but what the hell.
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Nov 12, 2014 23:19
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Any recommendations or advice on how to handle health insurance for someone dumb enough to take a teaching job here or is this something I hound the employer about?
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Nov 13, 2014 00:42
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blinkyzero posted:Yeah, exactly. We had permits of course but we never handled that stuff directly. The university did it for us. I don't think this is an actual requirement, for whatever reason.
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Nov 13, 2014 00:46
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Brotein_Shake posted:Any recommendations or advice on how to handle health insurance for someone dumb enough to take a teaching job here or is this something I hound the employer about? We had to be insured when we worked for the university. It was a provision in our contract and the school handled it. I'd consult the employer.
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Nov 13, 2014 00:52
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kenner116 posted:I've had two apartments. One in a Chinese friend's name and the other with the teaching agency. Never even thought of needing a residence permit for that. Yeah, I avoided that problem by not knowing about it. No bribes or workarounds required, but it was a rental agency; maybe they wanted the sweet sweet agency fee more than an argument. Either way, residence permit in ~2 weeks so /shrug.
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Nov 13, 2014 07:46
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They actually asked me to get a temporary visitor registration form based showing I lived in an apartment here as part of the prerequisites for getting a residence permit.
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Nov 13, 2014 11:08
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blinkyzero posted:We had to be insured when we worked for the university. It was a provision in our contract and the school handled it. I'd consult the employer. You're bad.
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Nov 13, 2014 11:09
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fart simpson posted:You're bad. Why?
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Nov 13, 2014 12:37
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blinkyzero posted:Why? I don't understand this question.
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Nov 13, 2014 12:38
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fart simpson posted:I don't understand this question. You're bad.
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Nov 13, 2014 13:12
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I was extended an offer by EF (Education First) to teach in Shanghai starting in Jan; I've only been to the city once for about a week, and to China a couple times for about two months overall, so I'm not totally new to the country or city, just mostly new. They are supposed to handle my visa and put me up in a hotel for 10 days or so while I find a place to live, but my Mandarin is essentially Babby Level. Everything is going to be okay if I take the offer, right? Anything any of you wish you did to prepare before you went to work in China or Shanghai in particular?
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Nov 13, 2014 14:41
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EF~~~~~~ oh boy. Well Shanghai is considered as a prestigious hire compared to other cities but it's still ef. Some goons here worked as a foreign teacher and my girlfriend worked as the local teacher. Shanghai is a great city though
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Nov 13, 2014 15:18
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caberham posted:Shanghai is a great city though 
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Nov 13, 2014 18:27
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Gulluoglu posted:I was extended an offer by EF (Education First) to teach in Shanghai starting in Jan; I've only been to the city once for about a week, and to China a couple times for about two months overall, so I'm not totally new to the country or city, just mostly new. They are supposed to handle my visa and put me up in a hotel for 10 days or so while I find a place to live, but my Mandarin is essentially Babby Level. These days EF isn't as bad as they once were. Sure, they don't pay as much, but they do give you good training and you will be doing things by the book. A lot of guys get suckered into working for these agents and get dicked around, end up working illegally, farmed out to other schools, or have problems getting pay. A lot of people get into China through EF and then branch out from there. As long as you're not a shut-in you'll be able to find a lot of part time tutoring gigs and can really supplement your income through that. Once your contract is up, renew your visa with a different company for higher pay. Get ready for working in China? Bring socks and big shoes/clothes. Make sure you get everything from your employer in writing with a loving stamp on it or else it means nothing. Learn to deal with the lovely Chinese work environment and having everything left to the last minute and having your boss tell you things that make no sense but you have to do it. Also, are you working for English First or Education First? English First is a well known chain school, I've never heard of Education First..If it is Education First, it could be some knock-off school and I would stay away.
