Truth be told, I don't really have anything to write about so this will be a free-writing sort of thing. That's fair enough warning, I guess, in case you start muttering that this entry isn't really going anywhere. Anyway, I'm writing eventhough there's really nothing to write about because I just feel like it. I haven't posted for a while and I'm sure you're all wondering if I'm still alive. Yes I am although barely.
This week has been ultra-busy. (I just wanted to say ultra because I don't think I've ever used that word before except for Tide Ultra. Hahaha! Funny why I thought of Tide Ultra just now. Oh, I have a student named Tide. Maybe that's where my brain made the connection.) I have more than 30 hours of classes this week because we're having the classes in advance so we can have a vacation for the Spring Festival. (Spring Festival is what we usually call Chinese New Year. But since they are Chinese, they probably don't think of it that way.) There is more to this story but I'm not sure if this is the best place to write it or not. Maybe it'll come up again later.
Which now brings me to my plans for the future (I know you don't really see the connection but I do. I'm not really in the mood to explain because I'm just going to rant about it so just trust me that that really leads me to my plans for the future). From the time I came here to about a week ago, I was undecided on what I wanted to do. After my contract with WaiYan, I was thinking of doing any one of the following things: 1. renew my contract and extend my stay in this city. 2. move to another part of China (most probably Beijing since I still have a standing offer of sorts at one of the universities there). 3. go to another country and be more adventurous (as if being in China isn't adventurous enough). 4. go back home and stay there forever and ever amen.
I still am undecided but I have since scratched one of the options off the list. I don't think I will take option number one. While I love TieLing and I've made really great friends here, I think I've come to that point when I have grown too tired of having to constantly negotiate for every little thing that I feel I deserve. (See, I knew it'll come up again. Here is the part where I rant.) The most recent of this negotiation has something to do with the making up for the will-be-missed classes for Spring Festival. I agreed to the horrendously overworked week because I was told that this will give me a long vacation. One that would and should start on Monday, the 23rd of January, and end in the 7th of February. So here I am this whole week barely having time to have lunch rushing from one branch of the school to the other all the while thinking that this too, shall pass. I was having a mental countdown. Last night, though, they opened a new class for me, an adult class; and I did enjoy talking to my students or more appropriately having a one-sided conversation most of the time as most of them were too shy to say anything. After the class, I overheard the office lady and some of the students talking about the schedule. The school was/is planning on having it on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, okay so far, meaning there will be classes on the 24th, 26th and 28th. What the fuck?! I told the office lady that she said I won't have classes beginning the 23rd. Smiling, she said, that's for the children's classes. Bullshit. This is the reason why I don't think I should ever own a gun. It doesn't end there. Today, I was told that I'll have classes on two other days on that same week at the other branch. Okay, give me that gun. Now.
Actually, a few hours ago I was furious. Right now I'm just drained. There is this eerie sense of calmness in me. Maybe a knife will do, what do you think? I just feel it might help them at being a little consistent with their words? I'm trying to be helpful here, really.
I would love to talk about the issues on the other options but I think I have to do something about this overwhelming calmness in me. Something makes me sense that it's not healthy. Oh and yeah, I have classes from 830 in the morning until 630 at night tomorrow. It might be a good idea to sleep while I still can.
I swear I didn't know this is how this entry would turn out. So I guess I did have something to write about. Let's see who will be stupid enough to make me explode tomorrow.
Be assertive and tell those bastards that if they don't give you the vacation time as promised then your contract with them will be terminated immediately and you will take one of the six (a good number) other job offers with higher pay. Be deadly serious and tell them that you know your rights here and that any violation of the contract on their part renders that contract null and void. If you put your foot down and threaten to leave they will listen...if not, you can go get a better job within a week without a problem. Don't put up with this shit.
ReplyDeleteBut the thing is the vacation is a verbral agreement so it's not really in the contract. The negotiation continues later and I do hope they keep all sharp objects safely hidden. This is not the first time that they went back on their word and my patience runs dry. I'll update how many fatalities tonight.
ReplyDeleteNO NO NO. That is bullshit. Vacation time is guaranteed in the contract and when a verbal agreement is made to that end it is legally binding. They are clearly in violation and there is nothing that they can do to keep you from leaving...they know this (and fear this), but unfortunately most foreign teachers in China do not know their rights and they take advantage of this. When the first company I came here with turned out to be scam artists I told them they needed to fix the situation or I would go home. They wanted me to pay for my own visa expenses, but we had agreed that they would do that. I let a lot slide before finally putting my foot down and found another job and left them. They couldn't do shit about it, and now I am really happy at my new job. If you let them screw you around once, they will continue to do it over and over and over...
ReplyDeletetrue nuni, true. don't let them take advantage of you. they're probably just trying to see how much they can get away with. after all, you do look frail and unable to lift much (ha! if only they knew!). :p
ReplyDeleteactually, i've a similar issue with one of the production houses i currently have a project with. as usual, it's a low budget avp, only this time, it's 6 fucking avps crammed into 2 shooting days with a budget so low it was all i could do not to laugh out loud. still, i managed to work within the budget, squeeze in an extra backpack shooting day *and* have money to spare (at least according to my calculations. we have yet to shoot -- which is another fun story to tell altogether).
now they're telling me i should take care of adboard permits (the client wants a tvc from the avp raw) on top of everything. i told them pointblank i'm not doing it. they can fire me, i don't care. there is such a thing as enough. besides, the adboard is not a production related concern anymore, which means it's over and beyond my responsibilties. mamatay sila. grrr.
