So here we are!

As we near the end of our first week in China I figured it was probably time for an update. Despite months of planning, we managed to collect our visas, book our flights and depart for China all on the same day. Who said I liked to leave things until last minute!?

Ahh visa, so nice to see you at last!

All the delays in paperwork meant we had already lost our first job in South Korea and we didn't want to book our flights until we had our passports in hand and were able to travel with the right visa, just in case of any further problems. So on the Monday we were due to collect our passports from the Manchester Chinese Visa Centre we headed over with our bags fully packed (to bursting!) hoping we would be on the next flight rather than heading home empty handed. Thankfully it was the former and after a quick dash across the city, we were on the afternoon flight to Beijing via Istanbul.

Bizarrely it was substantially cheaper to book Turkish Airlines tickets on their own website than in person at their ticket booth in Manchester Airport. The lady behind the counter was kind enough to let us know where we could access wifi so we could go and book the tickets then run back to make the flight. Why they can't price match their own site we'll never know...

Goodbye UK, see you in 13 months!

Just over 15 hours later we were arriving in Beijing and the owner of the school came to pick us up from the airport. Despite us both looking a little bedraggled after the long flight she seemed very pleased to meet us and after another frantic rush across another city we were finally on the train to our new home city, Cangzhou. We were rather thankful she had picked us up rather than trying to make our way over ourselves as we quickly learnt the city is pronounced Tsan-Jo rather than Kang-Zoo as we had previously been calling it!

This is Beijing's less busy travel time. Puts London's rush hour to shame.

After a blissful 13 hour sleep to recuperate it was all systems a go the next day when Andrew had his first lesson. As the school had been waiting a while for our visa's to get processed we were thrown in straight at the deep end however this meant we were able to meet the students and all the other teachers who were very welcoming.

Our new school, part of a chain of DD Dragon schools across Asia (Dì Dì means little brother in Chinese)

A few days later everyone from the school headed out to a nearby restaurant to celebrate Andrew's birthday and our arrival. All I can say is, the Chinese LOVE to order food. The host is expected to be very generous and pays for it all and they are petrified that someone may go home hungry. You will not get asked if you fancy anything more, they will just keep ordering until everyone can barely move. And don't expect everything to come all at once or desserts to come after mains, everything will just be served as and when it's ready. Fruit salad with those fried aubergines? Why not?!

We were also served massive steaming bowls of extra long noodles as is Chinese tradition on birthdays, New Year and weddings which are supposed to represent long life. Given that we hadn't long arrived in China eating the noodles with fiddly chop sticks was rather difficult, particularly as we weren't allowed to cut the noodles as this would be considered 'cutting our lives short!'

This was at the beginning of the meal, the plates have already started to stack up...

Smash with blueberry jam... do not knock it until you try it, this dish is DELICIOUS! 

Andrew's extremely floral birthday cake. He also received a ginormous bunch of flowers which were kindly re-gifted to me for our anniversary the next day!

King for a day! I am sure those who know Andrew well can appreciate how much he loved having all the attention lavished on him

All in all it's been an amazing experience so far and now we're finally getting over our jet lag (we're 8 hours ahead of UK time) we look forward to more amazing meals and to start our adventures. This is only the beginning... 

From Suncheon to still in Sherburn...

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere abroad by now?"

In a word, yes. We're supposed to be here. In Suncheon, South Korea, and should have been for the past two weeks. We should have been beginning our Asian adventures, settling in to our new jobs as English teachers and explaining bonfire night to adorable Korean children.

But instead we're still in the UK because of a tiny stamp required on the back of our documents.

Unfortunately the 24-48 hour service provided by the Legalisation Office ended up being a 24-48 day service when they couldn't get hold of the solicitor that signed our documents. When they finally told us this, we were able to call said solicitor and get him to contact them and have the documents released the same working day. Why they didn't let us know sooner and only have a 'help-line' that is answered by people with no access to our records or the ability to pass us through to those working on the documents is a mystery to us all.

However, kindly waiting a month before telling us this meant the school we were supposed to working for decided to take on a couple already in Korea as they were concerned we would not have our visas in time. Understandable from the school's point of view but frustrating none the less. Particularly as we've now spent around £180 on getting the documents.

So the panic set in. We had left our jobs, apartment and life in Cardiff to come spend a couple of weeks with my parents in Sherburn before flying to South Korea. But now we had no job, no home and dwindling funds. So it was back to square one, back on the job boards and frantically trying to arrange job interviews for first thing in the morning due to the time difference!

