When you teach in China the majority of schools offer you a free apartment (you may pay the utilities) pretty close to school either by walking or public transit. Some schools will offer you free on-campus housing which can be nice. My boss (a fellow foreigner) blatantly lied about our living arrangements. I wanted to share my experience and offer advice to those that were going to be living abroad.
My ideal living situation would be the first option: my own apartment. Seriously, I have had SO many bad living experiences these past two years before I left (most New Yorkers do) that I really wanted my own space. Like if I had my own apartment I seriously would have just ran around that ish in a circle for two minutes before I unpacked. So, when I had my interview and found out that the school had free on-campus housing I had a few reservations. Well, turns out I should have.
So the way the housing was explained to me was we had our own apartment. So, I’m thinking we are in an apartment building on campus. I decided to accept the job because the housing was free. Naturally, I still asked for pictures. I was told by my now boss that he lost the cord to his camera. In retrospect I know this to be a lie upon talking to my friend Britni shortly after my arrival. So, he finally sent me one picture, but it was of the flat screen tv on the wall. Ummmm my dude, this really doesn't show me anything. He also promised the room would be cleaned when I get there. When I arrived I learned that things were very different from the picture my boss painted. My room was super duper nasty; it hadn’t been cleaned since the last teacher left. I also didn’t have a desk and my toilet didn’t work upon arrival. My boss later claimed to me and my co-workers that our rooms were clean by "Chinese standards".
