Teaching at Huanghe S&T September 2011

[lukebowen]

I've just signed my contract and will be coming to teach at Huanghe Science and Technology College‏ sometime around September 1st this year (waiting to hear back on exact date.) ;D

Just have a few questions:
1) Anyone here commencing or continuing employment at Huanghe S&T this year?
2) What can I expect from the Induction?
3) To what extent is the course structure set? (and what does it consist of?)
4) Any advice on what preparations I should make over the next few weeks?
5) What will I be expected to wear? Will I need to add to my collection of one formal suit?

[lukebowen]

O and one more thing:
Considering that I won't be paid till the end of the first month, how much money will I have to have put aside to get me through [excluding flights, visa, health check etc, for which I am already equipped)? Will, for example, 2500rmb suffice, or should I be polity pestering relatives for donations?

[perkinsonline]

2500 is enough is u dont paint the town red.

u might spend 1000 or less on household stuff but i think that should suffice.

But then again, its always good to have some spare cash in case of something happening.

You could always ask your employer to give u an advance for half a month since u just got here.

[anna]

You won't need to buy much household stuff at all, so 1000 is probably a very very very generous amount to put aside for that. Have the school explained about the health insurance, residency permit and health exam which you have to pay for when you get there? You'll need to budget for them. Also, there are a couple of holidays pretty soon after you start teaching - National Day Holiday you'll have a week off and Mid Autumn Festival you get three days I think. I don't know when you're starting teaching, but if you've not had pay day by the beginning of those holidays you might want to bring some extra money for if you want to travel on those holidays. I remember I took a trip to Shanghai!

Your other questions...
1) Anyone here commencing or continuing employment at Huanghe S&T this year?

I think there are 8 teachers who stayed on this year but I've not seen them on this forum.

2) What can I expect from the Induction?

I never had an induction! I imagine they're planning on going through the textbooks etc with the teachers to make sure everybody knows what to do. You should ask irenemengmeng because she works at the school.

3) To what extent is the course structure set? (and what does it consist of?)

You get given a textbook and a pretty free rein. I taught some stuff from the book but, when it was too easy/ I didn't like the activities, I prepared other classes - everything from the Royal Wedding to China's smoking ban, to Shakespeare and St Patrick's Day, to taking my hotplate to class and cooking pancakes with the students. Only things to remember are: no movies!

4) Any advice on what preparations I should make over the next few weeks?

Plan your first class!

5) What will I be expected to wear? Will I need to add to my collection of one formal suit?

You can wear what you like! You might need a suit for Teachers' Day or other ceremonies so take the one, but you won't need another unless you feel most comfortable teaching in a suit. You can always get another tailored when you get there anyway!

[edmason]

I'm not going to repeat what Anna's written... I agree totally.

On the induction, or lack thereof, I wish that we (the teachers) had sat down together a the start of term and discussed, and agreed to, shared standards and best practices.

Some teachers made life really hard for others by not taking attendance, not noting lateness or showing way too many movies! All things you're asked to be firm on by the School and things that it doesn't take much common sense to rein in.

Talking about how we could work together, working out compromises and accommodating different teaching styles would've been beneficial in the longer term.

Don't expect the School to suggest this - they might, but with hindsight we, the teachers, should have done this using our own initiative.

[lukebowen]

Thank you all for the information :-)

[craig]

Have the school explained about the health insurance ... ?

I'm curious about this actually - does it cost much and what does it cover? I'm debating whether to keep my local (expensive) health insurance as well, but if the health cover provided by the school is good enough I might just get travel insurance and cancel my current health insurance.

[craig]

Aug 7, 2011 7:31:07 GMT 8 lukebowen said:

1) Anyone here commencing or continuing employment at Huanghe S&T this year?

Hi Luke, I'm flying over to Zhengzhou Thursday next week and apparently starting classes on the 6th of September... nervous does not begin to describe it but hopefully it'll be a good year.

[lukebowen]

Hello Craig,
I am hoping to arrive there myself sometime around the beginning of September but have been delayed getting my experts certificate required to apply for the VISA (I was given the wrong information regarding what medical exam I would have to undergo). Therefore I may be arriving a little later than the 6th, but I have been informed that I won't begin my formal teaching until nearer the end of September so this shouldn't be a problem.

I am likewise quite nervous, and very much excited, to get started. Prematurely excited perhaps, as it is making it difficult to sleep. But everything I've seen and heard about the placement so far looks good and I'm sure living within the same building as a number of other foreign English teachers will take the edge off somewhat.

[photographerinzz]

I'm about to work on getting my Z visa so I can head over to teach at Huanghe S and T soon...
Looking to make new friends and contacts from there!

Karla
[e-mail]