Hi Santiago,

I enjoyed the positive sentiment of your post.

I like the phrase "I'm just this guy living on the Earth". The problem with that however is that most people do not feel that way about themselves, and feel that they are superior to people of other races (in fact to many Chinese people who catch sight of you, and other ex-pats, anywhere in China, you will always be one or more of the following: an alien-NOT of this earth, the outsider, the funny looking foreign monkey, big nose, round eyes, bai ren (white person), hei ren (black person) etc. In fact anything that keeps you outside of their ring.

I agree and appreciate the fact that you can make serious and honourable friendships with Chinese people. But it has to be said, however close you think you are to your friends, you will still often be regarded as someone not completely in their circle, because you are of the other nation-that being, non-Chinese.

I think you made a good point about the people with axes to grind who bash certain countries. However I noticed that even you had a little dig at America! Anyway if somebody points out the dangers and potential pitfalls of living in a certain country to others who are thinking of going over to said country to live and work, I don't think that automatically makes them a basher of that country. In fact I would be grateful to have certain things pointed out to me in advance so that I could be aware of, and prepared for potential problems.

"...we're all of us in this together and... no one of us is better than the other". Again, this statement is a valid and positive one, but if you were turned away from a school just because of the colour of your skin would you feel that you were "in it together" with your discriminator? Isn't it also easier to accept that "not one is better than the other" if you were not living in a society where most people are judged simply by their income, what clothes they are wearing, their gender, height, physical attractiveness, weight, size of their wallet, complexion, nationality, occupation etc?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I respect your post, Santiago. It was positive and valid. It's what I would call a good "keyboard post". Great and noble in principle, yet unrealistic, because unfortunately we don't spend all of our lives at the keyboard. We have to dwell in the harsh reality of society. Your ideas would work better if most people in the world felt the same as you do. Unfortunately, they don't.

Look. Its pretty simple really. Mans inhumanity to man. Corruption. Indifference. Greed. Call it what you will. You Christians call it The Walk of the Flesh. And Buddhists, as do Christians, and atheists and whomever else you can think of see it as mans imperfection. Were all wallowing in the mud pit. There but for the grace of God go I. Pshaw. Its all about the luck of the draw. Hmmmmmaybe. We do what we do. We try to get it right, but we dont always. We misplace our faith. S*** happens. We move on. Some of us try to move toward "right thinking;" try to move further away from our imperfection. Some dabble in the Walk of the Spirit. Some dont even care and revel in every perceived instance of getting over on the next guy. Some of us want to single out a certain country or race or whatever as the main culprit. Poppycock! China bashers. Thai bashers. Russia bashers. USA bashers. Yeah, you cant turn a corner without bumping into somebody with an axe to grind.

Maybe we need to grow up. Move past the angst. Accept reality. Accept that change is far too often slower than is comfortable for us. But it happens ultimately things change. And yeah, sometimes its for the better and sometimes it isnt. Such is life.

Its the students. No, its the school leaders. Its the lure of the dollar, or the remimbi or the baht or the ruble. Whatever! No its you. And its me. Were human. Were imperfect.

Want to talk about China? Want to blame the corrupt system or the business oriented profession of EFL? Ok, go ahead. Want to single out individuals or single schools as the culprits? Ok, go ahead. Whine on. Ill even join in the whining maybe one of us will bring along the crackers and cheese next time. But maybe, just maybe, well take a long hard look at ourselves and realize we contribute to the problem because we are human and havent quite gotten there yet; havent evolved socially. Yeah, were still wallowing in a mud pit of our own making.

Ive yet to meet a Chinese person who could screw me as well as Ive been screwed at home in America. Ive met a few whove tried, and a few whove come close, but Ive met them in many other parts of the world too. Truth be known, my first victimization in the EFL world was at the hands of a joint partnership between an American university and a Taiwan businessman setting up an international college in PR China. Damn Taiwanese he says with tongue in cheek.

Ive yet to meet an American who could befriend me as seriously and honorably and eternally as some Chinese Ive met. My great friendships in America have eroded as easily as if they were beach sand in a winter storm.

So, Ive been here awhile four years now, and I have no intention of leaving. I am of the Earth. Im not an American. Im not Chinese, Im not European. Im just this guy living on the Earth and trying to pass the time, my time, as smoothly as possible. Before long Ill be that ex-pat American (maybe that "loony ex-pat American")hangin in some peaceful place and communing with nature and the locals. Life will go on until it doesnt. But until that time Ill still wake up with a kind of appreciation for life that I could never have attained had I not accepted that we are all of us in this together and that there is no one of us better than the other. Borders and labels are not of my making. Im just here for a temporary ride on the spaceship Earth. Thank god for gravity.