What's the worse thing that happened to you?

[exported_kiwi]

I guess that the worst thing that happened to me was in Hunan, PRC.

Last year, I was working in a small city in Hunan and there was a beautiful river that ran through the district I lived in. this river was, unfortunately, prone to flooding despite the best efforts of the government to alleviate the problems that flooding caused.

One day after a severe flood, I was walking my dog along the river bank and I came across 3 dead bodies floating in the river..... one was a mere baby...... must've been a family that got caught in the flood..... I went to the local gestapo and reported it, and the bastards thought I'd killed em! It wasn't until I actually got them to come with me to the scene that they finally understood that I didn't do anything wrong, but until I managed to get them there, they were damned unfriendly and I was more than a little concerned at the situation I found myself in.

I guess that sometimes it pays to turn a blind eye here in good ole China!

[gfell]

Now that must have been an ugly sight - seeing dead bodies flow past in the river right in front of your eyes. Also the hide of the authorities to think you did it. I mean, what the?

I was riding my motorbike the other day in Japan and came across a "dead??" body on the side of the road. He must have been just hit or something. There was no blood and he wasn't moving - just laying there in the cold. He was an arms length from me. I kept on riding as 2 traffic marshals were circling him with their walkie talkies stuck to their ear.

[bfrediani]

Hmmmm,

I'd have to say the worst thing I've had happen to me so far was in Nanjing. There was bunch of us staying at this hostel there, we were all drunk and decided to go for hotpot. Being as drunk as anyone humanly could be, someone dared me to eat the still kickin' eel raw. I never nearly spewed so many times in my life.... But it made for great video footage!!

[Martijn]

The worst thing happened to me is an ongoing experience and it's being a Dutchie looking for a job in China.

Ok, I don't have all the preferred credentials (not a native speaker and despite 3.5 years of uni, no degree, since I quit the program), but I know that 'just' being from a native English speaking country does not automatically make you a good teacher. Nor does having a degree. In the same way not having a degree or not being a native speaker does not make you a bad teacher.

The Chinese government however, chooses not to recognise this fact, which leaves me with a very hard time finding a nice job.

I did consider telling a white lie like 'I have lived in Canada for a long time, but still kept my Dutch passport' and I have contemplated if I should perhaps just forge a degree. In the end, this is just not me though.

With the Beijing Olympics coming up, the Chinese government needs as many English teachers as they can possibly get their hands on, but with the current tightening of the rules, they achieve the opposite effect.

Anyone with similar experiences or good tips on how to go about this?

[cool ice]

Worst thing that happened to me was one of my students start pissing themselves. And I don't mean "laughing", I mean actually urinating right there in front of me and other students all over my clean classroom floor. Granted, the guy was only 2 years old, but damn! Now what was I supposed to do?

I grabbed the mother and told her to clean up the mess and next time put bloody nappies on the kid if this is gonna happen again.

[Enoch83]

Originally Posted by Martijn

The worst thing happened to me is an ongoing experience and it's being a Dutchie looking for a job in China.

Ok, I don't have all the preferred credentials (not a native speaker and despite 3.5 years of uni, no degree, since I quit the program), but I know that 'just' being from a native English speaking country does not automatically make you a good teacher. Nor does having a degree. In the same way not having a degree or not being a native speaker does not make you a bad teacher.

The Chinese government however, chooses not to recognise this fact, which leaves me with a very hard time finding a nice job.

I did consider telling a white lie like 'I have lived in Canada for a long time, but still kept my Dutch passport' and I have contemplated if I should perhaps just forge a degree. In the end, this is just not me though.

With the Beijing Olympics coming up, the Chinese government needs as many English teachers as they can possibly get their hands on, but with the current tightening of the rules, they achieve the opposite effect.

Anyone with similar experiences or good tips on how to go about this?

get certified at a school, cost you about $1500(US), if you dont have the cash get a small loan.

[Martijn]

Can you tell me anything more about this?
I wouldn't know where to look.

Cheers,
Martin

martijn.denheijer@gmail.com

[Motivated]

Originally Posted by exported_kiwi

I guess that the worst thing that happened to me was in Hunan, PRC.

Last year, I was working in a small city in Hunan and there was a beautiful river that ran through the district I lived in. this river was, unfortunately, prone to flooding despite the best efforts of the government to alleviate the problems that flooding caused.

One day after a severe flood, I was walking my dog along the river bank and I came across 3 dead bodies floating in the river..... one was a mere baby...... must've been a family that got caught in the flood..... I went to the local gestapo and reported it, and the bastards thought I'd killed em! It wasn't until I actually got them to come with me to the scene that they finally understood that I didn't do anything wrong, but until I managed to get them there, they were damned unfriendly and I was more than a little concerned at the situation I found myself in.

I guess that sometimes it pays to turn a blind eye here in good ole China!

Crikey!!! That's crazy dude!! Just goes to show that in some countries you might as well write your own invitation to do a couple of years in the slammer...

[Motivated]

A few weeks back I was teaching my 5th grade students about ghosts and telling them a few of my own ghost stories. The kids were captivated, loving every second of it - until I pounded my fists on a desk to give my spooky story a bit of added depth. The kids screamed out of fright in unison, which gave me an instant ringing ear and brought three other teachers running to investigate! But the real scare came when I found one of my students in tears, shaking uncontollably and clutching her chest. Unbeknownst to me the poor girl has a heart condition and my little bit of harmless fun suddenly became a life-threatening situation. I had to stop the class, rush the girl straight to the school nurse, then I dutifully had to go and pay the head teacher a visit and sheepishly explain what had just happened. Was definitely the most tense 24 hours of my life until I checked in and found out the girl was okay.

May sound a bit extreme, but I learnt the hard way that it's a good idea to check with all your students if any of them have any kind of medical problems, just in case something should happen while you are teaching them.

[BBrian]

I can sort of relate with you. Often I have also done a few things in the classroom to make things more exciting.

I use to sing songs with my students by having them stand on their desks so that I could look at them more in the eye. There were only 3 students in my class so they would all stand on 1 long desk and sing with me being an arms length away. They loved this probably because also of the thrill of standing tall. These kids were 3 years old and they would also dance to the music on the desks. Then one day, push came to shove, and 1 girl fell off the table onto some chairs and cried her eyes out. She wasn't harmed at all thank goodness, but ever since that day, I no longer allow them to stand on the desk.

The last thing I would want is to have a kid break their bone in one of my classes.

I was frightened after this class because she cried soooo loud, and I was afraid the mum would come rushing into the class to investigate.

From now on I try to be a bit plain with my teaching and less strange in my methods.