It has just been brought to our attention that the Chinese sign you can see in the foreground of our blog picture says "Do Not Lean on the Rail". Lucky for us the guard was taking the picture or we could have got in trouble.
In this weeks blog, we will try and answer one of the questions that we are sure you have a burning desire to know.
WHAT DO YOU EAT?
There are at least four dining halls on campus. Each with two or three floors. We calculate that over four thousand people can be fed at each sitting. Each dining hall specializes in a different ethnic cooking style along well as standard dishes that are served in every hall. The smell provides the first clue as to what to expect. The smell of spicy cooking is quite distinctive.
The food is served from behind glass enclosed counters, cafeteria style and dished out of big pans into bowls and plates. If you arrive early, the food can be reasonably hot, come late and it will most likely be cold. If you want to stand in line for while and pay a bit more, there are lots of opportunities for hot dishes prepared while you wait. But beware. When they run out of prepared supplies for the dish, they shut the station down and you are left in line with an empty bowl. Upon arrival at our selected dining hall and floor, we spend our first five minutes wandering up and down the various stations looking for something that catches our eye. At first we leaned towards food the looked like home. We soon discovered that looks can be deceiving.
We have tried to be as adventurous as possible when selecting our meals. We quickly learned to recognize the more spicier dishes. They use hot red chili peppers for most of their spicy foods. We can recognize the small bits of pepper in the dish or if the dish has a red hue to it indicating chili powder. We have discovered a number of wonderful dishes and if we can just remember which dining hall and which floor we got them, we could enjoy them again. Oh well, we have another nine months to find them.
Thanks to a some colleagues who have lived here for a while, we have explored a few of the many restaurants in the area. The 50,000 plus people living in a small area have spawned dozens of places to eat. Our favorite has become the local pizza parlour. The owner/chef/delivery guy is very friendly and produces a pretty good product. Again, not totally the same as our pizza but with some interesting Chinese variations. We have named this place as our "go to restaurant" on Friday nights. Two beers and a "spicy beef" pizza costs us about $4.00. So far we have eaten at a Mongolian, two Muslim restaurants and last weekend went to a bone restaurant. At least thats what our host called the place. The restaurant specializes in cooking meat with the bone left in. The eating utensils include a plastic glove for holding the bones while you tear off the meat and a straw for sucking out the marrow. Interesting to watch the locals eat. They get right into it, sucking the last shred of meat from each bone/rib.
Except for the pizza, we have managed to stay away from McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut. We did take a break from Chinese food this weekend and went to the "Bullfighter". It is a Chinese restaurant trying to be a steakhouse. Again, we had been cautioned by others on which steak to order and that we would probably have to send the steak back a few time to reach the desired state of medium rare. Also, not to expect everyones food to arrive at the same time. All of which came to pass. In China, most dishes served are common and everyone would share from the same dish. So dishes come out as they are ready which does not work as well when everyone orders their own dish. Everything was great and probably in another five of six weeks when we feel the need for MEAT, we will go back.
Not a lot of cooking going on at the apartment at the moment but it will probably increase as time goes on as eating out every meal can get a little monotonous.
Bon apetite everyone!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Welcome to our Neighbourhood
Welcome to our neighbourhood. This is the entrance to the courtyard of the Foreign Experts living complex. The complex also houses foreign students as well as graduate students. There are Canadians, English, Americans, Russians, Iranians, Syrians, French and a number from various french and english speaking African countries. Our apartment is located on the 15th floor and can be seen in the background. (extreme ight hand corner, 2nd floor from the top)
Nonie is standing in the courtyard ready with the mop for some serious apartment cleaning. The entrance to the building is manned twenty four hours a day and locked after 12:00 Midnight. We are told that teachers will most likely be let in but students will not be. Not a problem for us, as we are usually in bed well before then anyway. When we go out for our runs at 5:15, the guard unchains the door for us.
Our office is located in a huge building built back when the Russians were in charge. As you can see not much has changed. It is actually four different buildings that have been added to over the decades with the newest one built in the Fifties and the first in the Twenties.
The campus is quite small considering it houses over 40,000 people. It has a lovely pedestrian mall running through the middle of it. The second picture is one of many dining halls that are located on the mall. This one has three floors and can sit over 3,000 students at a time. Nonie is standing in front of the only service area on campus. There is a grocery store, our bank, copy place and some private food stalls.
Basketball seems to have caught on here. The first picture is of the 20 or 30 basketball courts located in front of the complex. The students are out there at first light till well after the sun has set. There are few lights but they continue to play in the dark. Check out the cool motto of the local security company. Words to live by.
