I did reply getting back on subject and criticizing Yuncheng IELTS, not mildly but no more harshly than earlier posts. Said reply went missing from the thread after a day or two, so I will rephrase my criticism. I don't think Yuncheng IELTS is as helpful to its FT's as it could be in all cases. I hope I haven't gone too far.

John said:'Tom Jones, got lucky and is still ladling out musical bilge to the moronic masses.Richard Burton,on the other hand was a taffy of quality,talent and education, a Welshman and a true Brit.'
RIP,Richard.
Thanks John for your interesting and amusing assessment of those two famous Welshmen.
I guess that TJ's musical bilge is to the moronic masses what foreign teachers' faces are to their Chinese bosses.
The crooning and the faces are needed by two contrasting groups of perhaps overly eager customers,romanticising Western women approaching pensionable age, and Chinese parents,respectively.Both are happy to part with money to satisfy their perceived needs,and what they perceive to be the needs of their children.
As Chinese students are many, there's a great demand for foreign faces in Chinese classrooms,especially reasonably good-looking Taffy males like Ian!
What's more Yuncheng's present industrial development will remind Ian of the state of the Welsh hills and valleys in the days when coal-mining was at its height,when he was just a nipper.
Ah,memories,memories!Keep up the good work,Ian and TJ.Both of you are in great demand in your respective fields!

John said:"Ian's buddies call him Taffy or Big Taff. Bit of a R Burton type as opposed to T Jones strain though. lol John."

What's the difference between the two types? You see,I don't know, because I'm neither Welsh nor Chinese,and I don't think I'm one of his buddies in his eyes.

Pray tell us the difference as you see it between R(ichard) Burton and T(om) Jones.I haven't a clue what that is.

In my previous posting to you,you'll see that I've made a mistake keying in.Instead of Torino,I've keyed in Turnoi,in my reply to your post.But I don't think you would have been confused by that.

Hi Foxy.
All you have to be concerned with is whether or not I'm apologising to Yuncheng IELTS. I happen to think that Ian is a nice man and a good teacher. I'm a little confused about your position but I hope I have made mine clearer. Did you or did you not advise that we should leave Ian alone and mind our own businesses? I am all for that. Yuncheng IELTS is the baddy here.The odd joke is okay.

No, that should be around the other way, I said that Yuncheng's top monitoring person thinks we are praising them. But don't worry, I expect you're like me, you write this stuff late at night after a heavy day when the odd hyphen can easily get misplaced or comma dropped. That was actually a bit of humour, Ian, I am sure you are right and top monitoring person is as bright as a button and on the ball.

Ian, what I know about you and believe is that you are a good all round sort of guy with an English wit a bit on the dry side. I am sure you think you are being totally honest when you tell us how well treated you have been. perhaps you have been fortunate in the placing that the agency has given you- also your accommodation. I don't think you actually know what life is like for the other teachers.

You said you had attended an end of year party where some 30 other ft's were grinning and happy. I bet a good proportion of these teachers were not Westerners at all but recruited from third world countries where expectations are so low that even Yuncheng IELTS can seem a pretty good little number. And of course the agency will pay them even less than you, as unfair to them as this may be.

Ian, when we all look back on our lives if we are honest we realise that we have made a big big mistake about something or other at some stage. Ian, this stage is for you.

Hi Ian,
Yes,I suspect that if you had filled that position you might well have lost your temper with one or two of your fellow foreign teachers.
I can recall one of them in my time there swearing blind that honest was pronounced without the h silent in the States.But the dictionary doesn't confirm his statement,and I later discovered that that young man wasn't even an American!Not being too easygoing,I tried to correct him,resulting in a quarrel about it.
Also,you might have been dragged into petty disputes between Chinese teaching assistants and their foreign teachers.Not easy to be a kind of go-between between the Chinese culture,and the diverse Western,Caribbean,and African cultures of the foreign teachers there.
But what has been posted previously by a colleage of yours or two makes me think that your build would have intimidated the potential troublemakers amongst the foreign teachers,significantly reducing the problems there,and,more importantly improving the quality of the teaching.

