After a Long Silence

"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 20^th to July 3^rd.  I was quite glad I could get my flight changed as there were very few seats available on the July 4^th weekend.  But, it all worked out.  On July 1^st 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 2^nd 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 3^rd 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.

North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering