Thursday 30th June, 2016 0245
And the “lasts” start in earnest.
Having stupidly stayed up until 0530 yesterday it was noon before I surfaced. Doesn’t really matter when you are “retired” though! Of course it meant I never got around to putting the student marks on the system for the last time but maybe later today I will get it out of the way.
I did go to town though. South gate was still sandbagged with a gap only wide enough for pedestrians and bikes, cars having to use west gate. It seemed odd, a little like a scene from Dad’s Army considering all the water was long gone.
Well, gone apart from outside campus that is. Tuesday we had film crew vehicles and police vans out there, today there were two jet blasting trucks doing a pretty poor job of blowing away the silt from the bottom of what was a sea and failing dismally, all they did was move it elsewhere and did their damnedest to soak me whilst I was walking to the bus stop after parking up. In the places where there was a substantial build up of sediment there were old men with shovels moving it. Considering the city authorities had declared a flood alert two days previously the response wasn’t particularly impressive when it happened.
I bought myself the essentials for a roast chicken dinner last night and must say I ate an awful lot more than I normally can - almost a normal portion! I’m undecided as to whether to take the trip to town later today, I should really start running down what I have in the freezer in order to save money because tomorrow is the last full month I shall spend here. See where this is going?
Tonight Joan placed my last order on Taobao, rather sadly it included cardboard moving boxes and duct tape for when I actually know where I will fetch up next. I did treat us to some treats once her exams are over though - 10lbs of new potatoes which I shall use for such things as salmon fillets - well, expensive but then so is eating out.
Oh yes, nearly forgot. There was a power cut early this evening and for the first time all the student dormitories were blacked out but the teachers accommodation still had electricity and water! Whoopee!
Daniel has departed to be with (and probably crush) his girlfriend, the PSB here do in fairness seem to process foreigners paperwork in a timely fashion. He sent me a text to tell me as I was on the bus to town. I am sure he was delighted seeing as he neglected to bring his laptop (no entertainment in his flat) and only had two of each item of clothing with him. After a decade in China I would have expected him to have expected the unexpected, such as his flat (Kevin’s old one) not having a washing machine because Kevin took the one he bought himself when he moved to Huangshan. As it happened I invited him to watch a film and whilst we were at it he bunged his gear in my machine. Had I been staying here I reckon the next twelve months with him around would have been interesting to say the least!
Thursday, 30 June 2016
Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Monday 27th June, 2016 1230
My rather odd life continues with unabated twists and turns. On Saturday evening my notarised documents arrived and yesterday Joan mailed them to Hefei. Today I need to photograph them and email to the agency.
However, the agent has just Skyped that she has a university in Xuchang in Henan province that can transfer me without any of the red tape which has plagued me to date with Changzhou. I am now in a quandary. Do I wait to see if I can get the paperwork to allow me to go to Changzhou or do I jump at the path of least resistance?
Both pay the same although very temptingly Xuchang offers the option to earn 50% more for teaching 24 classes instead of 16 a week. Very tiring but also real food for thought. Xuchang doesn’t have any western restaurants listed on Trip Advisor though……..
Can’t hurt to take a look at the contract though. I wish this had come up before I splashed out fistfuls of money though.
We have horrible rain here and it seems set for the week, possibly with the very heavy stuff that has caused flooding elsewhere along the Yangtse arriving in a couple of days. I was supposed to meet Balance for lunch but she never replied to my text this morning. My guess is she slept late because she replied ten minutes ago suggesting we have dinner instead. I may food shop after just in case it is torrential tomorrow and I can’t (or don’t want to!) get to town.
Tuesday 28th 1930
Well I certainly had dinner (steak like leather) but I never went shopping except to the smallest “big” supermarket where I found liver. RT don’t do it so on a whim I bought a load with a view to making pate again.
And boy what a night it was!
I had intended on getting an early one but again that went by the board. I couldn’t watch the Italy v Spain match due to internet speed but I followed it on text and then overcame lethargy (having nodded off in the chair earlier) and decided to see if, at 0300 the internet would be fast enough for me to see England trounce Iceland.
Well I never got that far. My laptop froze and of course having had a few sherbets I HAD to try and fix it there and then. It ended with a restoration and then the vpn refused to work so another hour was spent uninstalling and reinstalling that! By the time I had finished it was 0700.
And the rain had been bucketing down all night.
After four hours kip I got up. I needed to shop for a few bits for the pate. Joan showed me some photos on her phone of the roads on the lower side of the campus - completely flooded. Not a problem on an e-bike, I often go through six inch deep puddles without problem. It was still chucking it down but I was intrepid.
It was great until I got to the back of the teaching block when I was confronted by a flood that appeared to be a bit more than six inches, so I turned around and went over to the other side of campus where the roads are all gradients. All was well.
Until I got down to near the south gate. In the six years I have been here I have never seen anything like it. I suddenly found myself in a foot of water watching students wading barefoot carrying their shoes. The bike could handle that so carefully I rode slowly on. Assuming the level was similar outside, I exited with the intention of parking the bike near the bus stop. I found myself in water that later I observed by watching people sloshing though it, was knee deep! That of course was well over the level of my footwell so my trotters got soaked but to my enormous relief the bike never shorted out.
I got out of the Aegean Sea and parked up to wait for a bus.
Except the buses weren’t chancing it. They were coming into the road and then turning around 200 yards from me. No way was I going knee deep for that distance so I stood and ruminated for a while, hoping at least one driver would chance it - after all, the SUVs were making it.
In the end I went to the office, worried that if I tried to go home the bike would be swamped. After two bottles the rain had eased so I sallied forth. The water was still as deep and by now Anhui Provincial TV Broadcasting were there filming as the maintenance workers were sandbagging south gate. Come to think of it, they probably filmed me as I went through the torrent that had appeared by that time and where water was pouring over the speed humps into the school.
Having really set my sights on making pate, instead of being sensible and just going home, I rode to west gate and down to another bus stop, where I boarded a 29 bus. The pate should be cooked in a few minutes and all I can say is that after the effort I made I sincerely hope I didn’t bugger it up!
My rather odd life continues with unabated twists and turns. On Saturday evening my notarised documents arrived and yesterday Joan mailed them to Hefei. Today I need to photograph them and email to the agency.
However, the agent has just Skyped that she has a university in Xuchang in Henan province that can transfer me without any of the red tape which has plagued me to date with Changzhou. I am now in a quandary. Do I wait to see if I can get the paperwork to allow me to go to Changzhou or do I jump at the path of least resistance?
Both pay the same although very temptingly Xuchang offers the option to earn 50% more for teaching 24 classes instead of 16 a week. Very tiring but also real food for thought. Xuchang doesn’t have any western restaurants listed on Trip Advisor though……..
Can’t hurt to take a look at the contract though. I wish this had come up before I splashed out fistfuls of money though.
