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Published: January 22nd 2011
Hello hello!
I should call this one "an arduous journey." When we arrived in Beijing we gave ourselves 1 week to find a job, otherwise we were going to go down south to a rural village and teach there. I am so glad we found a job in Beijing and chose to stay here! Beijing has a really nice metro system and bus too. Unfortunately I work a bit far away and am obliged at this point to take 3 different subway lines and a bus! What a journey! I should start from the beginning though.
We have been couchsurfing exclusively since the end of last month. When we arrived in Bj (Beijing) we stayed with some Israeli Russians. We then shifted to the flat of a another American grad (woot woot) who has graciously allowed us to surf with him for more than a week while we got settled in.
The first major project was the visa. It doesnt seem to be strictly legal to change from tourist to business visa, as the work visa was impossible to get. Anyhow, lets just say it involved going to a "certain window" at a "certain place" and a substantial fee to get it done. Next we were faced with finding a job.
Secondly, after a half dozen interviews we settled on a place in NW Bj. It has a great work atmosphere and great collegues.
Lastly we had the apartment. In Bj most of the apts are individually owned units that are then rented out. It is impossible to find the land lord so you have to pay an "agent" a whole months rent for him to show you a place and introduce you to a landlord. THEN the landlord himself wants a 1 month deposit AND THREE months in advance! Can you imagine trying to rent a 2000$/month apartment in DC and having to pay 10,000$ upfront; in cash?? Keep in mind, their largest bill is worth just 15 dollars so the stack of loot it takes to get in to an apartment is enormous! We (Laura) managed to find one on craigslist and we are renting from an American so that is super awesome. Its a 2 bedroom so feel free to visit us!
So we have a job, a place to stay, and a visa. We havent signed the contract for the apt yet but I think that will go smoothly tomoro (fingers crossed). From a cultural stand point we have been going to pub quiz, pool tourneys and other "western" things. We will be adventurous next month. From a weather stand point it has been below freezing temperature every day since our arrival and even below 0 Farenheit a few nights... Spring festival (held technically in the winter) is the next week.
Thats all for now.. I have a class of 10 year olds and Laura has 6 and 7 year olds all day! good times..
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Amy Kadori
non-member comment
What are you and Laura teaching? Is this an international school or Chinese?