I taught at Huaqiao, Changchun for 1 term some years ago. Except for ELIC EFL teachers and a freelance American, the only other freelance EFL teacher in addition to me was a Welshman.

He had met a Chinese woman in Wales at a dance class for beginners. She had a Chinese passport and quickly befriended him. They married in Wales and she eventually got UK citizenship.

He was an ex maths teacher who had landed a good job with British Telecom, and latterly taught Welsh on a government scheme for peanuts. He was 55 or so and rather loaded. He arrived alone in Changchun coz she wouldn't join him till she passed her driving test in Wales, having failed it the first time. She arrived about two months late and scolded him for the dirty flat, and was from Henan.

I didn't like the look of her, and before her arrival the Welshman was trying to work out a way to minimize his financial losses after a divorce. He was in the process of trying to attract a Chinese teacher as his new girlfriend when she arrived. I guess he's divorced nowand a lot poorer for that.

Also, there was a Frenchman with a Pino wife and a kid. He was a right arselicker and always short of cash. I guess most of his salary was sent to the Philippines to support her family!