Next stop... Houston!!

While I was at lunch with Jordan, one of my former youth group girls that recently graduated from high school, at Applebee's today, my mom texted me and said that she had a present for me when I got home. I could only assume that the "present" she meant was my visa documentation since it's the only package that I was waiting (if somewhat impatiently) on. When I got home, my mom handed the bright orange mailer to me and to say I ripped it open is an understatement. I was so excited that my paperwork had come in that I couldn't handle carefully opening the envelope. I pulled it open, and read the sheets that were inside. One was my working permit and the other was my letter of invitation. I couldn't read it completely because it was mostly in Mandarin, but that's just another reason why I need to learn the language quickly. Now I need to fill out the visa application, get my passport from my lockbox in Norman, and send everything to Houston. That's the nearest Chinese consulate that has jurisdiction over Oklahoma. I will have to use a proxy agent since I can't directly mail my documents to the consulate; it has to be hand-delivered either by myself or by a proxy. 

Later on this afternoon, I got to thinking about what needed to happen in my life for this opportunity to arise and me to be able to take this step. Five years ago, I was a senior at OU, majoring in English Education with plans to teach high school English here in Oklahoma, engaged to my high school sweetheart who was looking for meteorology jobs in the surrounding states, and pretty happy with my life. Fast forward two years and I was a recent college graduate moving back home with my parents, searching for my first teaching position, and recently single (for the first time in 8 years!). I thought that I had hit rock bottom, literally. At the end of that year, my principal told me that I was better suited for middle school (at the time I didn't realize how right she was - I was just embittered that she hadn't renewed my contract or signed off on my resident year). I applied for China after my first year, but the company I was going to go with wasn't as supportive financially and technically as EF has been. Eventually things fell through and I couldn't afford to go then. The next year I taught at Little Axe Middle and High Schools, making sure that students that hadn't passed their OCCT (Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests) exams had the necessary skills to pass it the next time. Because I was on federal grant money and a tornado wiped out a good chunk of the school campus, I was let go because the money simply ran out. Before I could think about applying for a position in China again, I was hired to teach middle school math at Crutcho. At first I was terrified, the demographics of the students made me nervous because I had never taught in a situation like that, heck, I student taught Pre-AP English at Putnam City North! As the year moved on, I fell in love with my job, the kids, and my coworkers. When my principal told me that I wasn't going to be able to be retained, I was crushed, but I knew that this time I could go to China and thrive there. It was my time!! So, for those of you, my loving readers, that wanted to know why I chose China and why I'm deciding now to go, there's your answer, if not a little long-winded. :) Blessings!