Stuff

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So, about work.

I believe the last time I posted I was getting ready to go meet a potential student. I met her in wudaokou, which is where she lives. It's on the western side of Beijing, and I live on the eastern side, so after a taxi ride to the nearest subway station, 2 line transfers, and a bunch of stops, I got there about an hour and a half after I left. We met at the subway station and went to get some dinner to discuss english lessons or whatever. I was under the impression that this was just sort of a get to know each other thing, and the actual lessons would begin later, but we'll get to that later. Her written english, and comprehension, is pretty good, but she barely ever speaks english, so has trouble expressing herself, so she just wants to practice speaking. So basically I will be getting paid to hang out with her and her husband and help them practice speaking, help them out with some things they don't understand, etc. Next week we're gonna go play basketball in a park for the lesson. It's only 1-2 times a week for 1-2 hours at a time, but it's pretty awesome. Anyways, back to my expectations for the meeting. We went to a chinese restaurant where she proceeded to order a ton of different dishes for me to try, all of which I liked, except for the duck liver. She refused to let me pay, and then as we were walking out she hands me the payment for a lesson. So I guess that was technically my first english teaching session in Beijing.

The following day (yesterday) I got an email about 10am from a guy with the Overseas Business Department of Kunlun Inc, the computer game company I wrote about before. We set up an interview for that afternoon, so I took a cold shower (we've had no hot water for a few days) and put on my suit, and headed over for the interview. Again, taxi, subway, a little over an hour, and I was there. The appointment was set for 3, but I got there at 2:20, so they had me fill out a couple forms, then sat me down on the couch to wait. And wait. And wait some more. At 4:25 he came out, apologized for the wait, and brought me back for the interview. It seemed to go well, he asked the usual questions, why I want to work there, why I'd be an asset to the company, etc. Turns out he went to Union University, and we have several mutual friends. Small world. Anyways, he said that I should get a call/email within a week to set up a second interview, this time with someone from HR.
If things work out with the company, I'd sign a one year contract.

So today I wasn't feeling too great, I just stayed in and rested, read a lot, and rested some more. I'm still actively looking for other jobs in case this one falls through, but I'm really hoping it doesn't, just trying not to get my hopes up too much.

So yeah, that's pretty much the next few days, gonna do laundry, read, email, etc. and fill my time waiting for a call from Kunlun looking for other english students/work opportunities.

I'll update again when I know something, but until then it's probably gonna be pretty boring here.

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