I wouldn't agree with you that all teacher' meetings are useless, nor would I agree that interviews are useless. Teacher's meetings can help build camaraderie and can be an opportunity to share approaches and methodologies. An interview can be a valuable means by which you can determine the sincerity and honesty of your prospective employer. Often times, simply by noting that they skirt important questions, you can determine that the future employee - employer relationship may be a rocky one. Moreover, you can also discover whether or not they have even bothered to read your CV or resume. If they haven't taken the time to do so, it's a good sign that they don't lean toward professionalism.

As for demo classes in China, yeah, you're probably right - generally pretty useless unless they have a huge supply of applicants from which to choose. In some cases, they've already determined that they don't want to hire you for one reason or another; therefore, demo classes are often just a pretense, or a means by which they can save face by not telling you the real reason for not hiring you. "Sorry, sir, your demo class was not well accepted by our students."

English corners: How many times can you stand having the same old questions asked of you? What's your favorite sport? Do you like Michael Jordan? How can I improve my spoken English? Some teachers actually do pretty well in that venue and can lead students out of the usual hum drum routine. I haven't the patience for it.

Salaries in public universities seem to vary from province to province even though they often tell you there is a standard throughout China. I often have to laugh when I see some of the salaries offered by "prestigious universities." Four thousand kwai? What a joke. And of course, when that's the case, they'll also add the caveat that the cost of living is soooooooo cheap that it's actually a really good wage. And of course they love telling you that it's a great wage when compared to local salaries. However, you can still find job offers in places like Beijing that brag about the great wage they're going to pay you (4000 - 5000) along with a great apartment. Also quite laughable. Ask anyone who has worked in Beijing how much they love that "great apartment." Then ask them how much they love being barely able to make it from one paycheck to the next.

"Come to exotic China," the add might read. Nice lure. Rats and cockroaches, garbage dumps outside the window, toilets that barely work, no security, pimps and prostitutes all around the neighborhood, KTV across the street, electrical failures and etc. -yeah that's real exotic. I pity the poor teacher, usually the newbie, who gets sucked into such situations when they're really just looking for "the adventure of a lifetime." Beware the come ons, the sales pitches that just don't pan out. The more a school is trying to sell itself, the less I trust it. The rosier the picture a recruiter is trying to paint, the less I trust him/her.

And then of course, as you have often noted, Silverboy, training schools can be a real trap. Actually, I know of some good ones; however, my advice, similar to yours, is to avoid them like the plague until you've been here long enough to distinguish the good from the bad. As you know, that's easier said than done. It takes some serious discernment. We've all read the horror stories written by newbies who hadn't realized they were walking into a snake pit until it was too late to escape the venom.

Nevertheless, having said all that, China can still be a great place to teach and travel. But you've got to be careful and you've got to hone your negotiating skills. As I said before, don't sell yourself cheap. Moreover, you must realize that the Chinese are masters of the con; moreover, although the leaders are calling for an adherence to the rule of law, it hasn't quite sunk in yet - especially in the big cities where it can be a dog eat dog world. In addition, though "win, win" is becoming more common, it's actually more popularized than popular, and it must be remembered that the Chinese are traditionally bent on coming out on top - coming out even doesn't always occur to them as being favorable. In fact, generally, they're just not happy with that kind of deal.

Well, I seem to have digressed from the original thread. But, oh well, what the hell. As has been said to newbies again and again, be careful. And, by the way, don't expect your embassy, especially the American embassy, to help you out if things go bad - their employees are expert at mimicking the ostrich.