We have horrible rain here and it seems set for the week, possibly with the very heavy stuff that has caused flooding elsewhere along the Yangtse arriving in a couple of days. I was supposed to meet Balance for lunch but she never replied to my text this morning. My guess is she slept late because she replied ten minutes ago suggesting we have dinner instead. I may food shop after just in case it is torrential tomorrow and I can’t (or don’t want to!) get to town.
Tuesday 28th 1930
Well I certainly had dinner (steak like leather) but I never went shopping except to the smallest “big” supermarket where I found liver. RT don’t do it so on a whim I bought a load with a view to making pate again.
And boy what a night it was!
I had intended on getting an early one but again that went by the board. I couldn’t watch the Italy v Spain match due to internet speed but I followed it on text and then overcame lethargy (having nodded off in the chair earlier) and decided to see if, at 0300 the internet would be fast enough for me to see England trounce Iceland.
Well I never got that far. My laptop froze and of course having had a few sherbets I HAD to try and fix it there and then. It ended with a restoration and then the vpn refused to work so another hour was spent uninstalling and reinstalling that! By the time I had finished it was 0700.
And the rain had been bucketing down all night.
After four hours kip I got up. I needed to shop for a few bits for the pate. Joan showed me some photos on her phone of the roads on the lower side of the campus - completely flooded. Not a problem on an e-bike, I often go through six inch deep puddles without problem. It was still chucking it down but I was intrepid.
It was great until I got to the back of the teaching block when I was confronted by a flood that appeared to be a bit more than six inches, so I turned around and went over to the other side of campus where the roads are all gradients. All was well.
Until I got down to near the south gate. In the six years I have been here I have never seen anything like it. I suddenly found myself in a foot of water watching students wading barefoot carrying their shoes. The bike could handle that so carefully I rode slowly on. Assuming the level was similar outside, I exited with the intention of parking the bike near the bus stop. I found myself in water that later I observed by watching people sloshing though it, was knee deep! That of course was well over the level of my footwell so my trotters got soaked but to my enormous relief the bike never shorted out.
I got out of the Aegean Sea and parked up to wait for a bus.
Except the buses weren’t chancing it. They were coming into the road and then turning around 200 yards from me. No way was I going knee deep for that distance so I stood and ruminated for a while, hoping at least one driver would chance it - after all, the SUVs were making it.
In the end I went to the office, worried that if I tried to go home the bike would be swamped. After two bottles the rain had eased so I sallied forth. The water was still as deep and by now Anhui Provincial TV Broadcasting were there filming as the maintenance workers were sandbagging south gate. Come to think of it, they probably filmed me as I went through the torrent that had appeared by that time and where water was pouring over the speed humps into the school.
Having really set my sights on making pate, instead of being sensible and just going home, I rode to west gate and down to another bus stop, where I boarded a 29 bus. The pate should be cooked in a few minutes and all I can say is that after the effort I made I sincerely hope I didn’t bugger it up!
Saturday, 25 June 2016
Saturday 25th June, 2016 0020
So Thursday saw me see my last student officially, rather aptly her English name was Summer, given that it was a roasting hot day. In fact the saddest moment came when I was left alone with my thoughts after she left.
I had to collect my bag and make sure I left nothing behind because never again will I set foot in that classroom. Six years of utter dedication gone and aside from actually keeping the job it was largely for nothing. Or was it? Of course not. I gave the paying customers (parents and students) their money’s worth. I can only hope I have left a lasting impression on some of my students (around a thousand now) and in some way helped to mould them. I hope they will remember me as much as I still remember my own teachers who helped shape me in my youth.
So then I went to the office. Halfway through my second and what was supposed to be my final bottle I was stunned to see a foreigner walk in.
He was succeeded by Anthony who of course just happened to be passing by right where my bike was parked and where I drink every day. What a coincidence. No hint of him wanting to dump the new laowei on me of course!
Said new laowei is Daniel from Minnesota. So far seems a most amenable chap but my crown as the fattest teacher on campus hasn’t just been knocked off, it has been ground into the dirt. At the last weigh-in I was 88kg. He is 125kg! The staff in the office were clearly whispering about him and they thought I was fat! That does not however decide how good a teacher he may be.
I stayed for a few more beers with him and had to beg off giving him a lift on the bike because not only didn’t I think with our combined weight of nearly a quarter of a ton it would defeat my bike on the hill back but I wasn’t confident of my ability to actually keep the damned thing upright either. He went for a walk.
Friday the power cut went ahead and thankfully the translation was right and it affected another part of the campus. I went shopping and later treated Dumpling to a roast pork dinner for her last time to clean up. Unfortunately when I took the pork out of the oven, having not used a tray, just bacofoil, I ended up with the boiling butter down my belly and on my feet and it bloody well hurt. The dinner, I am happy to say, was fine and Dumpling tucked in with gusto. Sore tummy in the morning methinks.
I will not mention the UK referendum other than to say I am pleased.
Daniel went to RT Mart today and texted to say he couldn’t find spaghetti, sauce or fajitas. Well they have wraps if that’s what he meant plus the other two. How on earth he missed them AND the alcohol section is beyond me but I have said I will take him tomorrow.
Joan sustained a minor injury to her ankle a day or so ago and tonight asked if I had any ice cream. Well, that’s what aspirin sounded like when she said it. Why? She showed me. The graze has become infected and she has been crushing aspirin and putting it on the wound! Thankfully I have a good stock of medicines in-house and so she is under strict instructions to take antibiotics because otherwise she could be in trouble. I will inspect it again tomorrow night because if it starts tracking it will be off to the hospital we go.
Yesterday, having sent a concerned message to the recruitment agency regarding my documentation and why couldn’t the new university apply pressure, I had a reply to say that Beijing issues the foreign expert certificates and they are the most important thing in order for provinces to be able to issue residence permits so it would be no good. I then commented that Beijing must have therefore issued me six of those already so why suddenly now would they decide not to and for the agency not to leave me out on a limb with no bloody job.
They replied that it won’t happen, there are other provinces with different criteria (Inner Mongolia being one!) and they will ensure I find a place. Forgive me for thinking rationally but if Beijing issues the FECs then what bloody difference is it going to make with other provinces???
So Thursday saw me see my last student officially, rather aptly her English name was Summer, given that it was a roasting hot day. In fact the saddest moment came when I was left alone with my thoughts after she left.
I had to collect my bag and make sure I left nothing behind because never again will I set foot in that classroom. Six years of utter dedication gone and aside from actually keeping the job it was largely for nothing. Or was it? Of course not. I gave the paying customers (parents and students) their money’s worth. I can only hope I have left a lasting impression on some of my students (around a thousand now) and in some way helped to mould them. I hope they will remember me as much as I still remember my own teachers who helped shape me in my youth.
So then I went to the office. Halfway through my second and what was supposed to be my final bottle I was stunned to see a foreigner walk in.
He was succeeded by Anthony who of course just happened to be passing by right where my bike was parked and where I drink every day. What a coincidence. No hint of him wanting to dump the new laowei on me of course!
