"CHEERY ENGLISH" SHANGHAI
Company's ominous title says it all

This nightmare began a day before arriving when I was informed by email that I had to share a temporary apartment. Never mind that the boss "Amy" promised me a place near Xintiandi in the interview. It wasn't long before the Taiwanese head supervisor "Sean", who I was sharing the place with stumbled piss-drunk into my room in the middle of the night, urinated all over the bathroom, staggered to the foot of my bed (too drunk to notice me in his stupor) and passed out there. What a Cheery sense of welcome I got from these freaks!

Next: "I know we promised you that getting a working visa wouldn't be problem, but first you have to take a train to Hong Kong during your holiday time and obtain a visa yourself. We'll buy the ticket for you, but only only the cheapest one and don't expect us to help you out with accommodation."
"Okay," I conceded, "the other teacher's have got their visa, let me try to bear with you here. I'm sure you're doing your best."

Almost a month after arriving back: "Whoops, the company is under inspection, you have to go to the police station for an interrogation and hand over your passport for two months while they process it. Oh, and in case they ask, don't let them know your real schedule or the schools you really work at. Ta"

Shanghai's winter is miserably cold. I felt very trapped, alone, and scared. The schedule, (for they like to squeeze every minute of the agreed upon hours out of their waijiao and even more if you are unlucky enough to be Chinese) plus the 10 or so hours spent in transit 6 days a week, left me physically and mentally exhausted (no teaching assistant for me either). I think these factors may have been the cause of my health deterioration. I won't go into details, it was strange, sporadic, dragged on and on, and very painful.

I spent the next month dragging myself to classes, calling in sick, and going in and out of hospitals. Spending a decent amount on tests and useless, expensive drugs. It was hard for the company to get a replacement teacher when I was sick and obviously they were not happy with me. Nevermind the doctors who laughed at me for complaining of 'headaches' and a rapidly beating heart, then writing illegible notes on purpose to escape the possible charge of negligism if ever I was to die.

More than once when I told the school I couldn't teach: "You can't be sick, we need you to teach"
"I've had a fourteen hour migraine and my heart is beating at 180 bpm for no reason, I think I'm dying."
"What time will you get to your class?"

Around this time I got my passport back. With a soon to expire travel visa inside. Why did we go through all of that and not follow through for the working visa? Try as I might to get an answer it would not be granted.

I had had it. I was done caring about their opinion of me or teaching their classes. I was only worried for my health. I had good reason to believe something in my house was making me sick and wanted to get out. I had a Chinese friend in the next province over who was willing to take care of me (also a bit warmer there). I called up the company and spoke to the highest ranking person I could; "Sally" (been a Taiwan company, the bosses, Amy especially, are often not around, which is another cause of serious miscommunication). I told her that I needed to get away for at least five days to get well. She said ok but she needed to call Amy and ask her. You do that I said, but I'm leaving, and I did.

I went to my friend's house, took my medicine, did nothing, rested, started feeling good again for the first time in a long time. I came back to work on Christmas day. That evening I was called into the office and told I was fired (bah humbug). The command had come from Amy but she was in Taiwan. The acting boss "Alex" talked to me, looked at all my medical documents and told me he believed me. He said they would pay my salary plus the 7000 rmb travel allowance as severance. I should have taken the money and left right then. But I told them I would finish out the month while they found another teacher. I was angry. I told them they should pay for my next ticket to HK as my visa was about to expire and I felt they were responsible. I continued taking classes as normal. I was to wait for Amy to come back from Taiwan so I could 'talk' to her about all this.

After waiting for Amy more than a week I finally got to have a sitdown. She began by unleashing a torrent of accusations on me that were really surprising. Translated by someone of course. For although she is the head of an English education company that relies on native speakers, she cannot speak English herself (surprise).
Apparently I had been badmouthing the company to the other waijiao, funny, since I rarely even had any contact with the other teachers. Also, I had gone away to the other province to 'play'. I was not sick at all and the other teachers hated me too because obviously I was faking sickness and they had had to cover for me. I hadn't even told the company that I needed time off and had just left without a word.

I was dumbstruck, this woman had no idea, all her information reached her second and third hand. I tried to defend myself speaking through the translator. Pointless; Amy was in a fury. I sat there and listened to her call me names in Chinese.

The salary for the time I worked would not be paid. My deposits (close to 2000 rmb) would not be returned. My travel visa would expire in 4 days and I would have to take care of myself. I was DREAMING if I expected any kind of severance (even though that's in the contract too). On top of that, she proclaimed that I owed THEM 5000 rmb for 'breaking' the terms of the contract and I could earn it off by working by the hour. Never mind that they never provided a real visa or residency permit like the contract stipulates they must. Never mind that Amy refused to point out exactly how being ill breaks the contract. I'm the miserable little person that caused trouble for her and I would surely pay!

Penniless, and in China on a rapidly expiring tourist visa I felt powerless to fight them. I visited my embassy but basically they told me that unless I had the bucks to hire a lawyer I couldn't really do anything. Even going to the labor bureau would be useless in a country where accountability is not the norm.

Now, a discerning person might believe that I'm just another worthless ESL teacher exaggerating myself as the victim here. Certainly those kinds are out there. But I've been in China nearly 3 years and my record speaks for itself. While I have had the displeasure of coming into contact with these kinds of dictators before, my overall experience in China has been extremely positive. Before making the huge mistake of getting into bed with these freaks I worked for a year in a language center and never once had a problem. Since my humiliating conclusion with Cheery I've been working for a local language center here in Shanghai and they've been nothing short of outstanding. Both of these centers have been extremely happy with my performance and continue to offer me more work.

Yes. I was a complete fool to stay with Cheery as long as I did and I will always regret it. Cheery preys on well-meaning but inexperienced young people, working them like dogs and paying them peanuts. Please, if you have any dignity at all; STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS MORBID ESTABLISHMENT.