Working in China (Asia) - The Real Facts

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John V55
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Working in China (Asia) - The Real Facts

Unread post by John V55 »

It does appear a minority have had a hard time, specifically in China. Here’s a short summary of what to look out for from one of the majority.

There are several things to understand about working abroad, in China or anywhere else, but the most important thing to remember is this. YOU are responsible for obeying the internal laws of the country you are in; not the recruiters, not your friends and not what someone said on the Internet. Remember this; no one ever got arrested for obeying the criminal and/or immigration laws of a host country. If you take chances because you think you’ll fool the immigration police, or think the law doesn’t apply to you and it backfires, along with it comes accepting the consequences. The phrase, "life is what you make it" applies especially to Asia and includes personal decision making and self-reliance. Some can’t hack it away from western comfort bubbles and safe spaces and nobody is going to hold your hand out here.

If people intentionally break the law by buying fake certificates, or maybe working in places other than that stated on their work permit, they can’t in all honesty blame others and use the excuse that, "someone told me to do it." Likewise, "a tiny bit of drug" possession is a tiny bit too much and getting alcohol "wasted" every weekend is not looked on as kindly as in the west.

All across Asia the same thing is happening, they’re tightening up and getting rid of the dead wood, chancers and citizen of the world backpackers, who shouldn’t be employed there in the first place.
The bottom line is this; if you’re legal, have the correct paperwork and qualifications, then no one is coming after you. Conversely, if you use drugs, the qualifications you have are fakes and you believe everything a dodgy profit motivated recruiter tells you . . . then start worrying. :)
Skyler
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Re: Working in China (Asia) - The Real Facts

Unread post by Skyler »

With all due respect John you were on the lucky side of the coin, and so far me too. I only got cheated once. But the CSP and CFTU stats show that 48% of expats working in China get scammed at least once a year, including my GF and my roomie. Of course, you are right about "not breaking the law" but most recruiters do not let the new teachers know they are violating the law. And of the 2,987 foreign teachers arrested and deported last year was not about drugs but using fake diplomas, tefl certificates, and visas. http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/china-vis ... l-teachers

I barely escaped the new Wei Xin scam less than two weeks ago. https://www.scam.com/entry.php?6474-Bew ... recruiters. So the split between the "majority" and "minirity" is only 4 points John. Like I said, a flip of the coin.

I met a couple of China old-timers who have been watching out for me but honestly if they did not give me the below blacklist links, I would have fell into a lot of traps by now. These scams are so damn believable and people only tell you the truth after they made money from you. This is the "truth about China" John. But the food and friendly girls divert me away from all the aggravations, so I will stay at least one more year and buy a gas mask to endure the horrible winter air pollution!

http://reddit.com/r/chinascamcentral
Last edited by Skyler on 21 Apr 2017, 06:32, edited 1 time in total.
Skyler
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Posts: 32
Joined: 05 Mar 2017, 00:39
Status: Teacher

Re: Working in China (Asia) - The Real Facts

Unread post by Skyler »

These are the other links China TEFL teachers need to keep handy;

reddit.com_teflblacklist

http://www.chinaforeigntecahersunion.com

http://eslwatch.info/forum/china

chinascamwatch.org

reddit.com/r/tefl_tefl_esl_scams
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John V55
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Status: Teacher

Re: Working in China (Asia) - The Real Facts

Unread post by John V55 »

I think it’s more than just luck Skyler, I honestly do. Yes, of course, it’s often not a bed of roses, but having met a fair amount of newbies in Asia and not just China, I do wonder how they survived all the way into their twenties. :) The fake degrees, the beliefs, and yes, there are regular round ups of foreigners dealing in drugs, especially in the big cities (google "foreigners in China dealing in drugs".
You hit the nail on the head when you said, "These scams are so damn believable . . . ", but they’re not and it’s why the ‘old timers’ don’t fall for them, but the newbies do. I haven’t got any figures, but I’m willing to bet that of those deported every year, the percentage of under 30’s would be in the high 90%! That’s the difference between being ‘ripped off’, as in non-payment and ‘scams’. The word I’m deliberately looking for is ‘gullibility’ and it’s what unscrupulous recruiters prey on.

From Nigerian princesses wanting to marry, to offers of someone willing to share $6m and onto recruiters offering untold riches and a life of excitement and adventure, with a salary to match . . . Does anyone click on the email link from the phishing scams of happydanny5675 at gmail who tells you yahoo is about to close your email account if you don’t confirm your password? Well, yes they do, it’s why ‘Danny’ and friends keep doing it. The consequences are all out there if only enough people believe and fall for it.

The ‘Wei Xin’ example you gave is a rehash of an old classic. A TEFL teacher is offered an executive job at 30k, with cash up front . . . that’s not a scam, it’s a complete fairy tale and only omitting the word ‘scam’ in large letters, which is left to the individual to figure it out for themselves. ‘Executive’ TEFL teachers are a bit short on the ground? Why would anyone want to pay a corporate salary to an unknown TEFL teacher? Anyone falling for all that shouldn’t be allowed out of the west into the big wide world without a chaperone!

It’s similar to the one doing the rounds a few years ago about a rich foreign businessman in the UK (with an ip address in Africa), head hunting TEFL teachers in Asia to come back to the UK to teach his family English for £1k ($1200) a week! :lol: They’re so blatant; you’d also have to believe in Father Christmas to fall for this sort of nonsense. Yet some do and there lies the answer. A little like believing the EU nonsense of diversity, multiculturalism and equality, or the US equivalent of Obama is a Messiah!

Sure, China needs to tighten up on these dishonest recruiters, but the onus of gullibility also plays a large part in it all and without that, the scams wouldn’t exist. I honestly believe that those coming out of the west, with its safe spaces, anti ‘ism’ laws and equality rhetoric have a lot to learn about the world and China is the wake up call to many.
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