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[milo baggins]

Well, here's the promised conclusion of the school situation:

Saturday, 30 December 2006

8:00 am
I had my account of the past few weeks events prepared and in hand. I had thought out my strategy as well as possible. It certainly was tenuous. I said goodbye to Amy. The last couple of days had been rough ones between me and her, and though we had worked things through, I was still angry at the school for creating this tension between us.
Portfolio in hand, I walked out of the apartment. It was filled with the many pages I had typed up, different things covering different contingencies. Primary among them was the four page document which included my account and my expectations: demands, if you will.

Last August, I was hired to teach in China for a year. The organization that hired me was the US-China Center for Education and Culture Exchange (the USCC). When I was interviewed for the position, I made it clear that I had no college degree and no teacher�s certificate. I told them I had taught a number of adult classes in the past in a � lay � capacity. When I arrived at the school in Changle, I was asked what university I had gone to. I told them I had not gone to a university. Nothing was said about this at that time.
My contract stated that I was responsible for teaching up to 20 classes a week. After being there about a month, I was asked to be in my office when I was not actually teaching. The school thought that I should be available to students that wanted to see me for extra help. I wrote a memo saying that I was willing to do so for the students' sake, but that it was voluntary time given since I was not being compensated for it. A few weeks went by and not one student ever came to the office.
One day, a student came to me and asked if he could meet with me in my office for extra help with his English. I asked him to give me his name and class. I brought that information to one of the contact teachers who was a representative for the school director and I was told that the students were not allowed to see me in my office. I was not happy about the dishonesty. I contacted the USCC and told them about it and said that I did not wish to stay in the office during my non-class time. The representative there contacted the school. She then told me that she had spoken to the school and there should be no problem about it. So after that I stayed in my apartment during non-class time. Nothing was said about that by the school.
Near the end of November, I was told that I would no longer be teaching after the middle of December (my contract was specifically through the end of January). I was told that the students needed to prepare for exams and that this was the usual procedure for the school in regard to foreign teachers, that no foreign teacher taught beyond the middle of December. I called and asked the representative of the USCC about this, and she knew nothing about it. She said that this was the only school that she had ever heard of with such a procedure. I asked the contact teachers if the school intended to honor the contract and if I would be paid. I asked that question a few times and I never received an answer.
I finally wrote a letter saying the if they paid me what they owed me through the end of the contract, then I would accept RMB 1,000 less than the total amount owed and I would leave the apartment early so that they would not have heating and electric costs (I had been told that the apartment was for the use of foreign teachers only and was vacant when there were none). I was told later that the director and the headmaster were angry when they read my letter, and that since I would not be teaching, they did not owe me anything. I was further told that since I did not have a college degree, the contract was no good. Understand that they knew at the time they signed the contract that I had no college degree. And understand that I was always expected to follow the contract. It was only when they did not want to follow the contract that, suddenly, it was no good. Further, if it is their normal practice to have foreign teachers teach only until the middle of December, then why did they sign a contract that they wrote that is good through January? In essence, they were claiming that they had a history of breaking contracts with foreign teachers.
I was told that I would be paid for the time I had taught in December, but that it would be less than I was due. My last day of actual teaching was December 8th, but I had been told that the week of December 11-15 would be my last week of teaching. I spent time during the weekend preparing for that week's instruction and showed up for work Monday morning as instructed, at which time I was informed that my services were no longer necessary. That morning, December 11th, I was told that I would no longer be teaching. Two days later, I was told that I would be paid only for the five days I taught: December 4-8 (somehow, they left out December 1st.) According to previous practice, I should be paid for December 1-11. It was obvious that the school was trying to pay me as little as possible.
The school asked when I would be out of the apartment. I said I would leave as soon as the matter was resolved. They have said that they will pay me my �final amount� when I am leaving, and have hinted about deductions for heat and electric, etc.
In regard to the school, I have done all that I was supposed to do according to the contract. After one month of teaching, they brought me a revised contract, and we signed that. Before signing that contract, I asked them to insert a paragraph stating that my performance as a teacher up to that point was satisfactory. They did this and assured me that they were indeed satisfied. They have not brought up any complaints about my performance as a teacher at any time.
In a recent email from the USCC representative, I was told that the usual fine for a broken contract in my situation was $500 - 2,000. I had asked the school for RMB 6000 - 1000 less than I was owed for December and January. The representative asked if I would accept the minimum penalty from the school ($500, or about RMB 4000).
I said that I would accept the $500 as a penalty if the school would also pay me what I was owed for the teaching I did in December. The last day I reported for work as directed by the school was December 11th, so I should be paid for those 11 days according to the contract. That comes to RMB1240, which when added to the penalty would come to a little less than RMB 5200.
The representative attempted to contact the director of the school to speak with him about the matter and was told that he was away from the school and wouldn�t be back for three days. After three days she tried again and was told he wouldn�t be back until next week. I called a teacher at the school that I knew and he admitted that the director was there and had been there all week. So the director, and the school, had been lying to us.
If a student lies, or cheats, or steals, he is punished. There is a penalty of some kind. The purpose of the penalty is to convey to him and to all those around him that the wrong he did has significance, and that there are consequences for those who do wrong.
If a teacher lies, or cheats, or steals, he is also penalized, but, since he is of higher status and greater maturity, he is also under a higher standard. Therefore his punishment is greater than that of the student because the wrong is greater.
If an administrator lies, or cheats, or steals, he has done great wrong. Since he is of high standing in his community, his wrong not only damages whoever or whatever he did wrong to, but it also damages the reputation of the entire community that he is a representative of.
The director and the headmaster of this school have behaved very unethically. They are attempting to cheat me out of the money they promised me. They have lied about the director not being at the school. This was cowardly of them, but though they have attempted to hide from the issue, at least it is an indication that perhaps they know that they have done wrong. Perhaps their conscience is active to some degree, at least. Perhaps they are capable of feeling some shame about what they have done. I hope so.

