Job update

It looked for a little while that Anna and I would be moving to teach at Renmin University for the 09-10 school year, but things have changed since my last post. Anna and I and our qualifications were initially okay-ed by the Foreign Experts Bureau to go to the University, but we forgot that nothing is final in China until it's a completed action. Ren Da changed their minds on two accounts.

1. They will allow the first-year teachers to return to teach their second year, so they don't have to leave the school as originally thought.
2. They have told Anna and I that we cannot teach at the University without two years of university teaching experience or a masters degree - our experience at the high school and middle school level don't qualify. They're looking for foreign teachers who can bring more prestige to their school, but this is the school's rule and not the fault of government regulation.
   

After a few weeks of not knowing exactly what next year would look like, we are staying where we're at. Nate and Jess, the couple I mentioned in the last post, are still going to Ren Da next year so the University team will number six. Our overall team is growing again - Shi Yi asked for ten teachers and RDFZ (my school) wants 22 teachers among its three campuses. Teachers and spouses bring the grand total to 40, plus three children under the age of two!

I said above that we're staying where we're at. We'll keep the same teaching positions, but we're moving into a new apartment building . . . sometime. Sometime could mean anytime between tomorrow and August. Since the school promised us we would move by September 1, 2008 I will only believe we're actually moving after my stuff is over there. :) The overall space is somewhat smaller than what we have now, but it has a few things I'm excited about. There is a lot of storage and closet space, cabinets under the sink in the bathroom (we have a pedestal sink right now), a big shared walk-in closet (if that sounds weird, it's because it is), washing machines in each apartment, central heating/air (no more radiators!), and a small glassed-in balcony/clothes drying room off each bedroom. The living room has several functions - the walk-in closet is on one side with sliding doors (I told you this was weird), the kitchen counters and cabinets are built in along one corner, and the rest of the space is occupied by the couch area and dining room table/chairs.