Prepping for China

 I had no real idea what to pack, I thought that bringing clothes plus bed sheets would be the best idea, since the expectation was that I would be getting an apartment. I remember my mum buying a really beautiful set of duvet covers, which I loved....along with packing a dressing gown and formal clothes. 

I was also told to take at least 20 000 RMB in cash with me for startup costs. I watched EF videos about setting up in China while, they said China was a very 'cash up front' society-I didn't really seem to understand this, and didn't take it too seriously. But I took around this amount with me in Chinese money, thinking that I probably wouldn't really need that amount. 

My magistrate mum wanted me to have the 'best start' so she arranged for her friend Ray, also another magistrate, to drive me in his jaguar to Humberside airport to give me the final 'goodbye'. I had asked Ray to take a look at the EF contract and look up the company-my mum's magistrate friends, and they seemed to come to a positive conclusion about the working conditions, and said 'well....this might lead to something else in China'. 

I remember watching YouTube video's of people working in China as English teachers, but thought the apartments and living conditions looked pretty grotty, and the salaries for teaching at a University also seemed to be pretty low, as I originally wanted to work at tertiary level jobs. Instead, for EF, I had the option of teaching English for adults, online in an office, or teaching young children, so I decided on adults, as it was the closest equivalent to University level, and actually seemed to be a better deal working with adults who were already employed by companies. 

Saying goodbye was emotional, Ray went to the car park and left, while my mother and sister, Elizabeth, stayed to say goodbye as I was proceeding to security checking. I remember just being nervous. After security, I recognised a man sat in the waiting room, it was a professor from the University, I can't remember his name, as he never taught me, but I said hello, and asked him where he was going, and he said on the way to Kazakstan for research purposes I assume. I also saw him as I got off, and he seemed to quiz me about the job, asking 'how much are they paying you', and I just said 'not much, but I want the experience'. I explained that it was my first time flying on a plane by myself, and first time in around 10 years on a plane. He seemed shocked that this was the direction PhD students were taking after completing a PhD, but I just thought....I'm not waiting two years for my first minimum wage job in the UK. To be honest, the professor, I believe Gregory Bankoff, wasn't encouraging, and neither were either of my PhD supervisors, who weren't fully supportive of signing recommendation letters to prove I had two years of teaching experience-I had one year, but not two, so it was a slight 'stretch of the truth'. I admit, I signed it myself-desperate times....desperate measures. 

After landing at Schipol, Professor Bankoff decided to go and get himself a coffee, and I knew I had a 1.5 hour layover, but it is Europe's biggest airport and I was worried about getting the wrong gate or not finding it. I remember feeling so 'international' at the time. So I proceeded to try to find the correct gate and walk over, making sure I wouldn't miss it, but stay there until I boarded. I remember also meeting a girl, around the same age as me, who was waiting in the queue to board. She was also 26, had a husband and baby living in Denmark. She was from Yunnan, the South, and she asked me if I had WeChat. I had no idea what WeChat was, but I didn't, so she gave me her ID details. She warned that Chinese people can be dishonest, and that they would take advantage of anyone vulnerable, but I just thought.....that you never hear about them in the news doing anything bad....and at the University I attended they all seemed to simply mind their own business, so I accepted this comment with little thought. She seemed helpful or willing to be, and then I boarded. I remember being terrified, not just going to China but the flight, I had never been on such a long flight before. I had never been to a country where they didn't speak English. I remember getting up and looking in the window and seeing the purple sky as we flew over the Gobi dessert. I remember trying to look for other foreigners who might also be flying with EF and I suspected a few people could be but I didn't want to ask in case of the humiliation that they weren't, though I was glad there were some other foreign faces. I left the airplane, and leaving as the air hostess said 'you seemed to calm down later in the flight', or something to suggest that I looked terrified when I boarded, which I think I did.