I am in full agreement with the previous post; we should keep this forum dedicated to warning future teachers about the horrible and degrading experience that is St. John's English School in Zhoushan, China.

I reviewed every single claim about St. John's English School on this forum... and EVERY SINGLE THING SAID ABOUT THIS SCHOOL IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!! In fact, I would say that some of the criticisms against this school are a little bit under-emphasized! I cannot even begin to describe how horrible my time was at St. Johns English School.

Let's start with Jake (the owner of the school) and Cherry (Jake's girlfriend). Jake's consciousness is equivalent to that of a 5 year old boy. He is selfish, greedy, absent-minded, unreasonable, and irresponsible to name just a few of his reprehensible qualities. When working for Jake it is necessary to watch your back at all times. This means that you must always review your bank statement when money is deposited into your account because each time there is almost a 100% chance that a significant amount will be missing (however it really doesn't achieve anything because when you question him about the missing sum of money he will either 1) give you a ridiculous answer intended to steer you away from the topic or 2) he will become very angry).

To say that jake is a liar is an understatement. Jake is a pathological liar who would lie to you about the color of the sky if you asked him if it was blue. Get the point? I also learned very quickly that I could not trust a single word that came out of Jake's mouth. Jake does not differentiate between serious lies that could have potentially serious consequences or everyday white lies - he constantly tells them all.

Jake is the most unreliable man that I have ever met. When he is due to pick you up in 10 minutes you are guaranteed to still be waiting for him an hour and a half later.

Next to Bernard Madoff, Jake is the most unethical business man in the world. His business practices include committing identity theft in order to obtain underage or unqualified teachers working visas (he uses passport numbers, names, and other forms of extremely sensitive identification documents of teachers who have applied to work at the school, but have not ended up working for St. John's, to obtain working visas for teachers who are too young to work or who have no degree, etc.), forging fake documents such as passports and degrees, and exploiting his extensive government personnel friendships in order to circumvent laws and regulations.

Jake is never satisfied with any of his teachers and he does indeed blame every single little thing that goes wrong on his teachers. It does not matter how ridiculous his logic is or how diplomatic you are when dealing with jake; he is convinced that he is always right and that his logic is impenetrable. He is, without a doubt, the most difficult man to reason with or even talk to about anything.

Just one more interesting fact about Jake: Jake has a side business importing Filipino women into china. Jake is very secretive about this and reluctant to discuss it which leads me to wonder what exactly he is importing them for. Prostitution? I don't know... you decide.

Jake's girlfriend Cherry is a terribly cruel and manipulative individual. Her consciousness is equivalent to that of a starved, caged animal; aggressive and merciless. She has an unparalleled ability to publicly degrade teachers and assistants to the point of making a grown man cry. Her mere presence in the office is enough to send a chill up anyone's spine. I have never spoken with another teacher or assistant who has not strived to avoid her at all costs, least she should throw one of her constant fits and fall into a rage, because when this happens nobody is safe.

Please be aware that the contract that you sign detailing everything from your salary to your living conditions while working for St. John's English School is not worth the paper it is written on. Furthermore, please be aware that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It is very true that Jake becomes extremely angry when you bring up the subject of the contract and he does indeed yell things such as "this is not your country. Contracts do not matter here." You will undoubtedly work many more hours than stated in your contract, not receive as many days off per week (if any!), and not be provided the salary or accommodations described in your contract.

The living conditions provided for the teachers are, to say the least, disturbing. If you plan on living in the house provided for the teachers you had better bring your A-game because the roaches fight back. [In the house] the summers are unbearably hot and the winters are freezing cold (due to the fact that most of the air conditioners do not work). Water leaks from the ceiling, there is mold growing on almost every surface possible inside the house, most of the toilets don't work, the showers consist of small nozzles on the side of the bathroom wall, you are very lucky to have a hot shower (because the water heater is older than I am), the neighbors will hate you (because they are all elderly and from generations that inherently despise foreigners), people make noise as they dig through your trash at 3 AM, and there is even what appears to be blood spatter on the walls in the living room and bathrooms (no I am not joking). Additionally, I would never even consider cooking in the kitchen or sitting on the couches or chairs, both of which are completely saturated with insects and mold.

I hope that my warnings have given you, the reader, a clear picture of what it is like to work at St. John's english School in Zhoushan. Please know that everything I have stated above is the absolute truth and that I am only posting this in the hope that some other individual does not have to suffer through what I did while working for St. John's English School. PLEASE, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ST. JOHN'S ENGLISH SCHOOL.

Have a nice day.