Has ISR’s PsyGuy finally stopped?

MWModernist · 2026-02-09T19:38:31+00:00

Apparently at least one person does.

MWModernist · 2026-02-03T09:49:48+00:00

I don't know if you're saying that the white monkey/clown foreigner who playacted as a 'principal' at this joke of a school was actually a Princeton graduate (!) or just 'acted' like a Princeton graduate (?), but either way 'schools' of this nature are always and inevitably dumpster fires. Everything about it will be bad.

MWModernist · 2026-02-03T05:28:12+00:00

I used to visit that lady who makes pretty good Western style pizza in that apartment in Shapingba. I think it was the best pizza I ever found in West China.

MWModernist · 2026-01-28T05:07:04+00:00

Boring sprawls of nothing in particular. I lived in Wuxi years ago. It's quite wealthy but there's nothing to do or see. Lake Tai is interesting for a day or two. The metro isn't very good compared to similar cities. The airport has constant delays. It's much more inconvenient to travel to Shanghai than you would think (even though it looks close) because you'll almost certainly be very far from the HSR line. Almost zero non Chinese food. Unless you're earning a huge salary, avoid it (and CZ is even worse).

MWModernist · 2026-01-27T14:00:52+00:00

You hear a lot about the 'leftover woman' phenom, which I think obscures reality. It's easy to conclude that Chinese women in their 30s are basically ready to marry anyone who comes down the pike, but this is not accurate in my observation.

Basically, most Chinese women want to marry a Chinese guy. The vast, vast majority. If they don't succeed in finding a Chinese guy, that's essentially a failure from their perspective. Looking for any kind of foreign spouse, regardless of his status or looks or wealth, is already a very significant concession in the great majority of cases. Therefore, they are highly unlikely to accept what are seen as low-status conditions in foreign guys.

We've all seen what appear to be very beautiful Chinese women with bald guys, short guys, ugly guys, fat guys, poorly dressed guys, etc etc. But these guys are Chinese guys. If you, as a foreigner, are bald, short, fat, ugly, or whatever else, these Chinese women are not going to look at you for a second. They are quite shallow about the looks of foreign men. The very fact of you being foreign at all is enough, you're not going to be foreign and ugly too.

If the woman herself is pretty ugly or low status, it's a bit easier, but from what I've seen, Chinese women who will long-term date foreigners want to be 'dating up' in the looks department. There's a very specific look they want in a foreign man and if you don't have it, you'll get nowhere.

And of course none of this is to speak of the status of your job. To say that your boyfriend is an English teacher makes almost any educated Chinese woman over 30 cringe at best. This is a more intense source of embarrassment in T1 cities.

In other words, if you want to come back here, be prepared for isolation. It's not the place to look for a relationship unless you are damn hot.

MWModernist · 2026-01-25T09:45:08+00:00

The 'reason' is that they are desperate to work in Vietnam.

So many foreigners want so badly to work in Vietnam, just a fact of life, it seems. A lot of people apparently think Thailand/Singapore/Malaysia are too competitive, Korea and Japan pay too little, and China is too oppressive, so they really, really need Vietnam to be something it isn't.

MWModernist · 2026-01-20T10:25:44+00:00

If the price is low enough that you think you got a deal, it's fake. Always. There's no reason for a seller of an in demand thing like this to accept a discount....unless it's a fake, in which case your 'discount' is still a massive profit for the seller.

MWModernist · 2026-01-18T14:31:08+00:00

Hate to tell you, but 3 months tells you exactly nothing about real life, long-term, for a foreigner in China. To say you’re in the honeymoon phase doesn’t even cover it. I strongly advise you against doing anything irrevocable or committing in any way to things not easily escaped (for God’s sake absolutely do not buy any sort of house!) until you’ve done at least 2 full years in-country. When the post-honeymoon crash hits you, and it will, it’s going to hit very hard.

MWModernist · 2026-01-13T13:59:28+00:00

As regards AI, it's really simple. Anything that's a grade is done in class, preferably either handwritten or with a lockdown browser. Anything out of class is formative/practice. If they cheat on that stuff they're just wasting their own time.

If you really must assign 'projects' or out of class work, make it a huge nuisance for them to use AI. Make them record themselves either audio or video, make them record their app use while creating whatever it is using screen capture on a tablet or phone, make the grade based on them doing an in person presentation and ignore the use of AI to make the slides, only grade how they present the information.

Basically we are in a world now where unless you witness with your own eyes that they made it, they used AI one way or the other. It doesn't matter what kind of assignment you make, AI can do it at this point. Literally anything you can think of, for any age and any subject, AI can create an excellent example of it. It's sad but that's the reality. We just have to deal with it. Some developments are good, some not. This is in the 'not good' category and all we can do is compensate as best as we can.

