internet restrictions & discussion articles

I use a VPN (virtual private network) for my internet in China so that I don't run into any restrictions, otherwise I wouldn't be able to have this blog, get on facebook, etc. I had never even heard of a VPN before coming; thank goodness someone that knew I was moving asked me if I had gotten one yet before I left and recommended theirs. My layman's understanding is that the VPN basically routes my internet through a city in the States to avoid any censorship issues and you pay a small monthly fee for the service. You can use a VPN on your smartphone too. This article on Chinese internet censorship just popped up on my Yahoo news bar; I always find these kinds of things interesting (and it inspired this post).

Articles like this are always good discussion starters for my students too, once I get them past all the new vocabulary (the Chinese have a really hard time seeing the forest for all the trees, one new word in a sentence that makes perfect sense even without the new word can become impossible to understand). I have also recently covered this BBC article on the Great Firewall allowing access to Google+ and this one from Yahoo Sports about Ben & Jerry's changing the ingredients to Jeremy Lin's ice cream flavor. That one was especially fun, trying to explain the fortune cookie Chinese connection and why this would possibly be upsetting to anyone.

My absolute favorite new things to discuss with my students though are David Thorne posts and any kind of "would you rather" situations (preferably with pictures). They're funny and great for making people feel more comfortable with talking about anything and experimenting with language.

around Tanggu

My Chinese American friend from Songyuan that is now in Nankai seem to have made a Wednesday tradition of adventures. He came to visit me this week so we walked all over Tanggu. We checked out the football stadium and mall right near my apartment.

Not sure what's with this huge rock climbing wall right outside the stadium, but I'll take it.

Apparently "Pocari Sweat" is a Gatorade like sports drink. Sounds gross to me...

I'm assuming this sculpture will be surrounded by a yet to be finished water feature. This is the second sculpture I've seen around Tianjin with these large, iridescent, metallic metal flowers, so I'm thinking the artist must be a local.

 

Food court place I will definitely be visiting! "Los Party"? Mexican and American?! And a teddy bear?! Done.

 

 Also this one. I love Mochi!

 

 This just cracked me up. It was hanging next to the escalator on the way down. Look out for what exactly?

 

Best mall kids play area. Ever.

 

Love the necklace.

No wait. Scratch that. Love the whole outfit.

more on human contact, independence & leaving the house

Since deciding to come to China I have heard of so many people that have taught abroad and loved it; they found the experience to be fun, fulfilling and all that jazz. And then there are the few I've heard of that were absolutely miserable. I think that in part these people were miserable because they didn't do anything to change it.

I've posted about these things before, but the longer I'm here, especially in Tanggu, the more I realize how much each of them impacts how I feel. Getting out of the house, human contact and some sort of semblance of independence are so important. I had a rough day earlier this week and was feeling really isolated, so it got me thinking on this track again.

The way my working in Tanggu is structured really does not set me up for happy assimilation into the culture and lifestyle here. With my tutoring schedule, the only days I have to leave my apartment building are Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, otherwise all of my teaching is done in an apartment two floors below mine that I use as a classroom. Not having to get out of the building means I do not have to come into contact with people at all, outside of my TA and my students, unless I actively go looking to meet them. And the Chinese are not like Americans, you can't just go sit at a bar by yourself and leave at the end of the night with a bunch of new friends (most of the time), they don't talk to people they don't know. Finally, usually I leave, my TA comes with me. She orders for me in restaurants, tells cab drivers where to go, etc. I don't have to do anything for myself.

The other day it was raining and cold out, my tutoring session outside of the building got cancelled, my TA didn't want to go anywhere to grab food, I didn't feel like going out alone and the guy I met at the Irish bar last week (the only non work related person I know here) didn't answer my text, so I was going a little stir crazy. The next day I got up, went walking for a couple hours; I stopped and got lunch alone, walked to the supermarket and did my grocery shopping alone and took a cab home and was able to tell the driver where I needed to go by myself. I felt exponentially better than the day before. I left my apartment, interacted with new people and could function on my own.

This was also pretty important for me, because my TA left on Wednesday, and she wasn't supposed to be coming back. She was only here on a one month internship and she needed return to university to take her TEM8 (Test for English Majors- Grade 8) and finish class to graduate this spring. Turns out my boss talking her into coming back early next week and staying with me until I leave Tanggu in the next week or two, but the idea of being completely alone was somewhat daunting.

The day I got out by myself actually got even better at night. My TA wanted to get out of the house for dinner, which is extremely rare. We went to a Korean BBQ place, which turns out is a similar concept to hotpot. There is a cooking surface in the middle of the table and tons of different foods and sauces set up buffet style that you go grab and cook yourself. You pay a set price and then you're in; it also includes unlimited beer. I would definitely call this another adventure food situation. None of the food is labeled, in English or Chinese, you just get whatever looks interesting and hope you like it. My favorite thing was very ropey and I was sure it had to have been intestines or something of that nature. It's best to just not think about it!

