Visa application has arrived

Well, it sure has been a whirlwind of a trip so far, and I haven't even left town.

Once I finished my TESOL course and received the marks on my final electives on July 2nd, I decided I was just about ready to leave Hobart, I posted my resume on a job board and straight away, I received a few job offers. I was also searching for jobs though different channels. However, before I settled on a job I wanted to research some towns and cities in China and Vietnam. I did want to find a job in Europe but all the positions I saw advertised required at least 12 months experience or a degree, neither of which I have (yet). So I decided to stay a little closer to home and look for work in Asia for my 12 months experience. As jobs in Vietnam and China are a dime a dozen, I chose to concentrate my search on those two countries.

As I am not personally familiar with either country other than a quick trip to Hong Kong a couple of years ago, I hit the internet. "Google - best places to live in China"; a list of four or five cities came up on my list. With this list I then 'Googled' each city, all of them just as appealing as the next. I didn't want anything too hot, nor did I want anything too cold, I'm a little like 'Goldilocks', it had to be just right. :) A second link I found was the '10 happiest places to live in China' and one city appeared on both lists. That city is Chengdu, in south-west China and very near the home of the giant Panda sanctuary. Average min temp 10 degrees, and even though it does get a bit humid in summer, I will not be there for summer either this year or next. There were many more appealing aspect of this city so Chengdu rose straight to the top of my list. That same week I found a job in a school just outside Chengdu, so I sent off my resume and cover letter straight away.

That was on the 27th July and since then we have written back and forth, negotiating wages and sending information to one another, and just today I received my visa application and a medical form I need a doctor to fill in. I need to send the visa application straight back to Fiona for her to start the process. The only trouble I have is that they need my home address, well, I no longer have a home address. I still have my little unit until early next week but I am no longer living there and Fiona needs to send some forms to me. I haven't decided what I am going to do about that. As with everything else in this process, I'm sure it will sort itself out.

I made the momentous decision to sell as many of my worldly possessions as I could, the ones I could actually bring myself to part with, and last Saturday, 8th Aug (Rudolph's birthday) I held a massive 'garage sale'. I had my lounge room, kitchen, sunroom and back patio full of things waiting for someone to come and take them to a new home.

I will have to come back to this; I have to dash to work now. Unfortunately, I still need to work; the good news is, I only have 6 more shifts before my Leave without pay starts. Qantas have given me 12 months leave without pay to go on my little adventure. Whether or not I go back is another story, I might love it so much I want to experience other countries too.