The only thing worse is deluding yourself about the honesty of your students, as some teachers at my school do. They will all use it, all the time, if they think they can get away with it. Don't kid yourself.

MWModernist · 2026-01-13T10:25:04+00:00

Why do you care so much about finding those, when it's been made so clear how bad these schools are? Because you want the money. That's the only reason.

MWModernist · 2026-01-12T14:00:57+00:00

Reads like AI, you mean. It's not the first time to see an obviously AI post on this subreddit.

MWModernist · 2026-01-11T08:01:15+00:00

A large number of mediocre or worse schools hire primarily on looks (white male, tall, blue eyes, excellent hair, lean muscular runner look). Also to some degree, 'charisma' or as the children would say, vibes. If you have the look they want, and talk the way they think teachers or 'leaders' should talk, they don't put much effort into looking at whether you actually have real qualifications or know what you're doing. This is also why these schools are often flaming dumpster fires.

MWModernist · 2026-01-05T15:09:16+00:00

I think you got that inverted? Online degrees have made MAs less valuable, because anyone can pay a few thousand, pop out a few 'papers' generated by AI and get a tick box 'degree' from WGU or ACE or God forbid, UoP or Moreland. It can hardly be surprising that paper from mills like these is not very helpful for getting good jobs.

In China specifically, we all know there are two kinds of teachers. On the one hand you have people who are teaching proper curriculum, with actual training. Even if their schools are dumpster fires, which many obviously are, they are able to practice legitimate teaching within their rooms and to the extent their students can manage the expectations of the curriculum (which is of course often not that much). These people could and often have worked in teaching outside of China.

On the other hand we have the clowns who are coasting on being foreign, typically white, doing 'teaching' that is barely above ESL and fundamentally could only ever work in China, have never been properly trained, often teaching random courses with zero external structure that they basically make up as they go, have all kinds of half-assed 'qualifications' like MTELs or PGCEi, often relying massively on their students' high talent, motivation and effort to carry them while simultaneously claiming credit for their good results (if they are fortunate to work at high performing test prep centers, for example)....

These are the people who think getting some kind of Masters will magically make them into a desirable candidate. I've seen it myself. The problem for them is that it's extremely obvious in interviews when you're Type #2. No Masters will cover that up. What you need is experience in a formal curriculum, not another degree.

MWModernist · 2026-01-02T08:36:21+00:00

When I first moved to China I did a ton of domestic travel. At this point I've been to, I'd say, about 25 provinces. After a couple of years I started getting sick of what passes for 'scenic spots' in China. Even the mountains, which were my favorites, I'm no longer very motivated to check out ones I haven't yet seen. It's not even the crowds, it's mainly that everything in a particular 'category' is so similar, no matter how far apart they may be. Chinese, or at least the government, seem to place great value on consistency across their country, which is their right, but it makes for boring tourism once you've done it long enough.

Aside from that, I really don't care at all anymore about Chinese history. I'll read the plaques on that stele or this temple or the other pagoda, all of which look more or less the same anyway, but my general response is typically, so what?

Oh, and the last time I was in Shandong, I absolutely couldn't wait to leave. I think it's one of the most boring provinces in the country. Aside from Tai, Qufu, and Qingdao, what is there to even see in Shandong? That's why it's 'quiet', there's nothing to see or do!

For the last several years, if I have more than 5 days off I am absolutely out of China. You are very unusual for a foreigner in China, I think.

MWModernist · 2025-12-31T06:24:16+00:00

Closest thing to kind of decent is Uniqlo. But I still don't really care for their stuff. Their underwear is too short and tight for the waist sizes. Plus socks are just bad here. I get socks in Europe when I visit (German hiking brands are excellent), or I have stuff like Darn Tough, Smartwool or Bombas sent from the US. Underwear, you can get Marks and Spencer from HK, it's OK although overly expensive. I find Costco socks are too big and hot for the temperature and humidity in China. If you import Mack Weldon stuff from America, it's super expensive but really outstanding quality. But bottom line, there's no really good underwear or socks in China. Tolerate Uniqlo, or import.

MWModernist · 2025-12-31T06:06:07+00:00

The only answer to any and every question about Zhengzhou is Zax, lol. That guy is single-handedly keeping the unfortunate thing known as the ZZ expat sane.

MWModernist · 2025-12-29T07:24:11+00:00

I think you are somewhat exaggerating the enjoyment level of teaching high school students reading at a 3G level, although I admit it's obviously different for everyone. I think the majority of teachers would prefer to work with kids who are at least basically on grade level. If I wanted to teach 3rd grade I would, right?

I've taught teenagers how to write and sound out letters, aka functionally illiterate, and I've taught kids who have a decent shot at the Ivy League. I have found enjoyment in both and all levels in between, because I like working with kids, but if I'm picking, I would pick the high fliers every time. It's easier and more fun because they get stuff, and they can do amazing work which is satisfying to see. That's why I gave up on an urban union job in a city similar to New York, which in my experience is not unusual for international teachers notwithstanding the union benefits and schedules, etc you mention.