To sum up:
1) The school broke the contract. They wrote the contract. They made promises to me. They broke their word.
2) The school additionally is trying to cheat me out of money that they owe me.
3) When the school was contacted by representatives of the USCC, they lied and said the director was not there, when in fact he was.
4) The school has treated me like I am worthless and deserving of no consideration at all.

The school has behaved very unethically, therefore:
A) For breaking the contract, the school shall pay the minimum penalty required, which is $500.
B) For unethical behavior, including lying, cheating and stealing, I expect the school to pay an additional penalty of $500.
C) In addition to the penalties, I expect the amount I am due for December 1-11, that amount being RMB 1240.
D) The school shall also reimburse me the money they promised me for the cookpot which I purchased on their behalf for the apartment (RMB180).
According to a representative of the Bank of China on December 25th, $1,000 is exchanged for RMB 7825. So the total amount due to me from the school is RMB 9245. I will not accept any charges or deductions. I will leave Changle within 24 hours of receiving the correct amount.

I wish to state that my experience has not been all bad. The USCC and the school were both very helpful to me at the beginning of my stay. I have very much enjoyed the class times with the students.
I am 51 years old, and have had a significant amount of time teaching classes to adults. This teaching experience was what was accepted by the USCC in lieu of a college degree. Again, I had no idea that there would be any problem or legal question in that regard. It might be of some interest that part of the teaching that I did was � dealing with ethical questions �.
As a final note, I wish to add that to me, it is not the contract which is most important. What is most important is the word of a person. If the word of a person is not good, then there is no honor, and they cannot be trusted. There is always room for discussion, renegotiation, and change, but there must be honor, or all contracts agreements are meaningless. It is sad to me that the students that I have come to appreciate so much are under the direction of men of such poor moral character.


