Shanghai it is!
29 oktober 2016 - Shanghai, China
Day 77 / Day 1 of the jobhunt
I started the day by sending 6 job applications for English teaching. While I was hanging out on the rooftop of a hotel at the Bund with my new friends Luke and Peter, I got a first response and went to the agency to meet the woman. After my meeting I joined my friends again for a delicious Chinese dinner. I spent my evening preparing for my first democlass ever. It's apparently just a thing in China and it means giving a 15-minute class to the children, to see if you're suited for the job. This time of preparation wasn't too bad sitting in the hostelbar with my beer, good music and 2 Denish guys to keep me company :)
Day 78 - A sunday in Shanghai
Oh the nerves! They really got to me, since I had no idea what to expect at the school today. My 'students' were 10 of my new colleagues. And I can happily say new colleagues because for a first democlass, I apparently did an okay enough job. It seems like such a good place to develop my personal, English and teacher skills. So I got the job which means I'll be living in Shanghai for 1 or 2 years!! According to Wikipedia (so then of course it must be true), Shanghai is the most populous city in the world - defined according to a concept of city proper (google it if you want to know more ;)). I couldn't be happier to become one of the 24.200.000 people living there and to be part of the working community of Shanghai :D
Day 79 to 81
These days I stayed in a hostel and met some great people. The highlight of my days was definitely eating the stroopwafels Gary and me got at M&S :p The roll 'n crisps made a good second ;) These days Gary's accent taught me to understand Scottish (since he's Scottish, which you probably already guessed..). I used the handsignal we made up for me to use if I didn't understand him less and less. Because of my poor financial position and because of the fact that he took off to Thailand, he left me a Chinese drum to sell. So now I've got a drum ^^
Day 82 and 83
The hostel wasn't paradise so I was very very happy I could stay at my friend Peter's house. I had a lot to arrange, visawise. The preparation of flying to Hong Kong to get a new one (I'm only here on a 30-day visa) took me a few days. Of course there were some happy and relaxed moments as well: watching movies, going out for dinner, a visit to the Shanghai museum, the fake market and dinner again. All with my new friends from Couchsurfing. Thanks for the good times guys :)
Day 85 - Hello Hong Kong!
Wauw.. Am I still in China? Warm and sunny weather, blue skies, palm trees, mountains, the sea.... It reminds me more of Thailand than of China. I feels sooo good and it makes me happier instantly <3 Most people speak English, wifi is everywhere; facebook, google and youtube all just work. I just landed in paradise. Best of all I'm staying at a Jared's place, who I met in Thailand earlier his year, which completes the Thailandfeeling ;) Thanks a million!!
And again it proves that creating a network and having friends all over the world makes life so much better :)
Day 86 - A day at the embassy
In this 9 - 5 day at the embassy they rejected my first visa application, but luckily after the school sent me some more documents, they at least accepted to look into it. Three days of waiting for their conclusion will follow. After a revision of my financial situation I concluded again I'm still very broke. Another unexpected donation came to me at this best timing in the world and I'm so grateful! :) Only 2 weeks to go to my first real payment :D
Karl (an Australian guy who I met in Shanghai) and me took the biggest escalator in the world, all through the city. We drank some beers and had some kind of strange Chinese dinner. Which was good, although I'm still not sure if the noodles with cheese or wasabi and mayonaise were really Chinese ;)
Day 87
As soon as I opened my eyes I realized there would be absolutely nothing to arrange for the next 2 days. I felt totally relaxed and ready to fully enjoy the next 2 days. Karl and me took the ferry to Hong Kong island, where we enjoyed a good coffee with the greatest view. Then we took the bus to Victoria's peak, where we enjoyed a beer with an even better view actually.. We took some cool pictures in the 3d-photoworld up there ^^ So hilarious! We ended the evening with the lightshow projected on the Hong Kong skyline and a visit to the garden of stars :)
Day 88 and 89
Today we decided to hike to a beach. It took us a 'little' longer than expected to get there, so we ended up sleeping on this beautiful beach. Gazing at the stars and our self-made campfire. Surrounded by crabs and cows, trying to keep warm enough with newspapers, a blanket we got to rent at a local shop, and a shirt I borrowed from another girl.
At 4.30 we woke up to start our 2,5 hour walk back to the village (I had to be at the embassy in the morning), covered in sand, sweat, salt..
At the embassy I received some good news: I got another 30-day visa! So I'll be in Shanghai for at least a month and if the school can get my workvisa in time, hopefully for a longer time :D
The rest of the day consisted of watching a movie (since the beach didn't give me any sleep;)) and a Mexican dinner with Jared, Jon (I met him Thailand as well) and their friends, niiice!
