Sunday in Shangai

3/30/14

I actually walked to the church yesterday.  I walked through a park and had coffee at a Starbucks across from the church, which is even more expensive here than in the US.

The English service is just for passport holders and is part of the registered church here.  It was similar to a fairly dynamic church in the US, with worship songs and some clapping and freer worship.  They had a missionary speaker for part of the service.  They have cell groups throughout the city, but none in my suburb, so I don’t know if we can get one started.

After church I met up with a woman who is a recruiter for Golden Staffing, she sent me several job listings last year, but I didn’t take one of hers.  She wanted to get together with me, so we met after church and we walked through the park.  She taught me several words in Chinese.  She is pretty good with her English, but I can’t always understand what she is saying.

We walked past the head office of Web International English.  It’s on the same street as the church but closer.  So I know where I need to go tomorrow

Finding My Way on the Subway

3/29/14

Well, I made it to the school and back today, from downtown Shanghai to the suburb of Songjiang, and only got lost once.  I walked at least a couple miles today, the first time I think I walked in a circle looking for the subway station.  But I understand the map of Shanghai a little better now, at least around the area where the hotel is located.  I left the hotel at 8:30 am and got back at 8:30 pm, so I am tired.  I used a lot of hand motions and a map of Shanghai, and the manager at the school helped translate with the rental agent.  

A lot of people helped me along the way.  Thank God for the kindness of strangers!  On the second subway ride I was standing looking at the automatic ticket vender which is in all Chinese characters, of course, hoping I was pushing the right buttons.  Several young women came up and asked me if they could help me.  The shepherded me through getting the ticket and getting on the right train.  So nice!

I signed a lease for an apartment next to the school, which is in an indoor/outdoor mall.  The apartment is in a high rise building, and the 5th floor roof has a garden.  My apartment is on the 6th floor, so I have a nice view of the garden.  From what I understand there is no foot access to it, but maybe I will find out later that there is, because information is not always accurate.  And I got a temporary residency permit, which the school will help me file to get a permanent one.

I bought a new phone.  I had read that phones are cheaper here, but in the end I was told that the better quality ones are the ones made for export and I was better buying one of them.  So it was fairly expensive and I had to pay cash.  It has quite a bit of the prompts in Chinese characters, so I it is more difficult to understand.  The translated Chinese is not always clear either.  I can use it for phone calls and text, but the internet service doesn’t start until the 1^st of April.  I will be glad when I have that.  It is a smart phone and I need to down load a translation app so I can use it to communicate better here.  I took some pictures, but I will have to download them when I have internet access.

I got to talk to a couple of the English teachers at the school.  There seem to be two types of English teachers-those that spend a lot of emotional energy being angry that China isn't like the US, and those that accept and get along here.  I am always surprised that people expect China to be like the US, but I grew up for part of my childhood in an "underdeveloped nation," and the inconveniences here don't seem too bad so far.

I just took the whole day as a leisurely walk in wonderland, and I got through it okay.  The weather is lows in the 50S and highs in the 70’s.  It is humid, so it feels warmer in the day and colder in the night. I stopped by a small restaurant  on the way back to the hotel and asked for a “vegetables only” plate with words the man next to me on the airplane gave me.  They served me a huge plate of greens that tasted similar to spinach greens.  They were good.

I have the address of an English speaking church here in Shanghai.  I am going to try to take the subway there tomorrow (I hope).  I am looking forward to being in church.

Arriving in Shanghai

3/28/13

I arrived today on schedule and was met at the airport by someone from the school.  I would have liked some information about the city as we drove through, but the girl who met me didn't know much to tell me.  She said she just handles the work permits and doesn't know about other things.  She seemed quite young, not long out of high school.

They brought me to the hotel and unloaded my baggage, then left me to navigate from there.  My room phone isn't working, so I went down to reception to call in to the school.  Tomorrow I will go in to the school in Songjiang suburb (where I will be teaching) and someone there will help me get a new cell phone and find an apartment.  I have to take the subway and a taxi on my own, so it will be an adventure and I hope I go in the right direction!

I am at a hotel where the staff doesn't speak English much, but with some help (by calling my contact at the school, so she could talk to them) I got them to come fix the internet connection, so I have email and Skype, thank God!

On Monday I start three days of training at the main office here in Shanghai. 

Progressing Toward a "Z" Visa

My work permit only took three weeks, contrary to what the school rep said to me.  Which is pretty much in keeping with the other conversation I had with her, she had an outline of what we needed to do, but not much of the details.  But she was a good contact with the school and helped me keep on track with the application process.  She has moved on from the company now, and I am in touch with a couple other people, one at the head office and one at the school I will be teaching at.

She said it would take three days to arrive here from Shanghai, which was correct, but it then spent a week in US customs before they sent it on to me.  I hadn't thought about US customs for mail, but of course that would be what they do.

I got the Letter of Invitation and Work Permit today, they are in English and Chinese, so I can read them.  Several other documents came along with them which were all in Chinese.  I think these are the school's proof of legality for doing business.  I opened up the pdf's for the visa application and application supplement and filled them out, printed them, and stapled my visa picture to the application.  Then I overnighted my passport and all the documents to a travel agency in Chicago.  It just seemed like a good idea to have someone there to walk them through the process at the Chinese Embassy and pick them up, even though it was more expensive.

Getting an expedited Z visa take 3-5 days, and the transit time is added on to that, so I am figuring a week to 10 days.  Suddenly I feel like I'm not ready.  But I think all I have to do is finish packing and sort out some of my stuff here so it is neat.  It's finally arriving, my date of departure, though I will drive down to visit my daughter and leave her my car before I actually fly out.

Last weekend I had a graduation and send off party.  It was a great time that got together people from all the different groups I've been involved with since I got here.  I enjoyed it so much I forgot to take any pictures!  I only realized that after it was over when I arrived at home.  I appreciate the friends I've made here.  God is good!