It was a cold walk to the school, five minutes exactly from apartment to where my office had been. I headed up the stairs to the fourth floor, where I found teacher Xin, one of the two teachers who had often spoken on behalf of the director to me.
I asked him if he would come and translate between the headmaster and myself. We started down the stairs and he stopped and went back for his jacket. I allowed enough time to be sure that he was making a phone call and started down again. Once downstairs, I headed outside and across the courtyard towards the administration building.
From the other direction, the director was coming. He gestured and we went back to the first building and into my old office. Xin translating, he wanted to know what I wanted. I said I came to speak to the headmaster. He wanted to know what I wanted to say, and I said I would tell the headmaster that. He said the headmaster was in a meeting and wouldn�t be available until later in the day. I said I would wait for him then. We went back and forth a while with this, and I finally got up and said I was going to the headmaster�s office.
Now I had never met the headmaster, and I had no idea where his office was. I asked a couple of people, and one pointed upstairs. I made my way to the second floor and started opening doors. At the second one, I saw a very nice office, a likely candidate for a headmaster�s office. �To each according to his need�, went the communistic creed. Not surprisingly, headmasters needed a larger office and nicer furniture. I sat on the couch and waited.
Shortly thereafter, a portly gentleman walked in, looked surprised, and after a brief pause walked to his desk and made a call. After a few minutes, a lady teacher came in and sat by me. She explained that this was not the headmaster I was looking for, but the �wives� (that�s what it sounded like, anyway) headmaster. It might have been �wise�, but that would have been just too funny.
She asked me to come to the waiting room, where we could all talk. I said I would be happy to go to the correct headmaster�s office and wait, but otherwise I would stay where I was. She said the headmaster was gone for several days. I said that was interesting, as the director had said he was in a meeting, but that I wasn�t surprised, as the truth wasn�t really �big� around there.
I also said that I thought the headmaster was a coward.
After she left, and as headmaster 2 had also gone, I made my way to his computer to see if I could access my email. I couldn�t get it started up, and when he returned, looking surprised to see me at his desk, I made some gestures about what I was doing that made no sense to him, turned it off and went back to the couch.
Another teacher that I had known from before came in and also asked me to come to the waiting room. I told him the same thing I had told the first. He went with the �meeting� story and said that the headmaster would not be available until the morning. Why didn�t I return to my apartment and perhaps they would be able to make an appointment with me in the morning. (I now understand why �maybe� and �perhaps� are used in nearly every sentence.) I said that I would wait there until the morning. He said I would get tired. I said I would sleep. He smiled.
He left, and as headmaster 2 had also left again, I took my laptop to his desk and tried to connect it to the Internet. I got on the web, but couldn�t get to my email. He came in again and we smiled at each other. He waited while I fiddled for a couple of minutes, then got off and back to the couch.
Two other teachers came in, Xin and Bang Min. Bang Min I considered a friend and was the only person at the school that I trusted completely to tell me the truth. They were concerned that this all might have a bad ending. I said it could get a lot worse. I said that I was mad. I said, �I do not get mad easily, and it is rare that I get mad, but I�m mad now. I�m pissed off.� I added that I had no respect for the headmaster or the director.
In the meantime, my wife, Amy, was back in the apartment. A couple of teachers went to the apartment to talk to her and see if she might be of some help in the situation. She said that we had argued the day before and she did not know what was going on. She cried a bit. They asked if she thought I might accept 7000 yuan and she said she thought I might. Later, when she gave me that account, she was so proud of herself, and said that we were good partners. I told her I thought so, too.
Some time later, the lady teacher returned and said that, after many attempts to reach him, they had finally contacted the headmaster and he had returned from his meeting to see me. Would I please come to the waiting room? I said that I would wait there and that the headmaster could come meet me where I was. She said, �But the headmaster always meets his friends in the meeting room.� I looked her in the eye, and said, �I am not the headmaster�s friend.�
At about 11:30, the headmaster walked in, all affable, followed by the director and some teachers. They had all read my document. They expressed that much of what I had believed was a misunderstanding (some of it was). I said, the bottom line is that they tried to cheat me (which was true, though they unsuccessfully tried to cloud that issue.)
I was told that they had a number of students who had said that they could not understand my English. I said that some of the students couldn�t understand English no matter how slowly or clearly it was spoken. I added that there were some teachers who taught English at the school who I could not understand when they spoke English. They had no response to that.
They offered me one month�s pay: 3500 yuan (about $425). After some discussion, I said that I would accept either 5000 yuan and a letter of apology or 7000 yuan without the letter. They went to lunch. The teacher brought me some Chinese rolls with vegetable filling and I had one. Amy briefly stopped by too, to see if I had gotten any lunch.
After lunch, one of the teachers came back alone and said that they had agreed the pay the 5000 yuan if I would take it. I asked about the letter of apology, and he said, �That will not be necessary.� I thought about it for a bit, and said I would accept it. He told me that they would like me to sign a paper saying that the school was no longer responsible for me in any way, and I responded, �That will not be necessary.� He smiled. I was asked to come downstairs to get the money and sign for it. I said they could bring it to me. They brought it. They also agreed to drive us to the train station in Weifang.
Before all was said and done, four different teachers had told me that none of the teachers at the school liked the headmaster, that he had treated them much as he had treated me, and that they were pretty much behind me. So it was rather significant that as the teacher and I stood outside waiting for the driver, he pointed upstairs. I looked up and saw a couple of lady teachers at the window. I looked back at him and he said, �She saluted you.� I looked back up, smiled, and waved.