These three wheeled delivery carts are everywhere and you would be amazed at the size of the loads that these delivery guys can peddle. They are the "go to" guys if you purchase something big and need to get it home. The last picture is the local Bike Barn outlet in Harbin. They can fix anything on two wheels. You find a lot of these entrepreneurs on the street fixing everything from cell phones to disposable lighters.
Zai Jian (good bye) from our "HOOD".
Saturday, September 6, 2008
We is now Profeshunal English Teachers
We have survived our first week of classes and in fact have been paid for the next month so I believe that I can say that we are now professional ESL teachers. We each have seven classes per week. The classes are 1 3/4 hours in duration but that also includes a short 5-10 minute break. All our classes are in the morning and we are finished by 11:45 each day. Two of my classes are at a second campus located about 15 minutes away so on Thursdays I will take a shuttle bus to this campus and do both the classes back to back. Nonie's classes will all be on the main campus. They have not provided any curriculum for us to follow, they said it was up to us what we would like to teach. We are busy trying to create a syllabus for the balance of the semester. This will keep us very busy for the first few weeks. Luckily Nonie and I can teach the same lessons so this will make planning a little easier.
We get a national holiday the first week of October and are off for the whole week. Sweet! We also get a long weekend on September 15th.
Our final week of classes will be December 22- December 28. The following week (December 29- January 4) will be for our final exams. We are no longer required after that date as the students will be starting their other course exams and we are not expected to teach these two weeks. The spring vacation starts after that and we will start the second semester on February 23. Basically we will have about six or seven weeks off. There will probably be some administrative work on the first week after our exam but it sounds like we are free to roam.
The classrooms are very formal with the student desks lined up row upon row upon row with the instructer up on a platform. They seem to stuff as many desks as they can into each classroom. Most classrooms are set up for multi-media presentations. Nonie and I kept it low tech for the first week but are stepping it up week two with video, audio and powerpoint presentations.
We average about 30+ students per class. The students are an interesting bunch and seem to be very serious about their studies. All are in the masters program at HIT. Many arrive 15 or 20 minutes before the class. They sit very quietly and stare at you as you prepare for the class. It was kind of spooky for our first few classes as we are used to a lot more chatter from students. Once the classes started they seem to relax a bit and even laughed at some of my lame jokes. I sense that bubbling under the surface there is a Chinese sense of humor struggling to get out. I think that we'll enjoy teaching these students.
Nonie has vowed to proof read this update as my last one was a real stinker for typos. I am not allowed to post any more with out her approval. Class pictures next blog.
Nonie here now. As Brett's written, things are under control. This week we hope to get a little ahead on the class planning department. As we get to know the students and what they are or are not capable of, we'll be able to plan more effectively.
We get a national holiday the first week of October and are off for the whole week. Sweet! We also get a long weekend on September 15th.
Our final week of classes will be December 22- December 28. The following week (December 29- January 4) will be for our final exams. We are no longer required after that date as the students will be starting their other course exams and we are not expected to teach these two weeks. The spring vacation starts after that and we will start the second semester on February 23. Basically we will have about six or seven weeks off. There will probably be some administrative work on the first week after our exam but it sounds like we are free to roam.
The classrooms are very formal with the student desks lined up row upon row upon row with the instructer up on a platform. They seem to stuff as many desks as they can into each classroom. Most classrooms are set up for multi-media presentations. Nonie and I kept it low tech for the first week but are stepping it up week two with video, audio and powerpoint presentations.
We average about 30+ students per class. The students are an interesting bunch and seem to be very serious about their studies. All are in the masters program at HIT. Many arrive 15 or 20 minutes before the class. They sit very quietly and stare at you as you prepare for the class. It was kind of spooky for our first few classes as we are used to a lot more chatter from students. Once the classes started they seem to relax a bit and even laughed at some of my lame jokes. I sense that bubbling under the surface there is a Chinese sense of humor struggling to get out. I think that we'll enjoy teaching these students.
Nonie has vowed to proof read this update as my last one was a real stinker for typos. I am not allowed to post any more with out her approval. Class pictures next blog.
Nonie here now. As Brett's written, things are under control. This week we hope to get a little ahead on the class planning department. As we get to know the students and what they are or are not capable of, we'll be able to plan more effectively.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Kindness of Strangers
We have had a great stroke of luck. Three of our new group can speak excellent Chinese and they have be very helpful. With them in tow, we have been able to complete a number of chores that would have take us a lot longer. Sweet!
The apartment is officially home. We have already had our first couple of couple of cocktail parties. Mostly to thank Will, Leah and Tom for helping us out. Leah has just finished reading our cell mail boxes and deleted a bunch of stuff that was clogging up the works. Will and Leah are a couple. Will is teaching at HIT and Leah is exploring other opportunities for work in Harbin. Leah is from Boston and Will from England. Both have graduated from Oxford this past spring with degrees in Chinese studies. Tom is an Edmonton boy with a degree in psychology along with a couple of years of Chinese.
Our first week in Harbin has been great. It has all the basic needs including McDonalds, Pizza Hut and more KFCs than you can shake a drumstick at. We have been doing most of our meals on campus in the dining halls. There are at least three that we have found so far along with a number of small private and cheap restaurants. We have not been to adventurous yet. Mostly eating rice and things that sort of looks like the Chinese food we can get at home. Looks can be deceiving. In six days we probably have not spent more than $60 to feed Nonie and I up to three meals a day. We will enjoy this for a while but I suspect Nonie will want to do some cooking soon.
We are splurging and are getting our laundry done for us. I have never had my underwear ironed. It makes me feel special, except for those pesky creases. The wash is done in a small washing maching about half the size of what we have at home. Then everything is hung to dry. This slows up the process so we have to wait three days to get it back. Well worth the wait.
We have recieved our class schedule and have taught our first class. More in a future blog.
Zai Jian
Brett
The apartment is officially home. We have already had our first couple of couple of cocktail parties. Mostly to thank Will, Leah and Tom for helping us out. Leah has just finished reading our cell mail boxes and deleted a bunch of stuff that was clogging up the works. Will and Leah are a couple. Will is teaching at HIT and Leah is exploring other opportunities for work in Harbin. Leah is from Boston and Will from England. Both have graduated from Oxford this past spring with degrees in Chinese studies. Tom is an Edmonton boy with a degree in psychology along with a couple of years of Chinese.
Our first week in Harbin has been great. It has all the basic needs including McDonalds, Pizza Hut and more KFCs than you can shake a drumstick at. We have been doing most of our meals on campus in the dining halls. There are at least three that we have found so far along with a number of small private and cheap restaurants. We have not been to adventurous yet. Mostly eating rice and things that sort of looks like the Chinese food we can get at home. Looks can be deceiving. In six days we probably have not spent more than $60 to feed Nonie and I up to three meals a day. We will enjoy this for a while but I suspect Nonie will want to do some cooking soon.
We are splurging and are getting our laundry done for us. I have never had my underwear ironed. It makes me feel special, except for those pesky creases. The wash is done in a small washing maching about half the size of what we have at home. Then everything is hung to dry. This slows up the process so we have to wait three days to get it back. Well worth the wait.
We have recieved our class schedule and have taught our first class. More in a future blog.
Zai Jian
Brett
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Nin Hao From Haerbin
Hello to everyone. Well, the adventure begins and it has been interesting. Our departure from Canada and entrance to China was relatively easy and with only a few hiccups. Leaving Canada we were very careful to weigh each of our three bags, assuring that they weighed no more the 24 kilograms each, taking advantage of the maximum we could stuff in each bag. We'd been caught being over weight on a previous flight and had to carry out an unplanned repack of our luggage. Not fun in the middle of a busy airport so something we wanted to avoid. However our outbound flight from Beijing to Haerbin had different rules but with a little extra cash ($250 RnB or $42 Cdn) paid out and the appropriate receipt we were on our way.
Arriving in Harbin about 11:00 PM (Haerbin Time), we were met by our HIT contact Lui Guodong and quickly loaded into a van along with our 150 pounds of luggage. We were joined in the van by Brian. Brian was returning to HIT for a second year of teaching. As we travelled, Brian provided some insight into Haerbin. The roads are quite dark compared to North American lighting standards so not much was visible to us. Something we might want to emulate in NA. To much light pollution in my opinion. We had been travelling for about 18 hours and were feeling a little punch drunk so not much was sinking in at this point anyway.
We arrived at the campus by driving through a guarded gate. As we drove up to the gate and with a timely honk of our horn a guard leaped out of a guard shack and moved the barrier quickly so we could pass through the gate with out stopping. I am pretty sure he saluted me as we passed. Felt very special at this point. Arriving at our new home, we discovered the building was 16 stories high and housed both international students as well as foreign teachers.