Said new laowei is Daniel from Minnesota. So far seems a most amenable chap but my crown as the fattest teacher on campus hasn’t just been knocked off, it has been ground into the dirt. At the last weigh-in I was 88kg. He is 125kg! The staff in the office were clearly whispering about him and they thought I was fat! That does not however decide how good a teacher he may be.
I stayed for a few more beers with him and had to beg off giving him a lift on the bike because not only didn’t I think with our combined weight of nearly a quarter of a ton it would defeat my bike on the hill back but I wasn’t confident of my ability to actually keep the damned thing upright either. He went for a walk.
Friday the power cut went ahead and thankfully the translation was right and it affected another part of the campus. I went shopping and later treated Dumpling to a roast pork dinner for her last time to clean up. Unfortunately when I took the pork out of the oven, having not used a tray, just bacofoil, I ended up with the boiling butter down my belly and on my feet and it bloody well hurt. The dinner, I am happy to say, was fine and Dumpling tucked in with gusto. Sore tummy in the morning methinks.
I will not mention the UK referendum other than to say I am pleased.
Daniel went to RT Mart today and texted to say he couldn’t find spaghetti, sauce or fajitas. Well they have wraps if that’s what he meant plus the other two. How on earth he missed them AND the alcohol section is beyond me but I have said I will take him tomorrow.
Joan sustained a minor injury to her ankle a day or so ago and tonight asked if I had any ice cream. Well, that’s what aspirin sounded like when she said it. Why? She showed me. The graze has become infected and she has been crushing aspirin and putting it on the wound! Thankfully I have a good stock of medicines in-house and so she is under strict instructions to take antibiotics because otherwise she could be in trouble. I will inspect it again tomorrow night because if it starts tracking it will be off to the hospital we go.
Yesterday, having sent a concerned message to the recruitment agency regarding my documentation and why couldn’t the new university apply pressure, I had a reply to say that Beijing issues the foreign expert certificates and they are the most important thing in order for provinces to be able to issue residence permits so it would be no good. I then commented that Beijing must have therefore issued me six of those already so why suddenly now would they decide not to and for the agency not to leave me out on a limb with no bloody job.
They replied that it won’t happen, there are other provinces with different criteria (Inner Mongolia being one!) and they will ensure I find a place. Forgive me for thinking rationally but if Beijing issues the FECs then what bloody difference is it going to make with other provinces???
Wednesday, 22 June 2016
Wednesday 22nd June, 2016 1225
The travails continue.
Having been told to go to Hefei rather than Shanghai, I duly did so yesterday. Alice is back on campus until tomorrow when she and her year all get to don mortarboards and gowns and collect their degrees so I asked if she would come and translate for me.
I rose at five and we took the 0710 train. En route I asked her to look online for how to get from the station to the government building we needed. Number 99 bus. It took a while but it deposited us directly opposite. Later in the day we discovered it was only a five minute taxi ride - which indeed it was because that’s how we returned.
Then the pantomime started. We took a ticket from the machine and waited. And waited. We were number 16. I watched the sign like a hawk once it reached 15 and to my huge displeasure. in time saw it jump immediately from 15 to 17! I despatched Alice to remonstrate and in fairness number 17 was sent packing to wait their rightful turn.
As I keep saying, people here haven’t a clue what my qualification is and the Anhui provincial government staff are no different. I was then asked what degree did I want - bachelors, masters, doctorate? I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing and yet Alice explained that for 385y they would give me a degree!
I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that but justified it by thinking that if the government were suggesting it then for them it could well be normal practice and it was hardly as if I would use it outside China. Then we had to go to a bank of computers and input data. Alice did all this and now I was born in China, studied for and obtained a BA in English at Jinan university. The more I thought about it the more I convinced myself this wasn’t going to work. I am still of the same mind.
When we came to the payment part online the free computer turned out to be unable to make transactions. Additionally Alice couldn’t do it online through her phone either. Suddenly a trip which I had hoped would see us getting a lunchtime train back was fast becoming lengthier. In fact at noon we had to leave as the staff went on their break until 1330. We had to get photocopies made and mercifully (I say that because I had a sudden and very painful arthritic attack in my ankle) there was the perfect shop just around the corner, along with a small restaurant for our lunch and a handy pharmacy for some diclofenac - not something I routinely carry on me.
After getting much help from the shop staff, Alice was finally able to pay the 385y, we got our copies, she legged it to get my medicine and then we had a simple lunch whilst waiting for the office to reopen.
Back we went and I signed countless forms, at the end of which I was instructed to mail translated and notarised versions of my ticket (which I never took with me because I had previously been informed it was useless!!) and also the ONC. So now I have to get that translated and stamped as well. The only good news is that I had a brainwave and asked the firm I proofread for if they also notarised and they do. They will only charge me 120y and don’t need the original so hopefully tonight I will take a photo of it, email it and Joan will pay for it online.
Just before we left the officer handling my affairs commented that when my application got to Beijing I shouldn’t hold out too much hope! I wasn’t anyway but at this I then got Alice to point out the whole thing was ridiculous because for 6 years I have already been teaching here and suddenly I was being told I probably couldn’t. At that, the officer had Alice write some rubbish about my length of service and that staff and students alike loved me, which I duly signed and will be included in the bundle when everything is sent to the capital after they receive what I post to Hefei.
It was 1730 before we finally got home. A couple of hours later Anthony decided to pay a visit, just when I was in as morose a mood as I could be. To his credit, upon hearing of my obstacles, he started coming up with suggestions such as apply to a private academy or consider a public high school. The former is a no-no due to the sheer hours they demand, the latter a possibility but I fail to see how that can possibly alter the documentation problem.
If only I had a crystal ball.
The travails continue.
Having been told to go to Hefei rather than Shanghai, I duly did so yesterday. Alice is back on campus until tomorrow when she and her year all get to don mortarboards and gowns and collect their degrees so I asked if she would come and translate for me.
I rose at five and we took the 0710 train. En route I asked her to look online for how to get from the station to the government building we needed. Number 99 bus. It took a while but it deposited us directly opposite. Later in the day we discovered it was only a five minute taxi ride - which indeed it was because that’s how we returned.
Then the pantomime started. We took a ticket from the machine and waited. And waited. We were number 16. I watched the sign like a hawk once it reached 15 and to my huge displeasure. in time saw it jump immediately from 15 to 17! I despatched Alice to remonstrate and in fairness number 17 was sent packing to wait their rightful turn.
As I keep saying, people here haven’t a clue what my qualification is and the Anhui provincial government staff are no different. I was then asked what degree did I want - bachelors, masters, doctorate? I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing and yet Alice explained that for 385y they would give me a degree!
I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that but justified it by thinking that if the government were suggesting it then for them it could well be normal practice and it was hardly as if I would use it outside China. Then we had to go to a bank of computers and input data. Alice did all this and now I was born in China, studied for and obtained a BA in English at Jinan university. The more I thought about it the more I convinced myself this wasn’t going to work. I am still of the same mind.
