你好吗 Part 2

Sadly these little beauties had to remain behind when we left

Wie geht's?

Nǐ hǎo ma?

We're back in Wuxi 2012 for this post.

This time it includes our bicycles, the park we'd often visit and my work (which is why I was there in the first place). 

Our translator (Wood) on the right

Part 3 to come - Adam and Ashleigh's visit for Christmas 2012.

Love and peace - Wozza

你好吗 Part 1

Our view of Wuxi 

Wie geht's?

Nǐ hǎo ma?

In 2012 I came back from the Middle East contracts to Otane (Central Hawke's Bay) and a job market that offered me nothing - not even an English teaching job that I could apply for.

Out of the blue, Peter Joyce, a colleague from Nelson days, contacted me and said he'd been offered a job in China, Wuxi to be precise, leading an English language school for prospective Chinese pilots but couldn't do it and had recommended me instead.

So, after some quick professional development in flight training for pilots in a Christchurch recovering from some massive earthquakes, Jacky and I packed up and took the Purdy show on the road to Wuxi. 

Incidentally, there was no connection to Blogger available in Wuxi so I couldn't blog about our experiences in China at the time.

The PD bit in Christchurch courtesy of Airways

Although it was autumn turning to a bone chilling winter, Wuxi turned out to be a wonderful place to be for the next 6 months. Before my Chinese employer stopped paying the staff and we had to return to NZ, we were put up in a high rise apartment plus we had a driver and a translator (named Wood) helping us out with practicalities.

When not working at the Avion Training Centre of Wuxi, we bought bikes and cycled around Wuxi exploring the sights and shops. Fun times!

For this first batch though, the focus is on our 10th floor apartment and essential supplies!

We were about half way up on the left one

High school opposite us

Next post: out and about Wuxi.

Love and peace - Wozza

Hate to leave you here babe, but you treat me so unkind (Eric Clapton)

Rambling Man (You may say I'm a dreamer - Chapter 10 part 12)

The rambling days were to continue with a briefish Chinese connection before a return to stability in 2013.

When I left Al Ain in 2012 and returned to our new house in Otane, Hawke's Bay, I expected to get a job easily - not because I was cocky - but because I was prepared to take anything from English teaching upwards.

Instead I applied for three Principal jobs, was short listed and interviewed for all three (Dannevirke, Central Hawke's Bay, Havelock North) but in each case the job went to a Principal in another NZ school. Doh!

Not one English job came up, and no other management jobs that I could even apply for. Doh!

Instead Peter Joyce got in touch - was I interested in a job in China? Well yes Pete - sure, why not? Nothing else was happening in Hawke's Bay.

It would be working for an American guy (Luis Alcarez) and his Chinese business partner (Maria), as Principal of a school helping prospective Chinese pilots gain relevant English skills.

I flew to Christchurch to get some professional development from Airways (who were somehow involved) and, after installing a house sitter in Red Phoenix Farm, Jacky and I left NZ for Wuxi.

With no clue as to what we'd face we arrived in Shanghai and met Maria and our translator, Wood. He also drove us around, for a start to Wuxi - about 50 minutes west of Shanghai. 

It was winter, and freezing cold. 

We headed to our apartment (10th floor) and battled the cold (the heat pump ironically froze the outside water pipes and we had no water for a while), the new city (six million in Wuxi so a small town by Chinese standards), and a new job (Wood and his wife, Tina, and Lois were very friendly, as were the students).

We bought two push bikes and cycled around Wuxi in our spare time, exploring the malls, shopping centres and parks.

Funnily enough - we were the only westerners on bikes! Actually we were pretty much the ONLY people on bikes. In modern China it's all about electric scooters.

While it lasted, it was great but soon enough the American connection to the company dropped out and Maria stopped paying the staff. Doh! Kevin Simms' warnings were spot on!

During the 2013 Chinese new year we were given a one way ticket back to NZ. The (Chinese) writing was on the wall.

Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - the most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia".

So, during this time I had applied for two jobs back in Hawke's Bay - one was Deputy Principal at Woodford House in Havelock North. Didn't hear anything back - Jackie Barron must have seen the Chinese postmark and put one and two together.

When we returned to Otane, I applied for a second time to Woodford House - Head of English. This time I popped in to see her and hand delivered my application.

That did the trick. I no longer had rambling on my mind!

Love and peace - Wozza

I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus, rollin' down Highway 41 (The Allman Brothers)

A collage of Wuxi

The Wozza and SWMBO roadshow is dusting itself off and gearing up again, a little sooner than we expected.

As the whanau knows, I returned to Nu Zild in April with the idea of settling down in our beautiful house, close to friends and family. Sadly though, I've not been successful in finding a job in the Hawke's Bay so I have needed to look offshore again. The fresh air is fantastic but it don't pay the bills!

The job market in Nu Zild is pretty dire right now for me. I naively thought that I could always go back into the classroom and teach some English classes if necessary but there has not been one job of that ilk advertised in the Hawke's Bay schools since I returned. Amazing! Unbelievable!I've been doing some day relief at the local college but that's it.

A sub-section of the Nu Zild branch of the whanau is (understandably) miffed, but it looks like our travelling days are not yet at an end. Adam, for one, is excited by the prospect as he'll be close by in Japan for the year on his JET OE.

Thanks to one of the whanau I was contacted earlier in the year about a position in China. I've been negotiating a deal for a while and have subsequently accepted the role of Academic Director for the Avion Training Centre of Wuxi (pronounced Woo/she).

The training centre is an American owned concern that caters for Chinese male university graduates in their early twenties who wish to become airline pilots. To do so they need to have a certain level of English (this according to ICAO - the international civil aviation organisation), in particular, English that is used by pilots and air traffic control around the world. That's where the Avion Training Centre comes in. It provides ten week courses that prepare and test the students on their readiness to move to their next level of pilot training in America. And that's where I come in - I'll be leading and promoting the organisation in China for my American bosses (I'll write about this some more on my Baggy Trousers blog).

SWMBO had a temporary contract at Hastings Hospital and I've made it clear to my employers that it's crucial she gets some employment in Wuxi as well. They have a few things lined up for her as I understand it.

SWMBO and I will be leaving Hawke's Bay at the end of August to take on this new challenge, as soon as visas are organised.

While we're away our house, pets and land will be getting pampered by our house sitter. We have an amazing lady coming to stay in the place for the year. We have been extremely lucky to find Susan thanks to our great next door neighbours who recommended her. She's a horse expert and will be looking after SWMBO's horses and the rest of our menagerie (fifteen lambs have swelled numbers a tad as I'll reveal in the next post).

So...Wuxi?
Where and what is Wuxi? These questions and more are answered at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxi but if you can't be bothered - the main details are: Wuxi dates back 3000 years; is a city of over 6 million people in the Jiangsu province; is very close to Shanghai (population 17 million plus) and has become a technology hub of late.

Some shots from the interweb give a flavour of the town.

Here's a map that shows Jiangsu province and Wuxi's proximity to Shanghai -

More, lots more, to come (I hope). Should make for some interesting blog posts in the coming year if the Chinese interweb authorities don't object!

Love and peace - Wozza