Very true, most teachers will leave. Some will stay a week, some a few months, some a year, some even more. Others will never leave.

One of the issues about China being a holiday I believe, from the recruiters as well. Think of how many "Come and teach in sunny ..." "Have the adventure of a lifetime in China." "Get to know China while teaching." etc.

In my two and half years in China, the two-day weekends and the national holidays don't give too much time for exploring. I have been to four provinces, five if you count Hong Kong, which I don't ... all of them connected ... Hubei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai.

Every foreigner will have problems with utilities, food, social life, and their job. As do people else where. It will be in varying degrees, and some people will take it well, while others not.

The shortest stay I have seen is a week in China. Story?

___South African couple come to China to teach in DongYing, one of China's youngest cities and home of the largest gas reserves in China. They fly into China, then take a bus to Dongying where they are met by human resources, both Chinese. They are then brought to their hotel, shown a restaurant below, treated to a meal, and left for the night to rest. Five days later, they are taken by a private car, 40 minutes to a nearby town, Hekou, to their new school. They met one of the foreign teachers there, see the school, say what they look forward to, and are treated to another meal ... which they haven't really had in five days. They sign the contracts, go back to their hotel in Dongying, and leave either that night or the next morning. No one knows for sure.

Well, in case you didn't notice, there was a gap of a few days in the story not mentioned. The school human resources and staff did not see them again during those days. They did not show them the grocery store, or let any other foreigners know they were there, or them aware there were other foreigners. They lived off hotel instant noodles for about five days.

Sometimes its just rough to get over the initial stage, sure they could've stayed longer and overcome it, but it's wasn't anything like they expected, there is also fault on their end too, expectations and such.

Brief expectations NOT to have:
- "English is a universal language, people all over the world speak it."
- "McDonalds is one of the largest fast food chains in the world and is in almost every town."
- "China has pagodas, tiled roofs, women wear long silk dresses, the streets are clean, and the people welcoming."
- "I can learn Chinese very quickly since I am there, within a few weeks I will be able to talk with alot of the people."
- "China is a Communist country."

As for TAs, most are like the teachers coming over to China, first time full time job, no experience teaching, and dependent on money from home.

I will say, working with someone who teaches a class by themselves is far better than working with someone who just stays in the room and grades work. It gives me more respect for the person, and they respect you more as well. (Most TAs will often say "You should do this ..." or suggest things, but not know how to do them. "You should practice more games." "Oh yeah, like what? I played three games in the class earlier." "Your the teacher, its your job to find or make new games."

Fresh out of college TAs. Grr. Wish there was a rehabilitation camp for them.