If you are scumbag and have nothing to do with your life, leave for China

Communities Blog
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I'm effectively following up from this older thread
https://forum.teksyndicate.com/t/teach-english-in-china/93617
(please don't necro the thread)

Now, during that thread there was a lot of skepticism....and rightfully so, not helped by the fact that the OP of that thread barely had posted on the forums...so trust levels were low. But, hey, I'm a piece of shit, so I figured the worst thing that could happen to me is that I get sold off into the Chinese sex trade or have my organs sold on the black market. At least I would be doing more with myself at that point. So I took the bait and I gave it a try. Let me now be frank with you guys about this experience:

The company, Love Au Pair, is small. Google searching them brings up....eh....not much info, just enough that it could be legit....but also the potential to be a scam.
But, I decided to weigh it in the favor of legitimate, and 2 months later I am now living in China. I can confirm it IS a legitimate company.
That said, it's not all roses and dandelions.
The company does have a problem about LYING to their Au Pairs. The Au Pairs that come from all over the world are basically the company's expenses, meanwhile, the families that are using LAP as a proxy to find Au Pairs to teach English are the paying customers. Use your head here: LAP's interests are not in you, the Au Pair, it is in the family that is paying gross amounts of money to bring you here.

My arrival in China was rough. After an 18 hour long flight, I had to navigate a foreign country by myself - this, I'm not too mad about. There was a break down in our communications. The company didn't tell me until AFTER I had booked my plane ticket that they cannot pick me up in Hong Kong, they could only pick me up in Shenzhen.
Fine, I can look past that, it was an interesting adventure since I neither speak or understand Chinese so navigating the airport to the bus station and the bus station to the check point in Shenzhen by myself was fun...and a bit scary.

However, the first lie the company told me was that - in THEIR CONTRACT - it states they will cover (reimburse) air fare, and upon arrival in Shenzhen, set the Au Pair up in a HOTEL.

I have a feeling, wanting to save on a few dollars, they instead shoved me in a shithole Hostel, which the experience was only amplified by my severe jetlag and the confusion of being in a different country where the beds, the people, the bathrooms, and the language were all different. I'm still pretty pissed they put me there, where I had to share a room with 6 other people (none of whom spoke a lick of English to help me figure out which one was soap, which one was shampoo, and which one was lotion in the shower (I wound up washing myself 3 times with all 3 because fuck it, one of them has to be right))

The room was tiny, and the beds were tinier. I slept in a bed half the size of a twin bed that had a mattress an inch thick - maybe less. It was like sleeping on a rock.
The men I shared the room with were incredibly inconsiderate; many staying up late while they talked on the phone, watched videos, or played games in the bed room. Others snored loud.
Again, I want to reitterate the point; all of this might not have been so bad had it not been for the fact I was jetlagged to hell and was confused.

During the 3 days I stayed in Shenzhen to get trained and for the company to tell me about the family I would be staying with...I didn't sleep. At all.

Before my flight to Beijing where I would meet the family I am living with, I talked to another Au Pair who didn't help me; she told me horror stories of how terrible her family was and her attempts at requesting a transfer to a new family were denied because the family was loading the company's pockets.

It's a business. Remember that.

However, I am delighted to say, my host family has been incredibly wonderful and humble. It's only a single mom and her 5 year old son. She has gone....maybe a little too far...out of her way to make sure I am comfortable and happy here, and, as a scumbag myself...I felt a strange urge suddenly befalling me. As I saw her go so far out of her way to make me happy....I.....too....have started going out of my way to make her happy, doing extra teaching lessons and cleaning up around the house. Not because she asked, but...because I can return her kindness. It's a weird sensation I have never felt before.

My experience as an Au Pair is different than most. Most Au Pairs come here as glorified nannies, to teach English to one or two kids in the family and take care of them. However, I was brought here to be a kindergarten teacher at the mom's private school. I get paid more than most Au Pairs because I'm actually teaching - and with that said, I'm ONLY expected to teach. There is no expectation of me to take care of the family or children when I am not at the school, so my experience may be vastly different than most. (keep in mind though, because of her kindness, I've been compelled to continue taking care of the house and her kid even at home, regardless if it's expected or not)

I wrote all this because...well, for 1) There is no one here who speaks REALLY fluent English, so, when I get a chance to just go full English, I just let it go (not even the family I live with speaks English). but, 2) because I want to be transparent about this.