Our apartment is a corner suite on the 15th floor. Feeling special still! We were quickly issued keys and taken upstairs. That special feeling quickly dissipated once we entered our new home. It was apparent the place had not been cleaned prior to our arrival and was littered with various personal effects from the previous occupant. The worse item being a pair of used and dirty whitey-tighties Nonie found behind the bathtub. Brought back vivid memories of a really groady place we stayed at on a visit to Nice where Nonie refused to walk on the floor in the room. To get around she would jump from bed to bed to chairs strategically located around the room. She would only enter the washroom with socks and shoes on. Kind of made it tough for her to shower.
Our Haerbin apartment had a bare mattress with some gritty looking covers. Three really ugly looking pillows with no pillow cases. And as expected the mattress had the same comfort qualities as a sheet of plywood. If you have ever wondered where those old box springs go to die, look no further than China.
The bathroom was very dark with a 13 watt florescent lamp recessed into the ceiling providing basic illumination. Bats could sleep comfortably in this washroom. The bathroom had a funky, somebody forgot to put on the fan after using kind of smell. Chinese plumbing codes do not require a p-trap on any grey water drains so smells are just a fact of life.
That special feeling quickly became "what the hell were we thinking" The next morning, (5:00 am), with the sun just rising we awoke for our first day in our new home. It did not look as bad in the light of day. By day three Nonie had the place cleaned and acceptable. We arranged the furniture, bought sheets, pillow cases and rearranged the furniture again to our needs. We are now calling it home. The bathroom smells will always be there, but that will just be something that will make our time here more interesting. Periodic bleach and boiling water down the drains will also help. I am getting used to the bed but we will keep our eyes out for some foam pads.
So much, has happened to us in our first few days that I will post a few extra blogs this week. Our plan is to complete weekly installments.
Brett and Nonie
Friday, August 22, 2008
Let the Games Begin
Well, our retirement is fast coming to an end. We leave on Sunday for Harbin. It was nice while it lasted, though not quite what I had envisioned it would be. I saw myself each morning lounging over a Grande coffee at some coffee bar, reading the newspaper, watching life go by and dolling out snippets of wisdom to all who sought it. Didn't quite happen. I did however discover naps. Why did it take me so long?
Nonie continued to buzz around like she always does, on a mission to finish a number of quilts that were due. It constantly amazes me how she creates them so quickly. Her never ending list actually looked like it might have an end. HAH! As we approached our departure date it once again became the never ending list and her list became our list.
The first three weeks saw us intensify our training to complete my first (and last?) triathalon. Nonie accompanied me on my runs up Westbench and watched as I swam along Lakeshore. Didn't leave a lot of time for coffee and wisdom dispensing. Sucessfully completed the race in 3 hours and 51 minutes. Our son Keegan, with about four weeks training competed the race in under 3 hours. He was awesome. I think I will do another one someday. Nonie is not a swimmer so won't be joining me, I am afraid. We completed all the necessary paperwork for our working visa and sent it off to HIT. You will be pleased to know that both Nonie and I are reasonably healthy and that we do not have criminal records.
On Monday of week four, we started a whirlwind tour of the coast visiting family and friends. Nonie and I have travelled the world and seen many beautiful placed but we continued to be amazed at the beauty of B.C. We managed to get in a short visit with Nonie's Auntie Rose who has been battling cancer. And if you know Rose, battling is a good description. Sadly she passed away this week. It was great to see everyone we could.
Weeks five and six saw me returning to work and try to pass on 6 and 1/2 years of knowledge to my replacement. Didn't happen, I am afraid, the poor bastard! Two weeks were just not enough. I remember my first few weeks at Valley First. At least I had the advantage of living here while he has immigrated from Alberta. Just finding a place to live was a challenge for him. He is a quick study though, so I think he will do all right. Hopefully he won't have to deal with to many of the screwups I left behind. We are leaving for Ottawa on Saturday for a some grandson time and still no documetation back from HIT for our visa application. Starting to stress a little. AHH! It manages to arrive on the Thursday before our departure. We can hit the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa for our visa.
Week seven was spent in quality time with our Grandson. What is quality time you ask. Well no dirty diapers is a good start. Didn't have to deal with one the whole time I was there. Melt downs. HAH! Here son, deal with your son. I loved it. He is not talking a lot or at least saying much that I can understand. He is doing it bilingually. He attends a daycare where the caregiver is french so he is saying unintelligible things in both of our official languages. Mom and Dad are Momma et Poppa and when he wants "more" he says "encore". Too Cool!
