questions on china

[eslinterest]

hi I am loking around at the moment trying to deside on where to start and what direction to take.

I have my heart set on Japan but alas i have no degree making it hard to get a job.

anyway i was thinking maybe getting some experience in china might be a good idea then trying for japan later on if i enjoy my tesol experience.

anyway i was going through sites to get a general lok at stuff like crime.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1089.html

the link above makes it seem like it's dangerous ... woud u say it's a bit over the top. I for one like to drink and I certainly would not like to be attacked.

also i don't actually know too much about china transport and those things. From what i know there is not much in the way of cars ... thats fine for me, as i do not have a liscence but would there be much of problem in traveling to your work place?

i have read hyperions (think thats the name) threads and see that u can get some decent money from just 14 hrs work. I'd like to be doing about 16 if I can get 5,000 rmb.

Also i am realy just after a job where i can check the contract through email before i go over will they do that or would they want in person?

cheers

cheers!

[Hypiereon]

I tried to check the website listed but it wouldn't open for me, but I'll give you what I know against the backdrop of what you've already mentioned.

Getting attacked is not common. However, a drunk foreigner making a wrong move over here would definitely get a response from other "influenced" locals. You'd only get attacked if you provoked someone and they felt like they could take you on. A serious provocation might get a group to gang up on you, but to date I have never heard of an attack of any sort on any foreigner - let alone gang attacks. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but word among foreigners does travel well here in ChengDu, and so far there's been nothing.

Actually, the reverse is more likely. A frustrated foreigner under the influence is very likely to take a swing at someone, and the reaction they get would be the same as anywhere else in the world I imagine. Maybe that's why such attacks - if they exist - do not get talked about.

The absolute biggest crime problem is stealing. Breaking and entering into foreign residences is common as it is thought they would have cash and more valuable items like laptops. More than once I've been approached by a man on the street who makes eye-contact with me, walks up, opens a small bag with a laptop inside and offers to sell it to me. No doubt there's a foreigner somewhere scratching their head over where their laptop walked off to at just about the same moment.

I've been eye-witness to pickpockets literally running alongside people on bicycles trying to - and I swear I'm not making this up - 1. Unzip a ladies purse while it was still under her arm. 2. Unzip a fanny pack from the front of a person while the bicycle's rider was bent over it with hands on the handlebars. People have told me stories of cell phones suddenly going missing. I have had my own bicycle stolen (had two locks) from the parking area on school campus at my university. I've also felt the subtle tug of someone at my front pocket while on a bus (I was grabbing the standing passenger handles that dangle from the top when I felt it, and when I looked down there was nothing. When I looked around, everyone else was looking in another direction.

Thing of it is, no one says anything. Everyone is afraid the theif may have a knife and will come after them if they happen to give him away. The whole experience is surreal, and watching it would be hilarious if it wasn't so prevalent.

Some things to think about trying out. Never stand absolutely still for long, and always keep your head moving side to side, ESPECIALLY when you are waiting in a line. Crowds are a theives best friend, but even being in motion on a bicycle doesn't sop them. In two of the bicycle incidents, the theif gave himself away but when the person stopped he just ran off in a perpendicular direction. The woman with the fanny pack never noticed the theif, but he couldn't hang with her for very long before becoming breathless. He was a STEALTHY dude though!!! I tell my Chinese friends from now on, you watch my pockets, and I'll watch yours. truth of it is, you just can't keep an eye on your own pockets 100% of the time, and it only takes a moment in a crowd of jostling to loosen a clasp, pull on a zipper, or tug subtly on a pocket and they have what they want while you wonder if you might have given too much money to the cab driver ten minutes earlier.

As for contracts - seeing one they can do, but 99% of all initial contracts are crap. They know it, and whatever changes they might make online may not exist when you get here. Think of it. You ask for changes, they make them, you agree to come, you're here, and suddenly no one remembers what changes you had been talking about. Kick of it is, it may be an honest mistake. They talk with dozens of people in a day, and whatever they tell you now doesn't mean they're going to remember later. Producing your own copy won't help. If they feel like they've lost face because you show them a copy, they'll get all stiff and there will be no bargaining. Game over for you buddy boy. That door will be closed infinitely.

