Preparations

It's been a while since we've blogged about China, so here is an update with 3 big things to report, I guess.

1. We have accepted the jobs officially. We received our contracts and are sending them to Slovenia, signed, on Monday, the 14th.

2. Our current school district, along with many others in Texas and across the country I'm sure, are having intense budget constraints. Inevitably, jobs will have to be cut. However, the district offered an incentive to the first 300 teachers who inform the district that they're not returning next school offering them 10% of their paycheck as a bonus. Well, that's a great deal for Kayla and I, so we took it. So, our move from our current school is official as well.

3. We've been in contact with QSI's official travel agent and our flights are booked. We'll be headed out August 9th, arriving in Hong Kong the afternoon of August 10th. We have a 10 hour layover in London and we plan on riding the London Eye, seeing a sight or two, before being surrounded by a completely foreign language for ten months. I'm excited because I love London and haven't been in close to 10 years. Kayla had an experience there and it wasn't too pleasant, but I'll leave that story for another time.

Also, we've been busy researching, watching videos, perusing forums, etc so we can buy important stuff in preparation for our move. Two things that we decided that we would splurge on were new computers and carry-on luggage. I've never owned nice things of either.

With our hefty tax refund check, we bought new 13" Macbook Pros, the refresh models that just came out a few weeks ago. As cliche as this sounds, I don't know why I haven't bought a Mac sooner. Amazing quality, nice looks, and little learning curve makes this thing ideal...I'm blogging on it right now.

We've also bought carry on luggage and our +1 personal items from a Seattle company called TOM BIHN, a small bag/luggage company owned by Tom Bihn himself. He designs classy, incredibly well-made bags for travel, all of which is put together here in the US. I googled "best carry on luggage" and they came up #1 on numerous sites. Kayla and I checked it out for a good while before taking the plunge. We both bought the "Aeronaut" model for our larger carry on for clothes, etc, and the "Imago" for our laptop +1 bag. In addition, we bought various pouches and packing cubes specifically designed for the bags. When we found Tom Bihn, we were introduced to this whole "one bag" traveling concept. (It's pretty self-explanatory, you take one carry-on/no check on luggage when you fly). It's a whole different world when you look in to it. Our Aeronauts will help us achieve this goal when we take smaller trips throughout the coming year, especially when we go to Germany to visit Caroline. The quality of these bags are out of this world--you can tell great care went in to designing the bags, along with the highest quality of materials. Can't wait to really try them out.

We'll be posting a video review of our bags soon, next week hopefully now that it's Spring Break.

Well, that's all I got for now. A lot of stuff is in the works. Moving feels close yet far all at the same time. Shoot, in 5 months we'll be out. Crazy thought.

Anyways, peace out yall and much love.

Stephen

So it begins...

Greetings,
Stephen here. This is the first entry for our blog chronicling our adventures teaching overseas.
This past Saturday (Jan 22), Kayla and myself were offered teaching positions at QSI Shekou, a "suburb" of Shenzhen, China, next to Hong Kong.
Honestly, Kayla and I never thought that China would be where we ended up. I have always had a heart for Eastern Europe/Central Eurasia and Kayla's heart has been for the Middle East. At first, we felt that it would be Almaty, KZ, but that didn't work out. We were told, by our recruiter, Mr. Larry Philpot, that the openings in Kaz had been filled, but that there were other options that had in mind for us.
I did some research on what other jobs were open, and discovered that the only place that had jobs for the both of us was in Shekou. The first thing I did was watch the video that QSI Shekou had made highlighing the school. When I watched it, I felt this overwhelming sense of peace about it, and even a strong desire to be there. I sent the link to Kayla and she watched it separate from me, and had the exact same response. It was then that we knew where the Lord was leading us. It had never really crossed our mind of going to China!
We had a few more talks with Mr. Philpot before the interview, and before we had even begun our trip to Dallas for the interview, we knew that the job was ours. Without hesitating, we took the jobs! We'll both be teaching I.E. (Intensive English), which is the international equivalent to ESL.
Since then, I've been on China-mode. It's all I can think about! We've discovered various blogs from teachers there in Shekou who have highlighted their trip and experiences there. I've been in contact with a teaching couple there, doing everything I can to figure how life is going to be in Shekou. They've been beyond helpful and gracious by sharing the information we need.
I think it's going to make the rest of this year incredibly long. It seems that when you want something to come, time hits the brakes hard. It's good, though. Kayla and I will be soaking all of the teaching knowledge, tricks, methods, and strategies before we go, as well as all the Godly fellowship we can get a hold of too.
Anyway, that's all I got for now. More to come, I'm sure, especially as we get closer to the middle of August, when we leave!

Stephen