I don't have a good opening line

(I lack originality when meeting people. More than likely, I was one of those women who nearly spilled a drink on you at a bar.)

Hi there. I'm looking for a teaching gig in China and heard good things about the Saloon. In fact, I've spent a lot of my time pouring over the information here about getting started and what to expect. Must admit that I am feeling overwhelmed by it all. I'm Canadian born and raised but am concerned about the racism in China since I am half Filipino.

Anyway, I thought that I would introduce myself since I've never really posted on a forum before. I scored my first TESL interview and am pretty nervous about it. Would be great to meet some people. Y'all seem friendly.

Welcome!

As for the racism: It's definitely there. If you look Asian or are dark-complected, it can work against you. For maximum job prospects, I'd keep my hair a fairly light color. Then they may not even register any Asianness. Sad that it comes down to that. But that's the way it is.

Thanks for the reply, Zero.

I think that I look pretty Asian. I don't know if colouring my hair would help. Could be a case of Clark Kent v. Superman. But thanks for the advice. I am always up for advice from those with experience.

While there is definitely racism here (in Canada too) there is more attention paid to your passport rather than your skin colour these days. There may be an advantage for young over old, or old over young. There may be an advantage for women over men or tall or for blonde or beautiful or …….

Don't worry about it and just ace the interview. Any place that won't give a Canadian a job because she's half Philippine, is not a job you want anyway.

Regardless of all the 'white monkey' stuff you might read on this and other forums, not everybody here is lily white. Some of us are not even a little white and have decent jobs.

Good luck and don't defeat yourself before you've even started.


BTW zero, there's no eff'ing way i would "lighten" my hair, or any other part of me for a job. That sounds fairly off to me.

Welcome Reesey!

The white factor is declining.  ABC's (and CBC's) are increasing in number.  Seems a native speaker who looks like them gives them inspiration.  There are a number of such folk here in Suzhou, for example.

And remember:  there are 300 MILLION people studying Chinese here, and, what, tens of thousands of laowai to teach them.  The supply is gradually increasing, but is being absorbed by the market; more schools are opening all the time, and most of them are short of us. 

Yes if you were pasty, blonde and blue eyed, it would be a piece of cake.  But as it is you should be fine.  Just make sure to court more than one outfit at a time- you know they're contacting as many as possible.  That's how the business goes. 

BTW zero, there's no eff'ing way i would "lighten" my hair, or any other part of me for a job. That sounds fairly off to me.

Yes, I probably shouldn't phrase it as advice, as in a good thing to do. That depends on the person and how important hair color is to his/her identity. Some could perceive it as degrading to have to alter their appearance to please schoolmasters who have weird views about race. Fair enough.

Although I have not been here long the brother of one of the teachers here recently arrived with his black girlfriend. Sadly the school I work for offered the brother a job but told the girl she was 'under qualified' - despite having the exact same qualifications. No pointing for guessing what happened there.

However after spending 2-3 days visiting local school they both received several job offers and was able to pick the one that suited them the best. So even if at first it seems like an uphill battle, don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out in the end.

SpV

We have a foreign teacher at our Uni who is neitger white nor from one of the traditional English speaking countries. he's paid the same as everyone else, and treated with the same respect as everyone else.

The advantage of not discriminating is that it makes available good staff that may be discriminated against elsewhere.