My dear Jack,

I truly enjoyed reading your post of the 7th ... and please, I am not the ONLY one who has the powers of inspiration in his keyboard: Yea! Yea! YOU are a Langston Hughes ... (why not) a John Steinbeck(?) ... in that department! Your having discovered China as a source of inspiration for your writing is a wondrous accomplishment, I dare say, albeit I wound up more adversly affected by my brief but catastrophic experience last summer. That you have succeeded in pushing all adversity aside for the sake of your objective is TRULY a quantity for which I feel no slight envy. As for discrimination (of ANY kind!), it is truly as hateful here in the USA as it is in China ... or ANY other part of the globe, for that matter. What makes the oppressors feel so damned superior is something which has perplexed me for many years. Prior to entering the ESL field as a full-time activity, I had spent a good 20 years in the music business -- in rock-n-roll as well as in classical -- so, I had an unaltered bird's-eye view of what was transpiring with Adam and all his (bloody) issue. This was the early '60s, and that period, a few short years before the Civil Rights Act (1964), was certainly NO PICNIC to live through, yet it certainly seemed like a windfall to those blacks who had earlier endured much harsher times. Fortunately, over the years, conditions have gotten much better on this end, though we are all obviously chagrined (if not embarrassed) by the relatively slow progress in that area by so many of the more "traditionally biased" lands of this globe. But, as you have so astutely concluded, there is no sense in even making an attempt to change the ways of the world. They are all part of the Great Metamorphosis which, regrettably, has always proceeded on its own bloody time schedule.

Jack, as for your having a job in-hand before the next semester, OF COURSE you will succeed! You are obviously an hombre with serious and undiluted pedagogical intentions. The educational system of the PRC should learn to appreciate all that you represent ... that is, if THEIR intentions truly jibe with their widely-advertised desire to improve the quality of English learning throughout the land. We have heard our fair share of whining, indeed, albeit there have always been the completely legitimate critiques to consider. WHATEVER the case, it MUST be an essential step of ANY program as unique and daring as that of the PRC to SERIOUSLY consider one hell of a lot more than merely the presence of its imported "foreign specialists." After all, English is OUR native tongue, while, so far as I know, all the leading texbooks and exam papers have be composed by blokes such as we! WHY, therefore, is there any argument? Granted, there some of us recruits who aren't educationally fit to teach bloody PRE-borns, let alone college-level students! On the other hand, the preponderance of those instructors hired are eminently qualified and arrive in China with the most progressive of attitudes. IT IS THEY whose enthusiasm must be ever stimulated and not allowed to die a horrible death through neglect. THIS, I dare say, is the very CRUX of whatever problems exist today regarding the question of contentment amongst foreign ESL personnel in the PRC. But, all we CAN do at this juncture is (with a broad smile) merely remind them of that fact. All else will stir up hostilities even worse than has heretofore been the case.

To you, dear Jack, and to all others who venture to China with only the purest of intentions, accompanied by a sincere desire to contribute to the cause of universal communication through English ... I salute you! But always remember: In the midst of deceit, WHENEVER PRESENT, one cannot afford to be silent. It is only acknowledgement of wholesale suffering that will ever move governments to expunge unreasonable conditions for the sake of satisfying the needs of all contributing personnel, be they domestic or international. And ... THAT'S A FACT, JACK!

Love to all,
Ellis