Chinese National Holiday

Next week is a major holiday in China. It is a Chinese National Holiday. Basically, China's version of a patriotic holiday. I don't know that it celebrates Independence
like America does, but it just is a holiday to be proud to be Chinese. And they take it seriously. They get a minimum of 3 days off of work to celebrate. Some get more than that. For me, I will get the three days plus my normal two days off. So I have a whole week of vacation starting Sept 30-Oct 5. And nothing celebrates how great China is, like shutting down the internet so that Americans or any other foreigners cannot connect to back home. 🙁. As of right now, I am already seeing my internet speeds slowed significantly. I cannot access any American websites or connect to a VPN, if I were trying to do that. It may be illegal, so I cannot confirm or deny whether I am in fact trying to use a VPN. Luckily, I can post to my blog via email, so I can keep you up to date.

For my vacation, I am hoping to explore Suzhou and possibly go into Shanghai for one day. We'll see how brave I get to venture to another city. Life in China would be absolutely impossible for someone who caannot speak Chinese without apps to deal with normal life. I can call a taxi like Uber in English, I can use a translator when speaking to people (it occasionally misunderstands my Texan drawl though). I don't know what I would do without them.

Most foreigners who come to teach in Suzhou, get a job at an international school teaching in a district called SIP. Suzhou Industrial Park. It's the super rich, fancy part of town. It's where all the foreigners live. I live in the Gusu District, where none of the foreigners live. So I have been able to speak English with the two teachers at work who can speak English, a couple of part time teachers who pop in every few days, and the random stranger who stops me when buying fruit or something. Otherwise, I have no relational connections. I basically feel like a monk whose taken a vow of silence. I am an extrovert and I really need to find a friend. Talk to the powers that be about that for me. Other things to talk to the powers that be about include: apparently the payday is not set in stone here. I thought I would get paid on 10/10 but the last two months its been delayed until the 20th. I am running low on funds and will soon have to start taking out cash advances on my credit card if my pay is delayed past the 10th. 

I also hope to have my passport, new permanent working visa, and work permit returned to me by October 10th, so I can travel and do more things. I am also thinking and working towards getting a job at an international school in SIP to 1) increase my salary, 2) find some friends and 3) have a better schedule with more holiday time for traveling. This would be the 3rd thing to talk to the powers that be about. 

I don't know if this thing is automatically hitting people's inboxes or if you have to come and find it. If someone could tell me, that would be great. Email nihaojillleann@outlook.com. 

I would love to hear from people. Emails, phone calls, postcards, letters, packages, etc. Please reach out to me. Most of you should get a postcard from me soon. If you need my snail mail address, email me.  Thanks. Love you!

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