Another crazy one

Well yesterday was another crazy day. I managed to get the last of my shopping done, in addition to going to the currency exchange and getting my money changed into Yuan. I just woke up about half hour ago and am currently putting my last minute packing together. I wanna be in the airport within the next 45 minutes so I gotta hustle.
In any event, I just wanted to say my last goodbyes and say that my next posting will be in China. I've gotta catch a plane to Chicago and then connect to Shanghai. Hopefully it won't be too painful. We'll see how it goes.

TTFN

What a day!

Yesterday was a busy one. I had to go down to the visa office to get my visa (which takes a few days to process) but before I got there I had to have proof of a hotel reservation and proof of a return ticket. The hotel reservation wasn't a problem. The school sent me a copy and I had that printed out. The ticket was an issue. In order to get an itinerary, I have to book the flight, in order to book the flight, I have to pay for it. I don't plan on taking a return flight so it's a bit of a problem. Every travel agency we spoke to gave us crazy info and prices, so we decided to go with the agent we always go with. We told her we wanted a return flight and asked her to fax over the itinerary. Then we had to high tail it downtown since my mom was in danger of being late for work. I get to the visa office and find that I have the wrong form (I printed it from the website but whatever). So I fill out another form and get back in line. Luckily the natural pick up day is Tuesday, so I didn't have to pay extra for a rush, since I plan on taking a flight leaving on Wednesday. It's cutting it close I know but it'll all work out. The other funny thing was, they didn't even ask for the hotel reservation or itinerary. She just took my passport and the application and gave me a pick up slip. Anyway, after leaving the visa office, I now have to speed over to the travel agent in Mississauga. On the way over, we call the travel agent and tell her that we've "changed our minds" and we'd like to take a one way ticket instead. Luckily she's been working with us for a while so it wasn't an issue for her to change it. I got to her office just before she closed at 4pm, paid for the one way ticket and should be expecting it shortly. The rest of my day was filled with other travels and commitments. All of which got me home after 9:30pm. The good thing is, the important things are done. My visa is getting done and my ticket is on the way. I'll provide the school with the details of my flight and they'll meet me at the airport. Everything should be smooth sailing.
I was thinking about how much of a rush it is for me to get this done. I was contacted by the school in a fair amount of time but between the negotiations, the back and forth and the time difference (12 hours), I've come down to this crunch. The funny thing is, I still haven't been contacted by the other two schools. At this point I can only assume that they've gone another way, but if I had depended on them and didn't keep my options open, I would have been screwed. I would have been waiting on them still and definitely would have had to pay extra for a rush on the visa and probably wouldn't have gotten such a great deal on my flight. What a bunch of weirdos. Like I said, it's a good thing I kept my options open and was still looking around. I got contacted by this last school, they were serious about hiring me, they're in the perfect location and have been accommodating in every way. I'm really looking forward to this.


TTFN

Choices and decisions. They aren't always easy.

Ok, so I still haven't heard from the first two schools that contacted me and ofcourse these are the ones that were paying me more money. In any event, I don't have all the time in the world and was actually contacted by phone by the last school to send me an email. This was the school that was offering Y8000-Y9000. So the school contact person, Charles, called me and conducted a phone interview. I think I did pretty good since he was offering me another position with better pay. Unfortunately, this position would require me to take on a full year contract. Now as tempting as that is, it would put a huge cramp in my own plans. So I decided to decline the full year offer and opted for their single semester contract. They're paying me on the higher end (Y9000) however, I have to pay rent out of that. The only way I could make the whole thing worth my while, is if I take on extra work. I plan on doing this anyways, so no biggie. Plus Charles said that he'd help me in that respect. So I've signed and faxed the contract back and my next step is to get my visa and buy my ticket.
In other news, I was talking to Klaver about my upcoming arrival and ofcourse we're both excited. Not only to see each other but to know that we'll be in the same city in China for a while. So we started talking details about where he was going to school and where I'd be teaching. After some investigation on a map, we found that his school and my school were in the same neighbourhood. In fact they were almost within walking distance of each other. Needless to say, we were both beyond belief and even more excited. In a city of 17 million, what are the odds that I'd get a job at a school that was within walking distance of the school that my adopted little brother would be going to. I could have been anywhere else in town but no, I was near him and this is without even planning or trying. Now, he knows where he will be for sure but the address I have is only for the school. This doesn't mean that this is where I would live but atleast I know it would be in close proximity to the school and therefore, close proximity to Klaver. I'm so beyond excited. Even if I end up living somewhere that isn't uber close to the school, atleast the school itself will be close enough. So we're looking forward to spending alot of time with each other since distance isn't a factor. Again, what are the odds?
Such is life.

