Quite so....One needs only to check the archives here to find that the most prolific contributors are naysayers and whiners. Moreover, you'll see that their rants, more often than not presented with poor grammar (pretend teachers), reveal their lack of sophistication and ability to cope outside of the comforts of their own familiar environs. There are even some (see Silverboy) whose lack of qualifications led to one failure after another as he tried to navigate the EFL waters while at the same time condemning the country that was hosting him. Of course he, and many others like him, had no real intention of improving their non existing teaching skills, as their real motivation for coming to China had more to do with what they hoped to find outside of the classroom; that is, what they could get out of the night life and women they hoped would be all ga ga over them even though they failed miserably at home in that regard.

Then of course there are the educated ones such as Turnoi who will always take the side of SB and other naysayers simply because he had a few bad experiences of his own in China.

Well, such is life. There will always be those who embrace a challenge and always those who will run away from it.

Me? Well, I taught for seven years in China after teaching for many years in America. There were some real challenges - no doubt about it; but finding good, kind and caring people was not one of those challenge. Moreover, though it's been three years since I left China, I still communicate with several of my students as well as Chinese colleagues and friends who made my life there less strenuous than it could have been. All in all it was a fantastic experience that I would recommend to anyone. Of course naysayers and whiners, SB and his ilk, apparently not having developed coping skills in their lives, should really have never made the journey - they no doubt did more harm in China than good, and especially so in terms of how Chinese students and the average citizen view whiny Westerners.