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| "Goodbye, my wonderful students!" |
After a long silence I am finally posting a new blog update! Hooray!
Firstly, I want to apologize for my lack of updates. Secondly, I want to explain why my blogs have
not been updated as frequently as some may like. I’ve been going through a period of turmoil for
the past few months and I wanted things to get worked out before going public with
any news…
...So let me jump right in and start off by saying that I’m
no longer a part of IECS. After some
disagreements with management it was agreed upon that it would be better
that we go our separate ways. I’m
very thankful to IECS for bringing me to China and I wish them nothing but the
best for the future. But, enough said about that…
Since mid-May I knew of my ending involvement with IECS and
it was sadly at that same time that I learned I could no longer work at
Langfang Teachers College. I loved
working at the college. I still love the
facility and my students very much. So
it was very hard on me knowing I could not come back and work there the
following year. What I was supposed to
do was to finish out the year teaching and then I was to return to America by
June 20th. So I was very soon to be
without a job and a home in China. It
was at this point that I began job hunting.
I put my resume online, I made phone calls and I sent out emails to
potential schools. I’m happy to report
that there was no lacking of positions available for an American English teacher
in China. The problem was with finding a
place where I wanted to teach. I looked
at high schools, private schools, and several colleges all across China. I went to several interviews and I had
several Skype interviews online. Some
places liked me and others turned me out.
Yet, all-in-all, what I really wanted was to stay in the city of
Langfang. I had made a number of friends
in Langfang and this small city felt very much like my second-home. I didn’t feel it was time for me to leave.
It was during this time of searching that a good friend
pointed out to me that there was another college in Langfang looking for a foreign
teacher. This college was known as the North
China Institute of Aerospace Engineering (北华航天工业学院 = běi huá hángtiān gōngyè xuéyuàn), or simply” Hua
Hang” (华航 = huá háng) for short.
Hua Hang is an Engineering school with about 10,000 students. It’s smaller than Langfang Teachers College
but it still holds a rather prestigious position in North China. However, applying for this position was a lot
harder than I first imagined. There were
no public advertisements for foreign English teacher as the college already had
as many foreign teachers as they needed.
But, as I was searching for a job, one Hua Hang’s foreign teachers decided
to leave their position for a better position in Beijing. This was perfect timing. While this was going on, I was busy searching
for some kind of contact information on the internet. I found an old advertisement from the college
for a foreign teacher that dated back to 2005.
It had the contact information still on the advertisement so I called
thinking that there was no way I would get someone. To my surprise, I got someone who worked at
the college and they directed my call immediately to the right person. Within an hour I was talking to the foreign affairs
official at Hua Hang and setting up an interview for the following day. Everything was working out great.
The interview went great and Hua Hang decided that day that they
wanted me. There was just one minor
problem: I was leaving the country within two weeks with no way to return. Hua Hang needed some more time to get the
paperwork in order so I needed an extension on my visa. This is where I can only say how thankful I
am to the staff at Langfang Teachers College.
They accepted my request to stay longer on their work visa and told me
that I could take all the time I needed in getting myself situated with finding
a new job.
Rachel (my contact at Hua Hang) and I got right to work on
getting all the necessary paperwork filled out for my work visa transfer request. It was going to take some time for my new
visa to be processed so my return date to America got bumped from June 20th
to July 3rd. I was quite glad
I could get my flight changed as there were very few seats available on the
July 4th weekend. But, it all
worked out. On July 1st I
packed up all my belongings and moved out of the apartment at the Langfang
Teachers College and moved into my new apartment at Hua Hang. Two teacher friends came with their cars and
six students showed up that morning to help me move my things. My small army of helpers had me moved out of
my old place and into my new place within three-hours. All was well!
On July 2nd I stayed my first night in my new apartment. My new place is a lot nicer than my old
apartment. There is more room and the
plaster isn’t falling off the wall in the kitchen. I have new appliances and a huge new bed. There are still a few things that need work
but that is not a surprise. The bed is
still just a board under sheets but I’m getting used to sleeping on a hard
surface. I slept well that night.
July 3rd finally rolled around and I was off at
8:00 am to catch my ride home. The
morning started out with a taxi ride to the train station, a train ride to
Beijing, then a subway ride to the Beijing airport. I check in my bags around 1:00 PM and then
grabbed a bite to eat with a good friend.
My good friend, Redy, had come to escort me on my way through Beijing
and I was happy for the company. Even
though Redy lives in Beijing, I am still more adept at finding my way around,
so I acted as the guide for both of us rather than the other way around. But it was still nice having her along. We had a good lunch together and I said
goodbye at the terminal. I was soon on
the plane and headed back to America.
After ten months of being away I was finally coming home.
-- Reflection --
My first year in China was an amazing experience. The people of China treated me with such
great hospitality and they welcomed me into the country with open arms. I made many good friends there and forged new
last relationships. Personally my own
view of the world as broadened as the horizons became clearly. In a way, China made me into a new better man. It was a year not without its many hardships but
I managed to pull through on the other side.
In a way, I would happily go through all the trouble again if it meant experiencing
all the good that happened during my year there. I have seen the world and I am now a wiser
man because of what others have taught me.
I’m longing to go back again to learn new things, to meet new friends,
and to have many more new adventures.
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| North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering |
