Hi BD and JCF. I hope I'ts not to soon in the term to get too excited, but I very much like what I've seen and heard so far in the teachers college I've just started working in.

First all, of the 320 students I'm teaching are studying English as their major . This often makes a significant difference, as opposed to students using English as a side subject to just fill time.

Another thing I like is that many of the students have a good idea of what they would like to do as a career after they graduate, many in fact wanting to be English teachers.

The vast majority of the students are girls, and I've found that when it comes to English it's the girls who are generally more enthusiastic about the subject.

These are the type of students I've been aching for, students with real goals and objectives.
Before, when teaching primary/ middle, many students didn't even know why they were there, didn't want to be there, and often the only goal they had was to play computer games during the holiday. This is understandable when you consider their age and the average schedule of such a student.

I've been spending the first week at the teachers college trying to get the students to specifically state, with their future goals in mind, what skills they would particularly like to improve, and what class activities would help them achieve this.The feedback has been for the most part encouraging.

Another plus I've found here, is that the student's English level is the highest I've encountered in a school in China. This means communication is good, and they for the most part understand clearly what my plans for them are. Previously, in other schools it's been so frustrating to stand in front of classes trying to put ideas across to children who just can't understand what the hell I'm talking about.

As most of them want to be teachers this gives me a lot of room to reason with them about what kind of students they should be.

I like the fact that the English department leaders sat us down (all five foreign teachers), for a meeting that lasted over two hours.They made it clear what was required of the students. THEY said they expect us to make sure that all students attend, are not late and are serious about their study. They told us about assignments, homework, assessments, exams and what's expected of us as teachers.

I came away from that meeting feeling that the management are serious about the student's education, and will support the foreign teachers all the way. We know where to go and who to see for virtually any problem we encounter.

Of course neither this school or it's students are perfect, and I also know I'm still deep in the honeymoon period. It could still go all apeshit.

I can only report what I've seen so far, and if all teachers colleges are like this, then I think they are the way to go for serious teachers.

JCF, you asked:

>.............Ok, where is the best place to teach where one can expect appropriate renumeration, appreciative students, decent housing and other benefits, along with an environment that is not so much of a culture shock that it prevents one from doing an effective job? I'm serious about this. I'm ready to go anywhere.............

I think a good answer to that question is Gannan Teachers College in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China.