Another Job Hunt

I got a job offer in March. A job with good pay, working on a new campus for a respected university. I immediately inquired about housing and benefits and was informed that housing is arranged. The sample  contract I saw listed good benefits including health care. Since I enjoyed the people I met, I accepted the job.

I also made the mistake of not continuing to job hunt. In fact, I wrote to two contacts to withdraw my application for jobs that seemed quite good. Also, I informed my current employer than in the fall, that I’d be teaching elsewhere. My current job has been given to someone else so my only chance to remain here would be if someone had to back out.

Well, now things don’t look so certain.

I got an email from someone at the new university and she mentioned temporary housing. I inquired about the adjective and learned that new hires got 60 days of temporary housing. I was told I could get my own housing. While that’s possible, it’s not what I wanted ever. I prefer the convenience and will sacrifice space for the proximity to the campus. Also, there’s the issue of the university not coming through with what they said earlier. That’s a red flag for me. I’ve had a couple horrendous jobs and I’ve learned from them. Better safe than sorry.

Moreover, the new campus isn’t ready so we won’t teach there till second semester. If I got my own housing it would either be on the island with the current campus or on Hengqin Island where the new one is being built. The fact that we’re talking about different islands does make a commute sound like a hassle.

So I’m waiting for further information from Human Resources. I’ve been waiting since Wednesday.

I don’t like that the question that I asked in plain language and got an answer to is now void.  I don’t want to move three times in five months. While I do have a good impression of the department director, I recall that at EBUS/Xiangjiang High School, I liked the program manager/director. Sometimes they really don’t have much power to solve problems. I can’t find any information about the school on the internet. Reading a detailed blog could provide some insights.

As it now stands, I’m trying to be patient and hopeful. The problems aren’t insurmountable and how they’re handled will tell me a lot about the school.

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Highway Robbery by Kohl’s

I recently got a dubious looking email allegedly from Kohl’s, the retailer. I emailed them via their website to see if it was a phishing email and soon got a reply that it was legitimate, despite putting my name in ALL CAPS.

So I called as directed and found out I’d forgotten to pay a small bill, less than $14. Before I could speak to a person I had to wait a long while and then got a recording that repeated my balance and asked the same questions six, count ‘em six times.

Okay, that’s American “customer service” in the voice mail age. I wanted to pay over the phone, as I have $14. I was blown away that I’d also be charged $10 to do this. Jeez. That put me in an ugly mood and made me loath to ever shop at Kohl’s again. It’s not like they’re the only place that sells clothing in my area. The clerk on the phone was nice enough, but the company’s policies are awful. And since I’m not in America, I’m not used to waiting so long for anything.

In China there are hordes of people at various places, but I’ve gotten good at avoiding lines. And in a lot of places lines aren’t so bad. There aren’t any for restaurants or movie theaters. To get in line for a train is ugly, but we manage. I’ve never had to wait for more than one person ahead of me at a post office here. Think how amazing that is since there are one billion more people here than in the U.S.

Alternate Day Fasting: Progress Report

It’s week two of this, Alternate Day Fasting (a.k.a. Intermittent Fasting). Last week I fasted on Sunday and then Thursday. It wasn’t a complete success because I was going to fast on Wednesday, but I just got tempted so I changed my second day to Thursday. Last week was a weird week because I worked on Sunday and had Monday – Wednesday off. I just think if I don’t have to work, eating will be more of a temptation – at least by dinnertime.

Tuesday I have a good schedule for my fasts. I teach from 8-10am then again from 2:30 to 4:30pm. I can skip breakfast easily enough and if I get a 400-500 calorie lunch, I’m okay for the afternoon. Then I can take it easy in the evening and go to sleep early if hunger gets to be too much, as it has.

Thursday seemed harder because I teach from 8 to noon. So the afternoon’s wide open for temptation.  As far as my teaching schedule goes Friday would be a better day as it’s just like Tuesday, but Friday is typically a night to go out with friends. I may need to fast on Sundays.

Today I’ve been pretty good. I did eat some radish balls for a small supper as it’s really hard to miss dinner completely. I recall I had fruit for dinner last week.

