He thinks he's the King of Yangshuo. Don't argue with him!
Gorgeous, isn't it? This is the Dragon River.
Gorgeous, isn't it? This is the Dragon River.
The Square in downtown Kunming
Kunming is the "City of Eternal Spring!"
I applied for a job as an English teacher in China as a result of sheer panic!
Yang shuo. It's down-to-earth and charming!
You see, at first, my goal was to set one toe over the border into China so that I could say I'd been there! I never really intended to stay for more than a day...
I was on a visa trip from Malaysia where I had been living in a little town called Seremban. Have you heard of it? It's north of Kuala Lumpur. Living there was totally stress free and laid back. Perhaps a little too laid back.
I taught English classes at a private school there called "Cambridge English for Life".
These beautiful karsts are poetic. I can almost hear the haunting gourd pipe music.
I found the school (located in downtown Seremban) through a mobile phone shop-owner whose daughter had been a teacher there. He even called the school for me to set up an interview. They were happy to have a native English speaker, particularly from Canada where we have a neutral accent that is sought after.
The "Application Exam" was lengthy and thorough. I pencilled in a couple of suggested corrections for the grammar of its content as I was taking it. (It was an easy test.) I was hired on immediately.
The classes were pleasant. The text books were interesting too. And, the students were charming. I enjoyed that school immensely. It was more fun than work.
For eight months, the school was able to provide me with enough hours to earn a good wage and live comfortably just outside of Seremban in a little subdivision where my son and his wife were renting a large, four bedroom house. But, after eight months and two visa trips, the hours dropped off to almost nothing and it was time to move on.
Either I could move into Kuala Lumpur as one of the other teachers had done, or find work elsewhere.
That's when I started teaching private lessons in my home. This little venture turned out to be even more lucrative than taking the trip into town every day! Students came to me. All I did was put up a white board in one of the spare rooms, set up a couple of tables and chairs and I was in business!
More rapidly than anticipated, I managed to put away sufficient funds to keep me going for several months. Of course, since I was still on a tourist visa, I was required to leave the country every three months.
Life on the River Li
As human nature would have it, I decided to go looking for a little excitement one day and made China my choice, thinking the weather might be a little cooler. Curiosity spurred me on.
The train ride from K.L. into Thailand was astral. I had a top berth and though there was some partying going on, it was called off by the conductor at midnight. The next morning, we arrived in Hat Yai where I bought a train ticket to Bangkok.
The Thai train was almost as nice as the Malay train had been. A porter came in the morning and knocked on my curtain before I'd gotten out of bed to ask what I would like to have for breakfast. I played the part of the wealthy Westerner and ordered eggs and rice with coffee which was brought to me on a silver tray.
In Bangkok, I took my son's advice and walked to the closest hotel from the station. It seemed clean enough, except that I was sharing my room with another guest -an enormous cock roach! It took every last grain of courage I could muster up to pick up a board and smash his back. But, I did it. However, the glow of victory wasn't enough to encourage me to stay.
Panoramic View of Bangkok, Thailand
I immediately went hostel hunting and, to my joy, found a delightful, clean hostel that provided Internet service. The next morning, a tuk-tuk transported me and my suitcase to "My House Guest House". The people there were so friendly and I had dinner with one of the owners.
A tuk-tuk, the cheapest form of transportation in Bangkok
The bedding was white and crisp, the towels were spotlessly clean and everything was newly painted. No little animals anywhere.
While enjoying the hospitality of the guest house, I decided to see how difficult it would be to acquire a visa for China. The subway was across the street from the guest house so I ventured over to check it out.
Sparkling Clean Bangkok Subway
It was stunning! The subway, having been built in 2004, was only two years old. I was very impressed. It had been twenty years since I'd lived in Thailand and a lot of change had taken place. In fact, it was rare to spot any of the previous dire poverty that existed when I had been there last.
With the exception of squatters' villages piled up along the railway tracks on the way into town, Bangkok presented itself as a beautiful modern city. I hardly recognised it!
Brand Spanking New Subway Cars
Brand Spanking New Subway Cars
The subway system was clearly mapped out so that I easily located the Chinese Embassy, half a dozen stops away. The city was loaded with Westerners and I even talked to an English teacher who invited me to apply at the school where he was teaching. (I tucked his card away for future reference.)
At the Chinese Embassy, I discovered I only needed to apply and provide a small photo, then wait for two to three days for my visa! I happened to have a small photo in my purse, so the application process began the same day.
I picked up my visa two days later! It had a lovely background picture of the Great Wall on it, adding a great deal of character to my passport. China, here I come!
