All but all are urged to avoid this school. It is safer to stand in front of a speed training than to pass these gates of Suzhou paradise.

Any pretext of calling Suzhou a paradise must be supported by real life examples of decency, which from what I have heard this city lacks, particularly in the expat population. In my mind Suzhou has long ago lost its right to be called a paradise. Foreigners should realize what a crappy place this city is to work in. Along with the aformentioned SFLS, there is also SIFLS, EF, Aston, Web, NDI, IELTS, and almost the entire list of the who's who of crap places to work at.

To think, the only schools actually located in Suzhou which hasn't received a formal complaint by an ex-employee, so as far as I can find from my research on these forums, is actually EF! Think about it, English First is actually one of the better places to work at in this city....

Which should tell you to not work there at all.

Here are some additional details and I agree with the previous poster.

Under the current administration's rules at that school, the infamous Mr. K., who has been very literally discussed and dissected on this board, must review and approve all new candidates for the primary and middle schools. If Mr. K. does not approve, because after all, with all of his experience, as he writes on that other site, he can tell a good qualified teacher instantly (must have been those years of Pizza Hut experience), and so if one does not receive the Sanctum Opprobatorum from Mr. K., then one cannot pass through those gates of paradise.

If that school hires 20 teachers for the year, they loose at least 15 or more BEFORE the end of the first semester. In the section of which Mr. K. is the omnipotent overlord, the turnover is at least 90% if not more. He generally prefers emotionally-challenged, distrust Mesdames who have issued from failed marriages with dependent children in all states of emotional disarray, as for whatever reason, they are more vulnerable to his manipulative ways. The messieurs who actually gain entrance to his scholastic inner chambers last the space of a meteor in the sky. And there never, ever, ever was a Thomas Cushman, that generous poster of yore on this site, who worked at the institution of which Mr. K. is the Great Mini-Leader.

The wages have actually decreased over the last 3-4 years, again believe it or not, owing to the unspoken rule that no teacher in the school is allowed to make more than the great Mr. K., whose salary according to those in the know, is approximately RMB 16,000 per month with all the free perks that one can imagine and with a few that one cannot imagine. Again, these figures are freely available on another site mentioned here and were set forth there by none other than the Great Mini-Leader himself.

This person returned to the United States perhaps two years ago to seek gainful employment but for whatever reason, such gainful employment was denied to him at every turn and thus he returned to his position at this school. This is often the case in China, for sure. This information is not private -- he freely writes about it on another site on the Internet.

All but all are urged to avoid this school. It is safer to stand in front of a speed training than to pass these gates of Suzhou paradise.