Job Interview

Yesterday, I had a job interview at Hy-Lite Language School.  They were looking for native English speakers to teach small conversation classes, and some larger "Speaker's Corner" classes, during the summer when their business picks up.  Andis, the head trainer there at Hy-Lite, showed me around, and introduced me to how the school works, and then took me to his office and asked me a few questions.  A little about my background, and a little about what I would do in certain circumstances.  Apparently I passed, because he offered me 10-15 hours per week, on weekdays, at 150 RMB/hour, starting in about mid-July.  Training is not paid, but it's not too long.  So, that's an answer to prayer.

After the interview, I went to the church restroom to change back into bike clothes, and then I went for a short exploratory ride downtown, looking for a fruit vendor to buy some bananas from.  That trip was successful, so then I went back to the church grounds, and had a little picnic of peanuts (thanks Mom!), bananas, steamed bread rolls (from Carrefour) and water.  Then, I went down to the church basement and refilled my Camelbak, which was empty.  (It was that hot out, I was perspiring freely, just sitting still.  90°F + in the shade.)  Then, I waited a friend and one of his colleagues to show up after 6pm, and we went on a little bike ride around Wuxi, my friend leading the way.  That was fun, interesting, and a little challenging to dodge the pedestrians, bikes, e-bikes, etc. while keeping up.  I did see a Wall-Mart on the trip.  I'm going to have to ask my friend how to get back there.  That Wall-Mart should be worth checking out.

Prayer Requests
Firstly, praise God for the offer of a summer job!  I was not looking forward to trying to stretch my last paycheck to last all summer.  This will bring me that much closer to paying off my debts.  It will also give me some more experience in a different environment.  It may also give me additional options in the future, should my circumstances change.

Along those lines, please pray for me in my new job.  I'll be responsible for getting Chinese teenagers and adults to use their limited English skills, not always an easy task.  This is a business, very similar to a Korean hagwon (학원), if you know what that is.  If not, let's just say that if the students (or their parents) aren't happy, they can stop coming, and the school loses money.  That has an affect on how I teach.

Well, I've got to get ready to go to church now.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.