Step 3. Being There.

     So, I landed at Shenzhen Airport late on a Friday night and the guy who picked me up at the airport spoke NO ENGLISH.  Trusting this complete stranger, because I had so many other options, we headed out.  As I said previously, I was taken to what we all call, "the dorms", which, as it turns out, is actually a typical Chinese apartment building.  A good number of apartments in China come "fully furnished" so what was there was what I got.

     My "apartment" came "fully furnished with; a queen sized bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a bookcase, a "full sized" bar fridge, and a washing machine.  All of the furniture was brand new (bed still in plastic wrap) and likely from Ikea.  The first word that entered my mind, and apparently the minds of everyone else who moved in, was "dorms".  We all feel like we are living in a dorm and are back in college.  Only difference is they allow us to cook in our rooms and we are teaching the classes.

     Before I had arrived, I had decided that I would see where I was being put up in relation to where I was teaching and go from there.  As it turned out, where I was living was where City College of Shenzhen, the folks who hired me, were housing all of the new arriving teachers for Shenzhen.  So, almost everyone else I was meeting was in the same exact boat I was.  For some, like Paul, from Ireland and living across the hall, this was their first teaching job anywhere.  For others, like my new BFF Charlie, down the hall and from California, he had been in China for 2 years but this was his first job in Shenzhen.

     Charlie, as it turned out, spoke pretty decent Chinese and happened to be going apartment hunting my first day in China.  I was THRILLED to tag along with someone who knew where they were going and could speak to the locals.  It was Saturday, and I didn't have to deal with school until Monday, and I wanted to get an idea of what the apartments were like.  I can only say, that I am sorry I did not take pics, but trust me, what was out there was scary.  There are over a billion Chinese, they all live in apartments, and compared to what seemed to be out there, I was living like a queen in the Taj Mahal. 

     So, which school I was teaching at and how far a commute were the final questions to ask before deciding if I wanted to move out.  Suddenly, the dorms seemed immaculate and glamorous.  Did I mention I lived on the 5th floor of a building with no elevator?  Yeah, that was an issue as well, but a free workout every single day....and worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY to have a guy carry anything I bought up the steps.

The Flight.

     I had called around and it would cost me $2500 to fly business class to China.  I ran an Indigogo campaign to try and raise the funds and was not completely successful.  I knew it would be at least a 14 hour flight and I just wanted to make sure I could lay down.  I finally, days before I was to leave, thought to call American Airlines and see if I could use my miles to fly.  I was told that for 35k miles and $80 in taxes and fees, I could fly to Shanghai and then book a flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen.  The flight to Shenzhen would cost me $256.  Not bad at all.
     The next question I had for AA was how much would it cost me to upgrade to business class?  I was told that was not an option at that time, unless I had 175k miles to do so.  Nope, mere 48k.  I was told repeatedly that I might be able to upgrade at the gate for 20k miles so I was convinced to purchase the remaining 9k miles in order to be prepared.  I did it, figuring it was a small price to pay.  It only cost me $273.  When I arrived at O'Hare at 4pm for my 10pm flight, I was informed that the upgrade was not available but to check at the gate in Dallas.  The excess weight on my baggage only set me back $400, but I had everything I needed, right?
     My flight to Dallas was very uneventful and I arrived in at 12:30am.  My flight to Shanghai was not until 11am so I had a few hours to kill.  I found a bunch of cots in an empty terminal and decided to just lay down for a bit.  I didn't sleep much, but I "awoke" at 6:30am to find myself surrounded by people, so I quietly got up and left.  I took the shuttle to the ass other end of the Dallas Airport for my flight to Shanghai.

