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Ni Hao Comrades! (1 Viewer)

Hooper31

Hooper31

Footballguy
I haven't been on this board in a loooonnnnnnng time, but I have a couple of days to kill so I thought I might swing by and...kill some time.

I'm in Jiaxing, China at the moment where I have to quarantine for three days. Just left a Shanghai hotel where I had to spend four days in quarantine. After I leave here I will have three more days in quarantine in my apartment in Hangzhou. Total should be ten days unless I show positive for the Covid. Had it about two months ago, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

I was teaching for 29 years at the same small high school in Washington state. Decided to mix it up a bit and took an international teaching job in Hangzhou, China. Always wanted to go there, now here I am.

Ask me anything...

 
Hooper31 said:
I haven't been on this board in a loooonnnnnnng time, but I have a couple of days to kill so I thought I might swing by and...kill some time.

I'm in Jiaxing, China at the moment where I have to quarantine for three days. Just left a Shanghai hotel where I had to spend four days in quarantine. After I leave here I will have three more days in quarantine in my apartment in Hangzhou. Total should be ten days unless I show positive for the Covid. Had it about two months ago, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

I was teaching for 29 years at the same small high school in Washington state. Decided to mix it up a bit and took an international teaching job in Hangzhou, China. Always wanted to go there, now here I am.

Ask me anything...
Click to expand...


Hey, Hooper31. How goes it? Why China and why now given their strict lockdowns and quarantining of people? Seems sort of drastic when juxtaposed against the Pacific NW. 

I'm just curious. Seems like you ran straight into a human rights ####storm. 

 
rockaction said:
Hey, Hooper31. How goes it? Why China and why now given their strict lockdowns and quarantining of people? Seems sort of drastic when juxtaposed against the Pacific NW. 

I'm just curious. Seems like you ran straight into a human rights ####storm. 
Click to expand...


It goes well. I investigated China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore. Knew I wanted to hit SE Asia. Have always been fascinated with the idea of thousands of years of culture compared to our hundreds.

Started the process of searching last September. International Baccalaureate (IB program) schools tend to hire a year ahead of time because they have huge turnover rates. I was hopeful that Covid would die out and/or go away. For the most part it is doing what I had hoped. It's becoming way less severe. Could it get worse? Sure, but I was willing to take the risk. I had planned for three weeks of quarantine, but now it's down to just ten days total. I can do that. Actually, so far it's been a blessing. Night is day, and day is night. Quite literally. When you pass through fifteen time zones it plays hell on your sleep schedule. I've adjusted about an hour a day so far. Hopefully by this coming weekend my clock will be just fine.

I'm not so concerned about the human rights stuff here. Societies evolve. China is no different. They are just behind where we were a couple of decades ago. And if they don't evolve, I can live with that. I remember well when I was a kid in the 80s that gay marriage was unfathomable. Now? Not so much. We evolved. Now gay people have the right to get divorced too.

 
Hey dude. Good to hear from you. Pretty interested to hear more about your experiences. Hope you’re doing well. 

 
Aaron Rudnicki said:
Hey dude. Good to hear from you. Pretty interested to hear more about your experiences. Hope you’re doing well. 
Click to expand...


Hey AR, you still in the No Mercy leagues (No money)? My buddy Steve has been killing that thing for a long time. I gave him my team and he's been crushing it for years. I can't recall the exact team name. Something like Evolution in Action.

 
Hooper31 said:
It goes well. I investigated China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore. Knew I wanted to hit SE Asia. Have always been fascinated with the idea of thousands of years of culture compared to our hundreds.

Started the process of searching last September. International Baccalaureate (IB program) schools tend to hire a year ahead of time because they have huge turnover rates. I was hopeful that Covid would die out and/or go away. For the most part it is doing what I had hoped. It's becoming way less severe. Could it get worse? Sure, but I was willing to take the risk. I had planned for three weeks of quarantine, but now it's down to just ten days total. I can do that. Actually, so far it's been a blessing. Night is day, and day is night. Quite literally. When you pass through fifteen time zones it plays hell on your sleep schedule. I've adjusted about an hour a day so far. Hopefully by this coming weekend my clock will be just fine.

I'm not so concerned about the human rights stuff here. Societies evolve. China is no different. They are just behind where we were a couple of decades ago. And if they don't evolve, I can live with that. I remember well when I was a kid in the 80s that gay marriage was unfathomable. Now? Not so much. We evolved. Now gay people have the right to get divorced 
Click to expand...


