I will NOT miss the dorms at all. EVERY SINGLE TIME I take a shower I curse this place and SCC. The place is soooooo small, and my life is in such flux right now, I am constantly bumping into corners or edges or banging something against something. I will NOT miss the building managers wild and drunken card parties outside my window. He has taken to having large groups of people over for dinner and cards. The games involve money and drinking, so by 11pm, it is pretty loud. He is the one we would complain about the noise to. Yup, not working for me. I will also NOT miss his barking dog. About a month ago, he moved his dog into a small cage outside the entrance to our building. The dog barks CONSTANTLY and the noise echos up the stairwell to the 5th floor. I truly hate that dog, but I blame the landlord who keeps him caged up for long periods.
I am supposed to get paid July 11, but because they have been a bit remiss in paying us in full OR on time, I am not departing until July 12. That being said, I have informed them that I have closed my bank account in China and will be by on July 11 to collect my final paycheck in CASH and then someone from the college will walk to the bank with me to change RMB to USD. NO clue what my final pay will be. When my original school in XiLi closed early, for construction, SCC told me that they might not be paying me my full pay for June. Then they said I was being transferred to another school in Qianhai. So, on June 14, I started teaching at a new school for the last 2.5 weeks of my contract.
I went from teaching 15 classes over a period of 4 days to teaching 18 classes in 3.5 days. At my first school, I had Wednesdays off so I could attend "training" at SCC. At the new school, I had Fridays off. It wasn't until AFTER I started that I was informed that the day off Friday was to be used to teach ANOTHER 6 classes at another school. WTF??? I informed the head of SCC that my contract limited me to the 18 classes I was already teaching and there was not enough money in China to make me teach another 6 classes all day Friday. The teacher I had replaced was from South Africa and was likely here on an illegal visa, as ESL teaching visas require the teacher come from a native English speaking country.
As cash broke as I was, it was easier to catch a cab to school and then deal with the bus coming home. The problem there is that cabs do NOT like to stop for foreigners for fear they will be unable to tell the driver where they want to go. I made sure that the name of my school was written in Chinese so I could simply show the driver where I wanted to go. This worked great IF I could actually get a cab to stop. I learned very quickly that in China, you simply get in first and THEN tell them where you want to go or they will roll up their window and drive away. I was taking the B796 bus when I could, as it stopped by the dorms and a block from school. It didn't run very regularly, but as long as I allowed time to travel, I was fine.
My last week of school was...........where to begin? On Monday, I waited at home for the shipping company to come and pick up the two boxes I was shipping home of stuff I did not want to throw out, but I was hoping to avoid having to check a bag to lug around Europe. It didn't start to rain until the driver called. He was speaking Chinese, and even after I told him I did not understand, he kept talking, and talking. I finally hung up. A few minutes later, the company called from the UK to tell me the driver had indeed called, he was lost, and he had left the area but would return. So, I waited some more. The driver did finally show up at my door and carried out my two boxes without leaving a receipt. My fingers are crossed. The company was quick to send me an invoice and ask me to check a few more boxes on the customs forms. This involved downloading them to a USB, taking the USB to the local "print shop", having the form printed out, checking boxes, and then having the updated form scanned back onto the USB so I could email it back to the company. This was my third trip to the "print shop" for said documents.
Tuesday, I did not have to teach until 9:20 am, so I left my house at 7:45 am to get to the bus stop by 7:50 am. I figured that an hour and a half for a 40 minute bus ride was good enough. Did I mention it was POURING? I do not mean raining cats and dogs, I mean raining cows and elephants. The new, larger, prettier umbrella I bought was going to be great. One of the teachers down the hall asked if I had an extra umbrella so I gave him the slightly broken, but sturdy, umbrella from home. I set out for the bus and very soon felt cold water dripping down the back of my next. New umbrella? POS umbrella that leaked like a sieve. No good deed goes unpunished. He later informed me that he left my umbrella in Hong Kong and gave me a replacement. The replacement was good for neither rain nor sun. At last my POS umbrella had a UV protection layer,
As I waited, and waited, and waited for the bus, I noticed other buses going by with a number I had never seen before. I looked on the list at the stop and sure enough, not listed. I finally asked the driver if it went anywhere near my school and he said no. So, after about 40 minutes, I contacted my school and told them I was running very late. I could NOT catch a cab, and the few that stopped were snatched from under me by Chinese. I did not blame them. Finally, at 9:18, I contacted my person at SCC and told them to call the school.
