What I speak of has been the massive influx of South Africans into the teaching market here in Taiwan. While there has always been a South African 'presence' here, it seems that about 7 years ago, their numbers seemed to increase dramatically. It was at this time that many expat teachers feel wages started to decrease. Did they? Well, they certainly haven't increased from that time.
More than a few teachers, from English speaking nations, have commented that South Africans are so desperate to avoid returning to South Africa, that they have adopted the 'will work for food' approach. The Taiwanese have been more than happy to exploit this. Who wouldn't? Now I'm not saying that the Taiwanese have all been taken advantage of by unscrupulous foreigners whose only skill is being able to speak passable English, and who can play the clown for 6 year olds. Lord knows, there have been enough expats, who were competent and qualified teachers, who were royally screwed over by shady buxiban owners.
That being said, have South Africans ruined 'a good thing' for others? Have they killed the sacred cash cow? My personal take is that the market has been over saturated by both 'teachers' and buxibans. Add to this the shrinking customer base (not as many children) and we have a more competitive market.
The South Africans that I have worked with have all been well educated, or just as well educated as any of the other Anglo expatriates, but sometimes that is not saying much. Taiwanese employers have also questioned their accent....yeah, as if they could tell the difference, but then again, the accent of most South Africans coming to work here is quite mild. Not the heavy Dutch accent of some of their countrymen.
Well, I've covered that point enough, or maybe not at all. My next point of contention is the culture of many if not most teachers that are here. That culture seems to be the bar culture for the most part. Foreigners have earned the reputation, some would say deservedly, of being alcoholics and drug fiends.
Every weekend seems to revolve around an event at the bar, every social occasion involves an all you can drink special and the talk Monday through Wednesday is how drunk so and so got and then Thursday and Friday, about how drunk they're going to get. Now I know this isn't everyone, but it is far too common. For the love of Christ we're not in high school or the first year of university anymore! It also amazes me how, in a country where drug use is punishable by prison and trafficking is a capital offense, how available narcotics are and how widely used they are. It's not just the foreign population that are consumers, many Taiwanese youth seem to be heavily into the recreational drug scene too.
Well that's all I can think of to talk about or whine about for now. Any complaints, see below.
2 comments:
Interesting post. I feel your frustration over the drinking and drug culture among expat teachers. I've had the same thoughts about it being like first year at uni.
http://travelsintaiwan.blogspot.com/
In two words, Bad Craziness!. The only thing missing is notable, senseless violence!
Sorry about the long delay to come by and say, Thanks, for the link!
Quite notable to be the first and, so far, only link. 8-) If you decided to put them in a more high profile spot in the sidebar I hope you'll keep me in mind.
Found a previous post especially interesting...where you were talking about your former employers bad mouthing you. A sad state of affairs, I think. When they shoot themselves in the foot they use a mchine gun!!
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