Dr. Cross,

It always bothers me when FTs take the time to express and document unprofessional (and sometimes horrendous) experiences in China, and then some fellow FT takes the poster to task for lack of details, or worse, blaming the FT almost entirely for the problem. It short, these responding posters often make someone who already feels victimized, feel victimized again and by someone who is supposedly some sort of colleague, or at the very least, a fellow foreigner!

If you peruse some of the recent postings on this forum and on the school reviews page, you will find that I have habit of calling attention to strange and/or humorous and/or troubling job ads from various schools, organizations, and agents in China.

The school (and city) where your serious episodes took place, Gannan in Jiangxi is a school I have also questioned due to some strange elements in their recent position posting. Namely, requesting that new, arriving teachers are already holding a Z visa.

Another poster Valerie recently shared her terrible story in great detail also on the school reviews page. She was sending a loud warning regarding agent Frank Zhang, who you also mention quite unfavorably in your post.

What I am saying Dr. Cross is that based on the previous testimony of Valerie, and the odd nature of Gannans job posting, I want very much to believe you, and not blame you or re-victimize you as others have been known to do (especially at Daves ESL Caf).

That being said -- and as someone who has had my share of unprofessional and unethical situations and experiences in China I find your story quite confusing. For example, we know that in Chinese culture the notion of privacy is not quite as sacred here as it can be to Westerners. However, I am mystified as to the dire level of they did not respect my privacy you elude to What brought about this high level of tension and the resulting nightmarish aftermath?

When I first came to China, I was living on a university campus. I had a terrible problem with people not respecting my privacy. I had to lay down some tough rules (as politely as possible) to get some reasonable changes in habit and behavior, but it never came near anything like what you describe.

The first half of your posting (especially), while it might be quite sincere, is tremendously vague and confusing to me (and probably most others reading it). It reads:

What happened was we were being harassed , meaning they did not respect my privacy , I had ask them several times to put an end to these activities and they said they could not. After some time I received and email that stated I could break the contract. I received the letter from the Gannan foreign affairs office indirecly from the school President of Gannan Normal College in Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province. Shortly after the incident , they reported me to the Departmnet of Foreign Affairs In Nanchang City , what they said I would really like to find out. Also they kept my personal belongings for three months on top of all these happenings. After being homeless though the winter break , Spring festival and New Year we exhausted all our money on eating and hotels and again we did not have our personal things all this time

Please clarify each of these incidents: the harassment; the email message; the letter from the foreign affairs office (received indirectly from the school President); the Nanchang City Department of Foreign Affairs; and why they kept your belongings, etc.

Also, the local officials telling you to leave China within "nine days," implies perhaps you had no residence permit. According to Chinese law, for each day your residence permit is expired (if it ever existed in the first place) there is a fine of 500RMB per day. Does this describe that element of your situation with some level of accuracy? If they determine you have no means of payment of this penalty (i.e. unemployed), then it is likely they would have demanded that you leave China ASAP.

You paint a very dramatic picture, but with so many justifying details omitted, its hard for me to empathize or sympathize. Posters at this forum are, in my opinion, a generally wise and caring lot, but without more documentation its impossible for me (and most others, I think) to offer solace, or guidance.

Good luck to you, and I hope you respond with a much more clarity about your plight.