Unless you been sequestered in a cave for the last... some amount of time... you are well aware that I'm in the panicked throws of getting my sh*t together to get back to the Middle Kingdom. I've landed a job teaching English in Shenzhen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen) for a year or so, so in about a week I fly to Beijing (back to my old university!) for a month of TEFL in China certification-ing and then travel on down to my school in Shenzhen.
Why China AGAIN, you may ask. Well, don't. The best answer you're going to get: It seemed like the thing to do at the time. -- or -- I just graduated college and like a million of my closest highly-qualified peeps have discovered that, well, the economy died. Why not flee to China?
Don't be concerned, I am in fact pretty excited about the opportunity. It's just nearing the one-week-til-China- AGAIN mark that has put me into why-am-I-doing-this-AGAIN mode. Le sigh.
Between delays with my visa, phone tag with insurance, phone tag with student loan servicers, realizing I have no work clothes yet, realizing unless I want to wear men's shoes again I need to buy some more here, and realizing I have no idea how to teach 15 classes of 50 students conversational English (whoops), I have been running around like a headless zombie chicken.
But fear not, dear followers. In all of the madness your dedicated travel blogger has found time to set up a new blog to document my doings and inane thought bubbles. I found that the last one went as well as it could, given the slow connections and blockings of every social networking site known to America, thank you communism. From the "Things on Sticks" to my "Ode to Starbucks", your laughs and comments got me through (For nostalgia, the link to the yester-blog: http://jenniferautumn.wordpress.com/). I herefore pledge to once again do my best to keep at it, as you do your best to care. ^.^
Things that will be new this round:
* I have a JOB, teaching conversational English (last time it was an --unpaid-- internship copy-editing for a policy journal)
* I've graduated and consequently am no longer attending a school or taking classes (aside from Mandarin classes hallelujah)
* I'm now a vegetarian. We'll see how that goes.
* After August I'll be living in Shenzhen, which is on the very south border and so about the distance and climate change from NY to Miami. New city! Really hot, humid, monsoony city! HUGE city!
* I'll be the only teacher from my program at my school, so really doing it on my own this time.
* I'll be there at least a year
Hopefully you are adequately enticed. If not, pretend to be every now and then.
Bisou bisou
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