What's the worse thing that happened to you?

[Jason]

Hey, would love to hear what are some of the worst things that have happened to you in the ESL industry or in general living overseas whilst teaching English?

For me, it was being pulled over by the cops for riding my motorbike without a helmet. Of course, we couldn't understand each other, so they let me go after 4 hours. But I had to walk my bike all the way home - 3 hours of walking whilst the cops followed behind. Suppose they were just teaching me a lesson!

[Antonio]

Hmmm.... let me think... Well, it would have to be running for a train in Japan. The doors were about to close, so I was trying hard to make it on time. Got thru the doors but ended hitting my head on the top of the doorway with a big thump. The train was filled with high-school students and I saw stars....

Very embarrasing. Everyone just looked at me...

[ESL Teacher]

Blowing my nose into a handkerchief in public.

I was at a hotel swimming pool along with about 50 roaming kids. Had a bit of a cold that day, so ripped out a handkerchief to blow my nose. What happened next was about 6 kids come up to watch me blow my nose... Very bazaar I thought. Probably because when I blow my nose it's like a trumpet and I use a handkerchief rather than tissue. In many Asian countries, everyone uses tissues....

Be warned

[Jason]

Are you serious? It was such a scene? Here in Oz, we use the handkerchief for nose blowing. I know now to be careful... Funny how there are so many differences when living in another country.

[Hypiereon]

The worst scene happened when my wife and I were riding our electric bikes through ChengDu, SiChuan Province, China. My wife was carrying our 2 year old daughter in a childseat attached to the back of hers, and I was riding along my wife's left side and back a little bit to give her extra space to maneuver in the crowd of bikes. We were part of a pack of about 15 - 25 bicycles in all - and going the same (correct I might add) direction.

A Chinese woman (easily 40+ years old) came round a corner from the right and started coming straight at us. Everyone hit their brakes, my wife did too - about a 1/2 second too late, and slammed into her bike just under her seat and sent her to the ground. I felt bad for her, but she was going the wrong direction. So, even though it was totally her fault, we decided it'd just be best to help her up, make sure she was alright, and get her on her way.

I'm going to cut this 3 hours ordeal down to a few lines - it was a HUGE scene. Over 100 Chinese people crowded around to watch this old bat scream about her scratched hand (she fell from her bike), about how the foreigners always go too fast and never apologize for anything, and on and on . . . it was horrible. My wife was emotional, my litle girl was screaming with a red face and tears running down her cheeks, it was awful. I was HOT!!

It all ended on a good note though. The police let us go, the woman was faulted, but not fined or anything else, for going the wrong way, and it all ended well enough. Just a few hours out of our lives, plus a few gray hairs here and there, a lot of concern, and a great uncomfortable feeling over the both of us for the next few days.

In all fairness, the size of the crowd is never an indication of the seriousness of the matter. A Chinese friend of mine said, and I'll quote, "A Chinese man could spit on the ground and gather two friends around to stare at it. Within just a few minutes a huge crowd would gather to stare at it. Someone might even take a picture."

It's crazy, but I guess they just have nothing else better to do!

[Jason]

So you were riding electric bikes and not motorbikes? Never came across an electric bike until I went to Japan. Specially in the mountainous areas of Japan, you see mothers with 1 child on the front and 1 child on the back climbing a steep hill.

I think those electric bikes are cool! Wouldn't take off in Oz though cause we prefer the real thing - gutsy motorbikes instead!

[Hypiereon]

Hey, I prefer a motorbike to an electric bike as well, but in this country there are some serious advantages of an electric bike. Firstly, mine is not a bicycle with an electric motor, it's more of a scooter and Ican get up to 38kph on it in the bicycle lane - which means I'm not jammed up in the traffic like the motorbikes are. They could get through, but when traffic gets bad, lines cease to exist and there are no spaces in between the cars. Motorcycles are not alowed into the bicycle lanes because they're too wide and spit fumes. (not that it doesn't happen anyway)

On my electric bike I get around the license factor as well. Motorbikes require a license, insurance, and all the other crap. Plus, because this city is so polluted they can't ride into the downtown area without a special type of license - and it's so expensive no one but foreigners are willing to pay for it. However, with my scooter - I prefer to call it that as it's a little different from the bicycle-looking model - I can weave in and out of the main traffic and still access the bicycle lane when traffic gets thick.

My wife met me at a western restaurant after my classes one day on the other side of town (about 25-30 kilometers). After dinner I put them in a cab and sent them off, then jumped on my scooter and headed home - I arrived 15 minutes ahead of them (took me 30-40 minutes to get home). In all, the electric bike is the way to get aorund town, get past the taxi fees, park anywhere, and slice through all the traffic without all the fees and paperwork of a motorbike. I love motorcycles, but I'm a pragmatist at heart.

[Jason]

Hey sounds cool! Seems like a really crazy place China... would hope you had insurance with all that weaving in and out and no-one following the road rules.

Having been reading some of ur other posts. Some good info in the China part series.

[skydolphin]

Hmmmmm......A guy at work told me today that a friend of his was teaching in Thailand. He had to cab it home. You have to pay BEFORE the trip. This dude was drunk. He threw the driver out of the cab and drove the cab home leaving the driver behind. He got 4 1/2 month time

[half_pint]

I was at a horrible Hogwon in Tongyeong. I was trying to escape toward the end of my contract. I had met a (Korean) Christian preacher while I was there. He had offered to take me to the bus station so I could leave. The day before I was going to leave I bought a ticket and packed. That night I called him and told him what time I needed to be at the bus station. Everything was fine until the next day, he refused to help me leave. He said "Sorry, I have important meeting."

But perhaps the worst experience, than not being able to escape, was the time the preacher across from my apartment poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire. (I was three months into the contract when that happened.)