It was as a result of this spying and the gossiping that followed that I heard a couple of stories about what other foreign teachers working for the company in other locations had been up to. As we all know, many Chinese love to know what we laowei are getting up to in 'our China', as they put it.

I'll name you two agents that are really the lowest of the low. There's Sunny's English Club of Chengdu and Tian Shuo of Changchun. Most of those Beijing agents are bad too. They make too much profit off your teaching. I'd say that Yuncheng IELTS is among the best of the Chinese agents, and, by the way, as I have already posted, I taught at 5 different schools and colleges on behalf of the company in 5 semesters, not one school that let me have an easy life, as you mistakenly put it! My advice, work for River & Co, and get the hell out of Yuncheng city. Teaching middle school with a t/a from the company preparing only 1 lesson/week, and regurgitating it 16 times is much less stressful than teaching at a Chinese university. But you want each classroom to have a computer and a screen so you can show them pictures and use Microsoft 'W' and a flash disc. I finished my second stint at the end of last semester. Unfortunately, I'll never return to River's as my wife is adamant she'll not follow me anywhere where I would be teaching outside of Hohhot!

1- IELTS School, second stint: I was sent to one of their client schools. Most are state-run senior middle schools, some are state-run junior middle schools or private senior middle schools or state-run primary teachers' colleges or state-run vocational colleges. The last-named have very low ability students of senior middle school age - the students are even lower in ability than those of an average senior middle school! Among the state-run senior middle schools, some are key. Lazy or ineffective FTs could be fired too easily there! A word about accommodation, the compound in Yuncheng belonging to the company has had central heating for some years to date, which it never used to have. I suppose it's ok for single people who prefer dining out to cooking for themselves - the cooking facilities are shared! The infamous curfew is a thing of the past. Working for this agent suited me very well. During my second and last stint there I worked in three counties, one semester in each. I lived in an unshared flat rent-free each time. My first school was in Ruicheng county. The teacher in charge of grade 1 sat in my class every week, and Ada checked my teaching on no less than three occasions that semester! One of the two FTs at the vocational college next door wasn't teaching well nor getting along with his teaching assistant. So, Ada had to check out his teaching, and took the opportunity to check out mine too, as it was convenient for her to do so. My school just had one FT, me! I taught grade 1. 16 classes a week, no making-up of holiday classes as many students were boarders. No English salons, etcetera - fine for a lazybones like me! That school had fired 7 FTs in just over a semester before me. My next semester was in another county, Hejin. The school was Number Three of Hejin. I was the only FT. I taught grades 1 and 2. 16 classes a week, but 2 lessons a week to prepare instead of one. Just like Ruicheng, but the students were of lower ability. My class was only checked once by a teacher, and Mr River, who had rejoined the company after Ada left, checked my class once that semester. Last term I was sent to Wenxi Middle School. Wenxi also has a Number Two Middle School. Both schools are very average. Another recruiter, Yuncheng EV, had two FTs at Number Two, and one at my school. He taught grade 1, I taught grade 2, 16 classes a week, one special event that term, a debating contest. The school checked out my teaching once, and so did Mr River.

IELTS School, first stint: one semester at a private senior middle school in Yuncheng city, Yanhua. Spoiled and lazy students of low ability there too many of them insolent. 19 classes a week, making-up of holiday classes. English corners! I didn't like it there, largely because I had to work too hard, so I asked Mr River to transfer me. Next term I was sent to Jishan, a county. It was a state-run Primary Teachers' College. There was an FT there who taught grade 2 students, but he wasn't with any agent. A teacher acted as his teaching assistant. I taught grade 1. I had a t/a. I didn't like it there, worked too hard, 22 classes a week including English corner and training local teachers!