January in Changchun

I am in Changchun China it is January. The weather is brutally cold here it is -29 c at night and -20 c during the day. I have never felt cold like this for such a long period of time. It is actually painful to go outside no matter how much clothes you have on.

I got the teaching job at WECI English school. The pay is not that much compared to U.S. standards but things are much cheaper here in China. I had to get all kinds of documentation for my residence visa. First I had to have a complete medical exam. That was an interesting experience. I had to go to 12 different rooms at each room they performed a different test. It took about 2 hours to complete. Then I had go to the police station to have my passport verified and register my address where I am living. After that I went and interviewed for my Foreign Experts Certificate which I got. Then I went to get my residence visa. There was a lot of running around for my visa but I think this experience will be worth it.

I am teaching all ages of students from children to adults. I had an assignment in a public school for 3 days. That was 1 experience I will never forget. First the drive there was over an hour. The van the school provided was small and extremely cold. I think the top speed of the van was 70 kph (45 mph) going downhill and most of the time we only got up to about 40 kph (25 mph). Then the school was an elementary school grade 1 through 6. I taught 12-1/2 hour classes each day the first 2 days. The older students would maul me after the class like a rock star. They all ran up and wanted my autograph on their books. It was very strange for me

Flight to China

On December, 31 I flew to Changchun, China. The plane was nearly empty because of it being New Years eve. The plane was a 747 and I had an entire center row to myself so I put up all the arm rests, laid down and slept most of the flight (cheap 1st class). From the time I left home until I got to the apartment in China was approximately 26 hours needless to say I was exhausted.

Introduction

Hello everyone,
I am writing this blog to let everyone know about my life in China. I met this woman here in China and after coming and spending two weeks with her in November decided I wanted to pursue a relationship with her. I decided to move to Changchun China and teach English so that I could spend time with her and get to know her better.