Interview with a Vampire

Ok, it wasn't a vampire, but Jamie and I had our interview with the Chinese local authorities today for our work visas. It was not nearly as intimidating as I thought. We were told that they might ask us some crazy questions and possibly try and trick us concerning our resume and application. This was not the case. The lady here in the picture was supposed to be the "tough" one. She reviewed my application and asked me about 4 questions concerning: Why I want to be a teacher? Why I want to be a teacher in China? What was my major? and What subjects do you teach? Jamie was questioned in a similar manner, but he did question her about her sororiety affiliation. That was it! It was strange because all 17 of us were sitting in a rather nice room around a large conference table with them asking us questions at each end.

The rest of our day was spent in morning meetings and getting our room prepared for school. Jamie's room was changed today and she is now directly across the room from me. Now she'll be able to hear my kids singing Rocky Top across the hall. Jamie did receive a SmartBoard in her room. For those unfamiliar with SmartBoard, join the club, as most schools cannot afford to have them. Sonoraville High School had several of them and our school is trying to encourage teachers to use them. I would have loved one although I do not know how to use it. Can't be that hard.

I'm hoping to get an LCD projector in my room so I can continue to use PowerPoints for my notes and classroom activities. If not, I'll resort to what I did my first 2 years of teaching with the overhead projector (seems so archaic now).

Our visas should be processed and ready to go by next Thursday, so we'll be able to travel outside the country. Our first stop will be Hong Kong probably for a Saturday getaway.

Don't forget to leave comments in the comment section. I have to review these, so don't worry if yours doesn't show up for about 12 hours. I guess I don't have to review them, but I will for a while since I have only received about 4.

I'm playing with the gadgets on the right side. Google has opened up a lot more gadgets for blogspot, but only about half of them actually work.

Have a great day. Keep sharing our blog with those you know who know us.