     When I arrived at the terminal, I showed the gate person my ticket and asked again if it would be possible to upgrade to business for the flight to Shanghai.  I was told it would cost me 25k miles and $225? to do so.  Relying on her statements, I went ahead and purchase yet another 5k miles.  The $188 seemed a small price to pay for comfort.  After I had purchased the miles and the gate confirmed they were in my account, the supervisor informed me that the other gate persona had misspoken and I was not eligible for an upgrade at all.  Sorry, but you just spent $461 for miles you couldn't use.  He did, however, manage to book me into a middle row of 3 that was otherwise empty to have all to myself.
     While we boarded the plane, there was a Chinese woman eyeing my row who had just seat hopped to a row across from me that was only occupied by one other person.  If looks could kill, she would have been dead.  I used every ounce of my wide bottomed self and all my carry on crap to indicate quite clearly, I was NOT sharing my row.  She kept giving me the stank eye right up until I lay down and put on my sleep mask and covered myself with a blanket.  I had been out of my house and in the same clothes for over 24 hours now and I just needed to sleep...laying down!
     Flying international appears to be much nicer then flying domestic.  Each seat had its own TV and they served us 3 meals in the 15 hours we were on board.  I have traveled quite a bit in the last few years, but I have NEVER been on a flight or trip that seemed so damned long!  The two day bus trip in Guatemala and Mexico seemed to take less time!  I slept, read, ate, snacked, went pee, and slept some more, and only 1 hour had passed!  That Chinese woman across the aisle was still steeling looks at my row, but I would cut a bitch before I let her horn in on the one thing going my way this trip!
     FINALLY, after weeks of travel (well it felt like weeks), I landed at Shanghai Airport for my final leg to Shenzhen.  I had left on Wed. night from Chicago, and would arrive in Shenzhen on Friday night.  After arguing with the gate person, again, about my luggage, I paid the overweight fee, again, and convinced them to give me back my carry on so I did not have to pay excess checked fees for that as well.

     I am on my way to Shenzhen, where someone, no clue who, will pick me up at the airport and take me to where ever I am going.  No, I have no clue who, what, where, when....my leap of faith cannot be undone.  When I arrive at Shenzhen, I am met by a man who speaks no English, but is carrying a sign that reads "Catherine".  We get my bags and he takes me to his car.  After much to do, we get all of my very overstuffed luggage into his car (which is thankfully an SUV) and head off for parts unknown.
     Apparently, my driver had no clue where he was going and spent a good 10 minutes yelling with someone on the phone.  We finally arrived at what we have come to term, "the dorms" and I was given a room and a key.  THANK GOD I packed my towel, so I could take a shower and finally collapse!

Step 2. The Job Hunt.

     Knowing I had credit card debt and student loans to pay, I decided to make my decision about where to teach based on the financial issues I would face.  In doing my research, I learned that the teachers in the rich oil countries of the Middle East made the most money.  In doing my homework on the Middle East, I determined that the best place for me would be Abu Dhabi or Dubai.  I would be able to make up to $3600, or more, per month PLUS free housing and airfare that was paid for by the schools.
     I quickly found out that because almost every other TEFL instructor with student loans thought the same way, those countries could afford to be picky.  Absent at least 2 years of teaching experience or a teaching license back home, you could not pass Go and could not collect a ton of cash.  The one place it is extremely easy to get a job is in Saudi Arabia.
     Because of the cultural differences, they house expats in "compounds" with other expats.  Because women are not allowed to drive, I would have free housing, a driver to and from school and shopping, and separate housing.  What they don't tell you is that, unless you are married, you have to be sponsored by a man to enter and leave the country.  You will be required to wear the head to toe black tent, as an unmarried woman, and you cannot eat, shop, or walk alone on the streets without being harassed.  I said no to the job offer, figuring they would pull me off the plane on the tarmac and simply behead me there.
     Plan "B" was to head to South Korea.  I was able to get an interview almost immediately and the minute that the man saw me on skype, he informed me I was too old to teach in South Korea.  Apparently they are both sexist and ageist and as a 53 year old woman, I was not going to get a job teaching in South Korea.  Period.
     Plan "C" was China, no pun intended.  During my research, I found that there were more people learning to speak English in China than spoke English in America.  Hmmmm.  So, the hunt began.  The first thing I did was to find out what "issues" existed in China that I, as an expat, should be aware of.  The number one issue was air quality.  If you research the issue of air quality in China, you will quickly find that this is a HUGE issue.  The pictures of the Chinese wearing masks has nothing to do with avian flu.  Instead, in some cities, it is because the air quality comes in 2 settings, "chunky" or "soupy".  Chinese tend to buy masks by the case load.
     So, I looked based on air quality and size of the city.  The bigger the city, the more likely there will be reliable energy, transportation, and food stuffs.  Not wanting to pack 2 seasons of clothes, I looked to the Southern portion of China and settled on Shenzhen,  I am apparently only a subway ride to Hong Kong.