This account is dedicated to my wife, Amy (Shi Jin), whose support and encouragement through this time was invaluable; and to Bang Min, a good man, an honorable man, and a friend.

[jeffinflorida]

Good post. Not sure if it was a happy ending or not.

Kinda made me thought you an Amy were driving off the cliff into a canyan at a high rate of speed.

I could picture the sad but fast paced music in the background.

good luck to you and Amy....

[clark.w.griswald]

Good to hear that you got a pretty good outcome. Hopefully you will have a chance to take your wife somewhere special as it seems that she is a big part of the outcome here.

Out of curiosity, will you be returning the money to Malsol that he gave you in your time of need? I understand that this was not something that he requested but it might be a nice thing to do and would enable him to help others when they are in need like you were.

[Steppenwolf]

It would have been a far more impressive outcome had you succeeded in getting them to write an APLOGY as asked for...such apologies are nver signed by Chinese employersd, and I repeat here NEVER!

[milo baggins]

Well, you�d think what I went through in Changle would be enough, don�t ya? Obviously not. In the words of Paul Harvey, here�s The Rest of the Story:

When I left America for China, I was told by the organization that hired me (the USCC) that I had to purchase my own ticket. This was to make sure that I actually used the money to get there. I was told that I would be reimbursed within a month of arriving at the school. Well, once I arrived, they had me send my �ticket� to them. Once they got it, they said it was not adequate for governmental records, as it was a �e-ticket� (basically just an email confirmation). We went back and forth with that and contacted the travel agent and all, but couldn�t get an �official� ticket. I still haven�t got the promised reimbursement. Understand now, that I got the ticket through the travel agent that they directed me to and whom they had used a lot previously. So I followed their directions exactly and then was treated as if I had done something wrong.
Secondly, I was repeatedly told by the USCC that I would get paid. More than once I was told �not to worry�. Later I was told that there was nothing they could do and I should take the school to court. The director of the USCC had told me on two different occasions that he would get ahold of the director. When I called him after the first promised date, he hadn�t called yet. When I called him after the second date, he said he had been �too busy�. He sounded a bit testy. That was about a month ago, and since then he has apparently been �too busy� to call me or email me at all. As previously related, I finally dealt with the school situation myself.
I was also told that my train ticket from Changle to Nanning would be paid for by them. I have not received anything there, not has any attempt been made to contact me or return my emails.
So� it looks like I've been abandoned. My plan at this point is to return to America as soon as possible, then go back to work as an electrician. I�ve been told by a friend in the industry that there is plenty of work now, so I should be able to keep busy at that. I got a ticket from Shanghai to San Francisco �reserved� but not paid for. I have enough funds to get to Shanghai, but that�s about it. The ticket is $798. If I don't get this flight back to America, then I will soon be out of resources.
The money from Malsol is still in the bank account. To be used only as a last resort.
The driving off the edge of the cliff image seems appropriate.
I've had a lot of difficulty accessing and posting to this site. Will be in touch as I am able.

[poopsicola]

You mean you'd like someone to send you more money - to be used as a last resort, of course.

Have you tried praying for money? The nuns used to tell me of a poor person who prayed for money and the following morning huge amounts of money appeared in an unmarked envelope in the letter box. This went on for years apparently. It sounds as if it could be worth a try.

I'd sent you money myself but I'm a Hindu.

