Living on a legal visa, having a job, and being able to enjoy your time in china doesn't mean that your good experiences have everything to do with the company that you are working for. If you meet a friend at work or outside of work you can have a good time, that doesn't mean the company you work for is fair.

EF is a racist, exploitative, and mean spirited organization that cannot guarantee the livelihood of all teachers who work at every chain branch. Their business model is absolutely flawed from the top down. Companies like Aston, Web, and NDI operate on similiar models. Back in 07-09 I had applied before to some of these places and my own experience dealing with them is that they are very unprofessional with how they treat teachers and their screening process isn't so much about substance (how much you know) as it is about style (what the teacher looks like, what race they belong in, etc.).

Working for any private institution in china puts you at risk for having a bad experience and therefor ruining your time in china. I have had this happen to me and I have personally known many cases no matter where I have gone to work in china. You say you know about what it's like in china, but you DON'T. You have worked at EF for 3 years, so for you that is a steady job. You are in the minority of people who have had a good experience. Your opinion of how anyone can have a good experience working for a private company masqerading as a school doesn't matter to me in terms of providing valuable information.

Here's an analogous comparison of the position you're at: During WWII, there were some Jewish men who were good at forging and making counterfeit material and who are kept in humane, livable conditions at a concentration camp. They were given the chance to aid and abet the Nazi's with making fake currency. There was a movie made called "The Counterfeiters" which was based on this story. Now I would never think about equating the state of working conditions of foreign teachers who are in china to a concentration camp. But what I'm saying is these folks who got away from the extermination camps certainly could say that they didn't have it all so bad working under Nazi's. Although they would be ignoring the plight of their fellow human beings.

What I am saying is, working in Private Companies selling fake education is like working in a Prison Camp. Of course in this case having the right look, being of the right ethnic background, and being from the right native country will get you something stable occasionally. Of course there will always be a MINORITY of foreign teachers who will be treated somewhat decently. But you would have to turn a blind eye to the state of education in general (which is precisely what you have done Londongirl) to not see how many teachers get such a bad experience from working at these places it can change their entire outlook on life working in China and even in general. You don't have that capacity, that is why the more you talk the less credibility you have.