Step 1. Get certified.

     My first step in this amazing journey consisted of 1 month of intense training to learn to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL).  You can teach English anywhere in the world, but without the certification, you are not likely to get a job teaching in a foreign school.  So, after saving my pennies, I enrolled in a course in Chicago.  Because the school hours were 9:30 am to as late as 8:00 pm, it is almost impossible to work while attending school.  I took a month away from the life and found that I could barely wait to get up to leave for school each day.
     I have taken a bar exam 3 times in my life (Illinois x 2 and Virginia only once), and NOTHING prepared me for the intense training that ensued.  I have taught a number of classes over time, Red Cross classes, swimming classes, craft classes, computer classes, but this was something entirely different.  I LOVED what I was doing and was stressed out beyond belief, but it was a joyful stress and not an unhappy one.  I had found at least one of my callings.  The only other things that brought me this much joy were cooking, having my babies, and my art.
     After 1 very long month, I graduated with a TEFL certificate and was about to start the world's largest job hunt!

In the beginning...

     It was last November that I found myself muttering constantly, "I hate my life.  I hate my life...."  I came to realize that I did not, in fact, hate my life, I merely hated various things about my life.  I "hated" my "job".
     For anyone who has done doc review for a living, you know what I am talking about.  It is not an actual "job", it is more of a lifestyle.  Doc review is all temp work and, as a temp, you have no control over whether or not you are working, and sometimes, out of necessity, no control over who you are working for.  From one day to the next, and one week to the next, you have no actual knowledge of whether or not you will have a job, let alone a paycheck.  Because we temp, even if a gig ends, and another begins almost immediately, because of the pay cycles and pay periods for each company, we might go a month between paychecks.
     Some companies offer direct deposit, some companies will only offer live checks, that are passed out at work, and some companies will only mail your live check to the address on your payroll forms.  At that point, you hope and pray you have a great mail person!  My last mailman would ring the bell if I was getting either medications from the VA (Veterans Administration) or anything that looked like a check.  I miss him very much!
     In addition to the "lifestyle" at work, I was having problems at home with my roommates.  For anyone who knows me, and loves me anyways, you know I love to cook.  I take great joy in creating a meal and then watching others enjoy that meal.  Apparently, I was cooking too much and this was causing a problem.  I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I had to cut back on my cooking and I was not allowed to occupy so much of the fridge.  It was at this point that I no longer felt welcome in my own home.  Even though I paid little attention to what was said to me, I just did not feel good about coming "home".
     So, just prior to the onset of holiday baking (and for those of you who have received the holiday baking care package, you KNOW of the magic to which I speak), I decided that I would use up all of my massage hours before, during, and after, each major baking session, so as to stay in the best baking form.  While walking to one of those 2 hour massage sessions, I happened to notice a storefront window for TEFL Academy on Diversey.  The school offered a one month course to certify you to teach English as a Foreign Language.  Hmmmmmm...the die was cast.

So it begins...

This will be my new blog.  I am planning to update at least once a week.  If you check my profile, there is a distinct possibility that things will be posted there instead of here.  I am just now figuring out this whole new blog thing.  Google may or may not be the cause of my new found frustration.

As soon as I have a few minutes to spare, I will blog away...I promise.