No problem Raoul. I kinda thought that's what you meant, but I thought I'd have a little fun with it.

Regarding the current discussion about wages dropping, it harkens back to a similar thread from quite awhile back. My feeling then - that wages were dropping in China due to the willingness of the uninitiated - met with some opposition. But now that wages have slipped even further toward blatantly unacceptable levels my detractors may be reconsidering their position - or not.

Three thousand RMB is bad enough, but I've actually seen a few ads for less than that. And of course those ads are placed by money-grubbing recruiters that specify that they are hiring only Filipinos or Africans. How sick is that?

One aspect of those positions that really sickens me is that well qualified teachers from Ghana or other African nations who, perhaps hesitatingly, accept such jobs out of sheer need coupled with a degree of naivity and blind faith, find themselves in a situation wherein they are not only paid less than the average but are also subjected to living conditions and/or behavior on the part of their employers that is unacceptable by any standards. In fact, I know of one very qualified teacher from Ghana who was paid 4,000 while I received 7,000 for the same work - a fact that is in itself sickening enough, but then added to it was the stenchful reality that while I was being paid on-time he was still waiting for three months back salary.

One can only hope that discernment will eventually outweigh the need for quick cash and that those who accept such positions will realize that they are not only negatively affecting the salary scale for all EFL teachers in China but that they are also, in the long term, diminishing the potential of their compatriots to enjoy fair treatment as well.