Our trip to the Embassy was reasonably painless and the pain we did experience was mostly due to my stupidity. The visa applications requires that you have confirmation of an airplane ticket with your application. I was afraid to purchase a ticket in case our application was refused. We arrive at the embassy before it opened and there was already 6 people ahead of us. Inside we watched as the six people before us approaced the wicket. Of the six, only one couple were able to actually get their visa application approved. Oh Oh. Did not elicit a lot of confidence in our chances. Thankfully, all the paperwork was in order BUT we were missing the important confirmation of flights. Se this required a return back to Brennan and Stephanies to some quick interneting and organizing our flight to Beijing. Tried to book onward flight to Harbin but that proved a lot trickier trying to book. With time running out we decided to return with just our Beijing flights confirmed hoping they would not notice. Luckily we were told to go to the front of the line when we returned as the line was just as long as when we left. Everything was approved and we could pick up our passports with visas attached the following Thursday. One less problem for us to stress over.
We are now back in Penticton, cleaning up the last few details. Packing has been completed with three bags weighing almost 150 pounds. More on that later. Our next blog will be from Harbin. So stay tuned. The game is afoot.
Brett and Nonie
Nonie continued to buzz around like she always does, on a mission to finish a number of quilts that were due. It constantly amazes me how she creates them so quickly. Her never ending list actually looked like it might have an end. HAH! As we approached our departure date it once again became the never ending list and her list became our list.
The first three weeks saw us intensify our training to complete my first (and last?) triathalon. Nonie accompanied me on my runs up Westbench and watched as I swam along Lakeshore. Didn't leave a lot of time for coffee and wisdom dispensing. Sucessfully completed the race in 3 hours and 51 minutes. Our son Keegan, with about four weeks training competed the race in under 3 hours. He was awesome. I think I will do another one someday. Nonie is not a swimmer so won't be joining me, I am afraid. We completed all the necessary paperwork for our working visa and sent it off to HIT. You will be pleased to know that both Nonie and I are reasonably healthy and that we do not have criminal records.
On Monday of week four, we started a whirlwind tour of the coast visiting family and friends. Nonie and I have travelled the world and seen many beautiful placed but we continued to be amazed at the beauty of B.C. We managed to get in a short visit with Nonie's Auntie Rose who has been battling cancer. And if you know Rose, battling is a good description. Sadly she passed away this week. It was great to see everyone we could.
Weeks five and six saw me returning to work and try to pass on 6 and 1/2 years of knowledge to my replacement. Didn't happen, I am afraid, the poor bastard! Two weeks were just not enough. I remember my first few weeks at Valley First. At least I had the advantage of living here while he has immigrated from Alberta. Just finding a place to live was a challenge for him. He is a quick study though, so I think he will do all right. Hopefully he won't have to deal with to many of the screwups I left behind. We are leaving for Ottawa on Saturday for a some grandson time and still no documetation back from HIT for our visa application. Starting to stress a little. AHH! It manages to arrive on the Thursday before our departure. We can hit the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa for our visa.
Week seven was spent in quality time with our Grandson. What is quality time you ask. Well no dirty diapers is a good start. Didn't have to deal with one the whole time I was there. Melt downs. HAH! Here son, deal with your son. I loved it. He is not talking a lot or at least saying much that I can understand. He is doing it bilingually. He attends a daycare where the caregiver is french so he is saying unintelligible things in both of our official languages. Mom and Dad are Momma et Poppa and when he wants "more" he says "encore". Too Cool!
Our trip to the Embassy was reasonably painless and the pain we did experience was mostly due to my stupidity. The visa applications requires that you have confirmation of an airplane ticket with your application. I was afraid to purchase a ticket in case our application was refused. We arrive at the embassy before it opened and there was already 6 people ahead of us. Inside we watched as the six people before us approaced the wicket. Of the six, only one couple were able to actually get their visa application approved. Oh Oh. Did not elicit a lot of confidence in our chances. Thankfully, all the paperwork was in order BUT we were missing the important confirmation of flights. Se this required a return back to Brennan and Stephanies to some quick interneting and organizing our flight to Beijing. Tried to book onward flight to Harbin but that proved a lot trickier trying to book. With time running out we decided to return with just our Beijing flights confirmed hoping they would not notice. Luckily we were told to go to the front of the line when we returned as the line was just as long as when we left. Everything was approved and we could pick up our passports with visas attached the following Thursday. One less problem for us to stress over.
We are now back in Penticton, cleaning up the last few details. Packing has been completed with three bags weighing almost 150 pounds. More on that later. Our next blog will be from Harbin. So stay tuned. The game is afoot.