When we came to the payment part online the free computer turned out to be unable to make transactions. Additionally Alice couldn’t do it online through her phone either. Suddenly a trip which I had hoped would see us getting a lunchtime train back was fast becoming lengthier. In fact at noon we had to leave as the staff went on their break until 1330. We had to get photocopies made and mercifully (I say that because I had a sudden and very painful arthritic attack in my ankle) there was the perfect shop just around the corner, along with a small restaurant for our lunch and a handy pharmacy for some diclofenac - not something I routinely carry on me.
After getting much help from the shop staff, Alice was finally able to pay the 385y, we got our copies, she legged it to get my medicine and then we had a simple lunch whilst waiting for the office to reopen.
Back we went and I signed countless forms, at the end of which I was instructed to mail translated and notarised versions of my ticket (which I never took with me because I had previously been informed it was useless!!) and also the ONC. So now I have to get that translated and stamped as well. The only good news is that I had a brainwave and asked the firm I proofread for if they also notarised and they do. They will only charge me 120y and don’t need the original so hopefully tonight I will take a photo of it, email it and Joan will pay for it online.
Just before we left the officer handling my affairs commented that when my application got to Beijing I shouldn’t hold out too much hope! I wasn’t anyway but at this I then got Alice to point out the whole thing was ridiculous because for 6 years I have already been teaching here and suddenly I was being told I probably couldn’t. At that, the officer had Alice write some rubbish about my length of service and that staff and students alike loved me, which I duly signed and will be included in the bundle when everything is sent to the capital after they receive what I post to Hefei.
It was 1730 before we finally got home. A couple of hours later Anthony decided to pay a visit, just when I was in as morose a mood as I could be. To his credit, upon hearing of my obstacles, he started coming up with suggestions such as apply to a private academy or consider a public high school. The former is a no-no due to the sheer hours they demand, the latter a possibility but I fail to see how that can possibly alter the documentation problem.
If only I had a crystal ball.
Sunday, 19 June 2016
Sunday 19th June, 2016 0140
Yep - late.
I have been occupied recently, started my exams and been wrestling with the job of actually being able to take up the position I have been offered at what by all accounts is in Tier 1 of Chinese universities.
The problem is the new rule that degrees must be certified. I think I have referred to this before because I wasted money doing it here. I was then told to go to Shanghai to the British embassy and I duly applied online for an appointment. No reply yet but then what else would you expect from a UK govt organisation??
Since then I have been told that no, the British embassy is not good enough. The notarising has to be done either in a Chinese embassy in your own country or an office in China. It seems rather odd to me that the British embassy is not good enough to verify British credentials and is ruled out in favour of a Chinese office which of course must be above any whiff of corruption. So be it.
I will take Alice on Tuesday and we will get my documents notarised which will take a month rather than a while-you-wait service at the British embassy. I am an optimist but it is becoming increasingly hard not to envisage a stage where I suddenly find myself up shit creek and having to bail out somewhere. The optimist had better win out.
At least this is good
[16/06/2016 20:21:54] Jenna zheng: She is still waiting for you.
[16/06/2016 20:22:06] Jenna zheng: For your good news!
[16/06/2016 20:22:15] Jenna zheng: They like you
From the recruitment agent. I hope they do wait for me because I will not go the illegal route and work on a tourist visa.
Thursday saw the start of the “last time” season. I bought my last supply of cigars from my little booth. I have no idea what they said to me when I gave them the little note I got Joan to write to them to thank them for their service over the years but I strongly suspect they were thanking me for the 660y a month contribution to their coffers.
Saturday saw another. On Friday night I cooked Dumpling and Alice a lasagne. I screwed up a bit by making it a bit too moist but actually it was bloody nice. In fact I made enough for six and although I had my usual childrens portion all that was left to freeze was enough for a small snack one day! Dumpling was…….guilty….
And so on Saturday morning Dumpling and I rode to Helen’s school for the last time. The pronunciation test as always in good weather took place in the playground near her home. Again as always it attracted an audience of parents and old farts with bugger all else to do but it was tinged with sadness as I will never do it again. We did though have a great lunch and some games of do di ju and Helen has threatened to come here with her daughter to taste roast potatoes before I leave (potatoes should be banned from the Chinese, they haven‘t a clue what to do with them). We shall see if she does.
I managed an hour in bed before Richard’s leaving dinner. How the hell he has finished already is beyond me, I still have until Thursday to finish and Juliette is now really pissed off that she won’t wind up until the 29th (I have always geared up to finishing just before the main exams start, in this case the 27th) and why should I care? Whatever happens I will remain here until the end of July - although the visa extension is now almost a dead cert necessity - so what else am I going to do?
Well having lunched, and I don’t eat much, I had warned Richard that I may just turn up with Joan and I may just drink and not eat. What had he made? Chicken a la king. Nothing special you may think but only a month ago I was looking up recipes for it because we used to get fed it at HMS Conway probably once a month! His was different of course but I had to try and in fact everyone liked it. He is off in the morning but when I said goodbye tonight my words were that it has been prickly at times but I reckon had we had another year things would be different. I had prickly with Kevin when I first came but it was different. We could go at it hammer and tongs and then it was over. Different generations I suppose.
While I was testing the kids an ex student of mine (who tonight Andrei told me works at the same school as him) called to say she had just heard I was leaving Chizhou. Not true, I saw her a couple of months ago outside RT Mart and told her but only now does she apparently believe it. She wants to have lunch. I am going to try to do that in about ten hours but the forecast is for bucketloads of rain. I need to shop so drenching or nay I am off to town, may as well have lunch as well.
To describe my feelings right now, I have the whole gamut of emotions. From fear that no bastard will recognise my qualifications all the way through the spectrum to sorrow that my time here is at an end in maybe six weeks.
When I picked up my skirts and flew out to China in 2010 of course I was sad but the difference was, I made the choice, I wanted to get the hell out. This time is different because given the choice I would stay here. I cannot be alone in railing against other people making decisions that affect ones life so dramatically.
Yep - late.
I have been occupied recently, started my exams and been wrestling with the job of actually being able to take up the position I have been offered at what by all accounts is in Tier 1 of Chinese universities.
The problem is the new rule that degrees must be certified. I think I have referred to this before because I wasted money doing it here. I was then told to go to Shanghai to the British embassy and I duly applied online for an appointment. No reply yet but then what else would you expect from a UK govt organisation??
Since then I have been told that no, the British embassy is not good enough. The notarising has to be done either in a Chinese embassy in your own country or an office in China. It seems rather odd to me that the British embassy is not good enough to verify British credentials and is ruled out in favour of a Chinese office which of course must be above any whiff of corruption. So be it.
I will take Alice on Tuesday and we will get my documents notarised which will take a month rather than a while-you-wait service at the British embassy. I am an optimist but it is becoming increasingly hard not to envisage a stage where I suddenly find myself up shit creek and having to bail out somewhere. The optimist had better win out.
At least this is good
[16/06/2016 20:21:54] Jenna zheng: She is still waiting for you.
[16/06/2016 20:22:06] Jenna zheng: For your good news!
