I have been teaching here in China for a couple of years now and have found the experience, both wonderful and totally frustrating. I have met amny other etachers who feel the same.

I will relate something to you all that appeared in the China Daily Newspaper over a year ago. It is an English newspaper that like all media is controlled buy the Central Govt.
It depicted a drunken derelict foreign teacher who was only in China as he/she could not get a decent job in their own country - that uis how many of us thought of here.

I consider myself lucky as next term I will be teaching in one of China's top universities and will be teaching other subjects that English.
My last two years have been spent at a "Private Middle School" - if you can stay away from Private Schools and Uni's - they are mostly a sham - you will only be there as part of their advertising to recruit students. If you think you will make a difference - you had better wake up and smell the coffee because at a private institution you will not.
They even accept/condone cheating in the exams, so that they can publish high pass results to attract more students.
Private schools tend to be dumping grounds for kids who fail in the public system and whose parents are rich and or do not want the kids about. I have confiscated knives off senior students and have been threatened, not that I really care, but many would.

I marketing material they had me advertised as the former Director of English at the University of Australia. Well for one I am not Austrlian, secondly, I have never been to a Uni in Australia, and thirdly there is no Uni of Australia - so go figure that one. The other teacher here at that time was advertsied as a famous American - the only truth there was that he was in fact an American !!!! The leaders of this school have never had any experience before in education - its not what you know its who you know. The principal at my current school is realated to the owner - her husband is the office manager and neither have had any experience in education before and it shows. Each year the role changes with up to 75% of the existing students being replaced by new students.

China is a wonderful place, after you accept the pollution and the chinese menatlity of lying, cheating and stealing - there are many wonderful places to see and experience, and not all Chinese are bad by all means, but upper management in any organsiation is bad - that's how they got there.

Just do not come here with your eyes closed - you need to be of strong mind, not an angry person, not a person who lets people walk over you as they will run rough shod all over you if you are.

Also a not of caution - beware of Yakup International - they are liars, they promise you everything and the schools and deliver nothing. The references they have on their web sites may not even be real. Some of their aparant staff are also non existant people.

Most people I have spoken to have had a good time here, but all have had a problem or three as well, so be aware and stay away from private institutions.

Don't come here with your eyes wide shut - especially you Americans