Wednesday 3rd August, 2016                     1345

When you think things can only get better, they get worse!

I must have been REALLY wicked in a previous life.

The answer on my qualifications from Beijing? No.

Why? Because it doesn’t feature on their system and they can‘t find it! I understood the reason it has taken so long was because they were verifying with the UK but from this I deduce that was not the case. Take heed any ex shipmasters who feel like teaching in China, you may have a problem Houston.

Yet again I am put on the back foot but all is not lost. I have a few moments ago signed and emailed a contract I rejected out of hand at the beginning of this saga because it was the last option left in respect of public universities. Urumqi with its heavy firearm presence is still an option and the high salary is admittedly very tempting but the workload isn’t. So with heavy heart I have indicated my willingness to work in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province.

One of the most polluted cities in China and the world. Having mulled that fact over I realised that for most of my life my lungs have had industrial strength smoke pushed into them by my own hand so it would be hypocritical to use that as an excuse. The salary is marginally less than I received here in Chizhou, however viewed overall the package annually is in fact slightly better plus if I sign for a second year there is an automatic pay rise.

And if I still fancy Urumqi I can give that a shot after a year. For some twisted reasoning I have a slight curiosity about the place because of the different cultures which rub shoulders with one another there. And maybe I would have a company horse…..

So after last night’s fiasco with the police I was forced to go to reception to print out the contract in order to sign it. They don’t speak English but I was obliged to ask what the hell happened. I don’t know for sure but I reckon my “wrong scan” theory is pretty much correct.

I then found out I should have been given a cancellation certificate for my foreign expert certificate automatically by the foreign affairs officer in Chizhou university. Needless to say not only I wasn’t provided with one but had never heard of this requirement. It is needed before a new one for a different school can be issued.

It’s a good job I made friends in handy places because Sally at the city foreign affairs bureau is going to help me with this.

Now of course, I have to try and figure out how the hell to get to Lanzhou because I am certainly not spending 24 hours or more on a sodding train. I may just try to get a couple of nights in Shanghai en route if I can but I don’t think my bank card here can carry out online transactions to purchase flights. Not to worry though, I found a company that will deliver tickets to the hotel COD.

Why on earth could I not have been born into a simple life???

But then that would bore me to death. Life is the biggest adventure you will ever have so embrace every moment - even the bad ones!