Good to hear. Take care of yourself over there. Peace, Hooper31. 

 
Sorry I didn’t greet you like AR did, but I was immediately concerned for your well-being. Hope the stay is awesome! 

 
rockaction said:
Sorry I didn’t greet you like AR did, but I was immediately concerned for your well-being. Hope the stay is awesome! 
Click to expand...


I get it. I've been preparing for quite some time. I know not to badmouth the government (especially in my classroom) and to walk the other way if I see a protest starting.

 
Do you have any intention of (in your spare time) learning to cook with Szechuan peppercorn or xiaoxing wine at some sort of local cooking class? If not, would you at least mull it over?  

 
higgins said:
Do you have any intention of (in your spare time) learning to cook with Szechuan peppercorn or xiaoxing wine at some sort of local cooking class? If not, would you at least mull it over?  
Click to expand...


Sure. I plan to embrace the entire experience. To miss out on the local cuisine would be heresy. As we were driving through Jiaxing there were rows of small restaurants. It got me excited. I can't wait to dive in. My favorite way to order food in any restaurant is to ask the wait staff what they like best. I figure they know the food and won't steer me wrong. I get some variety and it's fun to see wait staff beam when they see that I liked their suggestion.

 
rockaction said:
Hey, Hooper31. How goes it? Why China and why now given their strict lockdowns and quarantining of people? Seems sort of drastic when juxtaposed against the Pacific NW. 
Click to expand...
Being strict is why they don't have a million dead citizens like the US does.

 
Hooper31 said:
I'm not so concerned about the human rights stuff here. Societies evolve. China is no different. They are just behind where we were a couple of decades ago. And if they don't evolve, I can live with that. I remember well when I was a kid in the 80s that gay marriage was unfathomable. Now? Not so much. We evolved. Now gay people have the right to get divorced too.
Click to expand...
That's a very optimistic outlook. Hell, the way things are going here, everyone other than straight white men will have all their rights revoked.

 
Chris B. said:
That's a very optimistic outlook. Hell, the way things are going here, everyone other than straight white men will have all their rights revoked.
Click to expand...
Societies move forward most of the time. Are there periods of time where they go backwards? Sure, it happens, but things tend to get better in nearly all aspects of life.  

 
Yoooo Shick! 
 

Good to see you doing well! Bravo on getting outside the comfort zone. Should be a hugely rewarding experience. Have fun and keep this thread updated when you find time :)  

Loved watching @Southwesthooey on IG (CO native teaching in China) through the first couple years of the pandemic. Could be worth a browse for you if you've got time to kill 

 
Good to hear from you. Having lived in China briefly I'm very interested to read your posts on everything from food to picking up the language. 

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
What are you teaching?
Click to expand...
Upper level mathematics in an IB program. Primarily Calculus and Statistics. 
 

It’s a private school for rich kids. Tuition is ungodly expensive. Only about 30% Chinese natives attend. Most are from the US, Europe, India, or Australia. It’s a 100% English speaking school. Sort of like taking a prep school in the US and dropping it in China. 

 
Capella said:
Interesting. Good for you. Maybe I missed it but is this a short-term thing or somewhat permanent?
Click to expand...
Two year contract. Will have to make a decision immediately after year one if I want to stay longer or end the contract at two years. Their hiring practice is generally a year ahead. They have heavy turnover and the pandemic made it much worse this past year. They had a lot of people get stuck here. We will have about 50% new staff for the start of this coming school year. 

 
Awesome!  I've always wanted to visit Asia, the culture is facinating and so many amazing places to see.  Added bonus, at 5'7" I'd be right on average height!  :D

Good luck GB, hope you'll drop in and do updates!

 
This sounds like a great experience, and I know what you mean about Asian culture.  I barely know anything about it, but what little I know is intriguing and it seems like it would be fun and enriching to be immersed in that for a year or so.  I probably would have picked Korea because I feel like China is extremely sketchy these days, but China has much better cuisine IMO.  

Good luck regardless, and enjoy your time abroad.

 
Hooper31 said:
Two year contract. Will have to make a decision immediately after year one if I want to stay longer or end the contract at two years. Their hiring practice is generally a year ahead. They have heavy turnover and the pandemic made it much worse this past year. They had a lot of people get stuck here. We will have about 50% new staff for the start of this coming school year. 
Click to expand...
My brother in law and his wife have been teaching IB at these same types of schools for years.

