Forgive me for complaining. . .

One of the most striking culture differences between UK and HK is the attitude to work. I have just finished a 14 hour working day and that is, I'm heartbroken to admit, nothing unusual. My co-teachers at school are, as far as possible, very sympathetic to one another, and there is a good support network of teachers helping teachers that might have alot to do with Carmel being a Christian school.
The point is that it is expected that work takes precident over other areas of people's lives here. Whereas in the UK, meetings would be avoided unless their is a clear need with a clear objective in mind. Meetings are routinely scheduled outside normal working hours. These meetings are long, 3 to 4 hours, conducted in chinese and I am left frustrated and exhausted and angry afterwards. Nobody is to blame, it is just an example of my selfish British culture really having a hard time with the amount of sacrifice people make here.

I can do the job. But working chinese style does my head in sometimes. I can't accept sacrificing my health or wellbeing for a job. My colleagues do this regularly. It is normal for people to work while sick! to spend evenings at school, nights sometimes. My record working day is 20 hrs (my own fault) 7:30 am to 3:30 am. Tonight I left school at 9:30pm, I'll be back at 7:30 am. I have work to do before I go back too. You can see why a lazy western bloke might complain.

I want to be clear that I am not complaining about the people I work with. I have true admiration for Louisa, Ellen, Ronica, Maria, Grace and the whole English department. We are like a family. I just want to complain about the system. Its a struggle sometimes. Thanks for reading.