we are supposed to be teachers not business gurus

This week has been a very trying one.  First of all, let me say that the Chinese have a very different approach to business and schedules than we westerners.  So different in fact that makes me wonder how they ever came to be a power that can threaten the UK or US for world influence.  Their approach to business seems to be “no schedules, we will just give you a call 5 min before and hope you are near your phone or can come.  When something goes wrong we will just laugh and smile till the westerners head’s are about to explode.  Then, instead of giving you what you need and ask for I am going to spend money on getting you something that is not only unnecessary but unwanted.  Oh, and surprise, I’m not going to tell you when you will be getting something I’m just going to send strange men over to your apartment and have them install it.  And don’t worry, if you don’t answer your door, they have a key and will just come on.”   That, in a very tiny (as well-mannered as I can be) nutshell, has been my week. 

Things in Cangzhou are fine.  I am getting used to the city, we bought masks to ride our bike with so we don’t die of smog inhalation, and I am even getting used to the street markets and expanding my knowledge of Chinese.  However, work is the frustrating part.  When I came I thought adjusting to the culture and china was going to be the issue, but now my issues seem to be in figuring out how to deal with Chinese business.  My boss never seems to listen.  She is the sweetest woman, but no business sense, she is digging herself into a hole with the business and we are all worried about having jobs for our contracted times.  Also, she won’t give a straight answer about anything, nor do the TA’s.  We ask about Chinese New Year breaks…we get “12 days for sure……or 15, I don’t know yet.” We ask when, I get told different things by the boss and the TA whom she seems to let be in charge of everything.  But after 2 weeks ago, when we were never told of schedule changes then got a call at 8:30am asking why we weren’t there to teach our classes, we lost all faith in the TA.  So now we are here trying to figure out this ludicrous system that not only wastes so much time and effort but is wasting precious money that the school does not have.  We even sat Shishi down and said that certain things are not acceptable and that we need to have schedules and be notified of changes, and she wrote it down and asked us to help her revamp the school to make it more efficient.  It lasted for about a week and then this week everything was back at square one.  To top it all off, the class I started, who are also my babies, had 17 kids in it, way too much for a class. So I asked if we could split it and Shishi (my boss) said oh yes, that is way too much, you should have no more than 10.  So I talk to Vicky (the main TA) and she just goes behind my back and takes 4 of my kids out and puts them in a beginner class! I was so frustrated.  Out of all 17 kids, a few could actually have used the help to get sent back to the beginning but she just chose at random and chose 4 pretty advanced kids, and it was so hard for me.  This week it just seems like one thing after another keeps piling up, and all of us are feeling it.