 

After that, the guy I met at the Irish bar last week that teaches across the street from me texted that he was at the Irish bar again, so I went to go meet him (sans TA) and had a great time there. I met an Irish Engineer and an American guy starting a business here that actually lives about 30 minutes' drive from my parents in the States. They were excited about my "debut" in Tanggu, so naturally shots ensued, and we even got some of the Chinese that work there to hang out with us too. Yay for new friends :)

To top it all off, when I returned home that night, I got on facebook and started chatting with a friend from Phoenix, only to discover that he will be in Beijing (an hour train ride away from me) visiting his sister and her husband for a few weeks. So exciting!

the hows

All you absolutely need to teach English in a foreign country is a Bachelor's Degree of some sort and to not be a serial killer. Beyond that, qualifications vary from school to school, but they won't really involve anything more than being a native Canadian or American needing some teaching experience and needing a TEFL certificate (which I got online in a week).

China was actually my backup country, I wanted to go to South Korea initially. I'd heard great things about the country and the schools and there are a lot of jobs with very high pay available there. Unfortunately, they're really strict about who can come work in their country, so with a DUI showing up on my FBI background check (I'd say "Thank you Sheriff Joe" but who am I kidding, that was totally my fault.) I couldn't get in. That brought me to China, which was fine with me; how different could they be? It's not as though I did any research about where I was going, outside of what the weather was like. I'm more of a jump in, deal and don't look back kind of girl.

I made the decision to do this in April of 2011. I interviewed and got set up with the recruiter a friend from college used and started the job search. I already had a trip to Oktoberfest in Munich planned for September/October, so I wasn't be able to come until around November. The Chinese school year starts in August, which meant it was more difficult to find the right opportunity starting after that, and it required more waiting, but that was fine.

Mid November I was offered a great position at a public school, it was exactly what I wanted. I had the friend whose recruiter I used take a peek at my contract and she said it looked pretty standard, so I was good to go. The position was due to start in early February, so I planned to quit my job in time to finish out my two weeks just before Christmas and then take the month of January off.

When I had less than a week left at my job, my recruiter emailed me to say that the school was concerned about getting my visa in time and they went with a local candidate instead. I was completely baffled as to how this could have happened after I signed a 15 page contract over a month before. But this is China. And I (stupidly) did not get my countersigned copy. Not that it would have mattered.

The school still wanted me in August for the following year, but I declined. I was dead set on leaving sooner than that, and after they backed out of my contract I was officially unemployed, and about to be in a weird situation with housing as well, seeing as how my lease at my apartment was up at the end of February.

I knew I was going to be fine money wise, I did liquor promotions which generated enough income to pay rent and live, but talk about drifting before I quit my job... working a few hours a week only on nights and weekends for six months could drive a person like me crazy. Not to mention the fact that I think I might have died from parental judgement if that's all I was doing for months on end at the age of 27 (see below). I had too much pride to go back to my job, and having known I was leaving since April, I was so over it I could barely function by the time I left anyway. And I had no vacation time left so I would have had to miss holidays with my family; it wasn't an option.

I decided not to rely so heavily on my recruiter, and started finding teaching jobs and applying myself. Within a week of School #1's news, I'd interviewed with and been offered positions at three other schools. I suck at interviews in the States, but foreign interviews I dominate, if I do say so myself. Also, as I subtly alluded to earlier, it really isn't that hard to get a job like this. None of those three schools was what I was looking for either though, so I declined all three offers and enjoyed my holiday season in peace.

After the holidays and my first week of unemployment (which was absolutely wonderful by the way, I hiked every day, read, visited friends on the beach in California, etc.) I started thinking about School #1 again. The offer was still good, still what I wanted, it just wasn't on my timeline. But did I really want to rush things and accept an offer I was less happy with just because it got me out of the States sooner? I went back and accepted the offer for August.

Which still left me with the questions of what to do until then job wise, so as not to go crazy, and what to do about my living situation. I couldn't get a real "career" type job because I was leaving in 6 months and I didn't want a retail or serving job because I just didn't think I could bring myself to do it. In the midst of my freaking out about that, a very wise friend (thank you again sir) asked me why I didn't just get with a temp agency. I could go to an office every day, put on my professional face and play at actually doing something I would classify as work until I left, sounded great. Meanwhile I was getting a TON of pressure from the family about what I was doing for work.