Four years in Sapporo, two in Yaounde (Cameroon), four in Bangalore and now just starting their second year in Malta. They love the gig. And it pays a lot more than any teaching job they could get in the US. 
 

I hope you love your job in China. Stay well. 

 
Good to hear from you. I have had many a friend that has done those teaching English in China or Korea paths...some end up married or otherwise deciding to stay. Hopeful travel to China will open up in the next couple of years so I can take my son to visit with some of his relatives in Shenzen and Nanjing. 

Say hey to *Satan* for me.

 
Hooper31 said:
I haven't been on this board in a loooonnnnnnng time, but I have a couple of days to kill so I thought I might swing by and...kill some time.

I'm in Jiaxing, China at the moment where I have to quarantine for three days. Just left a Shanghai hotel where I had to spend four days in quarantine. After I leave here I will have three more days in quarantine in my apartment in Hangzhou. Total should be ten days unless I show positive for the Covid. Had it about two months ago, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

I was teaching for 29 years at the same small high school in Washington state. Decided to mix it up a bit and took an international teaching job in Hangzhou, China. Always wanted to go there, now here I am.

Ask me anything...
Click to expand...
What other hoops other than the quartantine did you have to jump through for public health requirements?

I've been trying to get one of my direct reports into China for 6+ months. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey, Hooper, congrats on the new gig!  Hangzhou is one of  my favorite cities in China, if not my very favorite.  I've been there a few times.  I always stayed at the Shangri-La hotel there.  Very nice, great service, and great location.  My wife and I would always take a ride out to some farm near Hangzou to buy Dragon Well Tea (green tea) right at the farm.  Much cheaper than at the state-run stores or whatever.  

https://www.shangri-la.com/en/hangzhou/shangrila/

 
Desert_Power said:
Good to hear from you. I have had many a friend that has done those teaching English in China or Korea paths...some end up married or otherwise deciding to stay. Hopeful travel to China will open up in the next couple of years so I can take my son to visit with some of his relatives in Shenzen and Nanjing. 

Say hey to *Satan* for me.
Click to expand...


Give a nod to *God* as well.

 
The Z Machine said:
What other hoops other than the quartantine did you have to jump through for public health requirements?

I've been trying to get one of my direct reports into China for 6+ months. 
Click to expand...


I had to have two Covid tests from different labs within 48 hours of boarding the plane and the two tests had to be at least 24 hours apart. I had to find two labs close enough to me that could guarantee results back quickly. It was a bit nerve wracking, but it worked out and I got the results back in time.

At the airport we were required to use WeChat* to obtain a green QR code before they would let us on the plane. This was tied to the two tests, having a valid visa, and getting a temperature check. The digitial form on WeChat was in Mandarin, but I was able to find someone that helped me fill it in.

*WeChat is the digital phone app that every Chinese citizen uses for everything. It's like Facebook, TikTok, instagram, and your banking app all rolled into one.

 
Hooper31 said:
Yep. Should have pics of my destination soon. Actually, I already have a bunch of my journey so far in a blog I started.

www.davidinchina.com
Click to expand...
Thank you!. I am sick with envy. Look forward to future posts and I sincerely hope every meal is an adventure (in a good way).

 
Chris B. said:
Is it real hot and sticky right now? 

Do you have/need a car to get around?
Click to expand...


100+ degrees and humid. Generally hot and sunny during the day with lightning and thunder storms when the sun drops. Stayed up late last night and sat in a dark room watching the lightning. I miss that from being a kid in Pennsyltucky having grown up with it.

Plan to not have a car. Bicycles and their mass transit system are first rate. Not sure if I'll buy my own bike our scooter. They have a system much like Uber as well called Didi, but it's super cheap by comparison.

 
johnnycakes said:
Hey, Hooper, congrats on the new gig!  Hangzhou is one of  my favorite cities in China, if not my very favorite.  I've been there a few times.  I always stayed at the Shangri-La hotel there.  Very nice, great service, and great location.  My wife and I would always take a ride out to some farm near Hangzou to buy Dragon Well Tea (green tea) right at the farm.  Much cheaper than at the state-run stores or whatever.  

https://www.shangri-la.com/en/hangzhou/shangrila/
Click to expand...


Super cool. Thanks for the heads up on the green tea. I drink a ton of it.

 
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