My name is Owen Morris, and I am the Director Assistant of Aston English School throughout Xian and the Shaanxi province. I usually do not reply to complaints made within sites such as this, but when one of my current teachers brought the previous comment posted by Dana to my attention, I felt that on this occasion I would offer my two pence worth to the topic.

I would like to start by saying that during her time with us, Dana was indeed a very good teacher and a thoroughly nice person. I do not wish my comments to undermine hers, or indeed anyone else, as everyone has a right to their opinion. I was however surprised to read this comment, due to the fact that during her time with us this teacher seemed relatively happy here in Xian. She did a have problems with her apartment for which I apologise, but a feel that her case by no means exemplifies the school or the experiences of our other teachers. In fact, using this current term within Xian as an example, our current teachers are so satisfied with both their working and living environments, that out of 29 foreign teachers currently based in our two Aston Schools in Xian, 25 have already requested to extend their contracts for next term and beyond, 2 teachers who have happily stayed with us for over two years and are leaving but have already asked to return in the near future, and the final two are leaving simply because they are returning to higher education in their home countries. Perhaps arguments should not be based on statistics alone, but this to me does not sound like a school that is underappreciated by its staff.

I myself have been with the company for fifteen months now, and do not see myself leaving any time soon. The teaching standard is high, the students never fail to amaze me and currently every single member of teaching and management staff is a joy to work with. Again I must stress that this is my opinion and I do not intend to defunct anyone elses viewpoints. However, Danas comment that This school was a living hell for most of the foreign teaching staff. No one shed a tear when they left, is quite frankly not true.

If you are indeed considering Aston as a possible employer (whether within Xian or indeed at another of their many locations throughout China), please feel free to contact me directly (omorris@astonschool.com) with any questions; or to possibly talk directly with current teachers about their view and experiences. Again I would like to express that no company or school is perfect, and in the case of Dana she was moved into to accommodation that has subsequently been refitted due to her suggestion. But from my experience having lived and worked throughout Asia for the past four years, in my eyes virtually all aspects of AES and Aston as a company are more than satisfactory.

May I also add, while on the subject, that some postings and complaints pre 2005 were in fact valid. The good thing however about AES as company is that they recognise this with the confidence that such complaints are not valid anymore.

Thank you for your time, and I wish everyone who is currently considering moving to China in the near future all the best. It is truly is an amazing country.

Yours sincerely, Owen Morris.