@Ursavus was pretty vague and not very trusting (since he was still pretty new to the forums when posting). I, myself, didn't want to say anything about it until I had actually arrived to know I wasn't buying my way into becoming a human sex slave.
I've only been here 3 weeks, so take what I say as you will, but after the initial shitty 3 days in Shenzhen, it's been good.

At home, I didn't know what I was doing with my life, and with the only thing REALLY important to me being my computer, it was very easy for me to uproot myself and take the plunge. No girlfriend, no real friends I would miss, and while I have a loving and caring mother and father, I can't say I would really miss them.

If you happen to be in that same place as I was, I encourage you to look into this opportunity (look into it, not take it), and if you do decide to take it; take everything the agency says with a grain of salt. Remember, their best interest is in the family and not you. Keep a copy of all documents and ask for a LAP Contract BEFOREHAND so you can be clear on their expectations and so you have a written agreement should they decide to pull any shithead moves like them throwing you into that garbage hostel. And finally; when you are in the family interview, the agency will encourage you not to take it like a professional interview. Ignore that recommendation. Have questions prepared for the family. If you just WANT the job, have lots of questions about the kid, but if you want to live comfortably while in China, I would prepare a list of questions about living conditions. Things like bedroom, the bed you'll be sleeping on, bathroom. heating. air. hot water for showers (or baths, whatever they have), and so on.

That is all. And pat yourself on the back if you read the whole thing through, top to bottom.

EDIT:
I also want to append this for those WHO ARE interested:

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Insightful post, thanks for sharing!

I was considering doing a TSL in Japan this year but decided just to do straight travel instead. Sounds like you had/having one hell of an experience though haha

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It certainly is different. These 3 weeks have felt more like 3 months with how fast things are going and how much new stuff I am experiencing.

I have plenty more to say about my experience here, but I really just wanted to touch on the company that brought me here. And for search engine sake, I'm reiterating their name; Love Au Pair.

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I can understand they said hotel instead of hostel but hostels really aren't that bad. In fact I have met several of my past and future travel buddies in hostels, but sure its possible to have a bad experience. Your America is showing in these comments besides the fact they probably did say hotel to you.

Regarding arrival I do not think the "break down of communications" is typical, but either way due diligence would not have hurt nor been that hard. Besides, especially in Hong Kong there are A LOT of English speakers beyond any help kiosks you can take advantage of. I know that the people at LAP have several PDF instructions lined up for anyone arriving anywhere in particular to enter their program. Also you're right about the hard beds/bathrooms/etc, but you might find that in hotels too, its really just a cultural thing and you should expect some culture shock, and probably have not seen the last of it. haha, forgot to bring some travel shampoo?

lastly if you are indeed working in a kindergarten be careful, if you are not on a work visa, you may have to be extra extra vigilant about what you are getting out of it in advanced rather than at the word of someone. Taking advantage of foreigner's contracts or lack there of is something not rare in China or the rest of the world for that matter.

Also, change your Steam country to China and enjoy the lower prices across the board, and download "Tantan" to manage all those Chinese girls drooling or soon to be drooling over you

thanks for reporting on the experience.

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Not sure what you mean by this, and maybe I am misunderstanding, but I am pretty certain this isn't an "American" thing. I've worked jobs, buddy. I've worked A LOT of jobs; everything from peons at shitty fast food to working for Time Warner (which was also shitty) to working for Google, and a myriad of shades in between. I've learned a thing or two about contracts, and I typically expect a company to uphold their contract if they say they are putting me in a hotel, then I expect them to put me in a hotel.

Yes; the people at LAP are nice, but all I see are business people doing business. They aren't my friends. They probably aren't your friends. They are business partners. Business partners doesn't inherently mean they are evil, coorporate bastards. They took me out, they showed me a good time, but it's not unfair to assume their interest lies with the family and not you.
And my assumption in this only weighs heavier after the stories I heard from one of the other Au Pairs.