It’s interesting how this challenges me. It’s a more intense challenge than say cutting out a food group, but because its short term and intense, I think it’ll work. I can tell myself that tomorrow I can have some chocolate or whatever. I’m not going to weigh myself the first month because this change isn’t about weight, though that wouldn’t be a bad side effect. It’s about avoiding cancer and dementia, which seem to be caused by the American diet.

How’s this for a Spam Comment?

I just deleted this comment:  Great words here.

Okay, there are lots of great words in English and loads of other languages.

On Drone Strikes

Testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing this week. I hope we can end the use of drones.

Remembering Roger Ebert

RogerEbert-thumb-550xauto-34161I really was stunned and saddened to hear that Roger Ebert died. He was such a constant in my media life. I loved his writing and his lively discussions on At the Movies with Gene Siskel and later with Richard Roeper.

For a few years I took Roger’s film class through the University of Chicago’s adult ed program. It was tough to get a seat in the class. The first time I took it we watched Paul Schrader‘s films and Schrader even came to our class to screen Light of Day.

The following semester to cut down on students who would have to be turned away when the class moved from Spertus College to a screening room on Michigan Avenue, Ebert chose to focus on films by French director Robert Bresson. Bresson’s films are tough as he rejects everything Hollywood loves: surprise endings, professional actors, music, you name if it’s in a blockbuster, it’s not an element of a Bresson film. I love a good challenge I signed up again. Even in the smaller new space, the class was full and some were turned away. A lot of the people had been taking the class for 18 years by then and many were knowledgeable film viewers. Ebert never put anyone down or carried himself as if he was smarter or better than us. In fact, several times he’d point out that the only reason he was teaching the course was the roll of a die. Hardly, since he was an expert, but he conducted the class with such respect for all.

roger geneUsually the class followed the films of one director and we were able to see his evolution or what made him tick. I recall taking the Schrader, Bresson, Billie Wilder classes, but I think there were others. I do remember winning the Beat Roger Oscar contest in the class one year. Talk about a fluke. I got 8 or 10 books, one autographed, which I’ll have to dig out.

Beyond the class, Roger’s website and reviews continued me to seek out challenging films, to expand what I watched. Thus I discovered great films, old and new.

I admire how Roger wrote, how he curated outstanding web content on his blog, how he taught me to view films and how he exhibited joy in film. He wasn’t just a public intellect, he was a happy one. How often do we see that? He cared passionately about film, didn’t take himself to seriously, was honest about his likes and dislikes – even his early feelings for Siskel. He lived well. I was always awed by how bravely and openingly he continued to live and work while battling cancer.

It’s sad that he lost that battle, but we were lucky to have him all these years. For a reminder of Ebert’s passion and insight, take a look at the Chicago Tonight video, which you can watch online here.

Related stories

Ripped Off

I like to think that there’s nothing but goodwill flowing about campus, but sometimes you learn something and realize that’s not quite the case.

For over a semester, one of the teachers has had a housekeeper clean his apartment once a week. The office that helps foreign teachers put him in contact with a woman who has her sister clean while she manages the company. (A Cinderella tale, perhaps?) He pays 150 rmb for two hours. That’s roughly 24 dollars.  Quite a bargain!

Wrong.

I mentioned this agreement with a friend who’s been in China quite a long time. She told me the going rate is 15 an hour. Whoa! That’s quite a difference.

I’ve looked into this and it’s true. A Chinese friend found out it’s 15 a hour.  I think a lot of us will have cleaner floors at least. (The floors here get incredibly dusty.)

I don’t feel good that the other teacher and now the guy he referred to use the first service are so overcharged.  Our apartments are spartan. There’s nothing complicated in cleaning them.

Lost on Planet China

lost china

After reading J. Maarten Troost‘s Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation Or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid, I’m putting his earlier books at the top of my “to read list.”

When Troost and his wife outgrow their home in California, they consider moving to China. But first Troost feels the need to investigate. Would China be the place to bring up his two boys? Thus he sets off on what must have been months of travel all around the Middle Kingdom.

Soon after arriving in polluted Beijing, it’s clear that Troost isn’t exposing his sons to the PM 2.5 laced smog that passes for air in China. No. He’s a good father.

