Got a Job!

Well, I have accepted a position at Guangdong Baiyun University in Guangzhou. I start on March 1st.
Thanks to all who offered assistance and suggestions during the early stages of contracts considerations--a great help!
I'll post my experiences as I begin this new phase of my life.

Congrats!

You may be happy to know that there's bungee jumping available on Baiyun Shan. 

LOL...I will be sure to stay away from tall buildings and cliffs.

Congratulations on finding a position.  Remember that Zhaoqing is only a couple of hours away from Guangzhou, when you want a break.  Of course you will need to settle in, first!!

Enjoy the journey.

Lin
Zhaoqing, Guangdong

 

Thanks, Lin...I'll keep that in mind.
Ray

Dongguan is only a short bus ride away too.

Hope you enjoy this new and exciting chapter in your life.  I look forward to hearing the story of your early days in China.  I always love to read about others' first impressions.

Great start - have fun.

Congratulations! 

Welcome to the boonies, lol
best of luck!

Congratulations, Señor Montjoy!

I sincerely hope it works out great for you, and you'll have a school endorsement to post a year from now...

Welcome to China, rmj. Hope you have a great semester.

Let the games begin!

Shit...crap...geez...
I hate to have to be the one to possibly rain on the parade, but feel I must pass on an excerpt from a private communication I received about this school...

First of all, I can speak DIRECTLY to experience.  I was in Guangzhou for almost 4 years.

Baiyun University ex Baiyun Institute has the worst reputation of all in Guangzhou -- the very, very worst.  Most teachers last there three / four months at most before they either run away or are fired.  Many reasons.  I just don't know where to start.

Let's start with the Dragon Lady -- her name is Nancy Kwang.  She is from Henan and is the Foreign Affairs Officer.  She is a lying, cunning, scheming bitch-on-wheels.  Put no stake in anything she stays at all.  Nothing.  Everything is meaningless.  She will renegotiate your contract once you arrive, she will cut your salary for any reasons she deems fit, she will hold your pay if she is angry with you, etc., etc.  There are myriad and myriad reports about this school from ex-victims all over the Internet.  During my own interview, I asked the the bitch lady how many teachers returned for a second year and the answer was none.  In fact, no teacher in 10 years has ever returned for a second year and most don't return for a second semester.

There are three big avoids in Guangzhou as follows (in no particular order ) : Baiyun Institute, Peizheng College and Alcanta College of Foreign Languages.  Baiyun and Alcanta tie for a terrible first and then Peizheng follows with a close second.  All three are revolving doors -- at Baiyun some teachers come and go the same day that they arrive -- it was terrible.

Next, the more bad.  The apartments.  Substandard is not the word.  Maybe at most 20 square meters. No privacy.  The school comes and goes into the foreign teachers' apartments as it sees fit.  Flimsy wooden doors that anyone can open with a credit card.  Robberies occur often in the foreign teachers' apartments.  They are ugly, hideous, dirty, ill-kempt, etc., etc.  It is not possible to live off campus because contrary to the reports about the other side of Baiyun Mountain, which are vaguely true, it is actually miles and miles in the middle of nowhere.  There is bus service to Guangzhou but it takes about 2 hours to get there and the bus service is highly irregular on the weekends and non-existant during vacation period.

The campus is beautiful, for a fact.  The classrooms and administration offices are beautiful, for a fact.  The teachers' apartments look like a slum in the middle of a blighted American city.

Nancy Bitch will make you do all kinds of overtime and then discount your overtime rate.  At the end of the day, your paycheck will not resemble anything in your contract.

I feel so, so bad for Mr. Montjoy but maybe his own experience will be different.  Maybe he will be the first teacher in the history of the school to return for a second year and maybe he will be one of the few to finish his contract.

Dear Raoul, think of your worst experience in China and then multiply by about 10 x and you will have a Baiyun experience.

And the pay is not great at all either to begin with.

And there you have it. I do hope it's wrong, but it seemed like something that at least needed to be seen and considered.

  Jeez! TIFC, there are 6 sides to every story. Well, good luck Montjoy. Hope things aren't as bad as that!....and we do have people in Guangzhou, or thereabouts, if you need 'em.

Montjoy posted about the possibility of working for Baiyun on December 28th last year.  Why did it take so long for this info to come to light?


Why isn't Baiyun written up in the institution review page??  It really sounds as if it needs to be.

He's now agreed to go there, stopped looking for anything else and is running out of time. 

This is sad.