[16/06/2016 20:22:15] Jenna zheng: They like you
From the recruitment agent. I hope they do wait for me because I will not go the illegal route and work on a tourist visa.
Thursday saw the start of the “last time” season. I bought my last supply of cigars from my little booth. I have no idea what they said to me when I gave them the little note I got Joan to write to them to thank them for their service over the years but I strongly suspect they were thanking me for the 660y a month contribution to their coffers.
Saturday saw another. On Friday night I cooked Dumpling and Alice a lasagne. I screwed up a bit by making it a bit too moist but actually it was bloody nice. In fact I made enough for six and although I had my usual childrens portion all that was left to freeze was enough for a small snack one day! Dumpling was…….guilty….
And so on Saturday morning Dumpling and I rode to Helen’s school for the last time. The pronunciation test as always in good weather took place in the playground near her home. Again as always it attracted an audience of parents and old farts with bugger all else to do but it was tinged with sadness as I will never do it again. We did though have a great lunch and some games of do di ju and Helen has threatened to come here with her daughter to taste roast potatoes before I leave (potatoes should be banned from the Chinese, they haven‘t a clue what to do with them). We shall see if she does.
I managed an hour in bed before Richard’s leaving dinner. How the hell he has finished already is beyond me, I still have until Thursday to finish and Juliette is now really pissed off that she won’t wind up until the 29th (I have always geared up to finishing just before the main exams start, in this case the 27th) and why should I care? Whatever happens I will remain here until the end of July - although the visa extension is now almost a dead cert necessity - so what else am I going to do?
Well having lunched, and I don’t eat much, I had warned Richard that I may just turn up with Joan and I may just drink and not eat. What had he made? Chicken a la king. Nothing special you may think but only a month ago I was looking up recipes for it because we used to get fed it at HMS Conway probably once a month! His was different of course but I had to try and in fact everyone liked it. He is off in the morning but when I said goodbye tonight my words were that it has been prickly at times but I reckon had we had another year things would be different. I had prickly with Kevin when I first came but it was different. We could go at it hammer and tongs and then it was over. Different generations I suppose.
While I was testing the kids an ex student of mine (who tonight Andrei told me works at the same school as him) called to say she had just heard I was leaving Chizhou. Not true, I saw her a couple of months ago outside RT Mart and told her but only now does she apparently believe it. She wants to have lunch. I am going to try to do that in about ten hours but the forecast is for bucketloads of rain. I need to shop so drenching or nay I am off to town, may as well have lunch as well.
To describe my feelings right now, I have the whole gamut of emotions. From fear that no bastard will recognise my qualifications all the way through the spectrum to sorrow that my time here is at an end in maybe six weeks.
When I picked up my skirts and flew out to China in 2010 of course I was sad but the difference was, I made the choice, I wanted to get the hell out. This time is different because given the choice I would stay here. I cannot be alone in railing against other people making decisions that affect ones life so dramatically.
Monday, 13 June 2016
Monday 13th June, 2016 1910
When you think things can only get better, they get worse.
I tried phoning the Educational Exchange Centre in Hefei with a view to leaving here early tomorrow morning and coming back in the afternoon or evening. I was assured this was a service for foreigners. It may be so but only for foreigners with translators because nobody spoke English.
I batted it back to Jenna at the recruitment agency and left for class. No way was I spending out yet more cash on a fool’s errand by just turning up and finding they can’t help me and no way can I get a student to bunk off exams to translate.
I left a little early to go to the cash point to get some money and also check if my pay had gone in. It hadn’t. Having gotten a new card last week naturally I am wondering whether it is everyone or just me, so I sent Anthony a text to ask if he has been paid. Nearly four hours later I still await a reply.
Off I went, not in the best of moods at this bureaucratic whirlwind which crops up every time I jump through a hoop, rips the hoop away and builds a wall to climb. When I got to the classroom it was closed and the set up is that you can’t open the door from the outside without a key. Knowing Juliette precedes me on Mondays and that she has had to start her exams earlier than me, I guessed she was running late with her testing and so naturally hesitated, especially as the bell hadn’t even gone.
I had seen some of her students as I rode down but of course with me, once each student is done they can leave, so I thought nothing of it. Until that is, five minutes after the bell had elapsed and still no door opening. Then I knocked. And knocked.
I then realised she had finished early, shut the door and gone. Fine. I went and knocked on the “aunty’s” door to get her to unlock my classroom. And I knocked. Some students turned up so I got them to see if they could find someone with a key on another floor. They couldn’t. Soon I had the entire class join me on the balcony, locked out. Fleetingly (and VERY fleetingly) I contemplated calling Anthony. I dismissed that idea for two very good reasons. Firstly he still hadn’t replied to my earlier message so was unlikely to reply to another or a call and secondly, once upon a time I actually had my own key. If you recall I borrowed the room for half an hour for a meeting regarding the Christmas hospital visit and was then engulfed by a typhoon of epic indignation and wrath which emanated from the new Dean’s office and was ultimately delivered by Anthony. So no, why should I go to great lengths because eventually precisely what I envisaged would happen when they confiscated my key as if I was a naughty little boy, did happen.
And so I made the class wait for ten minutes after we should have started and then dismissed them. They were delighted, I confess I felt satisfied. I will not however be happy if it happens again next Monday because I will be examining that class, possibly with their agreement a marathon session to test all 25 of them, for reasons I will now explain.
With an early knock off I went to the business street and into the cool of the office for an hour, contemplating what to have for dinner, salad in the end.
Getting home I had messages waiting on Skype from Jenna. To cut it short, Jiangsu PSB are apparently only interested in qualifications issued by colleges or universities which when you think about it is a joke given the extraordinary tactics they have had to employ domestically this year to stop cheating in the college entrance exams - SWAT teams, mobile signal jammers etc.
I had the choice of going to Hefei where, if they were actually able to help at all (and somehow I don‘t think they would be), it would take a month (a month!) to verify my credentials or I could go to Shanghai and the British embassy, where it could be done in a day but at far greater cost as I would need an overnight hotel and of course more expensive travel.
It was at this point that it was just as well there wasn’t a loaded revolver in my desk drawer.
I did though mention I had an ONC that was signed by the Scottish Secretary of State for Education. As far as I can tell it is no higher than A levels but suddenly Jenna was excited - that would do! What??? If it does then it will expose the new rule as being precisely what it is, idiotic.
I will go to Shanghai next Thursday provided I can finish my late class early (or as aforementioned do the lot in one go on Monday), arrive in the evening, stay in an hotel and go to the embassy on Friday morning. I am guessing that little exercise will set me back about 2,000y to go with what I have already spent so far, meaning a month’s wages damned near will have evaporated - wages I was planning on keeping for the period between pay cheques and schools.
If this doesn’t work then I give up.
When you think things can only get better, they get worse.
I tried phoning the Educational Exchange Centre in Hefei with a view to leaving here early tomorrow morning and coming back in the afternoon or evening. I was assured this was a service for foreigners. It may be so but only for foreigners with translators because nobody spoke English.
