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Friday May 28th We took an afternoon flight on China Air, so we got airline miles from a Star Alliance partner, from Shenzhen to Hangzhou arriving around 6:30pm. Then took the shuttle bus from the airport into the city arriving at the train station. From there the hostel said we could take a bus to the hostel or a taxi. We opted for a taxi as it was only to be 20 kuai=$2.93. We arrived at the hostel after the cab driver called the hostel as it was off the beaten path a little. Emerald Hostel was so relaxing, had a great atmosphere, location and we had a nice big room with a double bed.
Saturday May 29th We slept in and got down to the lobby/eating area to order breakfast when they advised us they sold out of food. NOT HAPPY we then left and looked for a place with western breakfast. There was a hostel about 7 minutes down the road that we ate at. The recruiter, David, who we had been emailing about the job came to meet us at the hostel to let us know if we needed anything he could help and advised
us what to do in the city the few days before meeting with the school on Monday. It was cooler and overcast which we didn’t expect but we enjoyed a day of wandering around West Lake and a good portion of the city. We left our hostel around 11:45am after we returned from breakfast and got warmer clothes plus an umbrella just in case it rained. We walked and walked and walked some more until it was almost 9pm. We were on the opposite side of town and decided we couldn’t walk anymore so we took a cab back to the hostel for 30 kuai=$4.39. We saw so much of the city and have a good feel for where we would be living next year. Multiple H&M’s in town, Starbucks, and even a church.
Sunday May 30th We moved hostels as no hostel had rooms for all 4 nights that we were in Hangzhou. The next 2 nights we stayed at a hostel that was VERY hard to find as the directions from HostelWorld were not very good. We had to call them to come find us cause the directions only got you within 10 minutes of the hostel.
We then got checked in and settled down since we walked for 90 minutes from one hostel to the next while getting lost and confused. Oh well good exercise we thought. We walked around and rented bikes to see more of West Lake as we only saw a portion of it on Saturday.
Monday May 31st We met David, recruiter, near our hostel at 9:30am then took a cab to Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic. We met with the Foreign Affairs office, got a tour of the campus/apartment/classrooms, had lunch, spoke with Adam, Head of Business English Department and then signed our contracts after we added some details. We learned after this year that general words mean 2 different things to a Chinese person and an American person. Responsible housing is not good wording when you are working with 2 different cultures, believe me.
So we will be teaching Oral English and Oral Business English next year in Hangzhou. We start teaching on September 1st and our contract ends June 30, 2011. We get a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment on campus, only a 5 minute walk to class, no more leaving 45-50 minutes before we teach a class like this
year. We teach maximum 20 classes a week, some will meet twice a week and others once a week. We get a travel stipend of $1,000USD for roundtrip airfare, 6,000 kuai=$878 a month pay, along with 300 kuai=$43.90 a month stipend for utilities. (all of this is per person) We don’t get an end of the year completion bonus like this year but it works out , since we make more each month. Plus we can keep any unused utilities money since we pay the bills unlike this year.
We are very excited to have a contract signed , teaching college students and we can begin planning for next year. Hangzhou is 60 miles southeast of Shanghai so instead of going to HK we can go to Shanghai instead. Plus this part of China has so many neat weekend trips that we will be able to see even more of China. We have 2 friends that will be in Shanghai next year and one friend in Ningbo, which are both within a 2 hr train ride. There is a maglev train being built between Hangzhou and Shanghai that will be a 38 minute train ride that is to open
in 2011.
There is a saying in China and even in the Lonely Planet “There is heaven in the sky and Hangzhou on Earth”. It truly is the most beautiful and cleanest city we have visited in China. It is also one of the top tourist destinations for all Chinese and has more foreigners living there than our current city. There is history and culture in Hangzhou where Shenzhen lacks since it has only developed in the last 30 years. Hangzhou is also a weekend getaway for all the rich people from Shanghai.
Tuesday June 1st Alarm went off at 5:20am as our flight was at 7:50am and we needed to get a cab to the airport as the shuttle service from the train station didn’t begin until 7am. We were told the cab should be about 100 kuai=$14.97 and it was 96 kuai, nice that the cab didn’t rip us off or take us the long way. We were first in line to check in at the airline counter and enjoyed free wi-fi in the airport while waiting.
We arrived in Shenzhen by 9:55am and were on a bus to Longgang by 10:05am. Perfect timing
as the airport shuttle to our district goes once every 30 minutes. We got home and quickly prepared for our last few days of teaching.
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Paulette
non-member comment
congratulations
Congratulations on signing contracts for next year - this area sounds lovely and the pictures are beautiful. Glad you could be close to another large city to use as your take off spot for traveling - It seems that being close to Hong Kong has worked out nicely for you this year. Love the fact that you are dropping that daily commute time to the school - your mom says it will be a little colder in this locale - but maybe you're ready to give up the heat and humidity. We had a very nice shower for Kayla yesterday. Can't wait to see you guys in July and at the wedding in August. Can you believe Alyssa and Caitlin are college graduates !!!! Alyssa was official on May 15th and Caitlin will get her diploma this Sunday - take care and safe travels - we'll see you soon!