TTFN

Another batter steps up to the plate

So I got contact from another school in Shanghai. They're offering between Y8000-Y9000. I'm hoping that my experience would allow me the luxury of acquiring the Y9000/mth paycheck but I'll have to wait and see. They're eager to contact me for a phone interview. So now I have to spend sleepless nights waiting on phone calls from 3 different schools. I emailed the first two schools basically telling them that they need to get their shit together and call soon so that I can get my shit together in a reasonable time. I plan on leaving a week tomorrow. This will give me enough time to get my visa, get myself packed up and say my round of goodbyes in addition to giving me some time to settle in and adjust once I'm over there. Leaving on Wednesday means I'll be there on Thursday. That'll give me a couple days to adjust to the new time zone and I still have the weekend before I start school. I hate how these people like to wait to the last minute to do everything. If push comes to shove, and I don't immediately get the offer I want, I'll just accept it and then if the better one comes along, I can pull out and go that way. I just want to make sure I have a school lined up before I start buying tickets and getting visas. We'll see how this whole thing unfolds.

TTFN

One or the other

So things are again slowly coming together. I have 2 serious offers that I'm currently considering, however, I do prefer one over the other. At this point I'm just gonna take whomever wants me and/or gets to me first.
The first offer is for a school paying Y8000/mth and giving me an appartment and weekend work would be included. The second offer is for a minimum of Y11,000/mth, plus an appartment and no weekend work. Obviously I would prefer the latter but I still have to wait to be contacted for a phone interview. They never used to be so strict about this before but I've found that quite a bit has changed since the last time I was there. The last time, everything was done by email, the invitation was Fed Ex'ed to my house and after all paperwork was done, I just told them the date and time of my flight. Before, with the formal invitation, you would go to the visa office with that and would obtain a particular type of visa (not the tourist visa) that would allow you to enter the country and have a smooth transition into getting the residency permit that you need in order to live and work in the country. Now things have changed. I have to get a tourist visa in order to enter the country and then they work on getting me the residency permit that I need in order to yada yada. So now I'm just waiting on the call and praying that I hear from the Y11,000/mth before the Y8000/mth so that I can accept their offer and move on to the next step.
We'll see what happens

TTFN

Moving along

Well things are slowly moving along. I finally got my passport renewal so a huge weight has been lifted and I can comfortably send in my application to any school. I have my resume up on a couple of well known sites and have been getting decent responses lately. There's one school that I really have my eye on but I have to wait to be contacted for an interview. In the mean time, I'm still on the hunt. If I get a better offer some place else, I'll just go there.
My next steps are to start some basic packing or atleast organizing what I'll be taking with me. I'll be travelling super light this time (hopefully) since I don't plan on staying long. I hope to be doing alot of extra work while I'm there so I have to keep in mind that I'm not in a fashion show. My mistake last time was an excess of clothes and shoes. I've only just recently got all my left over belongings that were left in the appartment. I had to get Klaver to mail them home to me. Luckily he was taking over the place after I left. In any event I feel comfortable with the way things are going and am looking forward to the next step.

TTFN

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack

Well a decision had to be made and I decided to take the plunge, yet again. Not because I want to this time, but because I have to. Yes, you've guessed it, Tisha is going back to China.
I'm heading to Shanghai this time around. Ultimately for a number of reasons but mainly because that's where the money can be made. There are other pluses associated with this particular destination and that includes the fact that my very good friend (and adopted little brother) Klaver will be there, in addition to a couple other Chinese friends that I've made along the way. Shanghai was a great place to visit, so I have no doubts that it'll be a great place to live. I don't plan on staying very long this time because I just need a quick fix. I have upgrade classes that must be taken come 2nd semester to ensure my place in the 2009 September class for the nursing program I plan on taking.

Preperation.
There are many things that need to get done but the advantage I have this time around is that I'm familiar with the run down. I've been getting several offers from many schools around China wanting me to teach at their locations. A few of the offers aren't that bad but many of them suck. I've been turning down most of them since the locations aren't in Shanghai. I have received contact from one school in Shnaghai but since I've been waiting for my passport renewal to go through everything is on hold. Once I get that, then plans can be finalized and visas can be acquired. I'm really looking forward to this little stint. It'll allow me to do all the other little things I wanted to do while I was there before, in addition to visit Wuhan one last time and see my kids before they grow, leave primary school and scatter to the wind. I received a letter from one of my kids a few months ago and managed to get a reply out to her, but found out from Klaver that she never got the letter. Needless to say that pissed me off and bummed me out. Luckily with going back, I can see my kids one last time, give them my new contact info and hopefully fill that empty spot in my heart.
So fasten your seatbelts folks. We're going on one more ride. This one will be a doozy. A fast paced whirl wind of making money, speaking Chinese, eating strange food and getting caught in bizzare situations.

Watch out China.................Here I come...........again

TTFN