I batted it back to Jenna at the recruitment agency and left for class. No way was I spending out yet more cash on a fool’s errand by just turning up and finding they can’t help me and no way can I get a student to bunk off exams to translate.
I left a little early to go to the cash point to get some money and also check if my pay had gone in. It hadn’t. Having gotten a new card last week naturally I am wondering whether it is everyone or just me, so I sent Anthony a text to ask if he has been paid. Nearly four hours later I still await a reply.
Off I went, not in the best of moods at this bureaucratic whirlwind which crops up every time I jump through a hoop, rips the hoop away and builds a wall to climb. When I got to the classroom it was closed and the set up is that you can’t open the door from the outside without a key. Knowing Juliette precedes me on Mondays and that she has had to start her exams earlier than me, I guessed she was running late with her testing and so naturally hesitated, especially as the bell hadn’t even gone.
I had seen some of her students as I rode down but of course with me, once each student is done they can leave, so I thought nothing of it. Until that is, five minutes after the bell had elapsed and still no door opening. Then I knocked. And knocked.
I then realised she had finished early, shut the door and gone. Fine. I went and knocked on the “aunty’s” door to get her to unlock my classroom. And I knocked. Some students turned up so I got them to see if they could find someone with a key on another floor. They couldn’t. Soon I had the entire class join me on the balcony, locked out. Fleetingly (and VERY fleetingly) I contemplated calling Anthony. I dismissed that idea for two very good reasons. Firstly he still hadn’t replied to my earlier message so was unlikely to reply to another or a call and secondly, once upon a time I actually had my own key. If you recall I borrowed the room for half an hour for a meeting regarding the Christmas hospital visit and was then engulfed by a typhoon of epic indignation and wrath which emanated from the new Dean’s office and was ultimately delivered by Anthony. So no, why should I go to great lengths because eventually precisely what I envisaged would happen when they confiscated my key as if I was a naughty little boy, did happen.
And so I made the class wait for ten minutes after we should have started and then dismissed them. They were delighted, I confess I felt satisfied. I will not however be happy if it happens again next Monday because I will be examining that class, possibly with their agreement a marathon session to test all 25 of them, for reasons I will now explain.
With an early knock off I went to the business street and into the cool of the office for an hour, contemplating what to have for dinner, salad in the end.
Getting home I had messages waiting on Skype from Jenna. To cut it short, Jiangsu PSB are apparently only interested in qualifications issued by colleges or universities which when you think about it is a joke given the extraordinary tactics they have had to employ domestically this year to stop cheating in the college entrance exams - SWAT teams, mobile signal jammers etc.
I had the choice of going to Hefei where, if they were actually able to help at all (and somehow I don‘t think they would be), it would take a month (a month!) to verify my credentials or I could go to Shanghai and the British embassy, where it could be done in a day but at far greater cost as I would need an overnight hotel and of course more expensive travel.
It was at this point that it was just as well there wasn’t a loaded revolver in my desk drawer.
I did though mention I had an ONC that was signed by the Scottish Secretary of State for Education. As far as I can tell it is no higher than A levels but suddenly Jenna was excited - that would do! What??? If it does then it will expose the new rule as being precisely what it is, idiotic.
I will go to Shanghai next Thursday provided I can finish my late class early (or as aforementioned do the lot in one go on Monday), arrive in the evening, stay in an hotel and go to the embassy on Friday morning. I am guessing that little exercise will set me back about 2,000y to go with what I have already spent so far, meaning a month’s wages damned near will have evaporated - wages I was planning on keeping for the period between pay cheques and schools.
If this doesn’t work then I give up.
Sunday, 12 June 2016
Friday 10th June, 2016 1640
Half an hour to kill before going to Amazing Brewery for dinner with Kevin, Vivi and Hannah. Hopefully a couple of games of pool afterwards upstairs.
So on Wednesday after my class I rushed to town to get to the notary before they closed for the dragon boat holiday and collected 7 photocopied sheets in a slightly thicker cover. Four of the copies were of my document, three the translation. It really doesn’t look like 540y worth. Anyway, the agency have an emailed copy now so whenever the new school reopens they will send them there. Fingers crossed it works, I do want to teach at the new one, not least of all because they have (without being asked by me) increased the monthly salary meaning it will be an instant 18% pay rise on what I get here.
Mind you, Changzhou being a bigger city, has a fair few western restaurants so doubtless the extra will be spent in those!
Yesterday was dragon boat day, today is one of those where they let you have it off so the students can have three consecutive days in which to go home. Of course, classes resume on Sunday to make up for today. I however really don’t care because this term I don’t have classes on Fridays.
I scrabbled around for a “date” for tonight. Joan has gone to see her friend in Wuhu and Dumpling has gone home to Anqing. I sent Lilian a text but she took forever to answer and so I invited Hannah. Two hours later Lilian replied! It made me feel a trifle guilty so I will take her out tomorrow. Sunday I will attempt a prawn and mushroom curry to share with Dumpling when she gets back. I’m sure I have a packet of chapattis in my freezer somewhere although using the rice cooker to steam some rice will pose a challenge - I have always used a lidded saucepan.
The good thing is that with so many students having gone home there are no queues for the bus to town. I went yesterday and but for the fact I needed something for my dinner last night I may as well not have bothered, they had run out of my wine. Maybe tomorrow after dinner, the restaurant is near to the supermarket.
I have now started slowly but surely dumping stuff I won’t be taking with me. I can be guilty of being a terrible hoarder, I have things in cupboards I haven’t used in the six years I have been here so the likelihood of using them in the future is minimal. Although of course Sod’s law says the moment I throw something away I will wish I still had it.
Sunday 12th 1345
It’s getting to be enough to drive a person insane.
Friday’s dinner was terrible. My prawn pizza was awash with sweet corn, two identical noodle dishes arrived twenty minutes apart. Worse, they only had one type of beer! It was a black beer (allegedly Tsingtao) which tasted more of caramel than beer. Not one of my better suggestions.
Last night with Lilian was fairly safe as we went for a steak dinner although even there was below par as it looked like all the staff have changed since I was there last.
And then today came news I did not want. That notarisation I spent 540y on? No good. It has to be done via some special government educational bureau or a British embassy! My protests that I shouldn’t even have to be doing this after 6 years here fell on stony ground so I might as well have gone to Hefei in the first instance. What worries me now is that they won’t agree my papers are sufficient, if that happens I may be up a creek.
Also with the clock winding down (only 7 weeks until my residence expires) it is increasingly becoming inevitable that I will have to apply for a month’s extension.
This all now becoming hugely frustrating and worrying.
Half an hour to kill before going to Amazing Brewery for dinner with Kevin, Vivi and Hannah. Hopefully a couple of games of pool afterwards upstairs.