[jeffinflorida]

[vikdk]

[TravellingAround]

[milo baggins]

The last post I made was taken from a letter sent to friends and family. I did not mean to seek any funds from the contributors of this site.
In response to one of the posts, this: When I came to China, the organization that hired me said they would pay my way to China. If I stayed for the full year, they would pay my way home. In addition, they said they would pay my travelling costs between positions (first term in one school and second term in another). I was told that I would have to buy the ticket to China and would be reimbursed when I got to my first school. That never happened. I explained the details of that in an earlier post. I got married while here, which involved some expense. My wife had some illness, which took some funds. Other expenses also came up. We lived very frugally, and my wife proved to be a wonderful cook with the most meager of ingredients.
The 1000 yuan Malsol gave us is still in the bank. My fare home is paid for and I leave on Friday for California. From there I will work to bring my wife and her daughter to the States as soon as possible. Malsol's money will help to support them until I can start work and send money to support them.
I still have not heard anything from the organization that hired me (The US-China Center for Education and Culture Exchange). They have not sent any of the money they promised me.

[TravellingAround]

I do feel very sorry for you...the school has acted disgracefully toward you and unfortunately this can happen all too easily in China. Without a work visa you have close to zero recourse to law or anything you can use to get what is owed. Like anywhere...if they get you working illegally they have carte blanche over you.

It is quite fortunate that they did give you some back and you acted as you did. If they had dug their heels in and refused to pay you anything then there would have been nothing you could really do. So...all in all it worked out better than it might have done, as Clark might have meant, but it is still a bad business all round.

[vikdk]

[clark.w.griswald]

Travelling Around, my earlier comment about a pretty good outcome relates to my post in an earlier locked thread where I didn�t hold out much hope that Milo would get anything considering the legal status of his work in China. I felt that he would not have the legal clout to obtain these monies if push come to shove. In my opinion the fact that he was able to get RMB5,000 out of the employer seems to me to be a pretty good outcome and had the employer been a real ratbag then things could certainly have gone a lot worse.

I don�t feel as much compassion for Milo as I feel for his wife, but for both of their sakes I hope that things do work out for them. It seems that Milo may be a qualified electrician and that�s great that he has a trade to go back to. Hopefully his wife and their child will enjoy living in his country more than he has enjoyed living here in theirs.

I think that there is a lot here that people coming to China for the first time can learn from Milo�s experiences, and that identifying and acknowledging the mistakes that Milo made is more valuable than suggesting that his predicament is all the doing of an evil employer and evil recruiter conspiring to ruin his life. Yes it is wrong of the recruiter and employer to have employed him illegally, but I believe that the sooner we all start taking responsibility for our own decisions and thereby control of our own experiences here in China the sooner we as foreign teachers will be able to best ensure that we have positive experiences here. Why let others control your life when you can take the reins yourself.

Anyone who comes here without first researching the legalities of teaching in China, the visa situation, the cities in which they are seeking work, and the employer that they are considering working for, is in my opinion leaving him or herself open to disappointment. Take control of the situation by preparing yourself since you have chosen to come here.

Only work in a legal job and for a legal employer � especially if you are a new arrival. There are plenty of people on this very forum who are knowingly working illegally and I don�t think that anyone has a problem with that, but in turn these people cannot really turn around when things go sour and try to blame China for their problems. If you don�t want to find yourself outside of the protection of the law then don�t choose to work outside of the requirements of the law.

Don�t rely on your employer, recruiter, or fellow teachers for that matter to tell you everything, do some independent research so that you have something to compare what they tell you with. Take control of the situation by becoming informed about the country that you are choosing to come to and the occupation that you are choosing to enter.

Ensure that you have the financial means to tide yourself over until your first pay packet, should things not go as planned when you get here, or should you need to head back home before you complete your contract. Take control of the situation by not leaving yourself vulnerable to unexpected occurrences.

When things do go wrong be sure to act in a responsible and mature fashion and extricate yourself from the situation. Most importantly of all is to inform others of the activities and wherever possible to pursue the matter with the relevant authorities. It is all well and good for us to go on about things here, but if the authorities are not made aware that the actions of bad employers are not acceptable then nothing will change. Let�s all become part of the solution rather than remaining part of the problem.

I am fully aware that there are people here who don�t agree with my views. I accept that. But to me it seems that making ourselves out to be victims is counterproductive to enjoying ones experience in China. If you want an experience in China that you can look back on as a pleasant experience then make sure that you do your best to ensure that this is indeed the case.

[milo baggins]

A note to those in charge of this site:
It would be very worthwhile to have a section devoted to warnings about schools and organizations that have proven to be dishonest or unreliable. This could prove invaluable to people who are "researching". Please post any websites which do provide this kind of information, those of you who are "in the know" about such.
Thank you.

[clark.w.griswald]