Paul left the company some time in 2009, so I believe. I've no doubt that each and every Western and African Yuncheng compound inhabitant thought good riddance at that time. Paul was the company's flagship who was sent to one of the city's key senior high schools. There is a story that he was teaching a class there how Joe public in the West would go through a doctor who would proscribe medicine before it could be obtained from a drug store. An attentive student informed Paul he couldn't find 'proscribe' in his dictionary. Paul told him to invest in a better dictionary! Nope, Paul was not qualified as an EFL teacher, but he was a good pretender and a notorious drinker, of that there was no doubt.

I've lived in the compound for a few days at a time in the last couple of years before being sent to backwaters. Mr River distrusts foreigners because some of them don't return and didn't bother to inform him of that in advance. Then he wouldn't have sufficient time to organize replacements. So, he asks us all to return earlier than necessary. Also, if a client school wants rid of one of Mr River's 30-strong multinational assortment of foreign teachers, Mr River will recruit a replacement fast, and let him/her lie in waiting in the compound. Come Friday, the foreign teacher who had seriously blotted his copybook in the eyes of the client school will be fired after his/her last class of the day, and be out of Yuncheng or its counties the following day. Sunday will see the arrival of his/her replacement, escorted there by a t/a.

Taffy's main problem is that he has no university degree, so getting a Foreign Expert's Certificate would be a problem. Without that, a Z visa cannot be issued. Yuncheng is a haven for those like Taffy who wish to teach in the public sector. His best bet is to avoid Yuncheng city and instead insist on Mr R arranging a backwater placement. Generally speaking, a newbie foreign teacher sent to a county will have a very good chance of seeing out his contract and getting his air fare allowance of 7,000 RMB as a result. His t/a will likely be a real crawler to the school as her English will be substandard. That's why she's in the county! So, she'll find it hard to nitpick the Welshman! Salary-wise, 4,500 a month is acceptable in a county for a newbie who has no degree and is a white native speaker or a European. Africans with poor English will accept 4,000 RMB. I'm quoting those figures for 16 lessons/week. Such foreigners must be willing to work without a Z visa, and should arrive with money as a back-up if things turn pear-shaped, say 15,000 RMB or its equivalent, which will be adequate to cover deportation expenses or the return home if dismissed by the client school.

Bear in mind that t/a's can help the teacher teach without him/her getting exhausted. Also that Mr R won't pay holiday pay for the mid-contract break during a 10 month contract. But when county students do mid-term and end-of term exams, you'll get away with two light weeks, 8 classes/week or less, while getting your full salary, which also applies to all local and national holidays. County schools are public and tend to be average academicallywith a complement of mainly lazy teaching staff. Life is slow-paced there. Finally, it appears that Filipinos and Filipinas aren't hired by Yuncheng IELTS School!