Answers of the Day
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841 . What can be done if a school cheats your pay and doesn't do what they wrote in the work contract?Oct 23,2012
Without a legal residence in China, the People's Courts won't even receive that kind of a lawsuit. IMHO the best advice given above is to simply cut your losses and move on, as quickly as possible. The school-in-question has undoubtedly been up to its nefarious tricks long before you even appeared on the horizon. They probably have bought off everyone they need to buy...
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Oct 23,2012
I raise my kids in a home with 3 languages. Mommy speaks Mandarin, Daddy speaks English and the Grandma & maid speak in Cantonese.
At 4.5 years old they can hold fluent conversations in Mandarin, and basic conversations in English & Cantonese. They understand WAY more than they can speak, but I think that is the same for anyone learning a language....
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Oct 22,2012
I've been attracted to China since I was quite quite young, and I think the reason for this is that they are a people who are generally very quick to smile and share a joke. I also feel i've been shown marvelous hospitality and been made to feel very welcome indeed by the Chinese in general over the past 7 years. Also the girls are hot.
There you go; 1,2,3 admirable...
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Oct 21,2012
Typical pay for a teacher in a Tier 2 or 3 city is between 6-8k RMB. This will also normally include a 1 bedroom or shared apartment near the school. Depending on experience, the school, etc... You may be able to get up to 10k, but that is rare in a city that size.
As for opportunities, all I can say is keep an eye on the classified section of this...
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Oct 17,2012
A country is nicely regarded by China as long as it is not giving China trouble.
There are no high regards I think. It is usually for superficial reasons; for example France being so romantic (because of Paris), Ireland being a beautiful country, Italy for having delicious food, Cuba for cigars (And a communism), and Venuzeula for being a model of effective Socialism....
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Oct 16,2012
Coming to my classroom and being greeted with smiles from my students.
The laugh of the Laoban when greeted at whose shop I frequent.
Seeing people give up their seats for the elderly.
Seeing adults truly playing with their children.
Getting text messages about the changes in the weather from students, and colleagues whenever the temperature goes up or down....
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Oct 16,2012
Well, if you buy a puppy, be ready to clean up pee and poop for a while, until it's house trained.
My roommate bought a puppy a few weeks ago, but hasn't brought him to see the vet yet (he's a trooper though, had some serious diarrhea but recovered). One vaccination should cost around RMB 50 (might be more depending on who the manufacturer is).
Barring a...
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Oct 15,2012
Your work permit, and your residence permit, are both tied to your original place of employment. So, technically, when you quit those became void, and you had to go to PSB and tell them, and they would have given you a 30 days visa to either find another job, or leave China at the end if none was found.
Now, if you had secured a new job, and then quit the old one, you had 10...
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849 . Is this a place for 'venting' and implied /hostile critisism or for constructive help and advice?Oct 13,2012
I feel that it is for both, but, since this is a site for expats, i feel that the "venting" should take priority over "constructive criticism and advice".
In addition, this is like a numbers game. There are much fewer chinese people who come to this site than there are foreigners. So, making it harder for us to be able to vent when we need to on the off chance that one of the...
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Oct 12,2012
Firstly, ask them to email you a copy of their business licence "fuben" (this is not the original large copy but a smaller secondary business licence that has four small squares on it to show the company has passed government annual inspection). You will be able to tell from the number of inspections the company has passed, how long the company has successfully been trading. The...
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Oct 11,2012
Actually I think it's English that makes people confused when you say cousins. When you say" my cousin", I don't know it's female or male, older than you or younger than you, paternal or maternal.
In Chinese, we call big sister jie jie, young sister mei mei, big brother gege, young brother didi.
" tang jie" ( female cousin...
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Oct 10,2012
The money smacked on the table thing is just a cultural thing, in China it's not a rudeness, so don't take it personally. I do have a story for you though. About 6 years ago I was in Liuzhou, a city where foreigners were VERY few and far between. I went out one day to buy a bread knife and in some back street, thought i'd found the place. It was empty except for a girl of about 17...
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Oct 09,2012
You will be surprised how easy you can re-adjust to your home country. For me the hardest thing to deal with is the lack of chaos. It almost seems too quiet, too safe and too orderly. I know it isn't really that way, but compared to life in China it feels almost surreal.
Just enjoy your time back home. See your friends and family, share your stories...
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Oct 08,2012
I think negative spin exists just about anywhere one goes, unless it is controlled by an outside influence which puts forth an agenda to keep things positive. Most of what is deemed negative, perhaps, is just people speaking from their perspective, one way or another.
Personally, I try not to make generalizations, or "blanket statements," so from that viewpoint, yes I...
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Oct 05,2012
I'm going to offer a word to you guys for consideration. EMPATHY. Chinese people are part of the human race. The human race shares common ancestors. We react similarly when exposed to the same stimuli. Nobody is innately inferior. I have no problem saying negative things about anyone as long as I understand the cause. When we...
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856 . In China, is pinyin taught to young children alphabetically or using a 'look and say' strategy?Oct 04,2012
I am Chinese. We learn the letters of pinyin separately and then combine the letters to read other pinyin words.
First, we learn Chinese phonetic alphabets,
Part 1,
b p m f d
t n l g k
h j q x zh
ch sh r z c
s y w
Part 2,
a o e i u
ü ai ei ui ao
ou iu ie üe er
an en in un
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Oct 01,2012
According to my wife often it's down to Feng Shui, when you open a business or move house the exact time you move or open etc should be determined by a Feng Shui expert and at this time you let of fireworks, (or more often firecrackers) to scare away evil spirits who may bring bad luck to your new house / business etc.
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Sep 28,2012
I agree with you entirely, it is unfortunate but there are all too many western men who stereotypically come to China in the hope of finding a delicate Chinese rose to take as a bride but make the mistake of thinking Cupid spends most of his time flitting around shooting his arrows at drunken revelers in night clubs. And for those guys i'd like to say this; "That's not Cupid, stupid...
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Sep 27,2012
I'm a Brit, and I see no serious harm in it. The English language is different in that it spread internationally, most commonly in the time if the British Empire, and we have no 'right' to that language anymore, it can, and is, adapted by any group of people who adopt (or have had forced on them) the language. Look at Patois as an extreme example.
Is it annoying?...
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Sep 26,2012
I talked my girlfriend into spending a LOT of money on mooncakes. She bought vanilla mooncakes, chocolate mooncakes, egg mooncakes, blueberry mooncakes, the moon cakes with the black bean paste inside, etc. etc.. I'd definitely have to say the blueberry mooncakes are my favorite, they're a cross between a blueberry muffin and blueberry pie. They're muffins with blueberry pie...
