Introductions

Thanks for the welcoming all! I will be working at a University in Jiangxi. I indeed have thousands of questions.

G'day Raul, I seem to have joined the welcoming committee a bit late. I'm an Australian who has never taught in China, however you have lots of good folk here to help you.

Maybe I am the latest newbie..

My user name comes from my Chinese name.. it is unofficial but maybe I should have made it official (just got my Chinese drivers licence).

Originally from Perth, Australia, been here in Tianjin 3 of the last 3.5 years cos I got married to a local girl. No kids yet... The 0.5 years difference was to finish off my Grad Dip Ed. And I have no intention of ever living back in Oz... especially now.

I was working in an English training centre in TJ for a year and a half - but next week start a new adventure as an English teacher/Accounting lecturer at a college in TJ. (I also have both B Commerce (in accounting) degree & a BA in Chinese - but I am a perfect example of what NOT to do when learning a language - which is what I tell my students! It is a good icebreaker!

I am looking forward to many robust discussions!

 

 

Welcome to the madhouse crazy place funny farm Saloon

Welcome to the Saloon GuangLei88!   There are a lot of folks here who have a lot of useful information to share.  

Thank you for your kind welcome! I have some info of my own that I will contribute when I a) have time, b) remember to c) find a topic that I can contribute something meaningful to. 

Hello all,

Just joined, and I am looking forward to the exchanges here. Really love the Primer on Chinese Contracts post. Essential reading in my opinion.

Welcome to the Madhouse Loonie Bin Saloon

I see that there is a nice combination on this thread of people who either post here and then disappear, or get fully sucked in to the place. Will do what I can to be the latter.

I was once, long ago, a rather active member of a forum about Korea that has a prominent D in its name (until I realized how reading that forum caused me to lose brain cells at an exponential rate). Not because I was particularly interested in Korea, but because I spent 3 very long years there enduring Koreans, kimchi, Dokdo, high heels in the EMarts, crazy bus drivers, spitting, noraebangs and Girl's Generation songs (okay, that last one was kind of a love affair). On the upside, and due to no particular talent or capability of my own, I had one of the easiest and highest-paying PS jobs you could imagine, until they finally wised up and cut it. Then I found my way to a low-stress hagwon (a real thing), before I couldn't stand the ROK any more and came back to the US, whence I presently perch.

I know about this place from somebody who rec'd it on another Korea forum that has a prominent W in its name (a sad story about that place, it used to be a pretty great forum). I decided to take the plunge and attempt to contribute here due to a 'certain member' called cruisemonkey, as I recall him from the W forum and (I think) the D one as well. So when you are looking for someone to blame for the likes of me, it's his fault.

All my other detailed ramblings and questions I will attempt to confine/quarantine outside a general spot such as here. Thanks for being such a welcoming bunch!

Nice to see you made it here   If nothing else, we have some really cool icons    Several of our Members like to expound and demonstrate their wisdom whilst others of us just like to par-tay Mostly, we're just normal folk interested in China

Please feel free to join in a conversation, and chat with us 

Modernist - Are you considering coming to China to live and work?

Modernist - Are you considering coming to China to live and work?

Ah. Guess I should add the follow-up. Yup, am indeed. I am presently enduring the unique misery that is ESL in the USA, juggling an adjunct position at a local juco with a slot at a for-profit place that calls itself a school but actually specializes in selling student visas to college-aged foreigners and requires 'teachers' in order to demonstrate to USCIS that said visas are being used in accordance with the law. Needless to say, motivation, curriculum, pay and many other things are sadly lacking at this place (although the students are sweet and I like most of them). And I thought Korean hagwon bosses were bad in terms of money. At least they are honest about their greed.

I have been to China multiple times (Qingdao, Suzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen etc), and although I've only seen a fraction of the country and am reasonably well aware of the problems and issues with working there, I also know I prefer Chinese culture a LOT more than Korean. That's not even to speak of the food (I HATED Korean food).

My actual middle-term goal (along with a good amount of traveling) is to become a certified teacher in the US, which requires a Master's, sadly, which in turn requires savings that I'm not gonna get if I keep working here. So to the uni positions of China I duly turn. My 'please help me find a decent uni job in China!' thread will be posted soon enough 

Welcome Modernist

Grab a stool and a pint 

Welcome Modernist! You sound like an interesting person. As you may have read, I'm an old fart (lady) from Oz. Have you ever been to Australia?  Whatever you do mate, have fun; life gets away too quickly.

I decided to take the plunge and attempt to contribute here due to a 'certain member' called cruisemonkey, as I recall him from the W forum and (I think) the D one as well. So when you are looking for someone to blame for the likes of me, it's his fault.

Modernist,

EVERYTHING on Raoul's is to be blamed on Escaped Lunatic.

Sincerely,
CM