Got a Job!

Cyrillic Dude, I can understand how you could have interpreted comments here as a personal attack on your credibility.  Please understand that the Saloon enjoys a huge readership, and comments about a school, particularly negative ones, carry a lot of weight.  We've all worked with FTs who were utter malcontents, bringing misfortune onto themselves, then blaming everyone else; most of us have also met hooray-for-everything pollyannas who'd write rave reviews for federal prison (free room, board, library and weightroom, huzzah!).

To glean the truth as best we can, we question statements, try to find out more, and yes, even play devil's advocate.  It can't have been fun for you to read, but I hope you believe the only motive was due diligence.  We want to keep our members and readers out of trouble and danger, but we also want to avoid blacklisting a decent school.

Montjoy, I second George and Latefor.  You've got a contract and you're on your way, so go take a look.  At the same time, have a plan B.  That's a very densely populated part of China, awash in schools of all kinds, so so have your next move all mapped out before you arrive, should the place be even half as bad as Cyrillic says it is.

And have a plan in case it's actually alright.

And don't worry overmuch.  You have dozens of folks here to back you up.  English work grows on trees in China, no exaggeration.
 

Well said Con.

Some of the logic involved by certain posters defending their attack mode positions is absolutely specious. In the interest of impartiality, to paraphrase one person, it is necessary to trash, debase, abuse, vilify, etc, etc., ad nauseum a poster who has come here in good faith to offer information.  Such logic is breathtaking in its nastiness and repulsive in the extreme at least to me.  One need not waste time nor energy to come here to endure such comportment.  It speaks much more about the vilifier than about the poster indeed.

In all of my years in China, I have learned one important thing :  when it comes down to trusting a Chinese person over a foreigner, I will choose the Chinese.  I have seen foreigners here in China the likes of whom would have never, ever graced my doorway at home.

Enough said. I just remain so furious about what has been written here.

it is necessary to trash, debase, abuse, vilify, etc, etc., ad nauseum a poster who has come here in good faith to offer information.  Such logic is breathtaking in its nastiness and repulsive in the extreme at least to me.

What a load of bullshit!
Your post was questioned, dissected, agreed with, disagreed with. That's the way the mop flops here. No-one vilified,debased, trashed, abused you. It's all in your tiny, little imagination.
Do you actually think you are God's gift to FTs in China? Do you actually believe your own hype? Do you actually believe that your opinion is the only right opinion, and shouldn't be questioned? If you can't handle a poster disagreeing with you, there is something wrong!
BTW, this is an English Forum. Please find yourself a handle that can be written with an English keyboard!

Well said George.  I wonder why anyone needs to get his knickers into such a twist, over such a minor issue as not everyone agreeing.  We all have opinions, and are entitled to express them. 

And sorry Cyrillic dude, I have to also agree with George, re your name.  This is supposedly an English language forum, and we cannot even type your name.

Lin
Zhaoqing, Guangdong.

 

It's all getting a bit silly now.

Yup, and not terribly helpful to rmontjoy.
While comments may have been misguided, I'm certain the spirit behind them was that of wanting to help the newcomer to China.

Given the reaction of Senior Cyrillic I'm now going back to my original position of thinking that the review may be somewhat exaggerated.

I hope it is, not for the sake of vilifying anybody, but for the sake of another member's life in China for the upcoming year.

@rmontjoy: if you're still on these boards, have a look carefully at the online reviews, they may well be correct, but also look at the advice the other members have given vis-a-vis what to do if it is a shitpit.

Ignore the rest.

Lotus, my apologies. I didn't read quite deeply enough, and some kinds of comment from some directions make me see red pretty fast...too fast, in this case, and I am sorry.

As for why I posted the warning: I got a message from a member in good standing. The report included specific details, not just vague rambling. It was supported by similar accounts elsewhere on the ESL internet. It didn't occur to me that such a thing would be sent to me simply to spoil things for our friend Rmontjoy, and I'm still not conclusively convinced this was the case. I'm keenly aware of the allegations regarding PD's history on other forums, but I also tend to give everyone who comes here a clean slate.

Did I make a mistake? I dunno....maybe. I do that sometimes, ya know.
But when confronted with such a report, my inclination is to let it be seen- with the proper cautions- and hope it's wrong, rather than sit on it and let someone else find out the hard way it's true.
So, I stand by my decision.

And PD...thanks, but no apology needed.

if this is even half true, how would this school stay in existence?  The education value must be schneider.

Excellent question...but in China, administrative malfeasance and academic schneiderism are very, very common...and they ALL manage to stay open.

Especially considering that way too many prospective teachers do little or no research about where they're headed. Too often, it's not a reasoned and optimized decision, it's a 300-foot screaming cliff dive into The Lagoon of Stupid Judgment.
To a large extent it's these poor bastards, who don't know any better, that keep the weasel schools afloat.

On the other side of the coin, in my first year here, I worked for what was deemed a terrible company on par with the one in question. Yet, I had always said I enjoyed my time, was paid all my money and received a release letter.

A) I enjoyed my time - but I had to endure some not so pleasent moments. Welcome to the real world

B) was paid all my money - but I had to check everything and fight for every quai. Once they realized I could add and subtract two numbers, they quickly stopped trying to skim

C) received a release letter - with the worst possible marks allowable. It said I was a bad teacher. They also asked me to stay



There was even a thread for where I'm employed now and it was disected, bi-spected and inspected with a fine tooth comb. I had to explain some of the script written. Like someone said earlier, its all on how you look at things. I


Montjoy, all I can say is be prepared and know when to fight and when to let things go. You don't sound like a raw rookie, so you'll be fine. There's a network of fine folks here who could give you a hand