New Travel Toy.

Last thursday I bought my first new computer of the new millennium. My old beast (Blue & White Powermac) had died just after the new year. We were bonding the only way a geek and his computer bond. No, Not internet porn! We were "Backing Up" DVD's. Anyway, he lived a long life. 6+ years, which is twice the life of a PC. But since I will soon be leaving the country I needed a computer for travel. My first "real" computer was the Apple Powerbook 1400, and I have gone back to my roots by getting the brand spanking new Apple MacBook.

So far I am totally in love with this little beast of a machine! It syncs with my Phone and my Camera. I have Parallels Desktop + Windows XP on there just in case. I don't think I could be happier with it. I hope to be using it from whatever free wifi hotspots I can find in the Beijing area, mostly to update this blog, post photos, and catch up on email with family and friends. Perhaps even write that great travel journal to be published in the near future. Who knows!

Visit me, revisited...

It's official. I am taking my first ever paid vacation. Wow, I'm 30 and have never had a paid vacation. Sure I have had time off. But that was either unemployment or the result of a surgical procedure. So, what exotic place am I headed for my vacation, you ask? Well since I am hopefully going to China in August, I am opting for an inverted vacation. Instead of going abroad, I am going home. Bloomington, Indiana to be specific. Mark your calendar kiddies, from June 17th to June 23rd, I will be in sunny (maybe) Bloomington. This trip has several reasons, most importantly is so my mom can get her "My baby boy is going to China, and never coming back"'s out of the way. I also hope to be helping around their house with some minor home improvement type things. That said I would love to spend time with some of the people I know in Bloomington, assuming any of them are left. I also hope to get some hometown restaurant cravings out of the way. Irish Lion, Little Tibet, Nick's English Hut, Upland Brewery, watch out here I come. All that said, I would love to see some of you while I am in town. Please get a hold of me via the usual means!

Visit Me...

For all those living here in the Midwest or planning to visit in the near future, I would love to see you before I leave in August. For those interested in visiting me abroad, traveling to China as a tourist is pretty straightforward. Passport. Vaccines. Visas. Fly. A quick search on Orbitz reveals that a roundtrip flight and 2-week stay in an average hotel will be around $1500 per person.

Mitch's Chinese Pre-Adventure

Since January I have been in contact with a university in China, specifically Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, to secure a position as a foreign expert/English teacher. This is a technical research school located in the northwest Beijing district of Haidian. I recently received word that they do want me as a teacher.I am now waiting for the appropriate offices to process my work permit, and my final Work Visa, which I will be obtaining from the local embassy. According to my contact at the university, all this should go without any problems.

The school year runs from September 1, 2006 to July 30, 2007. Thus I will be gone for the better part of at least a year. Possibly longer if I like it and opt to stay. I will have a relatively small workweek consisting of about 14 hours teaching + assorted office hours and recording sessions. This will leave me a great deal of time to explore the city, learn the language and get to know the people of the PRC.

With the school year starting at the beginning of September I will be leaving in mid August. This should provide me with a week or two to recover from jetlag, get settled into my dorm room, (Woohoo, dorm living, I knew I forgot to do something in college!) and get familiar with both the university and the city.