Quote from your post of 30th August in the thread entitled "Ian is an excellent teacher":

"I'm not Paul, who, if I'm correct, left the company in June,.....etc."

Obviously at that time you had some doubt as to whether or not Paul had left,by your use of the phrase "if I'm correct".And since then no-one else has posted any news re Paul's whereabouts.

Thanks for elucidating.Glad to hear also that they have finally tied the knot.

I'm sure that Paul will be at least as happy teaching somewhere in Hunan as he was in Yuncheng.What's more, his wife and daughter will surely relish the return to their roots.Great news!

ButI don't think anyone will be able to help you re the whereabouts of Lord Lucan.But you never know - maybe he's teaching in the PRC!

Hi Alex,
Perhaps poor old Paul is being blamed excessively for most foreign teachers having left the company as soon as they were able to.But perhaps not - I was told by a couple of foreign teachers who'd taught there for a long time that Paul used to participate in the negotiations when newbies were offered their contracts,during which time he went out of his way to make them accept a lowish salary from the company.
What you say about the way the company expects foreign teachers to behave,I'd go along with.But I'd say there are many other educational establishments in the PRC whose promoted Chinese staff have similar attitudes.They expect foreign teachers to adhere to the saying,when in Rome do as the Romans do,and just teach the English in the textbook as opposed to Western ideas that are alien to traditional Chinese customs and culture.So many forein teachers feel their freedom of speech and other freedoms are being compromised,and therefore depart for their homelands asap.And it's also true that by and large foreign teachers are treated just as badly,if not a little worse than their Chinese colleagues, by school bosses.
The situation might well be better if the waiban had been abroad for a spell in order to experience Western customs and culture firsthand,allowing him(or her) to realise what kind of behavior infuriates foreigners.Maybe Paul was/is not the best choice for the role of waiban for the company,a difficult one for a foreigner to take.

"Hello Foxy
Why bother to locate him? I only know Paul as a good teacher and only hope that wherever he may be he is ok. I don't share your opinion that the worst thing that can happen if you upset IELTS is the sack, although this is probably their response most of the time."

Response from Foxy:
Hello Alex,
When I was with Yuncheng IELTS,it seemed to me that Paul was in with the bricks and loving every minute of his managerial and advisory role there.What was more,he was one of only a couple of FT's who had remained there in excess of 3 years until then.So I wouldn't have expected him to have subsequently left there voluntarily.
But maybe he hasn't left IELTS at all.So far we only have Ian's unsubstantiated asumption that Paul is no longer in Yuncheng.
By the way,I agree with you that Paul's a good teacher.Ian probably is too. Having said that,it should be kept in mind that the good doctor doesn't need a good teacher as a head of FT's who's also the catalyst for the majority of his fellow FT's leaving at the earliest opportunity,ie the end of their initial contracts.
I suspect that Ian would be a less abrasive head of FT's than Paul - it's not outwith the bounds of possibility that the good doctor has already replaced Paul by him!
Sorry that you don't share my opinion re the worst thing that can happen to sb who has upset IELTS - guess we can't agree on everything!

Dear Alex,
My "inside info" came from a teaching assistant who had been assigned to a fellow foreign teacher,and susequently left to have a baby.There was also my own personal observation when my teaching assistant was bawled at down the phone line by Mr River after her disloyalty to me had given me the chance to get her ousted.Henceforth she became Paul's assistant,and I got his one in a straight one-for-one swap.
No assistant of mine has ever dared to betray the company to me,or divulge his(or her) personal employment details to me.But in the case of an errant teaching assistant identified by the company,I believe the worst possible outcome for that unfortunate employeee would be instant dismissal.
It's quite conceivable given the dodgy English levels of some of the Chinese employees of the company that the top monitor mistakenly thinks Yuncheng IELTS is being praised in this thread.Equally strange things can and will continue to happen here in the PRC!
Maybe my theory that Paul has had to move on because he has antagonised too many of his fellow foreign teachers resulting in negative postings is way off the mark.Perhaps someone can post detais of the true situation re Paul so as to clear up this mystery once and for all.