My mom is the consummate worrier and workaholic. Her life is not complete if she is not worrying about something, whether it merits the heart attack risk or not. She worked like crazy when I was a kid, I'm talking 80 hour weeks at one job, and still made dinner every night, took my brother and I to sports and music lessons, co-led my Girl Scout troupe, was on the PTA, etc. She was Wonder Woman. So to her, me doing any kind of bs job for six months was completely unfathomable.

And then there was the where to live when my lease came up conundrum. I had a friend that said I could move in with her and her husband rent free and just save money, but they were fighting a lot then, there was only one bathroom and it just wasn't a situation I wanted to be in. I had the guy I had just started dating a month prior, who was moving really fast, asking me to move in with him. And then there was the logical choice, my parents. I could always move in with them. But at my age, and having not lived there for more than a summer since sophomore year in college (actually less than a summer, I always seemed to have boyfriends I stayed with instead), it felt like failure. Even if it was only an interim between big life steps. And there was also the worry and pressure issue.

I love my parents to death. If I could only talk to three people on this planet for the rest of my life, I would choose my parents and my brother. But being there, and feeling that every day, I don't think I could take it. My parents don't understand this at all, so it was very hard to be supportive at first. Now that I'm underway and they can see that I'm still alive (I'll come back to this later...), I think they feel better. Plus my parents live in Wisconsin, very far from the Phoenix desert I know and love, and winter and I are not friends. 

Eventually I had it all figured out, I was going to get a temp job and move in with the boyfriend in Phoenix (yes, he got very serious very fast, but that ended up just being how we worked).

Until that just wasn't the plan.

I can't remember what exactly it was that my mom said to me, but something made me start looking for really short term contracts in China starting in February. In the same fashion as December, I had four interviews and four offers in one week. I was less picky with those than with School #1 because I was essentially looking for a time killer, it was one of those or a temp job. So I picked the best one and suddenly I was leaving for China in a few weeks! I negotiated a few points, signed my contract and waited to hear the exact date they wanted me here... and waited... and waited. It was Chinese New Year, this biggest holiday of the year, and no one works. It was a week after I signed my contract before I heard back about when they wanted me. When I finally did, I had less than a week's notice to get rid of everything that I owned and get over here. Sure, I left a few loose ends, but I feel like I handled most of the important stuff, and I'm glad I ended up where I did.

the whys

Moving abroad to teach English is something I've thought about doing periodically since college. I considered it right after, but I was still pretty stuck in my whole "I hate kids" persona. I've always been known amongst my friends as a child hater, but I don't actually hate kids, I just don't want any of my own. And I prefer they not scream in public places. Especially not public places where I happen to be at the time of said screaming. But I absolutely love babies (well... maybe not ugly ones).

Regardless, I didn't go after college, I randomly moved to Phoenix instead. I was basically drifting. I knew I didn't want to be a graphic designer, which I had just gotten a Bachelor's Degree to be, so since I had a house I could move into with no contract and there was no winter (which I despise), it seemed as good a plan as any.

Then, when I was miserable and clearly going nowhere with my advertising agency job of three years in Phoenix, I thought about it again. Ultimately, I decided to pursue my pipe dream of working in the music industry instead. Few things in this world make me happier than music. In the process of trying to do that, I fell into my next job as a marketing manager (not in music). But, after a few months there I knew it wasn't the place for me either.

That was the point at which I decided it was time. Marketing is good and fun and all, and I had the beginnings (I think) of a great career in Phoenix after more than four years in the industry, I was good at what I did, I was pretty well connected, but it wasn't enough. I wasn't happy. Sure, I was ok in my day to day; outside of work I had great friends, lived in a gorgeous place with a lot of fun things to do, but I still felt like I was drifting, years after college. I was just going along with whatever happened instead of actively making decisions about my life. And I couldn't really figure out what it would take to make me feel like I wasn't drifting, to make me happier.

I am naturally a very happy person overall. The Chinese are always asking me why I'm so happy. I'm always smiling, I find the best in every situation and I don't complain much; I adjust so I have no need to complain. But I simultaneously could and couldn't imagine staying where I was. I could because I adapt, fall into routines and get comfortable very easily, but I couldn't because it sounded a bit like hell. The same thing, the same people, the same industry, the same lifestyle forever. It could be fun, but it would really just be me collecting things. I didn't really have a dream to follow.

Buuuut, I always want to go on adventures. I always want to go explore and experience new things. So why not try that, right? I wasn't making great money, and with my lifestyle I wasn't saving either, so teaching abroad seemed like a great opportunity for adventure and exploration. Teachers have a really low cost of living, pay is crazy high compared to local salaries, work hours are between 20 and 30 per week unless you want more, and obviously in a foreign country there would be so much to experience. So, here I am.

I'd say the rest is history, but I get a lot of questions on what happened after that, so more on the hows to come (hopefully) tomorrow...