Christie Goes To China!

How truly exciting!

I depart August 1! I'll be teaching ESL to the students at the new international school being established by Lutherna Church Hong Kong Synod in Shenzhen, China! I'll be the English Language Specialist there and serve together with 5-7 other teachers. There will be grades K-7 this first year of the school and most classroom teachers will be teaching two grades. There will be a music/art/dance teacher as well as a Chinese teacher. It is possible yet for teachers to be hired. Thus far there are 3 classroom teachers, the Chinese teacher, and myself, the ESL teacher.

Shenzhen is a city of about 10 million people so in terms of the number of people, it won't be much different than living in Bangkok which you know I did for 15 years, and loved it! The Chinese culture while distinct from Thai culture has a few similarities which will assist me in adjusting to the country. There will be, however, many things which will be different.

I've been told that it is not an expectation for me to learn Chinese because the Chinese parents who have their children in the school, fear that if the teachers know Chinese that Chinese will be spoken in the classroom instead of English... and they are paying to have their children learn English and get an education on the American system. They have a point. That said, I plan on learning some Chinese just the same to help me get around and feel more at home.

I'll be living in a one bedroom apartment (possibly two but no guarantee) most likely in an apartment building that is many floors high. I won't have a car like I did in Thailand and will be using local transportation... buses, subways, trains, and taxis. That will take some getting used to! I'm used to being able to just get in a car and go! :-)

The school is absolutely beautiful looking like a Spanish villa but going up 4 floors. There are two elevators, however, for which I am grateful! I'll be doing the stairs, too, but glad that I'll also be able to use the elevator! The school will also have wireless internet and all teachers will be given a laptop to be used for school work for which I am grateful, too. I understand it is also air-conditioned which is wonderful as well!

Weather in Shenzhen is hot and muggy much of the year with a high level of humidity all year round. The months of January - March can be quite cold, however, with temperatures getting down below 40 at times... it has never snowed in Shenzhen but when it is in the low 40's and raining outside (which it often does), it can be bone-snapping cold! One of the teachers who has lived in Shenzhen for a year already said that her son would go to school in shorts and a fleece jacket even on the coldest of days while all the Chinese students were bundled up in coats, mittens, and scarves as well as double layers of clothing! She and her son are from the state of Maine... I can imagine why they would not feel the cold!

As I write, it is 84 degrees there with a Feel Like temperature of 94 and a 76% humidity. Tomorrow's high is 92 with a Fell Like temperature of a 102! The average annual temperature (including highs and lows) in Shenzhen is 72.5 while in Bangkok it is 82. Daily highs in summer can reach as high as 102... which it will be doing tomorrow!

The average annual rainfall in Shenzhen is 79 inches but often rains as much as 98 inches where in Bangkok the annual rainfall is 59 inches. And I thought it rained a lot in Bangkok!

In comparison to Keller, TX, the average annual temperature is 63 (that's hard to believe with the high temperature into the 100's for so many days and the winters not going below 40 most days) and the rainfall is only 29 inches!

Something tells me I'm going to get wet a lot this year! Oh my!

It will all be a great experience and I'm looking forward to all of it but using the local transportation and the rainy humid weather but I'll get used to it, I'm sure! Not having a car and having to walk and climb stairs all over the city will definitely be good for me physically!

I'll be super busy this month of July sorting, throwing out, giving away, selling, and finally packing my bags... will most likely have a few excess bags.
I'm trusting God that all the bags and excess boxes will make it through airport and border customs without any issues!

I am looking for people to help me with the expense of shipping books over via the ocean... if you are interested please do email me or make a comment to this post to that affect and I will be in touch with you.

Thanks for reading this and for your interest.
I'll keep you posted!