So far as I know, my ancestry sprang from Merry Olde England, but when considering my personal history, I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that my real roots originate from someplace in Eastern Europe. Reason? I've been a wanderer practically all my life. As some of you know, I was a musician for 25 years prior to taking up ESL. Both cases combined, I've been around the globe on at least 10 occasions. Hey! I'm not at all complaining! I couldn't have accumulated anywhere near the knowledge I have over these years had I not encountered the exact circumstances (both good and bad) I was so fortunate to experience throughout my professional career(s). Nonetheless, I must confess I rarely had a definitive plan before taking off on the majority of my foreign adventures. Ergo, I was ofttimes criticized severely by my parents and friends for seemingly sacrificing "everything" for the sake of a new and quite unpredictable undertaking. Believe you me, a few of them were unpredictable, indeed, while a few others, predictably tragic! My point is, however, why should we obey the dictates of our critics by forcing ourselves to accept what we consider inferior circumstances hardly commensurate with our selected paths in life? And, so it went, exemplary of my generation (1960s) -- the last to attempt to comply with the dictates of mommy and daddy -- I found myself sinking into the mire and rebelling all the way! Granted I did not sink entirely, albeit I was forced to live my life as a conscience-stricken "meshuggener" (fool) seeking refuge at each port. That was, regrettably, my generation ... and what admonishment do I have to offer to the current generation? Non whatsoever. Whereas 40 years ago I fought to declare my independence, by contrast, today's crop is much freer to make its own choices in life. The only point, if any, that I'd prefer you consider is the organization of your thinking, not only in light of the far greater number of choices available to you than was the case in my time, but especially due to a virtual mountain of new scams out there designed to attract your participation ... and, of course, your money! This is apparently quite true in the ESL game -- especially when dealing with China and Korea. Not that all such offers bear an obvious mark of Satan, there are a goodly number of offers designed to act as a magnet, especially for the relatively inexperienced, native-speaking English instructor. I must admit, some of those ads are tempting, indeed! On the other hand, it takes merely a peek at the on-line ESL discussions boards to corroborate the facts (or fiction) claimed by most ESL schools/agencies which do regular and extensive advertising. Granted, checking into a source until you're blue (red, or even orange) in the face, a pretty standard procedure by this late date, is still not 100% proof as to the veracity of any school or representative agency on the boards. To control existing skulduggery through creation of a union is most interesting, indeed. A major problem in this instance, of course, would refer to whether the government of the PRC would really approve of, much less back, a unionized entity specifically designed for foreigners whose expectations include salaries much higher than those of long-term native-Chinese specialists of the same subject. Christ! Before you know it, those same Chinese teachers will be demanding an identical income based on their years of servitude -- not talent -- and will be tempted to form their own union! Surely there must be a more acceptable method by which to improve the current economic limitations experienced by proven imported ESL instructors ... ?

In my case, I wish I had something better, if only for the fact that I've been in Los Angeles far too #@=!*+& long. Time to get a move on, Old Gypsy feller! Giddy-up!

Cheers to all,

The Arrogant One