Job Fair!

Inexcusably I have waited too long to write about what was a very enlightening episode in China. It was called the "Job Fair for Foreign Professionals." Actually it was the "'Job Fair' for 'Foreign Professionals'" (note the apostrophes).

Like the very well (and comparatively overpaid) livestock we are, a large portion of the foreign teachers in Changzhou were loaded into buses and shipped to Nanjing to fill up the "career event" hosted by Jiangsu Province. When we arrived we met our good friend Max, the most gregarious Chinese student I have ever met. Max lives in Nanjing and stays there when he is not back at school playing tennis (like most Chinese seniors, Max doesn't have classes). Since one of our number decided not to come, Max became "Daniel" and joined us for the fair and subsequent tour.

The fair lasted all of 30 minutes. We went in, heard the last few bits of the opening speeches, got coffee, and then proceeded to walk around the booths. Every participant was given a badge and some literature about the various schools and companies. When I said I wanted this stuff, our waiban, Teddy, questioned its usefulness--Teddy often forgets that its never about use for me when comes to these things, but pure novelty.

Most booths were for a Jiangsu or Shanghai school looking for foreign teachers, such as Yangzhou Lucky Kids Bilingual Art Kindergarten and Jiangsu Animal Husbandry & Veterinary College. All I can say is that I am not working at Jianhu Experimental Junior High School until they are out of the experimental stage. Though the book mentioned some, I did not see any non-school-related companies, though there were some tables for exchange programs looking to hire Chinese nationals. At one I discovered "Kelvin" Li, the CIEE guy who oversaw our orientation in Shanghai (aahhh, memories).

What everyone really came for was the free day-tour of Nanjing. In fact most didn't even know it was a job fair and came dressed for sightseeing, not business. The tour of Nanjing's historical walls and temples was fun, but I had been there before. The massacre museum and memorial--the best (and most overwhelming) site--was not included. Our tour guide's heart was in the right place, but not her English, nor her understanding of the difficulties involved in organization a group of rowdy, sarcastic foreigners. Her staccato tidbits of information about each sight and unrelenting commands were usually met by speedy (and sometimes racist) British or Australian wisecracks. Not to say that the Americans were less rude--we just didn't have the rapier wit.

That night we went out and I forgot my salary card in the ATM again. That is all I am going to say about that night in Nanjing.

Leb Wohl.