The Beijing dream is crushed
14.09.2017 - 30.09.2017
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Nanchang 2017-2018
on baixing's travel map.
"We have college position in Beijing." That's how I was introduced to what I thought was my new job in the megalopolis that is Beijing. I was going to become a Beijinger! Wow! Maybe I might stay in China for longer than one contract this time. Finally, I found a job that I liked in a city that had more than four foreigners to socialize with.
I packed way too many clothes and headed back across the globe. Two months earlier, my boss had even allowed me to move my things into my new Beijing apartment. I thought I was really lucky. I thought I had finally found a competent employer. With my visa finally in my hand, I showed up to work on the first day.
"You know will be teaching high school, right?" said Peter, the head teacher from Boston.
"Ummm no! Oh my god!" I replied shocked. "No, that was not mentioned in my contract or in any discussion once."
"Sheila strikes again," he laughed. Like misleading me as I move my entire life across the planet adds up to a funny joke.
Sheila was the recruiter that had promised me this "college" position. After guiding me through six months of visa hell, she was sending me to work with teenagers??? That was not going to happen. I sighed and said that I would try the job for a while, but later that day I got a messaged from my only friend in town, Chris, asking me why I was leaving. Well shit, if Peter wants to gossip and tell everyone I am leaving, then I guess I am leaving! I bitched Sheila out over WeChat and complained incessantly to Melody, the school's liaison.
Incidentally, the day I quit was also my birthday, so I invited all the teachers that would've been my co-workers over to my place for beer and snacks. Everyone brought more beer and more snacks than we needed and it was a great time. All of them told me that they too had been promised this elusive "college position" and had simply accepted their fate and the high salary for teaching the high school students. I was astonished, and can't believe that anyone would want to work for someone who had lied to them so blatantly.
Anywho, it was a shame that I'd be missing out on some decent colleagues. However, I'm sure that something would've happened to make me hate each and every one of them. For example, Brandon, a burly ex-sailor went home from my birthday party with everyone else. A few minutes later, I got an email from him, asking if I still wanted him to finish the beers. I said sure, come back over if you want, after he made sure everyone was gone. I asked him why he did that and he replied he wanted to be "discreet". What? Like I'm a craiglist hooker? Get the eff out of my apartment you sleazebag. After that smooth move he realized he wasn't wanted and left, without me having to even say so directly. So I guess that was good. Later he denied saying anything of the sort, and asked me if I was mad at him for leaving! Uh... no forget it you're a douchebag stop emailing me. I blocked him and that was that.
