I am currently working to become medically cleared for Comoros. Unfortunately, doing so from Shanghai has turned out to be a nightmare! I was able to book a dentist appointment with an English speaking dentist only to find out later that I didn't get the right x-rays and the dentist doesn't have the kind I need. So I paid $200 for that exam and have to have it redone at a special clinic for three times the price. That was disheartening but what came next was worse. I called around to various places but couldn't find a clinic to do my physical in English and provide all of the right tests. I settled on going to the foreign department of a hospital.
The doctor I saw was really nice and spoke pretty good English. I thought she would just rubber stamp everything like they generally do here in China but she was actually really thorough and did all of the tests she was able to. Including the anal probe. Thanks doc. Unfortunately that office wasn't equipped to do all of the tests. They weren't able to go my pelvic, my titer test, or the metabolic panel. There is no option for a G6PD titer test here because apparently it is a genetic disorder not really found in China. The foreign part of the hospital didn't have a GYN for the pelvic and my doctor spoke English but didn't understand what basic metabolic panel meant. They did the rest of the physical for about $1k. I've been calling them to get the results for the tests but no one will answer the phone. I also dropped $200 on a vision exam that was total BS. Thankfully I emailed PC med and they said I didn't need it. Just wish I knew that before I spent the money!
So! All-in-all it has been expensive and disappointing. I will be able to do the rest in April when I get back to the States but that is already well past the due date. I think I will try to get my pelvic exam done at Planned Parenthood since I am uninsured. I am hoping the VA hospital can do the remaining blood tests and that I can find a travel clinic for the Yellow Fever vaccine.
I was finally able to get my FBI background check done! It was ridiculous and insanely expensive to be fingerprinted in Shanghai but at least it's over.
My advice to future PC applicants- don't try to get your clearances done from abroad!
Showing posts with label Shanghai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shanghai. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Korea vs. China
I have been meaning to write this post for ages but haven't been able to organize it. A question I am often is asked is whether I like Korea or China more. Both have advantages and disadvantages and I have decided to try to write a post exploring them.
While I was born in Germany and have traveled in Europe my first real experience living abroad was Korea. Moving abroad can be overwhelming. The culture shock and homesickness and knowing you have made a commitment that may trap you for the foreseeable future creates a great deal of pressure. I felt positively sick during the weeks before I left for Korea. I was certain that teaching in Korea was the wrong decision and that I would spend the year just trying to make it through.
Korea turned out to be quite easy. My recruiter helped arrange my visa and plan ticket. The school sent someone to pick me up from the airport and take me to a hotel. The head teacher from the school came by in the morning to take me around and tell me about the school. An apartment was provided for me. There was very little risk or hardship involved. Korea is very industrialized and many of the young people in the cities speak English. Most restaurants have an English menu. While Korea is distinct and different from the US I didn't find the culture shock to be so tremendous. Korea is a very safe and an easy place to teach abroad for the first time.
That being said- Korea is boring. It is nice, pretty, safe and convenient. All of those things have merit, but it is boring. Korean society can be very closed to non-Korean so most foreigners spend all of their time together. Visas are closely controlled in Korea so most of the foreigners there are teachers or students, which creates an insular social group that can feel claustrophobic and incestuous. There is also very little mobility there. You can be a teacher but that is about it. You'll likely never progress much beyond the job you first received when arriving in Korea. The people who have been there for five or six years don't seem to have done much with their lives. But the money is good! With little effort you can save quite a bit of money in a year. I have friends who paid off student loans or paid for Master's degrees after teaching in Korea for two years.
China, on the other hand, is more of a frontier. In Shanghai the opportunities are limitless. You have the freedom to do anything you like and the social scene is very diverse. Only a few of the people I have meet here are teachers or students and many of them aren't from English speaking countries. However, the risks are much greater and the experience wouldn't be as easy if this were my first time abroad. China is much more overwhelming to the inexperienced. English isn't as common, the schools are more likely to be scams and screw you over, friends are harder to make with such a large selection, and there are more mistakes to be made for a first timer. If done right, there is good money to be made here. If you are rash and sign a contract with a school because it seems easy you might be trapped in a low-paying, over-worked job that has control over your visa. I've seen this happen to many people!
My overall impression is that I find Shanghai to be a wonderful place- but probably only because I was eased into it by spending a year in Korea. When picking a place to teach abroad consider what you want out of it. Do you want to make money fast and get out? Do you want to invest in being in one place for a long time? Do you want the freedom to travel? Different counties, particularly in Asia, can offer different things.
While I was born in Germany and have traveled in Europe my first real experience living abroad was Korea. Moving abroad can be overwhelming. The culture shock and homesickness and knowing you have made a commitment that may trap you for the foreseeable future creates a great deal of pressure. I felt positively sick during the weeks before I left for Korea. I was certain that teaching in Korea was the wrong decision and that I would spend the year just trying to make it through.
Korea turned out to be quite easy. My recruiter helped arrange my visa and plan ticket. The school sent someone to pick me up from the airport and take me to a hotel. The head teacher from the school came by in the morning to take me around and tell me about the school. An apartment was provided for me. There was very little risk or hardship involved. Korea is very industrialized and many of the young people in the cities speak English. Most restaurants have an English menu. While Korea is distinct and different from the US I didn't find the culture shock to be so tremendous. Korea is a very safe and an easy place to teach abroad for the first time.
That being said- Korea is boring. It is nice, pretty, safe and convenient. All of those things have merit, but it is boring. Korean society can be very closed to non-Korean so most foreigners spend all of their time together. Visas are closely controlled in Korea so most of the foreigners there are teachers or students, which creates an insular social group that can feel claustrophobic and incestuous. There is also very little mobility there. You can be a teacher but that is about it. You'll likely never progress much beyond the job you first received when arriving in Korea. The people who have been there for five or six years don't seem to have done much with their lives. But the money is good! With little effort you can save quite a bit of money in a year. I have friends who paid off student loans or paid for Master's degrees after teaching in Korea for two years.
China, on the other hand, is more of a frontier. In Shanghai the opportunities are limitless. You have the freedom to do anything you like and the social scene is very diverse. Only a few of the people I have meet here are teachers or students and many of them aren't from English speaking countries. However, the risks are much greater and the experience wouldn't be as easy if this were my first time abroad. China is much more overwhelming to the inexperienced. English isn't as common, the schools are more likely to be scams and screw you over, friends are harder to make with such a large selection, and there are more mistakes to be made for a first timer. If done right, there is good money to be made here. If you are rash and sign a contract with a school because it seems easy you might be trapped in a low-paying, over-worked job that has control over your visa. I've seen this happen to many people!
My overall impression is that I find Shanghai to be a wonderful place- but probably only because I was eased into it by spending a year in Korea. When picking a place to teach abroad consider what you want out of it. Do you want to make money fast and get out? Do you want to invest in being in one place for a long time? Do you want the freedom to travel? Different counties, particularly in Asia, can offer different things.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
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!
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!
Thursday, October 9, 2014
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!
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!
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