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Nov 14, 2014 02:33
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The name of the world wide corporation is called education first. But in China it has been localized as English first. Oh and reread the OP, figure out how to use online shopping. Nowadays, it's really easy to get all sorts of things online (maybe at a slight premium)
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Nov 14, 2014 02:46
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Aero737 posted:These days EF isn't as bad as they once were. Once? When? quote:Get ready for working in China? Bring socks and big shoes/clothes. Shoes over about size 10 or 11, and bear in mind that Chinese shoe sizes vary more than American ones. Socks won't be a problem if you don't have gigantic feet; I'm size 12 and I'm fine. (Shoes are a problem) Pants aren't hard to find in any size below grotesquely obese, but they generally aren't cut to length, you're gonna have to have them altered, or live with it. If you're over about 5'10", have broad shoulders, or long or thick arms, you'll have trouble finding shirts and jackets. But getting them custom made in China is cheap. quote:Also, are you working for English First or Education First? English First is a well known chain school, I've never heard of Education First..If it is Education First, it could be some knock-off school and I would stay away. They're the same thing. They changed their name. Gulluoglu posted:I was extended an offer by EF (Education First) to teach in Shanghai starting in Jan; I've only been to the city once for about a week, and to China a couple times for about two months overall, so I'm not totally new to the country or city, just mostly new. They are supposed to handle my visa and put me up in a hotel for 10 days or so while I find a place to live, but my Mandarin is essentially Babby Level. What do you mean by "handle your visa?" Do you meet the requirements for a Z-visa? Did you have to go through the whole criminal record bullshit? Do you have 2 years post-graduation work experience? I interviewed at EF once. They specifically told me that they would hire people who didn't meet those requirements. This is a sign that either they are willing to employ people with illegal visas, or they are willing to procure illegal visas. Have they given to you or shown you any paperwork at all that is less than 100 percent truthful about who you are and why you're going to China? If so, they're trying to get you an illegal visa. What I wish I'd done was investigate visa types and how one goes about applying for them before I went. Would have saved me two at-my-own-expense visa runs.
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Nov 14, 2014 02:55
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VideoTapir posted:What do you mean by "handle your visa?" Do you meet the requirements for a Z-visa? Did you have to go through the whole criminal record bullshit? Do you have 2 years post-graduation work experience? I interviewed at EF once. They specifically told me that they would hire people who didn't meet those requirements. This is a sign that either they are willing to employ people with illegal visas, or they are willing to procure illegal visas. Have they given to you or shown you any paperwork at all that is less than 100 percent truthful about who you are and why you're going to China? If so, they're trying to get you an illegal visa. SAFEA, baby. There is now a section of the Chinese government you can legally bribe... err... 'pay for a training course' in order to get a Foreign Experts' Certificate. As long as you've got a Bachelor's, anyway. I didn't need to waive the requirements myself, but when I was collecting my certificate I met a lot of EF people who went that route.
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Nov 14, 2014 03:41
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Regarding EF (full disclosure: I currently work for them as an academic manager but this is an honest account of what I know): First, as others said, the company changed its name this year (in China) from English First to Education First (in China, happened elsewhere earlier). This is because they've started offering more other languages (including Chinese) and business degrees. Second, they do sometimes have a bad rap and not entirely unjustifiably, but it's also not entirely fair. Basically the issue is that there's a number of different branches and the quality of experience can be highly variable. Here's how it breaks down as far as the places that actually employ teachers: EF Kids and Teens. This is the branch that had the most criticism in the past. The issue here is that there's two kinds of kids and teens schools, centrally-run and franchise. The centrally run schools have consistent quality control, good support and teacher training and development. The franchise schools, not so much, and whenever there's a school being heavily criticised, 99% chance it's a Kids and Teens franchise. There's an ongoing process of buying out all the existing franchises in China because of this. SMART schools (old name)/English Centers (new name). These are the adult training schools. I don't know as much about them as other places but I know some teachers at them and they're pretty happy. As far as I know they have a better rep than Kids and Teens, especially Kids and Teens franchises. EF Academic Partnerships. This is where I work. We're the department that hires teachers to work at universities. Essentially, you get many of the advantages of working at a Chinese university (in terms of student quality, hours, holidays etc.) but without having to deal with Chinese management (there's a Director of Studies who handles all that). There's also far more professional development, training and support than you'd ever get working for a university directly. First year I worked as a teacher for AP I improved 10 times more than I did in 5 years working directly for a (first tier) Chinese university. As in, I actually improved my teaching, rather than getting worse. Regarding visas: "handling the visa" means they have someone to handle the paperwork and pick up the visa. The teacher just needs to attend the interview. No shenanigans, it's a policy (at least in our department) not to even try applying for anyone who doesn't meet the requirements: there's too much on the line to even chance it. VideoTapir: could you PM me where it was you applied? Hiring non-qualified teachers is a definite no-no and anyone who's doing otherwise could cause the rest of us a world of pain. Gulluoglu: If you've got any specific questions, hit me up.
