This is what I think. I enjoy teaching. But I do not enjoy crap schools, or schools pretending to be good schools that are actually more crap schools, and I am so sick and tired of seeing FT's F-ed over in China, not getting the right visas, or not getting paid, or not getting housing, or not getting their bonus, airfare, or whatever else they were promised. I think in all reality that it is time to gather up all of the FT's in China and simply leave China and go back to wherever you came from and let China sink into the dark black sucking vortex that it is and always will be. The same is true for Korea for that matter. As for these punk recruiters that could sell ice machines to Eskimos while playing teachers like a fiddle, they ought to all be forced to be licensed, pay taxes and clearly list their office addresses, etc. The entire world of ESL is a scam and by working as ESL teachers, all that is happening is that FT's give the crap schools a talent pool of cheap labor so that the crap school owners get rich. I think that all FT's should finish their contracts and simply go home. Let the Chinese and Koreans teach their own students their own way and if it does not work, well...they can apply for a visa and open a Chinese or a Korean restaurant somewhere abroad or shine shoes. The brain dump that has taken place in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and NZ has caused a lot of trauma to those free nations and it is time that those nations had some of their own people back home to make their countries whole again. Let all of those rich Chinese that went abroad and then back to China shoulder the burden of building their society. Let their talent fix problems, pay taxes, teach kids, and try to create something. Of course they'll fail miserably, but so what? The one thing that is true about these teacher posting boards is that one rarely ever sees any good news about great jobs, honest employers, or teachers really liking their careers in China or Korea. If you like being treated like a dog while being paid low wages, while sucking in polluted air 24/7, and chasing your payroll around each month, China and Korea are two miserable places to consider working. Most FT's have little free time to actually take in any sites and since their wages are so low, they also cannot afford to go anywhere or do anything anyway. What's the advantage to that? Anytime I read some newbie posting on these boards looking for a job in China I just lean back in my chair and think out loud saying, does this teacher have any idea what in the world they are getting into? If you want to experience Chinese culture go to China Town for a few hours. If you want to help your own country stay home and help kids there. Last night I met a young woman who is now staying at my flat until sometime next week. Her parents are sending her money to fly home after her school failed to pay her and then threatened her and tried to hold her passport. I found her crying on the street. She has already called her embassy. She has a Z visa and a FEC so she can also go after the crap school with the labor bureau but for her wages of 7000 RMB it is not worth the crap.

I think it is time to hang China out to dry and let the Chinese teach themselves and for all real teachers to go home and dig in where it matters most. Tell those recruiters to kiss your ***, take a rain check on even considering China, and enjoy life at home. If you still feel this need to find out about Chinese culture, visit a museum or a public library.