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.