DEAR MR. MAD,

GADZOOKS AND LITTLE FISHES, MAN, you sound just like a #@#k*&g UNION ORGANIZER, albeit there are some mighty veracious lines in your epic post of the 27th. Your synopsis of the associated problems of foreign "EFL guests" of the PRC is pretty much on target ... and then some! I, too, got cheated by the hired "middle man" -- in this case, a fellow Yank -- and wound up with both salary and accompanying conditions at least 99% different from what was originally agreed upon here in the States. But, Man, even RMB 6,000 wouldn't come close to satisfying MY monthly needs! I no longer smoke (thank 'The Big Genie in the Sky'),
B-U-T I love my Starbuck coffee much too much, not to mention eating at Schlotsky's Deli, Big Mac's, and The Colonel's whenever possible! That's precisely why I'm not in China any longer! But, Mad One, I can empathize with YOUR needs and the necessity of mutual understanding amongst EFL teachers, if not "union," on a psychological level. Albeit, I lost my shirt during my venture to China, it does not prevent me from empathizing with the plight of those who have bravely chosen to tough it out -- certainly NOT for the financial rewards, but for the aesthetic values in helping to bring linguistic facility to a country striving to be internationally communicative.

Luck and love to all,
Ellis

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> Dear Foreign teachers, EFL employers, and any random surfers who read
> this message:

> I regret choosing such a morbid subject, but indeed, there is none
> best describing what we are really experiencing in today's EFL world.
> Everything we are complaining about is our own fault, and let's just,
> for the argument's sake take a net moment and analyze what's been
> done so far:

> First, someone offers us a nice place to post message and all we come
> up with is a nasty idea to mislead others so they don't come to get
> the job out of your hands.

> Then, someone criticizes you and it leads to subtle geographic
> clashes. Yanks battering Brits, Brits posing as Canadians, Blacks
> rephrasing themselves as non-whites (well if you're black, you're
> black, what is the point of adding a white word to yourself? I swear
> to God, if I were black, I would have preferred to be called a black
> man. So what the hell?)

> We are wasting our internet space, and one day, like water and the
> environment, we could possibly be asked to save this space. Don't get
> me wrong, but I am not misleading you. The internet has grown faster
> than diseases. With this waste, comes the folly: Everyone has misled
> everyone else, insults have taken place and more often than not, and
> incredible amounts of time has been wasted on nothing.

> What am I getting at? We are not united. EFL teachers are not united
> and this is the main reason you get screwed by your employer, be he
> Chinese or not. They know you do not like each other. They know you
> hate my country and I hate your accent. They know it, and are taking
> advantage of it.

> With what is going on, employers hire a foreign middle man to cheat
> another foreigner. I was being had by one American once. Airfare is
> not paid, salary is advertised per hours but not enough hours are
> provided. In another scenario, they offer you one contract and change
> it when you arrive. Likewise, some schools pay different salaries to
> a group of foreign teachers. There are thousands of issues, ranging
> from losing your mobile phone while squatting over the oriental
> toilet, to having spent days without food or money because the school
> vanished into thin air. All sorts of problems. Really.

> But whose fault is it anyway? Ours. As I pointed out, foreigners are
> not united here and they still have their moronic clashes along with
> them. We also do not do our homework correctly and just jump into the
> next available flight to Shanghai. What you see in movies, read in
> books or in forums in this case is never the same as the reality.
> Having been fooled by Jackie Cheung's movies where all you see is
> glittering high rise towers and enough food and wine to spill on
> every scene of action, you forget that the Mainland is still
> producing rice to feed the hungry babies who will be the future
> generation of the PRC. Maybe you read ambitious articles about the 9%
> growth of the Chinese economy, but then America is also world's super
> power and economic Giant. Why then, there are so many hungry people
> over there? We never prepared ourselves for the reality and when we
> arrived, we started bashing at each other.

> I almost laughed to death when everytime I see the dejavuistic
> effects of some African guy (or a white guy posing as one) posting a
> poorly written message on boards looking for jobs and screaming for
> racism, when, some white guys patronizingly support him, other attack
> him, or her, and the story goes on and on from board to board.
> Please, we have to stop this circus. It is getting ridiculous now.

> finally, I am no regular poster to any forum, but I was compelled to
> write about living costs in China, in comparison to salaries. We have
> another issue here. Some of you made it sound like it was not worth
> your efforts while some others "mathed" out a comparison
> with Western salaries and indicated that the one you get in China was
> better.

> Honestly, it depends on what kind of a person you are, what salary
> you get and under what circumstances you live.

> For an average Man Jack, or a woman if I may, 2000 yuan is the
> adequate enough to live on, but not live like a king [sic..] as some
> advertisements post. This does not include clothing, lesson plan
> preparation and hobbies. I'd say, it would fall between a monthly
> 2000-3000 yuan to have a comfortable lifestyle in China, while it
> would take around 6000 yuan/month to live it up like a prince, if not
> a king. WE assume the above costs under the condition that you do not
> live in the South, East or large, expensive cities. For these, add up
> 1500-3000 yuan additionally, provided your accommodation is provided
> for free.

> Now, to clarify the above, I will give you my own example. I don't
> smoke or drink, but I eat a lot. I also don't shop often. My monthly
> expenses fall in the range of 1500 yuan monthly.

> Chinese schools that pay any amount less than 5000 yuan/month per 18
> hours a week are simply not worth your while. What would you do
> teaching your ass off, saving only 10000 yuan/year? Forget about the
> bullshit that they say, ooooh my father only gets 400 yuan per month,
> and then you see them listen to an Mp3, and have KFC- which, I
> confess, I cannot afford to have everyday under my current salary of
> 4500 yuan/month.

> And, yes, Chinese teachers, some of my students who have become now,
> are getting somewhere between 2000-3000 yuan/month for nearly half
> the work I do, plus, they are local, plus, they do not have to deal
> with issues arising by living in a foreign country, plus they are
> allowed to freely moonlight.

> Now, dear friends, let's unite on this forum and truly help each
> other.
> Again, I know my writing may come under verbal threats, which I have
> already anticipated.

> Thanks all,

> The Mad Man