User profile: bluppfisk

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Cycling in Kunming

Actually, I'm riding a pretty expensive bike that I more than often leave outside for over a year (locked, yes, but not necessarily always to something). My lock is *very* good though (comes with a warranty: if it breaks I get 500 euro from Abus). I don't know whether it's the luck, the lock or the scratches on my frame, but no one ever seems to have made an attempt at stealing it.

I think shiny frames and shitty locks are a bigger reason for bike theft. I will of course change my mind if mine gets stolen.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > "Lazy" English teachers?

And of course to get drunk on cocktails at expensive places like Salvador's, and eat Western food. Seriously, don't pretend as if all teachers are such poor creatures fighting the machine. Most of them are here on an adventure and if they bothered to do the effort (which most do, don't get me wrong), they can easily find the good deals too.

That said if you make the same salary here as in Europe, you are bloody well off. If they're not happy with the different life standard, if everything should be easy and fair, there's always Europe to work in. My god, such nagging.

Enough discussion now, we're obviously not going to agree.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > "Lazy" English teachers?

Not if I were a teacher. I have a different job but if I were working for Yunnanese employers, I would be happy with 1500 EUR a month, since after food, rent and excessive drinking I would still be saving over 1000 EUR per month. That's more than any of my friends in Belgium can say.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > "Lazy" English teachers?

As for the pay, you live in a place where qualified university students work office jobs for fat companies 6 days a week, 10 hours a day for as little as 5000 RMB a month. Kunming is very affordable so 100-120 per hour is actually a very good wage, making you 2600-3120 per week = up to 12480 RMB a month. That's 1560 EUR a month. You know what a beginning foreign-language teacher makes in a country where rent is four times as high as Kuming's? Right: 1500 EUR. Reference: Belgium.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > "Lazy" English teachers?

The times that media were absolutely non-sensational have died with consumerism.

Besides, I don't agree with you. It's just true what they write. Even before reading this article, I had the impression that the majority of the people teaching English here are one or more of the following:

* not native
* not qualified
* not even suited
* working illegally on a student visa

Some of the native speakers' spelling is simply bad. Yet they teach.

The only ones to be trusted without testing or quizzing are the ones that have pocketed a TEFL diploma. Such people need not fear since they can rebuke any sneers by fishing out their diplomas.

Everyone else needs to be screened thoroughly. But as often in China (and elsewhere), schools only care about money, parents only want to spend as little as possible, so you get a layer of rotten teachers. It'll take time to root them out.

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Still, air-con should be on and left on. A plane quickly gets unbearable without it: it still is a small container with just short of 200 people in it! I've felt very uncomfortable a few times and I believe if I were someone with a little lower tolerance, with no announced prospect of the situation getting better, and denied exit, I would open the doors too.

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@Tom69: the author does have his facts straight - the current railway does not stretch all the way to Hanoi in a way that would enhance tourism.

The reason being that 1) as you mentioned, you cannot continue after Hekou on the same rail because only the old railway crosses the border and of course no trains go across that border anymore.

2) the train on the VN side is narrow-gauge, meaning that it effectively takes 9 or more hours to get from Lao Cai to Hanoi, which is simply unacceptable. Most people who have limited time choose the bus.

Reviews

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First and last experience. Absolutely horrible. I came in late with a big flesh wound. The doctor sewed it up and told me to come back in the morning "perhaps to redo it, and to change the bandage". When I did come back the next morning, they just changed the bandage and sent me off.

When I peeked at my own wound, I noticed it was horribly done. "Like a vet did the stitches," as someone commented. I then had to stay a night in a different hospital in order to do it right, with a 40% chance of getting infections. This cost me a lot more, thanks to Richland fucking up in the beginning.

Whatever X-rays were taken were not printed out and given to me so I couldn't go to another hospital for a second opinion or treatment.

The nurses didn't seem to know where half the things were and the doctors had to repeat orders to get basic things like scissors.

In the next hospital, it was noticed that I had fractured my jaw in two places. On the five X-Rays taken at Richland, they did not notice the fractures.

Pretty sure these people are not actual doctors and are therefore criminal.

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Super place. Really cool interior, lots of good beers and drinks, fun toilet inside the telephone booth, and an interesting clientele.

Cons: pretty hard to find, no matching glasses for the imported beers, and home brews need some work.

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Teaching and support lamentable.

Four people signed up for the highest-level class and got a teacher who does all the talking, refers to herself as 老师 and makes classes absolutely uninteresting. As of this moment, only 1 person is still going on a regular basis.

While staff is friendly, they are absolutely incapable to help out with visa matters in an adequate way. Lack of information beforehand, lack of support and lack of information during the visa process meant that I am waiting forever for my residence permit to be processed, without any information about why it's taking so long, why they can't get started ... I'd say this school is a good option if all you wanted is a visa, but they can't even handle this properly.

Anyone giving this school a 5-star rating hasn't been to any decently-run schools in Kunming, such as Keats'. The only redeeming quality is facilities and space, those are indeed excellent.

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Have been studying at Keats for almost four semesters now and I'm very enthusiastic about the quality of the teachers and the commitment of the school's staff.

One point of criticism is that I think they could put in some effort to group people of the same level together, rather than base it on who was together in last semester's class.

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I stayed here in the early days of March 2013. Dave and his wife are swell owners, the staff attentive, the food good, rooms in perfect order, WiFi fast enough... Much like the old hump, the entire place is an excellent place to relax and make friends. And that is what you come to do in Dali, after all. The location is a bit isolated from the old town, but nothing is really far away in Dali. Besides, it makes for a better starting point to walk up Cangshan.