There are some things being said here that I'm not entirely sure I'm happy about.
Wanting things done the way they are "back home" can mean a lot of different things. Some of them can be good.
Being inefficient, having problems communicating, etc. are one thing.
But there are others.
I don't want universities to sell grades and diplomas like bags of rice. I want it done the way they are back home.
I don't want to have to pass everyone in my classes just because they paid the tuition, and I don't want to abandon every vestige of performance standards that can be expected of my students. I want it done the way they are back home.
I don't want to see university administators amassing huge personal fortunes through corrupt practices relating to the educational system or visa applications. I want things done the way they are back home.
I don't want to see complete unqualified idiots promoted into choice classes and administrative or faculty positions simply because they are Party members. I want things done the way they are back home.
I don't want to see non-Party teachers treated like dirt, and brutalized into silence (or lifelong unemployment) if they don't quietly go along. I want things done the way they are back home.
I could go on.
These practices are wrong. Doesn't matter if you're from Beijing or Boston or Brisbane...they're just plain wrong. The Chinese KNOW these things are wrong, just as much as we do. The ones involved simply go with it, even try to justify or excuse it, because they are either getting a lot of money and/or personal advancement out of it, or they are too terrified to speak and act against it.
I personally am NOT too terrified to refuse to play along. I've been loud and visible in doing so. And I'm pretty fucking proud of that, really.
I have no tolerance for foreigners who constantly rip on everything Chinese. I've lunged for the jugular of more than one expat because they were doing this. When the Chinese way can be defended, I'm very happy to defend it.
I also have no tolerance for foreigners who turn a blind eye to the most corrupt and stupid aspects of life and work here, and simply assume "Chinese good, foreigner bad." I won't take this one, either. When the Chinese way needs its ass kicked, I'm very happy to kick it. I don't buy this as cultural arrogance. I don't expect everything to be done the Western way. There are some levels where concepts of right and wrong transcend borders and cultures, and just because a wrong has been practiced a long time does not make it a right. The universities and foundation programs I've worked for want to tell the world that they are delivering education to international standards, and producing students compatible with foreign educational systems, AND they want to continue taking bribes and stealing funds and giving diplomas to everyone who pays the admission fee. To them I say, "Fuck you, pal. You can't have it both ways, and I'll be damned if I'm going to help you pretend that you can."
And yes, I know these abuses happen in our own systems sometimes, too. But our systems aren't
entirely based upon them. When these things are found out in our countries, people generally get upset. Things are done about them. In China, it's just...life.
So, if you want to complain about foreign teachers who want schools here to be run "the way they are back home", please be specific.
Which reminds me: I've worked with an international rainbow of teachers, and I've found that people in other countries are as varied and individual as they are in my own country. I stopped (or at least tried very hard to stop) judging people by their passports a long time ago. Maybe some of you should do the same. My country definitely does not have a monopoly on Armchair Generals; singling it out as doing so is not particularly accurate or relevant or constructive.
Pretty sloppy, indeed.