So on Wednesday after my class I rushed to town to get to the notary before they closed for the dragon boat holiday and collected 7 photocopied sheets in a slightly thicker cover. Four of the copies were of my document, three the translation. It really doesn’t look like 540y worth. Anyway, the agency have an emailed copy now so whenever the new school reopens they will send them there. Fingers crossed it works, I do want to teach at the new one, not least of all because they have (without being asked by me) increased the monthly salary meaning it will be an instant 18% pay rise on what I get here.
Mind you, Changzhou being a bigger city, has a fair few western restaurants so doubtless the extra will be spent in those!
Yesterday was dragon boat day, today is one of those where they let you have it off so the students can have three consecutive days in which to go home. Of course, classes resume on Sunday to make up for today. I however really don’t care because this term I don’t have classes on Fridays.
I scrabbled around for a “date” for tonight. Joan has gone to see her friend in Wuhu and Dumpling has gone home to Anqing. I sent Lilian a text but she took forever to answer and so I invited Hannah. Two hours later Lilian replied! It made me feel a trifle guilty so I will take her out tomorrow. Sunday I will attempt a prawn and mushroom curry to share with Dumpling when she gets back. I’m sure I have a packet of chapattis in my freezer somewhere although using the rice cooker to steam some rice will pose a challenge - I have always used a lidded saucepan.
The good thing is that with so many students having gone home there are no queues for the bus to town. I went yesterday and but for the fact I needed something for my dinner last night I may as well not have bothered, they had run out of my wine. Maybe tomorrow after dinner, the restaurant is near to the supermarket.
I have now started slowly but surely dumping stuff I won’t be taking with me. I can be guilty of being a terrible hoarder, I have things in cupboards I haven’t used in the six years I have been here so the likelihood of using them in the future is minimal. Although of course Sod’s law says the moment I throw something away I will wish I still had it.
Sunday 12th 1345
It’s getting to be enough to drive a person insane.
Friday’s dinner was terrible. My prawn pizza was awash with sweet corn, two identical noodle dishes arrived twenty minutes apart. Worse, they only had one type of beer! It was a black beer (allegedly Tsingtao) which tasted more of caramel than beer. Not one of my better suggestions.
Last night with Lilian was fairly safe as we went for a steak dinner although even there was below par as it looked like all the staff have changed since I was there last.
And then today came news I did not want. That notarisation I spent 540y on? No good. It has to be done via some special government educational bureau or a British embassy! My protests that I shouldn’t even have to be doing this after 6 years here fell on stony ground so I might as well have gone to Hefei in the first instance. What worries me now is that they won’t agree my papers are sufficient, if that happens I may be up a creek.
Also with the clock winding down (only 7 weeks until my residence expires) it is increasingly becoming inevitable that I will have to apply for a month’s extension.
This all now becoming hugely frustrating and worrying.
Monday, 6 June 2016
Monday 6th June, 2016 0145
Have you got kids? No. Then you don’t know what you are talking about!
Something I have heard often throughout life and something I have always found to be a specious argument. Do you really have to have kids to know about them? Granted, not 100% but you can have an idea in the same way as if you have never had a bereavement you can still empathise with the bereaved.
Imagine this:
Patient: Have you ever had cancer?
Doctor: No
Patient: You don’t know what you’re talking about!
Apologies, the top part was in a programme I watched this evening and my fertile noggin just felt like throwing it out there because even though you may not have had lumbago it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t imagine it. We have all suffered in life (and if you haven’t then I would love to meet you) and no, this was merely an observation which was not based on my own tribulations which are far removed from such things.
In fact, healthwise the old ticker is slower than it has been in at least two decades (never realised you could take the entire cocktail cabinet of drugs for BP before now!) and although the PVCs are still there they are less frequent.
No, my concern is now that having found a spot at the 34th highest university in China (in 2004 there were well over 2,000) that some jobsworth will scuttle it. Maybe not, once I get the notarised Chinese translation of my ticket perhaps they will finally understand that it’s not the certificate I got in middle school for swimming 100 yards breaststroke or the diploma I got in Majorca for shooting or playing boules. Many people here are working on those sorts of things and I am being straight.
You can now study for a bachelors degree in golf (honestly!) and you will think I am lying but check it out - David Beckham! Please somebody tell me how a degree in Beckham can be of use in the real world? God, art is bad enough - “do you want fries with that?” but Beckham???
Sorry just passing time until it is late enough to go to bed.
Today was warm. The bus said 23C but the forecast said 30C. My body said 28C. The buses now cost double at 2y a trip and the a/c is now on. Can anyone explain why, when it is hot outside that Chinese people get on a nice cool bus and then selfishly open the frigging windows? I am getting tired of objecting even though we are all paying double for the privilege of keeping cool but one day I may be in the news, having been sentenced to death for slaughtering a window opener.
One thing I forgot to mention (I think) from our initial film shoot was that when I had to go and change shirts and returned with black shirt and rugby world cup tie was that afterwards Andrei asked me where the shirt came from. When I said I had to go home and get it the cheeky sod (actually, given that we are in China not so cheeky) commented that he was amazed that the film crew had one to fit in their wardrobe!
I would wager a month’s wages they didn’t, considering I can’t buy anything big enough myself here. They did though give me a change of tie (which someone had pre-tied into a Windsor knot to boot) and which was actually long enough for my 20 inch neck. When I do mine the tail is about as long as that on a tortoise in order to at least try to get the thing somewhere near my belt, which of course is well under the overhang.
Ok I know I am waffling but this week (aside from the class I take twice a week) will see my last classes here in Chizhou with the 2X class next week. The week after I start exams and once done, six years of my life teaching here will be at an end.
Am I sad? Certainly. Do I regret any of it? Definitely not. Will I miss Chizhou and my students? You know the answer to that.
It’s not over just yet although red tape and officialdom seem to be blocking my progress to elsewhere at present. I am throwing left and right-handers like the recently departed Cassius Clay and like him I hope to triumph because as sure as hell I do NOT want to work in an international school with all their strictures and 40 hours a week, no sir!
So far I have done everything asked of me. If it isn’t good enough I should find out in a week and if it isn’t then I will perhaps lose patience and explode. If I was a migrant or asylum seeker I would understand but I came here to teach, not to sponge.
Have you got kids? No. Then you don’t know what you are talking about!
Something I have heard often throughout life and something I have always found to be a specious argument. Do you really have to have kids to know about them? Granted, not 100% but you can have an idea in the same way as if you have never had a bereavement you can still empathise with the bereaved.
Imagine this:
Patient: Have you ever had cancer?
Doctor: No
Patient: You don’t know what you’re talking about!
Apologies, the top part was in a programme I watched this evening and my fertile noggin just felt like throwing it out there because even though you may not have had lumbago it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t imagine it. We have all suffered in life (and if you haven’t then I would love to meet you) and no, this was merely an observation which was not based on my own tribulations which are far removed from such things.
In fact, healthwise the old ticker is slower than it has been in at least two decades (never realised you could take the entire cocktail cabinet of drugs for BP before now!) and although the PVCs are still there they are less frequent.
