Excellent post, Turnoi. I especially like how you've taken a realistic look at the romantic notion of China; that is, we in the West often have a storybook understanding of China that is not based on reality. We're enamored with its history, its martial arts, its embroidery, its incredible pottery and the like, without taking the time to realize that in reality all that is/was good about China was, generally speaking, only enjoyed by the upper classes and the privileged.

Moreover, we are given to believe in the beauty of "5,000 years of history," when in reality that history is rife with tragedy and written by the blood of countless millions who were trapped in a feudalistic society from which there was no escape other than a so called "honorable death" for their masters.

Over the years, I've been asked again and again if I've seen the Great Wall. My reply has always been, "Why would I want to visit a place where more than a million conscripts laid down their lives in the process of forced labor and whose bones were ground into the mortar that holds the wall together?"

Feudalism gave way to a "democracy" that was so corrupt its no wonder that it was toppled by communism and totalitarianism. Meanwhile the people that hold it all together, the farmers and the laborers, continue to suffer the most. I've been to many villages in China and spent a lot of time with the simple folk. They only want what we all want, yet their labor goes unnoticed and generally unappreciated by the fat cats who look down on them as if they are the scum of the earth.

I applaud your decision, Turnoi, to turn your back on this system while endeavoring to do something useful with your remaining years. We're on the same page in that regard. And yes, those who feel so much financial pressure at home that it necessitates going to China to scrape together a few bucks, well, ok, they have my blessing. I only hope they can dodge the ruthlessness that pervades the whole EFL scene in China and that they can do their best as teachers without giving much of a damn that their efforts will go largely unnoticed and unappreciated. And yes, those who avoid the training centers and the so called "International Colleges" will have a much better go of it; however, they better lower their expectations if they think they're going to have the opportunity to provide quality English education - whether they're in the public or private sector. It's all about the money...not the students.

Finally, what the picture that I added to my last post doesn't show clearly is that that particular pile of garbage is slowly burning, having been set on fire with gasoline or some other propellent and that right on the other side of that pile is a river. The uneducated people of that particular village should not be held to blame. They feel as though they have no alternative. The government certainly hasn't provided them with one. One would wish they had a little more common sense, but unfortunately........well, not.