Shanghai

Despite my intentions, I moved to China and immediately became that person who forgets about their blog. I suck. But I will update now!

Shanghai is amazing! It's diverse, dynamic, and easy. Everything has been so convenient here. The cost of living is really cheap and it is easy to get around. My best friend from college picked me up from the airport and I was immediately able to move into the apartment I share with her. We took it easy over the weekend and by Monday Chase, another friend from college, had set me up with some tutoring work to support myself. Teaching work is abundant here and it pays very well. The metro is simple and can get you anywhere in Shanghai. Taxis are also cheap and easy.

I commute to the apartment of a famous Chinese actor to tutor his two little boys for two hours a day, five days a week. Tutoring one on one takes more focus and energy then teaching a class but the kids are generally better behaved when they have your undivided attention. Next month I will take on a larger teaching load to earn some quick money. Private tutoring pays well here, about 33 USD an hour. Considering the low cost of living I probably won't need to teach much after January.

I like the food here, and it is cheap! For 3 USD you can get a decent lunch. A reasonably nice dinner might cost 15 USD. I miss Korean food though. I think, despite my complaining while in Korea, that it has become my comfort food.

I think I will have to write a post comparing and contrasting China and Korea.

More later!

New Placement Consideration

The Peace Corps was in touch. I was told that it looks increasingly unlikely that Sierra Leone would open. Everyone under consideration was given three options- to pull their application, to remain under consideration, and to switch consideration to another country. I said I would wait but my placement officer got in contact and asked me to consider other countries. I was asked to switch to Comoros, which is a new program opening in 2015.

I have mixed feelings about this. Comoros is exciting because it is a new program. I'm honored to be considered for a position in the program- only twenty volunteers will go. Comoros also seems very beautiful. It is a tiny island nation off of Madagascar and looks like a tropical paradise (if an impoverished, devoutly Muslim, politically distressed nation could be considered paradise). On the other hand, there hasn't been a Peace Corps program there for some time, so there are no paths laid down. I am having to surrender the image I had created of how my Peace Corps service would be. I envisioned living in a hut with no power or electricity. I would have a compost heap and eat dinner at my neighbor's house most nights. Local village kids would help me get water from the well and come by after school for extra English lessons. There isn't much information with which to build a new image; no blogs, packing lists, or RPCVs to give advice. I can't seem to get a hold of the placement officer for Comoros so it is an entirely new waiting game, and this time I can't read dozens of blogs to satisfy my desire for information.

In other news I am almost entirely ready to depart for China. I'm packed, I have my ticket and visa, and have taken care of last minute chores. I leave in two days!

A Note on the Title

It occurs to me that I should state for the record that the title of my blog, A Place in the Sun, was chosen because I like the sound. It isn't intended to be evocative of German imperialism or Weltpolitik. But it could be a good starting point for a conversation on the impact of colonialism on African nations and the struggle of many of these Africans nations to find there own so called "place in the sun" amidst the discord left over by European imperialists.

But I'll spare you the lecture.

How to Write a Blog (that doesn't totally suck)

I have been told that that anyone can write a blog post. Teenagers can do it, old people can do it. Hell, if you are reading this you have probably done it. I'm not sure if this is even blogging. More like journaling? Either way, it doesn't come naturally to me. So I have fallen back on an old habit- research!

I love research. I love it much more than actually doing anything. But here I am putting research into practice.


My research informs me that the first step is to disregard everything you learned about writing from your college professors. So I am off to a bad start it would seem. You and I, dear reader, are supposed to be having a discussion, rather then me talking at you. We'll work on that one.

Point two- know what you are writing about. I am struggling with that one. I am supposed to have a clear idea of what my purpose is and understand who you, my audience, is. I think it is probably obvious at this point that I am writing aimlessly. I'll work on this one too.

Next you are supposed to have a catchy title and engaging intro. I imagine that I will now sit and stare at blank blog entries paralyzed by being unable to think of a clever title. Then you follow up with actual content and some kind of conclusion. Also, add a nice picture (see my nice picture?!). I've been told pictures are very important to blogs. Unfortunately this is going to be hard for me as I read blogs for content and tend to skip picture heavy posts.

I think I am missing other important elements like direction and, well, a point. Work in progress.

China

After more than a month of vacation in Florida I have finally organized everything I need to get my visa for China. It was a grueling process and if it turns out to be anything like my visa process for South Korea there will be tears involved (seriously a hellish nightmare that involved a five hour midnight road trip to Tallahassee because of FL's incompetent bureaucracy). But anyway, I got my passport, photos, photocopies, my friend's residence permit, letter of invitation, application, visa agency confirmation, confirmation of payment and a dozen other things into an envelope and sent off to NY. Now I wait and hope that I don't having anything wrong/missing.

What's this about China, you might ask?

Well I can't sit on my bum here in FL until June when most programs (that I am interested in) for the Peace Corps launch. So I am heading to Shanghai for six months, where I will get to live with a fantastic BFF from college and work as a private tutor to pay for my gallivanting around China. I'm hoping I can continue to improve and expand my resume by gaining experience with teenagers (I mostly taught primary aged kids in Korea) and by volunteering with local orphanages. Also, Shanghai is cool. I am hoping to get into a nice productive routine in China since I have found it very difficult to motivate myself to do anything while here on vacation.