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Nov 14, 2014 04:50
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Atopian posted:SAFEA, baby. There is now a section of the Chinese government you can legally bribe... err... 'pay for a training course' in order to get a Foreign Experts' Certificate. As long as you've got a Bachelor's, anyway. A lot of people come to China without a bachelor's and there are a lot of schools and agents telling them that's perfectly alright. Daduzi posted:Regarding EF (full disclosure: I currently work for them as an academic manager but this is an honest account of what I know): They were calling themselves Education First in Beijing in 2012. quote:EF Academic Partnerships. This is where I work. We're the department that hires teachers to work at universities. Essentially, you get many of the advantages of working at a Chinese university (in terms of student quality, hours, holidays etc.) but without having to deal with Chinese management (there's a Director of Studies who handles all that). There's also far more professional development, training and support than you'd ever get working for a university directly. First year I worked as a teacher for AP I improved 10 times more than I did in 5 years working directly for a (first tier) Chinese university. As in, I actually improved my teaching, rather than getting worse. There's an interview now? Out of curiosity how much are they paying you? VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Nov 14, 2014 |
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Nov 14, 2014 05:18
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VideoTapir posted:There's an interview now? Yep. It's ridiculously mundane and takes about 3 minutes, but it's there. VideoTapir posted:Out of curiosity how much are they paying you? For teachers it's 10k a month, including 3.5k rental allowance. Honestly, it's not great pay by any stretch of the imagination. Best I can say about it is that it's livable, and for anyone who's actually serious about teaching it's about the only way to get professional development here in China while teaching at a university (unless you have the MA/DELTA needed to teach at the foreign-run campuses).
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Nov 14, 2014 06:32
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My girlfriend loved working with the adults in the smart schools and most of the management bull poo poo happened in EF Franchisee Hangzhou. If I tell her that EF is good now she would be super duper ecstatic. Daduzi posted:Yep. It's ridiculously mundane and takes about 3 minutes, but it's there. Which city are you in? 3.5K rental is doable in the bigger cities but I guess that means commuting from the suburbs. 10k in this day and age? Is that the same across all of China?
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Nov 14, 2014 07:43
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caberham posted:Which city are you in? 3.5K rental is doable in the bigger cities but I guess that means commuting from the suburbs. That's just Academic Partnerships, and we're only based in Shanghai. I think Kids and Teens and SMART pay more. Yep, I know it sucks and I'm trying to get it increased but we're somewhat at the mercy of university budgets (it's also not really my department). The way I sell it is that teachers who take advantage of the professional development and qualifications we offer can turn a couple of years in AP into a much higher paying job. And also, you know, understand what they're doing instead of desperately winging it (aka pretty much every other university ESL job in China).
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Nov 14, 2014 08:13
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Daduzi posted:That's just Academic Partnerships, and we're only based in Shanghai. I think Kids and Teens and SMART pay more. The pay is good or bad depending on hours worked. That's always the big factor. 10k is pretty sweet if you're not putting in lots of time. What kind of time, in-class and otherwise, do you require of your teachers?
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Nov 14, 2014 08:23
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blinkyzero posted:The pay is good or bad depending on hours worked. That's always the big factor. 10k is pretty sweet if you're not putting in lots of time. Up to 30 teaching hours, plus 8 real hours lesson preparing. I know, I know.
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Nov 14, 2014 08:30
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Daduzi posted:Up to 30 teaching hours, plus 8 real hours lesson preparing. Okay nevermind that really is poo poo, heh.
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Nov 14, 2014 08:33
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Daduzi posted:Up to 30 teaching hours, plus 8 real hours lesson preparing. Wonderful business plan! Hey how's your free time? If I visit Shanghai January want to meet up
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Nov 14, 2014 08:40
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