Sure, had I thought anything of it. But, the company explained they would take care of me in walking me through the steps of arriving and pick me up at the airport; they never cared to mention: "Oh yeah, btw, we can't go to Hong Kong, so it would be wiser to fly to Shenzhen International" When they expressed that they would walk me through the steps, it was my expectation they covered all the important things.
As for the PDF's....yeah it didn't explain things very well. Didn't talk about the paper I had to fill out for security the security check, and everyone said "Everyone speaks English in Hong Kong" which was a load of horse shit because when I got my bus ticket they didn't understand what I was saying and nearly wound up sending me to the wrong place. The PDFs also didn't explain what gate for the bus I needed to be at, and the people who sold me the bus ticket couldn't speak English to tell me. Then there was a checkpoint mid-way to Shenzhen - no one spoke English to tell me that checkpoint wasn't the final checkpoint, even though everyone got off the bus.
^That aside, like I said; not mad about it, just don't really like the way you address it because you obviously didn't understand.

Yes I know, let me reiterate the point:

The family I am with has a hard bed....but, FUN FACT: Hard beds are about 100x more comfortable when there is 100% less jet lag and 100% less boys snoring loud, playing video games loud, and talking on the phone loud rather than just going to the damn living room. Like seriously: how hard is it to go to the living room to be rowdy?

No, I am not happy that I stayed in that hostel. I can't make friends with people I can't communicate with. Honestly, I was so fucking tired I wasn't interested in making friends any ways, I wanted sleep and this shithold they put me in sucked ass. The worse part is: the company straight up lied. Had they told me they couldn't get a hotel, I COULD HAVE FOUND MY OWN ARRANGEMENTS. But I got there, got picked up, pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and then the agent looks at me; "Oh by the way, you're staying in a hostel, k, cool, thanks, bye!" Like...seriously? What the fuck!?! My plane ticket was 2 weeks out when I told them about my arrival date: at any point, during those 14 days they could have told me.

No. I didn't bother because most hotels provide shampoo and soap. I wasn't told I was going to be staying in a hostel.

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I teresting stuff thanks. I might look into this.

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Good. I think their website has a Skype and Email address you can contact them at. I would prefer you NOT reference me. It's not like there are any bonuses given out for bringing people on, and I'd rather keep my cynical view (and contact) with the company at a minimum. Once you arrive at the host family's city, there is little reason outside the occasional check-in to contact the members at Love Au Pair.

edit:
Mostly it's because I don't trust them - with good reason too, since my first in person experience was them lying to me. Information is valuable, as everyone on Tek Syndicate knows, and the Chinese government know very well too, so, yeah; I don't trust them with my information or my experience because I don't know how they plan on using it.

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Good read

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I have a question as to howbthis works though. You don't speak Chinese, so how do you teach English? How does the translation work. This does not quite make sense to me.

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What about Chinese law ? The average American will be in deep shit in about an hour.

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My brother, Bobby, did this in China and other countries and it really gave him some happiness, meaning and good times in his life. I never would have believed my brother who once worked at a strip club doing DJ work would end up being a teacher in a foreign country teaching English as a second language. Now just like the trouble he had in getting paid as a DJ (in NA btw) he also had one occasion I believe where things were not going smoothly when he taught over there but again the overall experience teaching in many countries was much more positive than negative.
One thing that he shared was that in China the kids he taught would make fun of his eyes because well they were different and not the norm there. However despite looking different and not know any Chinese my brother eventually dated and married a girl over there and they were happy up until his death. Also he made very good money with the job and despite at times saying he was going to come home I never felt he would as the money he made was too good, the experiences with travel was too much fun and it was affordable and also quite frankly he didn't mind being away from the madness that was our family at home.
So with what I shared I would say if my brother was alive I bet he would say he would do it all over again.

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Quote from Job thread.

Then your lines..

8/8, made me laugh. :D

Feel like also throwing this here in case someone doesnt read the thing and just scrolls down.

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I was speaking to your expectations of things being perfect and calm in a hostel in terms of your American expectations.

Regarding contracts I am speaking to the fact that you be wary in engaging in additional work whether in or out of a contract because you mentioned the kindergarten. If you do not have a work visa then any contract they make up for you there is not enforceable and may end up getting you in trouble. Thus just trying to mention to you to make sure you are vigilant in receiving any benefits in short order and not getting a run around. I make these comments assuming you are negotiating strictly between yourself and the kindergarten.

