Teaching English at Guangdong Ocean University (GDOU), Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China
Guangdong Ocean University is in the city of Zhanjiang 湛江. There are 3 campuses. Xiashan 霞山, Haibin 海宾and the Main Campus, (Zhu Xiao 主校).
I worked I worked in the main campus as a Foreign English teacher at Guangdong Ocean University for one year. This post is my personal opinion of what it is like working there, as well as some useful logistical information.
Getting to Guangdong Ocean University Main Campus
Option 1. From town, catch the #9 bus headed toward (something) Da Xue (大学). (Sorry, I do not remember the first characters). Cost is 4rmb from town. If you are coming from the Train station, walk out the front, do not cross the street. Turn right until you get to the bus stop. The bus runs from 0630 – 2130 or there about.
Option 2. From either the Xiashan or Haibin campuses, you can take the university supplied bus free of charge (for teachers, or any foreigner that can pass as a teacher). This is the preferred option. Free of charge, and no public stops. It is about a 20 minute ride.
Option 3. Catch a taxi from Zhanjiang town. It shouldn’t cost you more than 30-40 rmb, depending on the time of day i.e. early morning hours will probably be more.
Working In Guangdong Ocean University
All in all, Guandong Ocean University is a good place to work. The pay is about the normal going rate for the hours you need to do (max 16 teaching hours, 6000rmb / month). You need to create all the lessons and exams and do grading also. There’s more paperwork at this place than at most, but it’s still not that much.
English corner is held twice weekly but is optional.
You are pretty much left alone to do what you want in class. As long as the students don’t make complaints you won’t get bothered by anyone. The dress code is very lenient; I wore shorts and a t-shirt.
You could be teaching English Majors in a variety of subjects including oral, listening, reading, writing, American and European history, pronunciation, business English etc, but may also teach non-English majors.
Your apartment it is no-more than a 10 minute walk to the classrooms, depending on what building you are in. Classrooms have fans but no air con. Most rooms are equipped with computers and projectors, which work most of the time.
Get the Latest Survive Travel Books FREE! Click Here to Get Them.Staff changes so it is hard to comment on them. When I was there the administration staff was good i.e. I never had any problems. All the foreign teachers live in the same couple of buildings. All good people, none of which keep you up at night with parties or anything, and they get together every once in a while for dinner or something like that.
Living in Guangdong Ocean University (Main Campus)
Although the actual location is about 20-30 minutes by bus out of town, just outside the campus has everything you need for day to day living. Fresh markets for vegetable, fruit and meat and there are a couple of convenience stores for everything else. There are a few billiard halls and a few KTV joints. There’s a snack street with a good selection of Chinese street type food (noodles, rice etc) and some hot pot restaurants.
The actual campus isn’t huge; you can run around it in 20 – 30 minutes (depending on how fast you run). It has a soccer field with pull up bars and a running track. If you get your timing right you can use the pool and ‘kickboxing’ gym. Also has yoga, tai chi, badminton and I’m sure a few other things that I never bothered to look into. There’s a ‘business’ center with 3 bakeries (at the time of writing this), photocopying, picture taking, printing, phone services, ATM’s, key cutter, sewing services etc.
The actual apartment itself is decent, considering you are in a tropical environment. There are bugs, and they are a little run down, but it is livable. There is air-conditioning in the bedroom and a ceiling fan in the TV room. Cable internet is supplied, which you can hook up into wireless for a once a year nominal fee (ask the students or other foreign teachers to ‘hook you up’ as it is technically not allowed). The apartment is free, but you pay for gas, water and electricity, but then they give you money on top of your pay to cover it, and I never used more than they gave.
Donghai Beach. About a 30 minute bus ride away.
The apartment comes stocked with whatever the last people left behind, but at the very least will have a flat-screen TV that you can plug your computer via HDMI or use the USB port (cause T.V. reception is no good), a few bowls, wok, pots, pans and basic cooking utensils.
There’s a guy that comes around every other day around 1300 – 1400 selling fresh tofu and vegetables. We call him the tofu man. If you like to cook tofu, buy it from him.
You could also eat at one of the 4-5 dining halls, one of which is next to the teacher’s apartments.
Well, that’s about it. Any questions, ask in the comments section.
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