Richie One Leg
Now, don't take this as me being a mean person. That's his email addy. He is really kool with it.
So, I get back from Beijing and I am thinkin to myself that my whole hotel issue was the last straw. And when the last straw hits the floor, that means I will leave Xiaolan...I will book it and leave and go elsewhere. While I was away, Richard showed up. Since I am a patient man and very trusting, this man is holding that straw off the ground. If anything else happens here to make this straw hit the ground, I am blowing this popsicle stand. I will make like a tree and get outta here.
Richard had been here for about a year and he was taking Bond in a new direction. He was offered a Director of Studies position which he took, however, he needed to go on a forced vacation because Bond got screwed on VISAs due to some issue, so he has been gone for awhile. He just came back and he wnated to meet all the new teachers. And thru his interviews he found out about all the travesties that had happened. Apparently things fell apart when he left. Since he was sorta runninng things before and was the representative of the westerners he was able to deal with Bond and fix problems. When he left it just became a Chinese company again. Now he is back and he told me that he was very surprised and impressed I stuck with all the crap I went thru. He said that his job is to make sure this never happens again. I also told him about what happened in Beijing and told him if anything else goes wrong down here, i have to leave. He completely understood. But he told me that he does not have enuff good teachers to warrant anything bad happening to them making them want to leave. He wants me to stay here for the duration of my contract and he will due his best to ensure my pacifism. According to Peter, Richard is a do-er...he gets things done.
He has already made a good impression on me and I am excited that things may start going well around here. No more having to go to Shi Qi to do stupid lessons. No more classes being told on the last minute. He is also working on trying to find me gong fu lessons. I know its hard, and he has found out just how hard it is. He has 3 working on it, and I myself have about 2 contacts that are searching. He is gonna get me another fone. Sounds kool. I am looking forward. He is also gonna gimme some info on hotels to prove that Government Hotels never let foreigners in that the Travel agency was lying. He also told me to threaten with a lawyer and a newspaper. Apparently that works here. True signs of a civilization...the word "Lawsuit" scares people just as much as "Police".