Jona, I have no idea what any of what you wrote means.
ReplyDeleteI lost. I'm sorry to disappoint you guys but I will be having classes next week. Why am I such a push-over? I was sick last week and did not teach the full 20 hours. I know that shouldn't matter because I was still told that I'll have an early vacation. I kinda hate myself right now.
ReplyDeleteThey also promised to pay for my visa expenses before I came here. They promised a great many things before I came. They are manipulative bastards. I hope they fall in an open manhole and drown.
One good thing though! I'd been wondering when I'll bring up the topic of my plane fare and I felt that then was the best time. Aside from the visa (which they did not pay but wasn't that much so I let it go), they're also supposed to pay for my plane fare coming here and going back home because my contract is for one year. When I got here, I tried to have my plane fare reimbursed. I was told that I'll get it just before I go back home as it will serve as a guarantee that I will finish my contract. I kept quiet then but I planned on asking for it after six months, which is now. Now that I've been working here for six months, half of the time stated in the contract, I feel that I am now entitled to that reimbursement. One year=roundtrip ticket. 6 months=1-way fare. I want the money I used to come here because I've already earned it. I think that's reasonable. We'll talk about the going home ticket after I've worked for another six months.
The headmaster refused and said that he'd pay for my ticket going home and coming back here if I do come back. I said bullshit. Several times so he'll get the intensity of it. (BTW, my headmaster's English level is so low you'd wonder why he's running an English school. Wendy was translating.) If we do it his way, then I'd be tied to his stupid school for another year. This argument went on for a long time. A really long time and I was getting hungry. Finally, I said I'm resigning. I said it more or less this way: I'm resigning. I don't want to work here anymore. I feel that I'm being abused. I'm so tired of this, Wendy. That's not the agreement and you know it.
I figured if he's not going to give me my plane fare, then I've really nothing to lose. I could work at any other school and have them pay for my ticket going home AND coming back, if I want to come back. They have everything to lose. Right now, I'm the only foreign teacher in the school. AND my students love me. I'm pretty sure they'll follow me if I decide to teach at the rival school. Hmp. Everything changed from that point. He said that what he's been saying all along is that he'll pay for the plane fare for coming here and that I misunderstood him. Then he proceeded to praise my classes and how he's very satisfied with my teaching. Then he asked for my advice on the requirements for hiring foreign teachers (i.e. Z-visa, two years of teaching experience, a Master's degree, etc.). I would have laughed but I've been raised too well that I can't be rude even if the situation calls for it. And the rules will be revised as well. One of which is that the foreign teachers will not get a fixed salary anymore but only for the hours that they actually taught. Oh, by the way, I'm not covered by the revised rules because I'm "very intelligent." "And you're an asshole," should have been the reply.
I will get my money after the Spring Festival.
And guess what's waiting for me when I arrived at the branch where I'm supposed to teach my last class for the day: a bottle of milk and a huge fruitbread (think of it as a fruitcake but it's a bread). How sweet! Can you see the sarcasm just dripping out of the screen?
hahaha! tangina. suhol ito pre! kakaiba. parang pulitiko si hm!
ReplyDeleteI am screaming right now. I am not polite. I want to come up there and strangle your headmaster. China law requires one half the plane fare upon six months of contract completion and the other half upon one year. Fuck them. You are really getting screwed. Hourly pay??? Of course the new "rule" doesn't apply to you as you signed the contract with a salary...regardless of whether or not they give you the hours (that would be their fault). They've broken your contract and are screwing with you. Go work somewhere else asap.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link that might be of use to you: http://www.china-tesol.com/Regulations_at_TEACH_CHINA/Contracts/contracts.html
I feel your pain. You know how I got jerked around when I first got here...it sounds too familiar.
joni, tell them you are not working the week they said you will have a vacation. period. and he better have the money ready after the spring festival because if not, you will not go to class ever again. end of discussion. don't you have a maximum number of teaching hours? so even though the promised vacation is verbal, you can still show you've already covered those hours. and so what if you didn't complete the hours when you were sick? everybody is entitled to sick leaves. and they know you were reallly sick.
ReplyDeleteYou are more than welcome to come and strangle him. Right now, I'm just too tired to even think about this. Okay, here's what I'll do: fine, I'll work next week but I'll be very vigilant about everything beginning right now. If they don't give me the money after the Spring Festival, or if they try to pull something like this again, I really will leave. I'm too tired for (and of) all of this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! I think I should start scouting the net for other schools as well. :p
You should have no trouble finding new work online. Gavin just wrote me saying he has job offers in Beijing, Shanghai and HongKong...and as you know from his myspace page - his English is shit! Relax and enjoy the holiday.
ReplyDeleteAs you very well know, the Chinese wouldn't know shitty English from any other kind of English. My fear is that they might take one look at me and dismiss me as Chinese, therefore not a good "investment". I am trying to relax. I've mentally counted how much money I have (that's a sure sign of panic for me), and I should be confident that it could last me for several months here. No reason to panic, really. But I'm naturally panicky. Oh, maybe that's because I'm overexciteable!!!
ReplyDelete