I do however believe everything happens for a reason, although Andrew may refuse to speak to the next person that says this to us (especially as nearly everyone we've spoken to so far has said some variation of this). Apparently it's like being told there's plenty more fish in the sea when you break up with someone, and you know it's true, you just don't want to hear it when you wanted that particular cod. 

Things have turned out for the better though. We've now been offered a similar job in Hebei Province in China with much shorter working hours and lots of extras such as free Chinese lessons, gym pass, kung-fu lessons and bikes for us to get around the city. The city, Cangzhou, is also host to a yearly International Martial Arts festival where Jacky Chan and Jet Lee are regulars #声名鹊起!

So it's now back to the visa process for a different country. I'll post an update in regards to the school/city soon.

Proverbs 3:5-6“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.”

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

So we tried adult life. We got graduate jobs, moved in to our first apartment and paid rent and council tax and bills.

We lived in the beautiful Cardiff Bay. Andrew wasn't too far from home and I had a wonderful Church family close by. We had a choice of bars and restaurants on our door step and work was just over the road from where we lived. We were very happy.

But something was missing. We were living to work with little time to enjoy the things we loved. Whilst we were both grateful to have jobs related to our degrees (a rarity for graduates or so we're told!) we knew they weren't jobs we wanted to develop in to a career. The majority of our wage was spent on rent and bills with little left over. We either needed to win the lottery or try something new. Unfortunately, despite several attempts, the former never worked out for us.

A holiday to Turkey in the middle of June renewed my passion to travel and learn new languages even if my attempts of ordering a cuppa (çay lütfen) was often met with "would you like milk and sugar with that?"

We knew we didn't have the funds to simply travel outright so we considered the opportunities available for work abroad. Having already completed a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course alongside my degree and spending a summer at a summer school in France, it seemed like the perfect choice.

But where to go?

European countries required too many teaching qualifications for the best positions and are reasonably expensive in regards to cost of living. A quick Google search confirmed that Asia is the place to go to teach English with excellent rates of pay and plenty of positions available. 

So we contacted a few agencies and before we knew it we were having interviews with several different schools. We focused on South Korea as I'd been before and loved it and would love to see my friends in Busan again.

After a few different offers from schools in different parts of South Korea we decided to move to Suncheon, a small city on the south coast in South Jeolla Province. We are so excited to go and start teaching!

The school wants us to start on the 31st October so gives us a chance to spend time with friends and family before leaving. Will keep you updated as we prepare to move!

Bye Bye Bacon :'(

So lent has cheekily snuck on me without warning (living in France and munching on numerous crepes makes every day feel like pancake day) and I have had little time to think about what I could give up for lent. It has also made me realise that I still haven’t completed another one of my New Year’s resolutions (which I still haven’t posted either), to find a Church here in Rouen, a whopping 8 weeks (and therefore 8 Sundays) later. I really must get on this, especially seeing as I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it home for Easter Sunday as I was originally hoping :(

So after a quick Google (yes, to Google is a verb) I found this on-line list of suggestions of "restrictions and Sacrifices". I wonder how many are feasible... 

Blogging - fail at the first hurdle. Next…
Caffeine - do you want me to attend any of my morning lectures over the next 40 days? Next…
Computer Use – “I’m sorry I didn’t complete the online test and that my dissertation is hand written, I gave up using my computer for lent.” No, I can’t see the lectures buying it either.
Drinking Alcohol – seeing as I’m considering taking an additional ‘wine tasting class’ next trimester this may not be the best idea… I’m sure reducing the amount of alcohol consumed wouldn’t do me any harm though!
Driving - *ahem* sore subject. Next…
Eating Out – because students have the funds to do this all the time. Next…
Smoking – pretty easy for a non-smoker…
Television – even easier for someone without a TV…
Sexual Activity – chance would be a fine thing. Next…
Energy Use (gasoline, electricity, etc) – thinking candles in a university hall of residence is not the smartest idea. This also coincides with number 3: Computer use. “Sorry my essay’s only partially complete; I only got to the second paragraph before my laptop ran out of battery.” Next…
Using Credit Cards – so now I’m sitting in the dark with no way to buy food before my next student loan comes though, I thought only Orthodox Christians fasted…
Internet Chatting – let’s be honest, it would probably be quicker to wait the 40 days and send an email than expect the French postal service to send snail mail to the UK and deliver a reply from friends and family back home in the same time frame. Maybe not one for me, next…
Meat – it would certainly be a challenge. But not impossible, although there is just one major problem. Being brought up in a village with one of Yorkshire’s finest butchers just round the corner and a family that would probably consider a meet free meal either a weekday breakfast or a snack, means I know very little about vegetarian diets. When I first told my Dad I was going veggie for lent he was that speechless I thought Skype had crashed. So far the only things I can imagine eating are: 

   Cheesy beans on toast

   Mushroom pizza
   Pasta with plain tomato sauce

   Beef flavour hula-hoops (they’re veggie, seriously)!
and Vegetarian lasagne (and that's only because someone else once made it for me). 

