“She had small herpes on her hands and her feet,” was how a Chinese student recently informed me that her niece had just a few days ago contracted the Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, also known as EV71. ”She is OK now,” my student explained. “We took her to the hospital on the first day so the doctors were able to treat her.” My [...]
Posts Tagged ‘teach-abroad’
Whatever Happened to EV71?
Posted by Robert Vance on June 20th, 2008
Posted in The Vance Report 
Tags: and Mouth Disease, disease in China, EV71, Foot, Hand, teach in China, teach-abroad 
No Comments »Non-Native English Speakers Teaching in China Revisited
Posted by Robert Vance on June 4th, 2008
***Join in our discussion about non-native speakers of English on our China forum by clicking here.
A few months ago, in an article entitled Can Non-Native English Speakers Teach English in China? I discussed some of the difficulties that non-native speakers of English may encounter in China in relation to finding teaching jobs. Since that article was posted, this site has received [...]
Should I Use a Recruiting Agency to Find a Job in China?
Posted by Robert Vance on May 19th, 2008
My most recent experience with recruiting agencies was not positive. I had traveled some distance to meet with a recruiting agent because I thought she could offer me a job that she had advertised on the internet. Instead, she told me that the job that I wanted was “not for me” and that she had [...]
Needles and Nukes
Posted by Robert Vance on April 22nd, 2008
I am not a squeamish person by nature but having a long Chinese needle stuck in my vein yesterday at my required physical checkup did make me feel a little nervous. Yes, I saw the nurse take the needle out of a small sealed plastic bag. And yes, it looked shiny and clean. But so were [...]
How to be Friends with Your Chinese Boss
Posted by Robert Vance on April 18th, 2008
The day that my boss asked if me if I thought he was too old to have an affair on his wife was the day that I realized that I should probably ‘tone down’ my friendship with him. It is not that I did not enjoy talking to him about topics unrelated to work. It [...]
How to Have a Good Phone Interview
Posted by Robert Vance on April 15th, 2008
If you are applying for jobs in China you will occasionally encounter employees who want to conduct an interview with you over the phone. While this request may seem annoying to some, it should actually be viewed as a good sign. Employers who want to take the time to speak over the phone with prospective teaching [...]
ESL Conversation Topic — Euthanasia
Posted by Robert Vance on April 15th, 2008
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
This topic is controversial and should provide some interesting discussion. Make sure you talk about Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the infamous ‘death doctor’ from Michigan in the United States.
Warmup: Ask students if any of their grandparents had terminal illnesses. Discuss the process of taking care of them. Ask your students how their grandparents [...]
Sex Ed and Firemen Dominate the Weekly China Roundup
Posted by Robert Vance on April 13th, 2008
The Weekly China Roundup from RR on TeachAbroadChina.com
If you call the ‘fire department’ in China, don’t expect a batallion of firemen in red coats and hats to show up at your doorstep. Instead, you may have another kind of batallion fighting your fire; soldiers are the firefighters of China.
Who better to teach about sex than a doctor, [...]
Posted in The Vance Report Tags: China Fireman, chinese culture, live in China, Sex in China, Spam in China, teach-abroad No Comments »Are There Any Gays in China?
Posted by Robert Vance on April 12th, 2008
“There are very few gays in China,” one of my students explained to me recently. What she was probably trying to say is that there are not very many people in China who have ‘come out of the closet.’ And it is no wonder. While the recent Edison Chen Scandal in Hong Kong may have [...]
Stealing Phones in China
Posted by Robert Vance on April 10th, 2008
If you live in my city there is good news for you if you have recently had your cell phone stolen. Call your number and wait for someone to pick up. If you’re lucky, your friendly neighborhood thief will have sold your phone to a second hand shop. Of course, you’ll have to buy it back from the shop. [...]
Posted in The Vance Report Tags: Cell Phones in China, chinese culture, live in China, teach-abroad No Comments »
