I did not work there but that being said my best friend at my previous job worked there for almost two years.

The accommodation remain dreadful. She told me that for a fact. Some FT's live in the equivalent of third class hotels. Others live in apartments where the heat barely functions in the winter, without washing machines, etc., etc., in truly primitive conditions. This lady was a Ph.D. on sabbatical from a university in the United States and she and her husband had been brought over especially to "upgrade" the ESL program and teaching. They left every weekend and took as much time away as they could and yet they were conscientious, hard-working, professional persons and remained so until the end of their calvary.

Linyi is a grimy oil-town with a manufacturing base. The university provided some FT's with Z visas and others were forced to exist on F visas, on L visas, etc., etc. The teachers on F visas and on L visas who were under hours were farmed out to various technical colleges, nursing schools, etc., etc. to make up the hours. Additionally, it is not considered a particularly safe city in the general scope of things.

She told me that it was a real motley lot of teachers until the end of this term -- a good handful of covert missionaries (M****ns), a good handful of American drunks (one got so drunk that one night when he came home late from his drinking he had to roll himself up the stairs to his flat - by the time he had reached his third floor landing, he passed out, and then careened back down to the second floor landing), a good handful of Europeans without degrees or some with only TEFL or CELTA (those were the ones on the F and L visas), etc., etc.

According to this kind lady, they were paid on time and they were paid overtime on time if it were worked. Other than that, they received precious little assistance from the FAO. She did say, again however, how much she actually enjoyed the students that she taught.

Strangely enough, however, many of these teachers actually stayed a second and sometimes even a third year...oh, well, go figure that one out.