Wednesday, June 11, 2003


Phoenix Country Garden School


I've signed a contract for employment in China!

Things are beginning to piece together. I've signed an employment contract with the Phoenix Country Garden School in the Shunde District, Foshan City,
Guangdong, China. I'll be teaching 7 through 9 year olds in this relatively modern looking, pleasant school in Guangdong Province, China, beginning on September first. I reserved my flight yesterday, flying out of Boston to JFK, then Vancouver, BC to Hong Kong and finally a tiny little forty minute flight from Hong Kong to Baiyun airport in Guangzhou where one of my colleagues will be meeting me.

I'm leaving the later part of August, shortly after completing my TEFL certificate course in Boston, so between then and now, I'm gonna be a busy, busy boy. A lot of thought went into accepting this offer for employment and I can truly say I looked at several angles before making my final decision. My contract will be for a year, beginning on September 1st, 2003 and ending July 1st, 2004.

I considered a University in Jiangxi Province and another in Yunnan, but Phoenix Country Garden School had the best feel to it. I picked a province south of the Yangtze River for the sub-tropical weather as I am NOT partial to the cold weather of the north. Also, teaching children from ages 7 to 9 will be a good learning experience and hopefully a good start for my first year's teaching experience....

I know I can hear some of you snickering out there....Chris? Annie? Shirts? Others?

My good friend Anne Charmaine and I have been missing each other lately, just barely, when she calls from Malaysia. Annie mentioned in one of her e-mails, that the Chinese have a saying, "if you are able to catch a person who is always on the go, you will win the lottery." Hummmm. Do you play Annie?

Annie and I passed each other in the air, like two ships in the night, way back in 2001 when she was on her way to Portugal and I was on my way to the Philippines. It seems we will be coming close to doing that again soon as she is flying to Spain soon, this time on more of a permanent basis. Funny how peoples lives can change so quickly. I can sympathize with her in all the planning and preparation that it takes when not just planning to visit a foreign country, but actually live there.

I'm going to try to post more frequently now, since my Social Psychology class is finally winding down and I've already begun my TEFL course in Boston. I hope to post some pictures of the teacher apartments where I will be living and the sister schools in the Shunde district, soon.

-Jeeem-


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