Anyone posting in this thread should be aware that it is regularly monitored by the company.One consequence of this is that there are certain categories of company employees who would face severe disciplinary action if foreign teachers post any negative aspects,even minor ones,of what has happened in their daily dealings with them.This applies mainly to the Chinese teaching assistants working for the company.

I doubt that Paul would have gotten fed up with them.Only last year he gave a speech at the Xmas supper for the company's employees during which he emphasised that those FT's present had taught well enough,and so were not history.He went on to advise them to continue working hard during the following semester in order to preserve their employment status.Needless to say,his speech caused the raising of more than a few eyebrows.It was certainly a case of him having talked shop!
As for the good doctor,I'd rate him only as one of spin,and I'm not referring to the game of cricket!

As far as Ian is aware,Paul left the company in June.But I am doubtful that Paul would do so at any time as he obviously thrives in his role there.Even so,one never knows for sure.Equally strange things have and will happen.One lives and learns!Does anyone know of Paul's current whereabouts?

Me too actually Choatle. For a start, I'm not as described by 'Sam' in the slightest. I'm not, as you stated, not suggested, a 'bully' and I certainly don't feel that I intimidate people, of any age, by my size or demeanor.
In one of your last posts you referred to me as a 'fool' twice, and from the start you have libelled me with almost every half-baked sentence you have written. I really don't have the time nor the inclination to keep on defending myself, but feel that if I cease, then you, cowardly, anonymous, self-appointed ruler of the forum, will have won. I don't think you deserve even that hollow triumph, and the best I can hope for is a Phyrric victory
I can't argue with you about facts; you deny those that you don't like and it is you my fine white-feathered friend who rewrites history. You shout loud, you shout hard, you shout until your Pamper's all messed up. I've read dozens of posts by you, all the same, all criticizing one school or another; how many places have you worked in your 50 years in China?
You ask why I want to know where you work. Because I want a job there! It must be highly paid bliss to come up to your standards.
What do you mean by 'retaliation' by the way? What on earth do you imagine I'd do? I seriously dislike people who insult me,(and my insults were very late in the day) hiding behind a nom de plume and ridiculing me as if it were their God-given right, but 'retaliation'?
If anyone cares to look back on our posts, you will see that I have never changed the very simple facts of my sorry tale. I like my job. That was all I said.
As an aside, why would you think that it's unreasonable for posters here to use the best English they can muster? 'We're not all writing a novel.' Oh please!
Can we please bring an end to this pointless thread? Can you admit that I'm who I say I am,(you have plenty of other sites to confirm this; YouTube (teacherian), Ultimate Guitar (teacherian) and Guitar For Beginners and Beyond (Ian). I'm not Paul, who, if I'm correct, left the company in June, I'm not an agent of the company, I'm not in any way coerced to reply to your diatribe, I'm just me,
Ian McAllister

No, Choatle, No, Ian is a highly intelligent and gentle Man. He does look mean bad and ugly though. I wouldn't want to mess with him and neither does Yuncheng Ielts- So, in that way they are the cowards and not he.

Hi Alex
I can tell you exactly why Ian is happy at Yuncheng IElts, because he is built like a brick-toilet-I mean, the unsavoury Mr River comes up to his knees. When Ian goes jogging and he's a bit of a keep fit fanatic the ground shakes for about 20 metres. Ian gets special treatment from that company because he looks like he will tear your head off sooner than look at you-however, the children seem to love him-bit like Kindergarten cop,but somewhat bigger than Arnold whatshisname. Sam.????? No of course thats not my name but the man is an animal and I have to work with him next term.