"We are looking for a maths teacher now."

First of all, if any of my friends or family were hurt by my last post, I apologize.  I understand that this isn't easy for all of you.  I understand that this isn't the course you would prefer for me to take.  Please forgive me if I have hurt you in any way.  This wasn't my first choice, either.

The thing is, I need to pay my bills.  No one else, no matter how strenuous their objections, is volunteering to provide an alternate way for me to pay my bills.  They are only offering suggestions based on conventional job-search strategies.  Well, that course didn't seem to be working for me.  Finding an alternative market, where my skills are in higher demand, does seem to work for me.  I have been getting pretty clear indications that it is time for me to go "out into the world to seek my fortune," as they say in the fairy tales.

Take this week for example.  Last week, I finally signed the contract and addendum, scanned them, and e-mailed them to Jane, the vice-principal at Wuxi International School who is my contact there.  I was going to e-mail her today if I hadn't heard from her by then.  Yesterday, however, I got an e-mail from her, at what must have been the start of her work week, Monday morning China time.  Here is the text of the e-mail:

Hi Sean,

We are doing the procedures of your visa these days. Is it possible that you come and teach here asap when your visa is ready? We are looking for a maths teacher now.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jane

Now, bear in mind that the last date I heard from her was mid-August, to start the school year on September 1.  She had previously said something about summer school and early July.  This, however, could put me in China within two months IF all goes smoothly.  That seems to be a good, albeit preliminary, indication that this is the right thing to do.

Now for the 'if', and, yes, it is a big 'if'.  I don't know what prompted the unexpected change in the timeline, and I'm not going to ask now.  One thing that I've learned from my dealings with the overseas education business is that it's important to temper my curiosity.  I have many questions.  I do not need all the answers right now.  It is often easier for everyone if I hold my nonessential questions for a later time.  How big is the school?  How large are the classes?  How far is it from the school to my lodging?  These are questions that others are asking, and I could ask them by e-mail if I wanted.  However, my contacts are busy with many things, I'm sure, and I don't think it's wise to distract them with unnecessary questions.

In addition, my experience tells me that the most helpful things to know are usually not what I would think to ask about.  For example, the physical interaction style of most Korean kids would be considered very rough, even abusive by American standards.  Operating from my own cultural standards, I referred two kids for detention due to the violence I observed.  Later I was told that their detention was cancelled because this sort of interaction was, while not appropriate classroom behavior, not a big deal in Korean society.  This was an important lesson for me in Korean classroom management, and not something I would have thought to ask about.  Nor could it have been effectively explained by e-mail.

So, I didn't ask why, or what had changed.  I said yes.

There was an additional exchange about a chronological hole in my résumé, which needed to be filled.  (Apparently, this is to make the paperwork more acceptable to the Chinese Foreign Expert Bureau.  I trust that she knows what she's doing, and will do what it takes to secure my Foreign Expert Certificate.)  I told her what I had done, and she asked me to put it in the résumé.  I quickly modified my computer file and sent it to her.

While this was going on, the exchange (via Skype chat) continued.  She told me I would need to bring originals of all my certificates to China.  Diplomas, certificates from Korea, ESL certificate.  I agreed.

There are still a lot of things that are not yet clear to me.  For instance, how will she send me the Foreign Expert Certificate?  E-mail, air courier, or mail?  And what else might I need to bring to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco for my visa interview?  However, I don't think I need the answers to all of these questions right now, in order to move forward.  I will make sure that I get the answers I need when I need them.  At this point, I'm waiting for word on the progress of my Z visa application, mentioned in the first sentence of Jane's e-mail.  I'm hoping for good news within a few weeks.

Prayer Requests

At this point, I believe God is directing me to teach in China.  The position I've accepted looks like a good fit for me, the school wants me ASAP, and it would be good experience for my eventual long-term goal of teaching in the mission field.  If this doesn't work, I don't know what to try next; this was my plan B.  So, all the circumstances seem to line up on one side, and that's the best way I know to read God's will without direct revelation.  Therefore, please pray that the Foreign Expert Bureau in China would grant my Z visa application.

My family is not completely at peace with this process.  Different people have different degrees of concern.  I appreciate that there is danger involved.  However, I think it is like childbirth.  There is danger in the process for both parties.  However, there is more danger (if it were possible) in not giving birth; in fact, a successful postponement of delivery would mean certain death for the child if not for the mother.

Having gone to another country to teach before, I believe I am in a better position to understand the risks I face, both in going and in staying, than my family members, who have not.  I have weighed the risks and made my decision:  taking a job on the other side of the world is safer than staying here without good job prospects.  Having made my choice, I would ask everyone to please pray for my family to have peace about my decision, and support me in this process.

Blessings,

Sean M. Pearson