No, my concern is now that having found a spot at the 34th highest university in China (in 2004 there were well over 2,000) that some jobsworth will scuttle it. Maybe not, once I get the notarised Chinese translation of my ticket perhaps they will finally understand that it’s not the certificate I got in middle school for swimming 100 yards breaststroke or the diploma I got in Majorca for shooting or playing boules. Many people here are working on those sorts of things and I am being straight.
You can now study for a bachelors degree in golf (honestly!) and you will think I am lying but check it out - David Beckham! Please somebody tell me how a degree in Beckham can be of use in the real world? God, art is bad enough - “do you want fries with that?” but Beckham???
Sorry just passing time until it is late enough to go to bed.
Today was warm. The bus said 23C but the forecast said 30C. My body said 28C. The buses now cost double at 2y a trip and the a/c is now on. Can anyone explain why, when it is hot outside that Chinese people get on a nice cool bus and then selfishly open the frigging windows? I am getting tired of objecting even though we are all paying double for the privilege of keeping cool but one day I may be in the news, having been sentenced to death for slaughtering a window opener.
One thing I forgot to mention (I think) from our initial film shoot was that when I had to go and change shirts and returned with black shirt and rugby world cup tie was that afterwards Andrei asked me where the shirt came from. When I said I had to go home and get it the cheeky sod (actually, given that we are in China not so cheeky) commented that he was amazed that the film crew had one to fit in their wardrobe!
I would wager a month’s wages they didn’t, considering I can’t buy anything big enough myself here. They did though give me a change of tie (which someone had pre-tied into a Windsor knot to boot) and which was actually long enough for my 20 inch neck. When I do mine the tail is about as long as that on a tortoise in order to at least try to get the thing somewhere near my belt, which of course is well under the overhang.
Ok I know I am waffling but this week (aside from the class I take twice a week) will see my last classes here in Chizhou with the 2X class next week. The week after I start exams and once done, six years of my life teaching here will be at an end.
Am I sad? Certainly. Do I regret any of it? Definitely not. Will I miss Chizhou and my students? You know the answer to that.
It’s not over just yet although red tape and officialdom seem to be blocking my progress to elsewhere at present. I am throwing left and right-handers like the recently departed Cassius Clay and like him I hope to triumph because as sure as hell I do NOT want to work in an international school with all their strictures and 40 hours a week, no sir!
So far I have done everything asked of me. If it isn’t good enough I should find out in a week and if it isn’t then I will perhaps lose patience and explode. If I was a migrant or asylum seeker I would understand but I came here to teach, not to sponge.
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Saturday 4th June, 2016 1910
I never realised it had been so long but then time flies when you are having every obstacle under the sun thrown at you.
The interview went very well and the job is mine in Changzhou. If my qualification is accepted by the Public Service Bureau as being sufficient. Well it has been good enough for six years in this province so I see no reason why another would say no but then this is China and different officials read rules very differently. So if it isn’t insurance companies in this province, I am up against beaurocracy in another.
I have sorted my tachycardia and certainly reduced the PVCs yet now I find there’s a “new rule” (there always is here and most of them are made up) so as I was told I had to have my qualification notarised I decided to jump through their hoop. What I didn’t want to do was travel all the way to Hefei and pay perhaps 200y travel expenses (and waste a whole day) if there was a notary public here in Chizhou. There is, Anthony found him for me.
So yesterday I went to see him armed with passport and qualification. Needless to say he hadn’t a clue as to what it was but even he could surely see it was embossed with the seal of the British Government seeing as it is identical to that on my passport. How do you fake that? The best he can do is have the English translated into Chinese and then certify that I was present in his office, that’s what it says in the book and I am who it says on the document. Just marvellous, especially given that it cost me 540y for the privilege. The best of it is, I very much doubt the PSB in Changzhou will know what it is for either.
I now need to return to get the notarised forms on Wednesday and email them to the agency. In the meantime I did some digging on the internet trying to find proof and a direct comparison between qualifications. Sadly that has not proved to be easy although I did manage to “prove” my case using the ONC I had to get and which was just a part of the ticket I ended up with. Ergo if the ONC is one level below a degree then surely something of which the ONC comprises merely a part of what I have then it stands to reason (ha! Reason here???!!) that what I have must be one level at least above - degree level.
I am rapidly losing the will to live here because this morning I read something in which Beijing has decreed all degrees etc must be notarised, however those already in China are exempt if they are simply renewing their permits or changing locations.
Needless to say I am firing every broadside I can at this nonsense but I really don’t need all this uncertainty piled on top of having to uproot from here after six years. I know there are westerners in China who are teaching on degrees they manufactured on their computers but I have always stated I never went to university because I want to be 100% legal and not live in fear of a knock on the door at midnight and the serving of a 7 days notice to quit the country.
I wish I could be confident that I will win this battle but the honest truth is that I am not.
I never realised it had been so long but then time flies when you are having every obstacle under the sun thrown at you.
The interview went very well and the job is mine in Changzhou. If my qualification is accepted by the Public Service Bureau as being sufficient. Well it has been good enough for six years in this province so I see no reason why another would say no but then this is China and different officials read rules very differently. So if it isn’t insurance companies in this province, I am up against beaurocracy in another.
I have sorted my tachycardia and certainly reduced the PVCs yet now I find there’s a “new rule” (there always is here and most of them are made up) so as I was told I had to have my qualification notarised I decided to jump through their hoop. What I didn’t want to do was travel all the way to Hefei and pay perhaps 200y travel expenses (and waste a whole day) if there was a notary public here in Chizhou. There is, Anthony found him for me.
So yesterday I went to see him armed with passport and qualification. Needless to say he hadn’t a clue as to what it was but even he could surely see it was embossed with the seal of the British Government seeing as it is identical to that on my passport. How do you fake that? The best he can do is have the English translated into Chinese and then certify that I was present in his office, that’s what it says in the book and I am who it says on the document. Just marvellous, especially given that it cost me 540y for the privilege. The best of it is, I very much doubt the PSB in Changzhou will know what it is for either.
I now need to return to get the notarised forms on Wednesday and email them to the agency. In the meantime I did some digging on the internet trying to find proof and a direct comparison between qualifications. Sadly that has not proved to be easy although I did manage to “prove” my case using the ONC I had to get and which was just a part of the ticket I ended up with. Ergo if the ONC is one level below a degree then surely something of which the ONC comprises merely a part of what I have then it stands to reason (ha! Reason here???!!) that what I have must be one level at least above - degree level.
I am rapidly losing the will to live here because this morning I read something in which Beijing has decreed all degrees etc must be notarised, however those already in China are exempt if they are simply renewing their permits or changing locations.
Needless to say I am firing every broadside I can at this nonsense but I really don’t need all this uncertainty piled on top of having to uproot from here after six years. I know there are westerners in China who are teaching on degrees they manufactured on their computers but I have always stated I never went to university because I want to be 100% legal and not live in fear of a knock on the door at midnight and the serving of a 7 days notice to quit the country.
I wish I could be confident that I will win this battle but the honest truth is that I am not.
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