I felt the need to respond to the most recent comments made by Simon with regards to Maple International School here in Xi'an. In addition to this post I would have added my original rebuttal to the review Blue Sky made if I knew how to attach my comments there. Any help from management or regular posters as to how to accomplish this would be appreciated.
With regards to your comments, Simon of course "Xianren Teacher" is not my name. It is a handle I chose which accurately represents who I am, a local ESL teacher here in Xi'an.
I am willing to take your comments with regards to Blue Sky at face value. Happy to hear you have had dealings with them, and you are satisfied with the result.
But then so too should you be willing to take my comments regarding Maple at face value.
Beyond that to those of you interested, as a result of Blue Sky's comments I recently made a point of sitting down and having dinner with the 3 of the full time teachers currently employed at Maple. We discussed the voracity of the original complaints made by Blue Sky. I asked whether they had experienced problems in any of the areas mentioned. Unsurprisingly none indicated they had. All three were satisfied with the condition of their apartments, pay, and other conditions set forth in their contracts.
In addition I recently made a point of visiting the school. It was in a newer building, well laid out, with very nice classrooms. The resources available to teachers were more than adequate. I found the Chinese support staff to be proficient in English, and extremely helpful. I was also allowed to sit in on a few classes and found them enjoyable, and well managed. Bottom line, a very pleasant overall experience.
So who are you going to believe? Simon who knows absolutely nothing about the school being impugned, or someone who has first hand knowledge of this school? Someone who has no axe to grind, and absolutely nothing to gain by taking the time out of my busy schedule to post here. Simply trying to IMO set the record straight.
Simon also mentions numerous other complaints being made about them. If he is going to allege that there have been other complaints, it certainly would have made sense to post links to those sites which contain said complaints.
Before closing, although I doubt it will satisfy Simon, I would add that my E-Mail addy is one that I have had since G-Mail was in Beta. Simon, they are all generic, and disposable, including your's. I happen to like mine. and at this point you'd probably be hard pressed to get anything like it from google.
To the rest of you, again I would urge you to take anything negative said about Maple with a grain of salt. You are welcome to contact me directly through my E-Mail with any further comments or questions.

Best Wishes