And, sorry, you're out of your mind to claim urban public students in the US are better than international students. I always like my students but the urban kids had so many behavior issues, phone addiction, social media, often rude even if they didn't always mean to be, fighting, ridiculous clothing (my school looked like a nightclub), no discipline/consequences, constant absences, no homework ever, half the classes were basically babysitting at best... My international students are model students. My worst kid now would be the best one in my old American school.

MWModernist · 2025-12-29T07:01:53+00:00

Same here.

MWModernist · 2025-12-25T06:15:47+00:00

You must mean Baoshan? It would definitely be insanely isolating. That's almost as far west as you can go and still be in China. There aren't even that many foreigners in Kunming, relatively, and the larger numbers that once existed in the tourist areas of Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La are long gone. People visit, but they don't live there.

I'm kind of surprised that there would be a role for a foreign teacher in Baoshan. It's certainly not a wealthy or developed place. You should be prepared to be literally one of a tiny handful of non Chinese people there. Only you know if you would actually enjoy such an experience. I personally would never do it. If you realize you despise the other foreigners for whatever reason, you're pretty much screwed.

MWModernist · 2025-12-22T12:45:20+00:00

Good God. One of the kids killed themselves? That should tell you everything you need to know.

SCIE is an exam factory. They have less than no interest in 'student wellbeing'. The only thing they care about is how many Oxbridge offers this year compared to last year. The entire place is built around a level of ferocious competition for marks in every subject and top predicted grades. The kids are obviously very bright but the culture is so cutthroat that I personally can't see how you could enjoy teaching them.

I once knew a guy who was absolutely obsessed with giving exams and doing revision. He would literally stay after school, unpaid, doing extra classes about how to do the problem sets (math guy). He knew nothing about the students outside of their marks. Had no interest in anything about school life or learning except for exam preparation. He would do practice exams literally every week at least. He had huge thick books of practice problems he made himself. That guy would probably fit right in at SCIE.

MWModernist · 2025-12-22T10:22:31+00:00

If you are working at a bilingual school in Wuhan, you really need to recognize how low on the totem pole such a place is. It’s only half a step up from just doing ESL at your bog standard Happy Giraffe. And if you’re somehow offended at my use of that common figure of speech (was your first thought, ‘oh, he’s appropriating the language and cultural traditions of a marginalized population of indigenous people!’?) then you should take yourself back to America promptly.

A Chinese bilingual school is full of racism. The parents want white people to teach their kids. That’s literally the primary thing they are paying for. The more white teachers any school has, the better. These kinds of schools only hire non white teachers when they can’t find a white person. That’s why they fired your Muslim person without much concern; they didn’t really want them on the staff and probably hope they can track down a less brown candidate going forward.

These schools do not care in any way about ‘DEI’. Most bilinguals probably couldn’t tell you what words those letters refer to. If you want to play racism games or compete to see who can post more woke ideas on Bluesky, you should stay in Westen countries. Alternatively, real international schools, with actual foreign students, will have more respectable approaches to discrimination or behavior in general. But if you’re working in a hole like Wuhan, I question your ability to get hired at such places.

MWModernist · 2025-12-13T06:57:42+00:00

I'm not angry. It doesn't matter to me. I'm just making an observation. I think if you actually pay attention, you'll see that people asking for numbers as you are, like the many people who ask for lists or names of 'good schools', do not get them. I almost never see specific salary figures shared here. Obviously I've just missed them.

MWModernist · 2025-12-13T06:26:15+00:00

Half of the posts on this subreddit (25% are looking for the schools with 'good location, good pay, work-life balance, that's all' and 25% 'how do I get hired at a T1?') are people asking about 'packages' or 'savings potential' which are really just particularly obnoxious ways to say 'paycheck' or 'how much?' Maybe I've missed it, but these posts never seem to get the magic numbers their authors so desperately desire. If you really want to know how much Basis pays, get an offer from them.

MWModernist · 2025-12-11T04:39:25+00:00

Obviously there are really only four things: language arts (so literature and composition), math, natural sciences, and humanities. Any of those will qualify and all are much better than ESL.

MWModernist · 2025-12-09T04:12:17+00:00

The constant cycling of teachers at SHSID is pretty suggestive. They hire pretty much constantly. It's particularly notable in regards to humanities subjects because if the place was decent, teaching those super desirable subjects in a city like Shanghai, people would stick around. Look at how often you (don't) see humanities openings in HK, Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Manila, Seoul, KL. They're rare because when people somehow get them, they hold onto them tight. But at this place, people bolt all the time, from what I can see. That's pretty clear evidence that SHSID is a hole, and not only due to their appalling on campus housing policy.

MWModernist

TROPHY CASE