Get a sample contract if it makes you feel better - but do your bargaining here. It really makes no difference either way because online contract negotiations are not binding. Any sample contract you like today can be changed unilaterally before you arrive. Anything in lights on a screen is not a contract - and you printing a copy doesn't make it any more real to them. You have to be here to sign it, so why not just be here to bargain over it. You'll save yourself the potential for a hard time later if you do.

In my case, the first time I came here I made requests for changes, they made them, and when I arrived the contract they presented me with was the very first contract they offered me online. Had I just signed without reading expecting the changes to have been there, I would have been screwed. I politely asked for the changes I mentioned online. "What changes?" I went through the whole process all over again, they agreed all over again, and the changes were made all over again, and then I signed. Everyone was smiling rather nervously, a lot of tip toeing was done. No one accused anyone of lying or trying to cheat. We all came through it OK, but lesson learned: Get yourself over here, then take whatever action you think reasonable.

As for transport - get a bicycle or electric scooter. They're cheaper than taxi's. Taxi's are available just about anywhere at anytime, but are more expensive at night. Public buses run a few hours before and after normal business hours. Some major cities have subways. Driving a car is not a good idea unless you've been here a while and have something akin to the Jedi "force" ability to see things before they happen. Biggest traffic problem outside of congestion is people walking, riding, driving, without looking anywhere else but the ten feet in front of them. These people typically find themself in the middle of a road, and suddenly (as though they woke up from sleepwalking) seem to realize they're IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!! They actually wear a panicked facial expression with something like "How did I get here?!" written all over it. It's CRAZY!!!!!

[eslinterest]

ok thanks btw where about in china are u and is there good sight seing there?

[Hypiereon]

I'm in the capital city of Sichuan province called ChengDu. Put your finger in the approximate middle of China and you'll be close.

ChengDu has lots of "natural" wonders for toursits to go see - Emei Mountain, Qing Chong Mountain, Xiling Mountain, Jiu Zai Gou, and Huang Long to name a few. Nearby is also the Giant Buddha at Leshan, the animal park at Ya'An which has an entrance eerily similar to the Jurassic Park enclosure, and the Panda reserve.

ChengDu is also 2 - 2 1/2 hours flight time to every other major city in China excepting the extreme northeast. I plan on visiting Tibet this August myself which is about a 1 1/2 - 2 hour flight from Chengdu.

[eslinterest]

sounds like a mad place to be. i'll have to look into it anyway bed time for me 12 hr shift tommorow ... or today as it is already lol.

[exported_kiwi]

I agree with Hyperion, get someone you know and trust to watch your pockets while you watch theirs! I've had my pocket picket 3 times now, have lost a fair bit of money and learned the hard way! Now, when I buy a shirt, I get a little pocket sewn on the inside of the shirt, easily accessable to me, but not so for potential theives. It's cheap and safe so maybe this is another idea for y'all.

As for contracts, if the potential wasn't there for paper cuts, they'd be ok as toliet paper I suppose, in an emergency! In my time here, I've obeyed the contract, gone "above and beyond" the contract but have been let down when the employer doesn't keep their end of the bargain regarding them.....good luck there.

If you bargain via email, keep copies in your sent box so you can refer to it again if the occasion arises, and it probably will!
China's a great place if you want it to be, but it's not home so don't expect it to be. So many things are different here, so much is strange, even to people who've been here for a while...maybe Hyperion would agree here too as he's been here a helluva lot longer than me. I've been here 2 years, will be into year 3 shortly, love it mostly but have my bad experiences, but it's these experiences that help one learn what life's like here and how to avoid the pitfalls that come with being here.

Good luck with wherever you choose and remember, life, and China, are what you make of them, so make the most of it!