Transition Time and the Epic Visa Quest

In 4 weeks and 1 day we are leaving China. Time to wind down, pack and enjoy the company of friends or you could write reports, review curriculum and endure an epic quest to get a visa. (Teachers do work right to the end of the year and during the holidays, in case you were wondering.)

It's funny how your block out the annoying, time consuming and negative things that happen when you move overseas. I feel somewhat like an ostrich. I am really trying to bury my head in the sand and pretend that certain things are not happening! I love the massive spring clean you do when you move, it is just so liberating! I don't love the paperwork. I am a perfectionist and I know from living in China how precise you need to be. The errors and discrepencies between different consulates and the HR team I am working with have been driving me to distraction. It would be really nice if every consulate for a particular country required the same paperwork. It would also be nice if they listed all the paperwork they wanted rather than expecting you to read their mind. It would also be nice if they didn't hang up when you called to ask a question.

We still don't have visas. No time to think about that though! I want to make sure that I leave the curriculum and my resources in a format that makes sense and meets the needs of the students. Nothing worse than arriving at school where documents are missing and you can't understand a single thing the previous person taught. I really hope that my units and plans can be understood.

This time the shipping company dropped boxes off, which I think I mentionned. Initially I was confused as they are paid to do the packing. However, I started packing at the weekend and it felt great! It really helps you to get in the "moving on" mindset. I am only packing the non-breakable items, such as sheet music and snowboarding clothes. I would rather the professionals are responsible for my breakables so that I can be mad at them and not me if they break!

We are 5 weeks into our epic visa quest and we can count 13 problems so far. Impressive huh? Clarity, efficiency and competence are all things I value highly. Sadly these elements are not all present in our current quest. We are following the trail of breadcrumbs and hoping that it leads us into our new adventure on time and unscathed...