Yet he’s also a traveler and he wants to see what makes this empire tick. So he travels through China stopping in Tai an, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shanghai, Tibet, Chengdu and many other exotic, perplexing, fascinating, crowded, polluted (and less so in a few, a very few instances) cities. All the while Troost delights with his wit, perception and insight. Here’s a sample of his prose describing a trip to a traditional market;

And then, as if we were lost in some grim Humane Society nightmare, we began to wander past stalls selling frogs, chickens, eels, turtles, cats, scorpions –big and small- – dogs in cages, ducks in bags, and snakes in bowls. There were 2,000 stalls in this market, and this, apparently, was where Noah’s Ark unloaded its cargo. If you were planning a dinner party and looking to tickle your guests’ palate with a delicately prepared Cobra heart, perhaps followed by some bunny soup and sauteéd puppy, the Qingping Market is for you.

Now there is some wit and exaggeration, so if you’re looking for a literary journey with a stodgy, politically correct anthropologist, this book isn’t for you, but I’d rather travel with Troost than a disciple of Margaret Mead.

Troost experiences the full China – the majesty of the Forbidden City, come ons from the prostitutes, the cute pandas, the karaoke on the Yangste River Cruise, the constant haggling, the bandit taxi drivers, the expat pot heads in Yunnan, the cheerful Tibetans, and the hordes who’ll knock down their great grandmother to get to their assigned train seat.

He weaves in history and politics with a light touch that makes it memorable and interesting. You’ll learn a lot about bargaining and patience on the road from Troost.

On Twitter & Paper.li

I confess I’ve thought Twitter a rather silly, superficial medium. I didn’t use it much and I didn’t like the idea of strangers following me. We’re trained not to like Stranger Danger.

Then I soon got that I could use Twitter to communicate with my government representatives. They were following me and I was following them. A tweet’s easier than an email or letter when I can be succinct. So another use was found. During political debates I found I liked tweeting and reading tweets.

Then Downton Abbey came ’round and during season 2, I got in the habit of tweeting and reading tweets, which made watching more communal without annoying people in the living room who don’t like to chat.

I’m taking a class in Social Media for Information Professionals and interviewed a very in-the-know librarian. She convinced me to see Twitter as a great way to keep up on my profession or my interests. Now I don’t see it as social as in maintaining friendships at all. I use it to share useful information with others in my field. It’s an online cocktail party. So it shouldn’t be used just to broadcast or hunt for a job, but rather to share and connect with new people. Now I’ve signed up with more library and EFL professionals and I’ve used paper.li to organize the best of my daily tweets into what amounts to an online personal newspaper. I can look at my paper.li and in minutes see what I need to look into and what’s unnecessary.

I also recommend reading the Tao of Twitter for more insight into how to make Twitter worthwhile. It’s a quick read and after going through half the book and implementing some of the ideas, I’ve gotten a lot more followers.

Spare Me: International Women’s Day

Yesterday was International Women’s Day, which is sort of a silly day anyway. It doesn’t have to be, but in my experience it just is.

It’s not a big deal in American, in fact, it gets less attention than say Secretary’s Day.

On campus the university sponsored an event with games races in which participants see who can carry an egg on a spoon the fastest. Really? Is this something women need? What are they commemorating?

Most women I know would like more time or money. I think a great way to celebrate would be to give all women around the world a day off with pay. Let’s see what happens then.

As I’m doing my homework today, I run across this blog post on Ogilvy’s Asia website encouraging women to surround themselves with more flowers. Come on.

Really?

Really?

Talk about demeaning. I think we’re better off without the day. Teachers here were encouraged after a day of work, before going home to more work, to run around with eggs on spoons and to try to pick up ping pong balls with chopsticks. I am not making this up. I did not participate. I could not bring myself to watch such a spectacle.

The Ogilvy article links to some videos of women skipping and leaping through fields of flowers.

Earlier today I was troubled to read an article on Al Jeezera about child brides and another on the prevalence of gang rape throughout the world! One in four men admit to raping women in the Asian Pacific region. One in four.

Why don’t we focus on these problems on March 8th?

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