Brett and Nonie
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
No More Sleeps
"R" day has arrived for us. For Nonie it was June 27th and for myself June 30th. My last day at work was very surreal. Actually the whole week. One moment I was grinning ear to ear and then terrified the next. But no more looking back, it is a done deal. Turned in my keys and cards. I walked out the door at 6:30, it closed behind me and thus ended a facility career of 35 years. I not sure what I expected to happen, perhaps some orchestral music playing in the background, the sun setting in the distance and all my family and friends waiting for me as I left. Whoops, wrong dream, that one is for when I die. I guess carrying a box full of office crap down Main St. is a good an ending as I will get.
Nonie's retirement party took the form of a group teacher dinner where all the retirees from the various schools were feted at the same time. Very nice. It seems that Nonie is the first TOC to actually retire from the district. They actually did not know what to do with her. It seems that the union provides some dough for each year of work upon retirement. The word out for Nonie, since she did not work full time, they were going to prorate the amount but in the end she received the full amount. No one can say Nonie did not work full time in her professional career as a TOC. We were joined at the dinner by a number of Nonie's TOC peers with Nonie's best buddy Jeannie giving a small speech about Nonie. Very nice. Nonie was unaware that she would have some time to speak so her speach was short and sweet. A nice ending to a 30 year career, with a small break to raise two great kids. My party is yet to come. Food for another blog.
Career Part Deux. With a single stroke of a finger, we sent out 12 resumes to different schools in Harbin. The amazing thing about it, was we got at least 20 responses and more continue to come. Not sure how that happened. It has been an eye opener for us with some interesting interviews, conversations and e-mails. We have accepted a position to teach English at the Harbin Institute of Technology. It is a high tech university with over 40,000 students. en.hit.edu.cn/about/profile.htm#
Check out the school at this website. Our inital thoughts when starting out was to teach kids. What drew us to teaching in a university was the excellent time off. We would have between five and 6 weeks off between semesters. Sweet. Gives us plenty of time to get back to see the grandchild or perhaps the grandchildren with some bonus travel time in between. Money is a little less but money was never the issue.
If all goes well and we embrace this lifestye, our plan is for at least two years in China. This will give us solid resumes as English Teachers. The average life expectancy of a ESL teacher is one year so our two years puts us right up there in the senior teacher category. We can then start to look around at other countries and continue to do this till it sucks. We have several documents to fill out, medical checkup and criminal record check to be done and sent off. Then the visa process to go through and if all goes according to plan we will leave for Harbin around the 25th of August.
We start our mandarin lessons in earnest this week.
Nonie's retirement party took the form of a group teacher dinner where all the retirees from the various schools were feted at the same time. Very nice. It seems that Nonie is the first TOC to actually retire from the district. They actually did not know what to do with her. It seems that the union provides some dough for each year of work upon retirement. The word out for Nonie, since she did not work full time, they were going to prorate the amount but in the end she received the full amount. No one can say Nonie did not work full time in her professional career as a TOC. We were joined at the dinner by a number of Nonie's TOC peers with Nonie's best buddy Jeannie giving a small speech about Nonie. Very nice. Nonie was unaware that she would have some time to speak so her speach was short and sweet. A nice ending to a 30 year career, with a small break to raise two great kids. My party is yet to come. Food for another blog.
Career Part Deux. With a single stroke of a finger, we sent out 12 resumes to different schools in Harbin. The amazing thing about it, was we got at least 20 responses and more continue to come. Not sure how that happened. It has been an eye opener for us with some interesting interviews, conversations and e-mails. We have accepted a position to teach English at the Harbin Institute of Technology. It is a high tech university with over 40,000 students. en.hit.edu.cn/about/profile.htm#
Check out the school at this website. Our inital thoughts when starting out was to teach kids. What drew us to teaching in a university was the excellent time off. We would have between five and 6 weeks off between semesters. Sweet. Gives us plenty of time to get back to see the grandchild or perhaps the grandchildren with some bonus travel time in between. Money is a little less but money was never the issue.
If all goes well and we embrace this lifestye, our plan is for at least two years in China. This will give us solid resumes as English Teachers. The average life expectancy of a ESL teacher is one year so our two years puts us right up there in the senior teacher category. We can then start to look around at other countries and continue to do this till it sucks. We have several documents to fill out, medical checkup and criminal record check to be done and sent off. Then the visa process to go through and if all goes according to plan we will leave for Harbin around the 25th of August.
We start our mandarin lessons in earnest this week.
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