I will be on a plane on November 7th ideally. Actually, I don't know what happens to my plane ticket if my visa is denied...

So I have my ticket, an apartment, a job plan, and hopefully soon a visa. In the mean time I will do a last round of visitations while in the States. Things are moving right along!

The Other Road

It does look increasingly like the Sierra Leone won't be up and running this year. I haven't heard any news from the Peace Corps and likely won't until the last possible minute. I know the Peace Corp is hopeful that they will be able to run the program on time but the news just seem worse and worse. It is my continued hope that I will be in Sierra Leone in June but I have been considering alternative assignments. 

My alternative choices include Botswana, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda and Zambia. I am also looking at some non-teaching postings, though I suspect that classroom teaching experience is my most valuable skill. I wonder if part of the reason  am so enamored with Sierra Leone is because the PC picked it for me. The thought of making my own choice and then living with it is much more intimidating than being assigned a country.  

I am mostly leaning towards Malawi, Tanzania, Swaziland, or Zambia I think. Tanzania especially seems like a good option. The accounts I have read seem very much like Sierra Leone. It is considered one of the "hardcore" posting, mostly without running water, electricity, and sometimes paved roads but the PC staff seems great and the people of Tanzania seem warm and welcoming. 

Most of my opinions are based on PCVs' blogs, so I do worry that I just happened to run across some awesome blogs and that I should be taking more into account. I suppose I will cross that river when I get to it! It's frustrating to know that I won't get an official invite for months, and won't depart for months after that (if I make it through medical clearance).  

Old Vs. New

Holy cow! I'm reading blogs about the application and invitation process from past years and I am very grateful to be among the new applicants. It looks like it took FOREVER! It seems that when you applied you were part of a nomination group who could possibly leave in the next two years. You first had to pass the background check and then many rounds of medical clearance, all with no indication of where you might serve or what you might do. That part could take many months. After getting through medical clearance your qualifications were reviewed and you might be scheduled for an interview. You were discouraged from having an opinion on where you would serve. After the interview you might be invited to serve in a region but still with no idea of which country or what you would be doing. Eventually they would snail mail you an invitation with your country and assignment. Still subject to change.

There is a certain excitement to the process I imagine. And perhaps time honored tradition and the comfort of knowing that many other PCVs when through the same thing. But I think I still prefer the new system.

The new application takes about thirty minutes. You are asked a few initial questions: do you have dependents? Have you filed for bankruptcy? Are you related to anyone working in the intelligence field? And so on. Probably less then 15 questions. Then you submit a motivational statement, reference info, resume, and sign some agreements. That's pretty much all I remember from the application. Very shortly after I received a medical history form to fill out and submit online. This was very detailed. A day after that I received an email saying I was medically precleared to serve in any country and a form asked where I wanted to be placed and what I wanted to do.

I selected that I would serve anywhere and do anything but my preference was for Africa (I also correctly assumed I would most like be considered for education or youth development programs). In the new system you are encouraged to make your preferences known, unlike the past where any hint that you might prefer one way or another was seen as inflexibility and thought poorly of. In retrospect maybe I should have asked for a specific assignment but I feel confident that I would find any of them worthwhile.

Within days of submitting my preference form I received an email saying that I was being considered for placement in the education sector in Sierra Leone. Any indication of where you were going seemed to be among the last things to happen in the old system. The interview was scheduled using a handy internet site. The interview itself seems to be more extensive. It seems that past interview could be as short as thirty minutes. They made up for the lack of information in the initial application by having a two hour interview that sussed out every qualification and deficit you might have. It was also very informative and a surprisingly enjoyable process. I believe they are trying to be more transparent with applicants. Or else my placement officer has great communication skills.

After the interview I uploaded a few documents (transcripts, TEFL cert.) and completed a skills assessment form about my former teaching experience. I feel as though I should have been much more detailed when completing the form. Oh well.

I do wonder if some of the speed at which this happened has to do with the placement site being Sierra Leone. It is in quite a rough situation right now and has always seemed to be considered one of the most traditional and "hardcore" of the Peace Corps assignments.

I still have to go through the hellish medical clearance process, and I am very worried about timing. Despite what seem to be assurances that I will be invited to this program, actual invitations won't be made for some time, possibly as late as December. My problem is that I will be in Shanghai from November until March (about two months before Sierra Leone's departure date) and I will have to do all of my medical clearance abroad or in the last few weeks before departure. Sounds like potential for things to go terribly wrong. Particularly if my wisdom teeth need to come out!

My other concern is Sierra Leone's current status. PCVs and PCTs were evacuated a few months ago and have not been allowed to return. The Salone 5 group never even started their service. What will happen to them? I've become very attached to the idea of Sierra Leone over the past month but I have been warned that we might be told at the last possible minute that the program will remain on hold. I have also been told that if that happens I will have the chance to pick another assignment and country that departs around the same time. I am grateful for this, since not everyone will be so lucky. Some people will have to resubmit their entire application and go through this process again if Sierra Leone remains on hold.

More about the alternatives later.