Aug 11, 2011

One Fortnight.

That's how long until I leave :)

So, originally I was going to Weihai. I'm sure we all remember the post, right? Really pretty? Well ILP gave me a call, which makes me very nervous. I'm quite worried they're going to call and tell me I can't go for some reason (substantial China disaster, had to cancel the program in my school and don't need me elsewhere). This isn't something I consciously worry about; I'm not paranoid about it. It's only when they call and right before I hit "answer" that I worry.

That's not the point. I'm still going to China. In a fortnight. They were calling me to ask if I'd be interested in switching schools/cities. So, as I said moments ago, I was going to Weihai, which only has one school in the city. But in Zhongshan (btw- Zh is pronounced like J, in case someone was curious how to say that) there's 4 schools. 3 schools? I don't know, multiple ones. And at the smallest one, they had a couple who was going and they just got married.
Unfortunately, there's no housing in Zhongshan to accomidate that kind of living situation.
Fortunately, there is in Weihai.

They told me about how it would be different. First off, there were 17 people (15 teachers, 2 headteachers) going to Weihai. I don't know how many people will be in Zhongshan in total, but in Nanlang (my new school) there will be 4 of us. 4. 3 teachers, 1 head teacher. The head teacher doesn't actually teach the kids, at least not on a regular basis, so that leaves 3 of us. We'll each be teaching 2 different classes a day.

Also different about Zhongshan- it's not right by the sea. It's more south (a little less than 50 miles east of Hong Kong). So it'll be hotter, but that's not too terrible. We won't be flying into Beijing, we'll be flying into Hong Kong. This is particularly important because our visas are not multiple entrance. So most of the people who go to China can't visit Hong Kong. But since that's where I'm flying into, and I won't have actually entered China yet, I get to take a 2-day vacation before going to work :)

I said yes, obviously. To switching cities. And I'm actually really excited to have a smaller group of teachers. I think it'll be harder, but definitely worth it. Plus, Weihai is kinda out there and alone, and there was only going to be one male there. So unless we were REALLY close to a branch, that would've made going to church really expensive (we would have had to pay for a bus every week if we wanted to go). But there will be more boys in Zhongshan, so even if the branch isn't close, we'll be able to still partake of the sacrament. Bonus!

I'm so excited :D It's going to be awesome.

2 comments:

Susie said...

I'm excited for you too, honey. And I can fly to Hong Kong.

Samara said...

Indeed you can. But you should wait until a couple months after I come home, and then we can go back and visit and it will be awesome.