It isn't benign neglect. Late payment is just the school's attempt to control us. The Chinese teachers are paid on time. Why not the FTs? None of the other FTs at other public schools are paid late.

The school was ready to give me the boot for standing my ground. They brought in another FT from another province. The school didn't even clean up the apartment when he moved in. He complained about the conditions too. He was there a week before they gave him his contract to sign. There were numerous changes to the one that he was sent to inspect. He said nothing about that because there was nowhere for him to go at that point. Because he was in the country on an F visa, he was required to go to HK to secure a Z visa (at his expense). He had been told that he could work on an F visa. Two weeks after he signed his contract, he was given a copy which, in my opinion, was not fully executed. There was no signature of any officer or administrator on the contract, just the usual red chop.

The guy said that he was going to HK to get his visa, but he never returned. He was smart. I didn't have to tell him anything; he figured it out for himself.

This was not my first Chinese school. I am accustomed to the usual sloppiness of Chinese schools and administrators. I can distinguish between sloppiness and general dislike. These people don't like westerners. The neighboring colleges provided foreign teachers with tickets to the Performing Arts Center. We were never offered anything like that.

Eighteen months of those people was enough.