> UM SOOO...WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU SAYING ELLIS?? IN LAMENTS TERMS CAUSE
> IM NOT GETTING ALL THE STUFF YOU SAID ABOVE. DO YOU KNOW OF ANY
> PLACES THAT COVERS AIRFARE?

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HEY, DOUG!

SORRY TO HAVE CONFUSED YOU WITH MY SARCASM! I WAS MERELY ATTEMPTING (IN MY OWN PECULIAR WAY) TO CONGRATULATE "CHINESE TEACHER" FOR HAVING ANSWERED YOUR INQUIRY IN A MUCH MORE CANDID MANNER THAN THAT WHICH WE USUALLY SEE ON THIS BOARD EMANATING FROM OUR CHINESE FRIENDS, TO WIT:
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I don't think schools in China will pay upfront for your air ticket. Some goes to the extend of cheating by not even wanting to pay our foreign friends their due air fare even after when they have completed their contract. The best for you is to save and take a risk coming to China. Do check around and ask, do your homework before taking the slow and dangerous boat to China. You never know, you may find a good employer or schools who will take good care of you during your stay or you may get one that will send you to hell 2 weeks after your arrival. Whatever it is, good or bad, time will tell and the choice is yours.
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AS THE MAN SAYS, SCHOOLS IN CHINA WILL NOT USUALLY PAY UP FRONT FOR AIR FARE. REASON(S): IN THE PAST, THERE WERE FAR TOO MANY IMPORTED ESL INSTRUCTORS WHO, IN HAVING DECIDED THAT CHINA WASN'T THEIR CUP OF TEA, FLEW THE COOP WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A ONE-HOUR NOTICE! ALSO, MORE RECENTLY, WE HAVE WITNESSED THE ONSLAUGHT OF "THE INCOMPETENT IMPORT" -- SOME WITHOUT EVEN A HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE! TO ADMIT SUCH FAKERS TO CHINA IS, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, THE FAULT OF THOSE HIRING AGENTS WHO FALSELY REPRESENT THE VARIOUS ACADEMIC SOURCES ACROSS THE PRC BY NOT SO MUCH AS CONDUCTING A CHECK OF THE CREDENTIALS OF ANYONE BEFORE SO FREELY OFFERING CONTRACTS! RESULT: CHINA WINDS UP WITH THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY FROM THE WEST, NOT TO MENTION THE LIMITATIONS SO UNFAIRLY PLACED UPON THOSE OF US WHO ARE QUALIFIED AND WHOSE INTENTIONS ARE ENTIRELY HONORABLE. ASSUMING YOU HAVE BEEN HIRED AND HAVE PAID YOUR OWN WAY OVER (ON THAT "SLOW AND DANGEROUS BOAT"), REALIZE THAT, FOR THE FIRST (AT LEAST) FEW MONTHS, YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE BEEN PLACED ON PROBATION BY YOUR EMPLOYER. IF, INDEED, THEY DO NOT CARE FOR YOUR STYLE AND YOU HAVE NO MONEY TO SEE YOUR WAY THROUGH FOR A WHILE WHILE SEEKING OTHER EMPLOYMENT, WELL...I'D RATHER NOT GO INTO THAT PARTICULAR NIGHTMARE.

BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL QUESTION: I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ANY CHINESE EMPLOYMENT SOURCE THAT WOULD FRONT A TEACHER'S AIR FARE, BUT I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING (TALK TO MY FIRST WIFE ABOUT THAT ONE, PAL!). KEEP YOUR EYES FOCUSED ON THE VARIOUS BOARD ADS ... YOU NEVER KNOW. BUT AS FOR VENTURING ACROSS THE WIDE PACIFIC WITH NO MOOLAH -- NO WAY, JOS! GOOD LUCK, MAN!

PEACE,
ELLIS