Looks like you've learned a valuable lesson about foreign traveling. Doesn't hurt to perform due diligence beforehand. And I really think your lack of encountering English speakers whether as employees or as other patrons was coincidence. I arrived at 2 Am and was able to find a myriad along my way through airport, bus station and the friendly neighborhood McDonald's too. I was never told not to talk to strangers ;-)

You're right they should have mentioned but pretty much every country has some form of customs or regulation document to fill in at checkpoints. Especially ones you walk/drive through. Before someone calls me out on this I am just speaking from experience having traveled all over SA and Asia.

Just because you make a disclaimer saying it "might not have been so bad" does not mean I do not understand. You aren't the first to experience jet lag going to a country with a ~12 hour time difference likely in economy class, it just sounds whiney to me.

With the advent of phone translation apps it's not too difficult to talk to other people that don't speak your language. I'm sure you tried, I don't know the exact circumstances, maybe they were deliberately being rude. I've always found hostilities to be vastly understanding of other people in their vicinity. By and by you should mention to LAP about the quoting of hotel versus hostel, I have taken it upon myself to do the same after reading your experiences.

Something else an American should be aware about is that typically English speakers talk much more directly about any given issue or topic than a Chinese person, even one that has learned English. Things can occasionally be left to inference or taken for granted, and this is especially the case when giving directions. This opinion comes a bit from my own experience and from Chinese born students I have met that study English and/or German

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Also, I should note i am thankful for Mrflyte vetting this for the forum. Anyone looking into this for themselves can of course ask LAP for my Chinese contact details and I will be glad to be on hand for additional guidance. Just mention you would like to be put into contact with Daniel for extra help. My contact details besides this forum account never got to Mrflyte I guess, so I apologize for overlooking that detail. for those coming to China, I suggest you download the Wechat app as well as Youdao for translations and Baidu maps if you do not have a predownloaded google maps for china (uber too). Remember you cannot easily access google resources in China

I hope I can be of help to improve upon his experiences. I am available at most hours of the day the rest of the LAP people are not at the office, so dont be afraid to message me at even 2 AM china time

Also, some of you may or may not have college degrees, if you do, you should still consider getting the 10 year tourist visa rather than a specific work visa easily enabled by having a college degree. A ten year tourist visa enables you to come to china for 10 years two months at a time on tourist status (this is regarding USA citizens)

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A reasonable question I was asking myself even after I started teaching at the school.
I have a teachers aid there who speaks....some English, though it's pretty broken, but he at least keeps the kids attentive.

The kids also know some English (very basic stuff).
But a lot of it comes down to figuring out ways to translate instructions into simpler forms that they can understand...a lot of exaggeratedhand gestures, sometimes I have to lead them in what I want like I'll start reading the sentence and they'll pick up on "Oh, we need to read this sentence". I'm still figuring out ways, but it's not easy.
I think the shortof it is...well...we all know what weeaboos are right? Well the Chinese people are "West-aboos", they see the American accent as THE English speaking accent, so in that sense, I am pretty certain I am just the school's trophy piece. They can say they have a native, English speaking, American teaching at their school.

I already have to use a VPN to by pass their great firewall. Everything is blocked here...except Tek Syndicate.

I won't be. I'm here for the School, not other people.

I should have mentioned: I had never traveled outside of the US ever in the past (unless you count border-towns in Mexico...) So I didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know what the hell a visa looked like prior to this.

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You say you are here for the school so i'm not sure what you mean. I'm just saying you basically cannot tell anyone you are "working" if not on a contract and if you aren't on a contract to keep in mind they have no obligations besides their honesty.

Let's say a teacher is disgruntled that you are stifling their advancement opportunities and they want to report this non work visa american who is "working." As long as you are not on a work visa you are a tourist and guest of your host family, and any gift that might resemble compensation must be private.

Its pretty much a non issue, but something to keep in mind

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Also, I go to Shenzhen relatively often and we could reasonably arrange to have me personally meet you in HK without much effort. For Chinese residents who do not make arrangements to go into HK multiple days a week its not convenient for them to apply for visas and expect them to be approved in a reliable manner.