[quote=“nemesis”]I loved it in the beginning. Then, I liked it. Now, I’m indifferent. It’s what I do, but it’s no longer who I am. Trouble is, I (usually) love Taiwan, and I want to stay here, especially in winter. I don’t have the money to persue a degree in the field that truly interests me, and even if I did, it would mean moving to a western country to work. So, I’m stuck. And at the moment, the tedium of teaching beats the stress of relocating, re-educating and restarting a life in poverty. I’m not enterpreneurial in the least, so going into business is out. For the time being, I’ll enjoy the shorter working days and try to find some outside interests. (Isn’t it ironic that now that I have all this free time, the books and periodicals in most libraries aren’t in English?)
Back “home”, I would have given anything to live in a nice house with someone else to do the cleaning and to have the luxury of boredom…[/quote]
You just described a lot of my situations, although I think I disliked it in the beginning (because I hated the pressure my employer put me under), liked it when I started my new job, and have kind of fluctuated somewhere between liking it and indifference, perhaps with a slow, slight downward trend like you. You’re spot on about wanting to be in Taiwan and not wanting to have to completely restart elsewhere and not having the money to spend on another degree that would require working in the West anyway. I’m entrepreneurial I think, so that might be my salvation, otherwise, like you, it’s just something I do. I find it hard to see the long term prospects if I don’t go and work for myself. I can see myself sliding further and further into indifference, and thus, unemployability, otherwise.
Me too! I was in nemesis’s stage (without the underwork…) for a while. Work really sucked but I didn’t want to relocate. In the end, a particular nasty incident at work forced my hand* and I quit and booked a ticket on impulse. I don’t know if it was ‘good’ or ‘bad’ decision, but it was movement, which was what I needed, which I didn’t realise for a while. Sometimes you just have to move, not because you are unhappy but because you are stagnant. (sounds a bit hippy, but hey…)
[quote=“Kcal”]I was wondering how many people actually enjoy teaching English (to kids or adults).
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I loved being an ESL teacher for 5 years. Two years ago that changed.
I should have moved back home when I first knew I was burnt out, but I didn’t. Somehow I ended up signing 2 more ESL teaching contracts. The feeling that I was “wasting time” became overwhelming. I couldn’t help looking at the clock throughout all my classes, and the feeling of dread before work every morning was overwhelming.
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I’m going back to my home country at the end of this semester (I have the plane ticket).[/quote]
You know the old joke, “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work”? Well, my worst teaching job in Asia is better than the best job I ever had in Canada, and that includes a cushy government union job.
The only thing I haven’t enjoyed about teaching is the confucianist mindset that information shouldn’t be shared until they think you need it, not when you actually do. I’ve been through Korea, and after I’m done in Taiwan and then Japan, I’ll have been outside of Canada for 10-14 years. I’m nearly 8 years in now and have never felt inclined to go back. It’s not for everybody, but for those of us who like it, don’t knock it.
I still get the thrill of kids saying, “ooooOOHHHH!!!” when they “get it”. I’ve almost finished with a group of first years (age 7 in Chinese counting, 6 western) who have gone from near nothing to speaking English conversationally during their break times out of habit. I’m not patting myself on the back, but I’m excited to see such change in 10 months from a bunch of kids.
As for you, Kcal, it’s possible you will come to miss it, though I’m not saying that’s a certainty. I was a little worn down after Korea, then took a few months off living cheaply in the Philippines and came back refreshed. I’d actually like to take a month or two backpacking through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand if I had the time.
I just finished my first week at a buxiban here in Taiwan. The kids are great, but my co-teachers are cunts. I get yelled at a lot, and its for things like not understanding what they want me to do. The problem is, I can never understand what they want me to do. Also, their English is soooooooo bad I can hardly understand them. I mean, I’m an American from a small hick town, and even I am appalled by the “English” in the books they have given me to use. They treat me like a stupid American when I can’t get the lesson pages right, or if I get confused when trying to figure out which classroom I’m supposed to be in. I’ll be like, “excuse me, which class am I in at 3:00”, and the bitch will roll her eyes and slam her book down and say “deet uunn, DEEET UNNN!!! I ARREEDDEEE TOLL YOU DEETT UNNN!!!” I actually laughed at that right to her face yesterday. I mean, WTF does that mean when there are six classrooms in two buildings. I forgot to mention that they have not given me a schedule yet, I just show up and teach different kids and classes at different times. Although I have a BA and a TESL, I don’t really feel prepared to teach, but they threw into the fire with zero training and treat me like a dumb kid for asking for help.
Also, they say I have to wear their stupid shirt everyday, but refused to give me any because my roommate who got me the job was quiting. They said I had to use his. So I have two small, stained shirts with their cheap school’s logo on them. Oh yeah, and they treated me like I was robbing them when I asked for a book to do my lesson the other day. They said my roommate should have given me that book. He never had it either. I do speak enough mandarin to have overheard their bitching about me wanting “more materials” when I should have already had them.
My guess is all you experienced teachers know all too well what I’m going through at the moment. I hope things clear up and I survive my year contract with Ass End So Happy Kids English School. Ok, so I made the name up. . .
I want to stay in Taiwan, and I am hoping that after a year of experience and connections, I can move to a better school.
