I have had a couple of bites on my angler's safari of job hunting. I have an interview on Friday at a school in Shanghai.
It is a middle school that is part of a full size school. It is about an hour from Shanghai, but since Shanghai is so big it is basically the same as being in Shanghai.
Part of the job is participating in coaching and activities. Maybe I can teach some cooking and ice hockey. The fellow who spoke to me mentioned there is an ice rink nearby and some of the students like to skate.
He also mentioned that there is a golf course near the school, and several students play alot of golf. One of the students, a girl about 14 or 15, recently went to Taiwan to play in an international tournament. She did very well and I am told is a feisty competitor.
It will be a good change from the company I am with now.
My current company's main source of business is signing up students to go to high schools in the USA. Most of the High Schools are private christian schools, although several seem to also be Catholic. What is strange is that the company is not run by alot of christians, as far as I can tell. All of my various co-workers here in China are pretty much atheistic. My former chinese handler said he was internally taoist, but he did not observe any sort of organized religion.
My work in Shiyan involves teaching classes at a school where there are several students who have been signed up to go to schools in the USA. I note that they are not the best english speakers in my classes. The best students are waiting to go to American universities, and will finish their high school in China.
I was alarmed to find that one of the students who is signed up for high school in the USA cannot answer even basic questions in English. I was very alarmed about this. Yesterday, after my lecture about American music, I met with him and two other students who are signed up to go to the USA. The other two students were not great, but I feel that with some time they will probably develop their English skills.
When students sign a contract to go to the US, they have to have an assessment by a native speaker, like me. I have given several assessments and often found that students lacked enough language ability to go overseas.
It is pretty clear to me that someone signing up students did not really care about whether the student actually had any ability. It is very difficult to live in a foreign culture, much less go to school, when you cannot communicate or understand the language.
My job is to speak english, so it is not overly difficult for me. It gets lonely and can be nerve wracking to do basic things like ordering food in a restaurant. People who cannot explain why they want to go to the USA should probably not be going there, paying large amounts of money, if they cannot benefit from the experience.
So, my goal is to sign on with another outfit. This company has agreed to move me to a city closer to Shanghai, so if all else fails, I can stay with my present outfit. However, I would much prefer a more traditional teaching gig, where I am not pushing products on people.
It is a middle school that is part of a full size school. It is about an hour from Shanghai, but since Shanghai is so big it is basically the same as being in Shanghai.
Part of the job is participating in coaching and activities. Maybe I can teach some cooking and ice hockey. The fellow who spoke to me mentioned there is an ice rink nearby and some of the students like to skate.
He also mentioned that there is a golf course near the school, and several students play alot of golf. One of the students, a girl about 14 or 15, recently went to Taiwan to play in an international tournament. She did very well and I am told is a feisty competitor.
It will be a good change from the company I am with now.
My current company's main source of business is signing up students to go to high schools in the USA. Most of the High Schools are private christian schools, although several seem to also be Catholic. What is strange is that the company is not run by alot of christians, as far as I can tell. All of my various co-workers here in China are pretty much atheistic. My former chinese handler said he was internally taoist, but he did not observe any sort of organized religion.
My work in Shiyan involves teaching classes at a school where there are several students who have been signed up to go to schools in the USA. I note that they are not the best english speakers in my classes. The best students are waiting to go to American universities, and will finish their high school in China.
I was alarmed to find that one of the students who is signed up for high school in the USA cannot answer even basic questions in English. I was very alarmed about this. Yesterday, after my lecture about American music, I met with him and two other students who are signed up to go to the USA. The other two students were not great, but I feel that with some time they will probably develop their English skills.
When students sign a contract to go to the US, they have to have an assessment by a native speaker, like me. I have given several assessments and often found that students lacked enough language ability to go overseas.
It is pretty clear to me that someone signing up students did not really care about whether the student actually had any ability. It is very difficult to live in a foreign culture, much less go to school, when you cannot communicate or understand the language.
My job is to speak english, so it is not overly difficult for me. It gets lonely and can be nerve wracking to do basic things like ordering food in a restaurant. People who cannot explain why they want to go to the USA should probably not be going there, paying large amounts of money, if they cannot benefit from the experience.
So, my goal is to sign on with another outfit. This company has agreed to move me to a city closer to Shanghai, so if all else fails, I can stay with my present outfit. However, I would much prefer a more traditional teaching gig, where I am not pushing products on people.
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