My first week as a full time teacher in SZ

After two luxury nights in Hong Kong it was time to venture to my new home of Shenzhen on the mainland. Access was quite easy with a subway station a minute from the HK hotel, transfer to the train station (all without coming above ground) and onto a train bound for Shenzhen via the border at Luohu.

Collected by a representative from EF (Evo) I was soon looking out of the window of the EF teachers hotel.

view from the 25th floor

Adventures in Dongmen shopping / walking street. Flanny PJs for 25RMB was my best purchase.


The bus to Nanshan ( 4RMB for half an hour 30 km journey)

Diwan Centre - the landmark of SZ where the EF administration is

Wandering the streets of Luohu in the late afternoon

The saga of hunting for a place to live is a chapter in its own right but here's the short version.

Sunday went hunting, looked at lots, price went up as going down was not what I was looking for ( Champagne tastes on beer budget- even in China). Found two , landlords not willing to negotiate, decided on one. Overnight it was on again, off again...decided to sign anyway and the sweet lady(! not!) went shopping so we looked at another place which was just great....in a good neighbourhood...right next door to school only 1 road to cross.

But it doesn't end there - we signed the lease with Alan from School helping with the language to avoid any confusion.

Unbeknown to us, the tax which is new and i think I am a guinea pig in this needs to have a particular type of contract so I can move in - just not apply for residential permit which has to be done in a time limit which is caught up in the Spring Festival shutdown, so I might be persona -non grata for a bit longer than hoped. The owner needs a certificate and most of them do not have it so the bank is having to generate one ( by mid week we hope) so i can do the formal contract.

It's not just me, the other new teacher is also in the same boat. As long as it happens eventually.

Now I am in the process of getting the internet connected at home, then I 'll consider the Cable channels , until then I'll make do with CCTV 9 and 2 HK channels in English most of the time.

Today ( Monday from 10.30am - 2pm) we had the big New Year Party for the Year of the OX ( signifying hard work!) with all of the SZ EF Schools Kids/Adults and Administration (EF= 300+)

Each of the schools did a skit or performance ( ours was great as Exotic dancers belly dancing - I have the belly- not sure why I missed out - oh yes because i am not co-ordinated perhaps?) Note my very trim co-workers ( teachers and admin)

Lunch was great, Chinese banquet but check out the plate of chicken closely ( no feet but...)

back to work by 3pm and I was just about to teach my VIP when they cancelled so I worked on the blog and then because i was still here i ended up doing an impromptu Life Club for 5 year olds on days of the week-ended up making each one a paper hat with a day written on it.

Now it's easily beer o'clock - must have been second sense when i turned down a beer after work with some others - Life Club duty called instead...going home for that beer brewed in SZ.

Tuesday and Wed are the new weekend so now its "Friday" night. Two days off, a real treat after the one day of summer school. Expecting to get internet connected ( and a landline phone in the package), contract signed and catch up with Hannah ( other new teacher from Adult school in EF Nanshan) who also has Wed off.

My weekend starts NOW - adios amigos - till I learn the phrase in Chinese (Mon 12th January 8.20pm)