Day 90 - Return to SH
Yes, after a delicious Chinese breakfast (rice pouridge) I left for my new hometown again ^^ I'll first have a week of teachertraining starting on Oct the 31st, and then I'll be starting my own classes. It's gonna be a busy month but undoubtedly a good experience! My days will be full so I'm gonna enjoy my weekend in Shanghai first! Let's celebrate :D
I started the day by sending 6 job applications for English teaching. While I was hanging out on the rooftop of a hotel at the Bund with my new friends Luke and Peter, I got a first response and went to the agency to meet the woman. After my meeting I joined my friends again for a delicious Chinese dinner. I spent my evening preparing for my first democlass ever. It's apparently just a thing in China and it means giving a 15-minute class to the children, to see if you're suited for the job. This time of preparation wasn't too bad sitting in the hostelbar with my beer, good music and 2 Denish guys to keep me company :)
Day 78 - A sunday in Shanghai
Oh the nerves! They really got to me, since I had no idea what to expect at the school today. My 'students' were 10 of my new colleagues. And I can happily say new colleagues because for a first democlass, I apparently did an okay enough job. It seems like such a good place to develop my personal, English and teacher skills. So I got the job which means I'll be living in Shanghai for 1 or 2 years!! According to Wikipedia (so then of course it must be true), Shanghai is the most populous city in the world - defined according to a concept of city proper (google it if you want to know more ;)). I couldn't be happier to become one of the 24.200.000 people living there and to be part of the working community of Shanghai :D
Day 79 to 81
These days I stayed in a hostel and met some great people. The highlight of my days was definitely eating the stroopwafels Gary and me got at M&S :p The roll 'n crisps made a good second ;) These days Gary's accent taught me to understand Scottish (since he's Scottish, which you probably already guessed..). I used the handsignal we made up for me to use if I didn't understand him less and less. Because of my poor financial position and because of the fact that he took off to Thailand, he left me a Chinese drum to sell. So now I've got a drum ^^
Day 82 and 83
The hostel wasn't paradise so I was very very happy I could stay at my friend Peter's house. I had a lot to arrange, visawise. The preparation of flying to Hong Kong to get a new one (I'm only here on a 30-day visa) took me a few days. Of course there were some happy and relaxed moments as well: watching movies, going out for dinner, a visit to the Shanghai museum, the fake market and dinner again. All with my new friends from Couchsurfing. Thanks for the good times guys :)
Day 85 - Hello Hong Kong!
Wauw.. Am I still in China? Warm and sunny weather, blue skies, palm trees, mountains, the sea.... It reminds me more of Thailand than of China. I feels sooo good and it makes me happier instantly <3 Most people speak English, wifi is everywhere; facebook, google and youtube all just work. I just landed in paradise. Best of all I'm staying at a Jared's place, who I met in Thailand earlier his year, which completes the Thailandfeeling ;) Thanks a million!!
And again it proves that creating a network and having friends all over the world makes life so much better :)
Day 86 - A day at the embassy
In this 9 - 5 day at the embassy they rejected my first visa application, but luckily after the school sent me some more documents, they at least accepted to look into it. Three days of waiting for their conclusion will follow. After a revision of my financial situation I concluded again I'm still very broke. Another unexpected donation came to me at this best timing in the world and I'm so grateful! :) Only 2 weeks to go to my first real payment :D
Karl (an Australian guy who I met in Shanghai) and me took the biggest escalator in the world, all through the city. We drank some beers and had some kind of strange Chinese dinner. Which was good, although I'm still not sure if the noodles with cheese or wasabi and mayonaise were really Chinese ;)
Day 87
As soon as I opened my eyes I realized there would be absolutely nothing to arrange for the next 2 days. I felt totally relaxed and ready to fully enjoy the next 2 days. Karl and me took the ferry to Hong Kong island, where we enjoyed a good coffee with the greatest view. Then we took the bus to Victoria's peak, where we enjoyed a beer with an even better view actually.. We took some cool pictures in the 3d-photoworld up there ^^ So hilarious! We ended the evening with the lightshow projected on the Hong Kong skyline and a visit to the garden of stars :)
Day 88 and 89
Today we decided to hike to a beach. It took us a 'little' longer than expected to get there, so we ended up sleeping on this beautiful beach. Gazing at the stars and our self-made campfire. Surrounded by crabs and cows, trying to keep warm enough with newspapers, a blanket we got to rent at a local shop, and a shirt I borrowed from another girl.
At 4.30 we woke up to start our 2,5 hour walk back to the village (I had to be at the embassy in the morning), covered in sand, sweat, salt..
At the embassy I received some good news: I got another 30-day visa! So I'll be in Shanghai for at least a month and if the school can get my workvisa in time, hopefully for a longer time :D
The rest of the day consisted of watching a movie (since the beach didn't give me any sleep;)) and a Mexican dinner with Jared, Jon (I met him Thailand as well) and their friends, niiice!
Day 90 - Return to SH
Yes, after a delicious Chinese breakfast (rice pouridge) I left for my new hometown again ^^ I'll first have a week of teachertraining starting on Oct the 31st, and then I'll be starting my own classes. It's gonna be a busy month but undoubtedly a good experience! My days will be full so I'm gonna enjoy my weekend in Shanghai first! Let's celebrate :D
Zo, je hebt al heel veel meegemaakt op je reis, maar de laatste dagen waren wel hectisch. Zoekend naar een baan, terwijl je geen cent meer te makken hebt.
Gelukkig ziet je toekomst er in China weer wat rooskleuriger uit nu je visum verlengd is, en je een baan hebt. Fijn hoor voor je!
Ik zie het al voor me, jij voor een klas met leergierige, gedisciplineerde Chinese kids.
Ik wens je succes en veel plezier!
Toppie ga ervoor en wij beleven het mee!! Love you ❤️