I showed her the picture of the bus stop, and while I was waiting for her to send the Chinese name of an alternate stop on an alternated bus, they came and changed the bus stop sign. I SHIT YOU NOT! My bus no longer stopped at that stop AND the alternative bus no longer stopped there either. I then went to the further bus stop and caught the bus to the metro. It had not really occurred to me to take the alternate route, as I was focused on my bus and the fact it was pouring rain.
It had stopped raining when I got on the metro, but by the time I exited my stop, it was raining again. Apparently, I took the wrong exit at the metro and wound up walking the wrong way. After wandering for about 15 minutes, for what should have been a 2 block walk, I simply stopped in the middle of the vast sidewalk, and under my leaking umbrella, simply broke down and sobbed. When I finally composed myself a bit, I asked someone where my school was and they pointed me in the right direction, or so I thought. I did, in fact, arrive at a school, but it was not MY school There are two schools relatively close, and they were able to point me to my school. I finally arrived in time to teach my 4th period class. That the AC was blowing cold air on my soaked person did not help. After I composed myself, and I just sat down and showed a cartoon. I was too wiped to actually teach anything. After that class, instead of eating in the school cafeteria, I simply pulled out my cot, put on dry socks, and curled up in the fetal position on my cot. My afternoon classes were treated to a movie as well. By the time I got home that night at 5:30pm, I was ready for bed.
Wednesday, hoping to avoid the fiasco of Tuesday, I left early again and attempted to catch a cab. I was able to catch a cab and was only 20 minutes late for my first class. I did all 4 classes and I seem to recall I may have actually taught a few. Most of the other teachers were finished, so I was one of the only ones still teaching. On Wednesday afternoon, I was able to pick up the "yearbook" photo album my first school had made for me. It is quite heavy and is very impressive. They did not put as many pictures in as I had hoped, but you get what you pay for.
On Wednesday, I also started the effort that was downsizing and beginning to pack. I realized that I had way more stuff then I shipped home, so I was glad that my oversized suitcase had not sold. I then started to get rid of "stuff". My kitchen is now as tiny as it really is.
The large metal shelf went to the guy who also bought the large oven. I will NOT miss my almost non-existent "kitchen" in China, but I know my former teachers will miss my cooking and baking! I made a batch of cookies with a donated stick of butter and all the ingredients I had left in the pantry. They were oatmeal, cherry, raisen, walnut, pecan cookies. They were amazing and may have been my best batch ever!
The served me well for breakfast a few mornings. I cut this into squares and shared some with others. I had learned from previous attempts, the only way to bake cookies was to make a pan cookie and cut it into squares. They were little squares of joy and yumminess!
On Thursday, I again left early and took the bus to the metro. I had hoped to score a coffee at McDonald's, as I had not had time to make a second cuppa at home. Nothing was opened. When I got off the metro, I found an open KFC and scored a mocha and a latte, which combined to make a reasonable cup of decent coffee. I poured it into my thermos and took it to class with me. I had every intention of showing movies all day, my last day at a school that was not even mine, but the teachers seemed fascinated with why the kids loved me so much, so they sat in on most of my classes and I had to actually teach. There was no teacher for my LAST class, of first graders, so they watched Monsters University. My give-a-shit meter indicated not a fox to give. I don't think I actually ran out of the school at the end of the day, but it was damned close.
On the way home, I contacted my person at SCC and asked if they could contact the landlord to let me stay a few extra days to actually pack and downsize. I was NOT in any mood or condition to finish packing after my week from hell. Done. I was good until noon on Monday.
My agenda for Friday was simply to stay in bed as long as possible (I lasted until about 9:00am) and then do a lot of nothing. The guy down the hall had the same agenda and asked if I wanted to wander for lunch later in the day. We took the subway to an underground mall and walked around. We ate lunch at what may be the only remaining Kenny Rogers Roasters??
The food was identifiable and adequate for China. I ordered the chicken dinner and was THRILLED to see that they served a breast and wing that was NOT hacked to pieces. I had stopped earlier for a cappuccino and purchased a new travel fan for ambient noise, and I was content to come home and veg.
Saturday I did laundry (it was sunny), and picked up the clothes I had made in China. They are poorly crafted at best, but comfortable and if I throw them away when they wear out, no love lost. One teacher down the hall had to administer tests at his school on Saturday (yes his contract expired on Thursday, but he is returning to his school and there is mutual love and respect), and when he got home, 3 of us remaining popped the champagne I had in the fridge for a toast to surviving a full year of teaching in China without having to hide any bodies.
Last supper with other XiLi English teachers. I will miss these gals terribly!
Last supper with some of the gang from the dorms. I will some of these folks, and others, not so much.
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