Firstly, it sounds like most of your problems were with this Catherine, your FL or TA, whatever you want to call her. Seems to me like she liked you, and that's how she expressed it. Very immature to say the least. Also sounds incompetent. Typical.

As for the school, if it was so bad, why did you stay, and actually sign another contract? Also, how could you not get your airfare home since you worked there 1 year already? As far as I know completing a 1 year contract guarantees that your round trip airfare is paid, or that you will get monies for this. How could they not give you anything. Breach of contract or no, don't they owe you from your first completed contract? Did you ever collect any money from that in regards to airfare? If not, it was owed to you, and would not in any way be affected by breaching your second contract, unless you signed on for 2 years that is. Not something I would ever do in China by the way.

As for the other things, no heat, no AC, not to sound cold or harsh, but you sound like a real push over, and one of those FT that makes it hard for the rest of us to find good paying jobs that treat foreigners right. You took an awful lot of s@@@ and kept coming back, asking for more, you even signed another contract with these people, insane. It sounds like you are playing up things that you had no problem with at the time, because of how they treated you in the end. How they treated you was indeed vile, but for those of us who know China, it is nothing new or even shocking. The only shocking thing is that you stayed around for all of it. In the end, they knew from your prior actions, or lack thereof, that they could get away with screwing you out of that airfare. Heck, you took everything else they put you through, so you'll take this too.

I have a great deal of sympathy that you have cancer, you have my condolences. As for the rest, I think you should have left that school long ago if you were so miserable. That you stayed and took it makes you partially to blame in truth, seeing as there are tons of options out there for you. It's not as if they are no English teaching jobs out there for foreigners.

I would personally avoid this school, they sound like crap. If I got there and found out they were, I'd put my foot down, insist, and let them know I'm outta there if they don't treat me better. If they fail, I go. I would not stick around for a winter of no heat, a summer of no AC, constant problems, and an assistant who insults and treats me like s@@@, that's on you my friend, as well as the school, which is why I say avoid it. Only other thing I have to say is, you should have left, way, way before, and never should have signed up for a second semester. Like I said, sounds like you are most angry about how they treated you in regards to your illness, and you should be, but I question just how bad it is if you signed up "twice" even after all the humiliations of the first year you claim you had. I say avoid this place just based upon how they treated this guy though, but honestly, you should have demanded better and left long ago, that's my 2 cents worth.