Wow. So I had a tense and confusing week. The seventh grade class went on a trip this past week, with half of the class leaving on Monday morning and coming back Wednesday afternoon and the other half leaving on Wednesday and returning for the weekend. So I had no classes on Monday, two classes on Tuesday, no classes on Wednesday, and I had to leave Wednesday night with my sitemate and liaison to clear up some visa issues that came about as a result of misunderstanding. We took the fast train to Shenzhen with the intention of going into Hong Kong where we would reapply for our visas. However, when we tried to get through customs we were unable to pass through since we did not have proper documentation (which was the reason we were told to go to Hong Kong in the first place: to fix our lack of residence permit since it seemed that we missed a step somewhere). We were told that we had overstayed our visas and that we either needed to pay 10,000 yuan per person or spend 5-10 days in detention. Thankfully, we did not have to make that choice. They allowed us to spend the night in Shenzhen in order to think about our options (let the school pay the fine and possibly not be able to leave Hong Kong if our visas were not processed or see what could be done in Zhuzhou). We were called back to Zhuzhou the day after that. So today we filled in our applications, gave over our passports, and were told we would have our permits next week. We could breathe again since all the misunderstandings were cleared up and our documents were now going to the appropriate channel! I felt ill again when I was told there was a very serious accident on the 7th grade trip, but the latest news says that the student will be OK so I am ready to cry from joy in the privacy of my own room. It's been an exhausting week but since everyone we know has put so much work into making sure we are content, the other volunteer and I treated for dinner. I have all of tomorrow to rest and be ready for my Sunday classes. I will be so happy to come in and say "Good morning, class!" after all my concerns.
I still highly recommend this experience to anyone who has considered it. This event, though stressful, also proved to me just how far WorldTeach and everyone related to its work is willing to go to ensure your well-being. No one ever gave up on us and just about all I've heard since coming here is "What can we do to help you?" This has extended from help in being a better teacher, help in finding my way around Zhuzhou, help in Chinese, help in lesson planning, and of course, help in official matters. This was absolutely the best program I could have picked and I have a very caring and wonderful school. I am sorry for all the trouble I caused for others with this incident but I can say with absolute certainty that I am in good hands.
I still highly recommend this experience to anyone who has considered it. This event, though stressful, also proved to me just how far WorldTeach and everyone related to its work is willing to go to ensure your well-being. No one ever gave up on us and just about all I've heard since coming here is "What can we do to help you?" This has extended from help in being a better teacher, help in finding my way around Zhuzhou, help in Chinese, help in lesson planning, and of course, help in official matters. This was absolutely the best program I could have picked and I have a very caring and wonderful school. I am sorry for all the trouble I caused for others with this incident but I can say with absolute certainty that I am in good hands.
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