Yep, Drags.

It's damned hard to live and work in China feeling basically alone and always having to watch out you're not screwed over. Even poor village women who become your girlfriends cannot be trusted easily. There's often an angle to their friendliness. And you shouldn't expect much friendship from other laowei here. They usually have their own wesel-like agendas and can be self-serving.

I suppose I've managed to last the course as I arrived initially after about 2 years on the dole, always liked spicy food, smoking and drinking beer, and met a sexy woman who turned me on greatly. Also, teaching as a job was much less arduous than in Scotland, and I liked the 16-lesson working week.

As for university degrees, who knows whether the Chinese will accept any old such degree in the future. The way it is at present is you can get in legally with a degree in geology, for example, which isn't of any use for teaching EFL!