If anyone can come up with any more recipes/ideas I'd be more than happy to hear them as I think I'm going to go for it. At least it wont have an adverse effect on my studies and the worst things that can happen are I lose weight, save money and start dreaming about Toby Carvery (not that this doesn't happen anyway). Not all bad and a small sacrifice to pay. Just don't cook bacon near me. 

And lead me not in to temptation... *sigh*

40 days... I can manage 40 days... 


On the other hand, here's 40 things people would never give up, as beautifully shown on pinterest: http://pinterest.com/hostelbookers/40-things-i-d-never-give-up-for-lent/

French banks

I’m slightly concerned that I’m studying business in a country that thinks it’s acceptable to close nearly all its banks at midday. I’m failing to understand why they would choose to make their services unavailable at a time where most people have half an hour or so for lunch (maybe make that two hours, we are in France after all) and to run errands including paying in the numerous amounts of cheques people still insist on using. If you’ve ever been held up by someone attempting to pay by cheque at the front of a massive queue in Carrefour and they can’t find a pen or they make a spelling mistake and have to start again, you’ll understand how fustrating this can be.

On top of this, the majority of banks are not open Mondays… what even is this?! Did the French finance minister decided he likes bank holidays so much he was going to have one every week ? As a result of the French’s banking systems incompetence, I will leave you with this cheeky jest I found online:

Q. Why don't Master Card and Visa work well in France ?
A. They do not know how to say "CHARGE!" 

Just kidding! Have a good Friday folks :)
EmJ x

So far, so good

Seeing how well my friends have managed to keep their blogs updated I feel shamed in to posting a brief update on my first month in France. I am however a little weary of jazzing up and publishing my New Years resolutions post as I am convinced I have failed the majority of them already. At least there's always next year... 

I certainly feel like I am settling in a lot quicker than my previous semester in Martinique (despite still having to deal with reams of paperwork, the entirety of my admin was sorted within the first three weeks... not three months) and I can just about travel anywhere in town without getting too lost. To give you an idea of the size of the place, the suburb I'm living in (Mont St Aignan) has approximately twice the number of local residents than Bangor, and that's not including the additional 10,000 students in Bangor and the 20,000 students here. Let's not even start on the centre ville de Rouen.

I have a lecture timetable as random as the nearest store’s opening hours (9 hours one day, none the next) and most of the lectures seem to have gotten over the fact that an English exchange-student might actually be capable of speaking a foreign language. The courses here are offered in French and English (some classes are taught only in English) which the majority of foreign students choose. The number of people that have asked me "wouldn't it be easier for you to take your classes in English?" ("well... yeah, but that's not going to improve my French") is not even funny. But so is life.

I have also, despite being in an 8h30 lecture, experienced a wonderful ‘French moment.’ If I hadn't been there in person I would have thought it had been set up for a film. For the first time, I heard a French student, wearing a very stereotypical French blue and white striped t-shirt, say ‘oh-la-la’ in general conversation . Unfortunately no beret was being worn at the time (although I have seen rather a lot!) and no onions on strings were being waved about but we can’t have everything. I feel like my French experience is complete. All I need to do now is return to the 2€ store to get a baguette bag (yes, they really do have oblong fold-away bags especially designed for carrying bread back from the boulangerie) and I can fly back tomorrow. You cannot get more French than that.

Until next time,
EmJ x

Part 2... Hello Rouen!

I'm on the move again! This time I’m headed to Rouen Business School for the second semester of my ERASMUS year. For those who haven't heard of/know little about it, here's a rather charming summary I found on the t'internet!

"Rouen Business School, adjacent to Rouen University, is a prestigious French business school, situated on the plateau of Mont- Saint- Aignan, a suburb of Rouen. It offers various management courses in English & French. It is one of the best known schools in France & Europe and is 140 years old. Rouen Business School was recently accredited with AACSB, making it one of just 2% of Business schools in the world to be triple accredited. This has further increased the visibility of the school and its programmes – great for graduates when applying for jobs!"

Not bad, not bad... and the fact that I get to do all my French administration in a castle also makes it rather exciting!

As Christmas and New Year was pretty intense I haven't had much chance to virtually check out the city and the surrounding area before I arrived but will hopefully get chance to check it all out as a go along.

Will keep you posted :)
EmJx