Have they given you an ARC yet? If not, RUN as fast as you can. Under no circumstances is it okay for them to make you lose face in front of the kids without expecting the same in return. Tell her that her English is bad, so you’re having trouble understanding her. Ask the kids to help you translate because you can’t understand her “Chinese”. Do everything in your power to get her to back off; clearly the Mister Nice Guy thing isn’t working. If they’re treating you this badly two weeks in, be assured that it will only get worse!
Easy solution. Go out and act like an idiot while wearing said shirt. I mean at night. While inebriated. At whorehouses or other places of ill repute. Get photos and accidentally leave them lying around. Chances are they’ll lighten up on the mandatory “uniform” rule. You could also stain it, get friends to sign it, etc. Nice messages of goodwill from the whorehouses mentioned above usually work. Especially if they’re in clearly printed Chinese. With bopomofo to help the younguns with their reading practice. Isn’t it nice that the waiguoren is helping them to practice their English and their Chinese?
They seem to think that all waiguoren are the same person, or at least that yourself and your roommate are. Dumbasses, the lot.
[quote]My guess is all you experienced teachers know all too well what I’m going through at the moment. I hope things clear up and I survive my year contract with Ass End So Happy Kids English School. Ok, so I made the name up. . . I want to stay in Taiwan, and I am hoping that after a year of experience and connections, I can move to a better school.
[/quote]
The “experienced teachers”, at least this one, think you should get out of that hellhole asap. It won’t get better, and there ARE good jobs out there with at least the minimum requirement of respect and assistance. Oh yeah, and basic human dignity. Always a bonus.
Yeah, they very likely are. And they’ll likely be out of that pit once their parents figure out that it’s a sham. There are great kids at most schools! Find a good school with great kids; then you’ll be able to do what you came here to do: actually teach them!
Easy solution. Go out and act like an idiot while wearing said shirt. I mean at night. While inebriated. At whorehouses or other places of ill repute. Get photos and accidentally leave them lying around. Chances are they’ll lighten up on the mandatory “uniform” rule. You could also stain it, get friends to sign it, etc. Nice messages of goodwill from the whorehouses mentioned above usually work. Especially if they’re in clearly printed Chinese. With bopomofo to help the younguns with their reading practice. Isn’t it nice that the waiguoren is helping them to practice their English and their Chinese?[/quote]
:roflmao: :bravo:
Nemesis is spot on. If they’re like this two weeks in, they’re going to be horrible two months in, let alone a year. You’ll get so worn down by the whole thing that you’ll just want to leave Taiwan. I had that happen to a couple of friends. Find something else and get out. Make sure you quit the correct way though. Do not do a runner as that would put a black mark against your name with the government for granting you a future work permit or ARC (I can’t remember which).
Yes and no. They can do the black mark thing, (especially if they have contacts in the MOE), but there are ways around it. A lot of people have gotten out of crappy jobs here and managed to get ARC’s with other schools/businesses. Unfortunately, I don’t have any expertise in this area. There should be posts about it elsewhere on the forum. (I think you have to give 30-days notice or something like that, but again, don’t take my word for it. Also, based on how stingy they’ve been so far, it may not be paid time when payday comes around.)
Those are two useful articles. If you go to the CLA website, you can find the relevant laws (they have them in English) and then print them off. Regarding them paying or not paying you, you can take them to the CLA. I did. They must pay you. You can insist that the CLA insist for your time cards (take a copy of the law with you), and then the CLA will make them pay you accordingly. Your (former) employer might then threaten to take you to court, at which point it becomes a staring contest. If you call their bluff for long enough, financially at least, it won’t be worth them fighting it and they’ll drop it. I did that with Hess who have an enormous number of resources at their disposal. Your average buxiban is not going to be able to go down that route, especially if you throw in some calls to the relevant authorities asking them to do spot checks on the safety conditions of the premises, etc. They’ll threaten to make life difficult for you, but you can make life much more difficult for them.
This is off topic. It reminds me of one Taiwanese English teacher who tried to tell me I could not date Taiwanese women who don’t speak English. Funny since some Taiwanese girls with western boyfriends don’t speak much English.
This is off topic. It reminds me of one Taiwanese English teacher who tried to tell me I could not date Taiwanese women who don’t speak English. Funny since some Taiwanese girls with western boyfriends don’t speak much English.[/quote]
How so? How is it off topic? The OP said the co-teachers talked about him like he was trying to rip them off because he didn’t have materials that his roommate should have given him, that they told him to wear the same shirt in spite of the fact that it was gross and obviously too small, and that they shouted at him for not knowing when to show up when they had never told him in the first place. The quote was in response to this:
This has nothing to do with dating Taiwanese women (or language, for that matter) and everything to do with respect. They obviously have no respect for him and treat him like crap, which is why I referred to his co-“teachers” as dumbasses. No apology for that, sorry.
This is off topic. It reminds me of one Taiwanese English teacher who tried to tell me I could not date Taiwanese women who don’t speak English. Funny since some Taiwanese girls with western boyfriends don’t speak much English.[/quote]
How so? How is it off topic? [/quote]
He should have put a colon “This is off topic:” SM is saying his own comment is off-topic!
This is also off-topic: The other day I was talking to the waiter in a local restaurant. He was going on about how great my Chinese was (it isn’t great, but it’s OK). Then we talked some more and he found out I was married to a tw woman. “But how do you communicate?” he said, in English all of a sudden. “Sign language?”