I'm way behind in writing this final chapter of our China blog
since have already been back in Canada for a month and 1/2. Yes,
we are back to stay this time. Carole may go back for some shorter
stints of maximum one month but I won't be going back as I will
(hopefully) be working full-time again soon.
Anyway, back to November, after I finished my mountain moto tour
and Carole got back from teaching Phase 1 in Canada, we still had
2 months in China. Here is a short snapshot of those last 2
months.
One of the major tourists sites that we had not yet seen was the
Temple of Heaven, so off we went to Beijing one weekend to see it.
Here's one view:
And there were even a couple of hobbit doors. They certainly
weren't the nicest we've seen, but even basic hobbit doors like
this I love:
Back at work, one of the things we've been doing is corporate
team-building. Here is a small company from WuYunShan (near the Shaolin Temple) that had a fun
team-building day with us:
And here is some the staff of the House of I (the company we
worked for in China) posing after a teambuilding activity we led:
Somewhere around the first week in December (when the temperature
was still a bit above 0) I packed up my motorcycle with all the
associated spare parts and supplies so I could drive it in to
Beijing where a friend will store it for me and sell it in the
spring. I was surprised to see how much associated stuff there was
once it was all strapped on. Goodbye Bike!
The following weekend we took a trip to Tianjin which a another
huge city just a 1/2 hour away from Beijing by bullet train. We
stayed the first night in Beijing. Just another day in the city,
maybe a tad more polluted than average, but not at all unusual:
The train to Tianjin was fun. Since it's only a 1/2 hour ride,
the upgrade to Business Class was not that expensive, so we tried
it out:
Once it Tianjin, we ran into Bugs Bunny on a bridge greeting
everyone who passed. Mickey Mouse was on the other side of the
bridge:
This has got to be the cutest electric trike we ever saw:
Tianjin is an interesting mix of ancient China, Colonial European
architecture, and ultra modern:
And they have lovely hobbit doors:
We outfitted our house with some Christmas lights. These we
actually bought last year in Cambodia and lit them up for the
first time this season. They are so lovely we'd have liked to bring them
home to Canada - but they are 240V and won't work in here:
The Canadian Leaders here hosted a Christmas party for the
preschool kids:
Complete with Gingerbread house decorating:
Christmas day is pretty much a non-event in China, so we had a
quiet day with a friend who came all the way from Beijing to visit
us.
And then it was time to leave. Jan 5 we had all our luggage packed
and ready to go:
And on the very same day, at almost the same hour as we departed,
we arrived in Canada:
We then made a short trip to Kitimat for Mum's 80th birthday
party. It's not often we all get together in the same place at the
same time:
Back row: Mitch, Tim, Trevor, Barb, Bill, Carole
Middle row: Susanne, Katie, Kathy, Vi, Tien
Front Row: Landon, Jacob, Mum, Skyla
We moved from our temporary studio in Nanaimo into a temporary
house in Victoria where we will focus our job search efforts. It
is a beautiful waterfront house that we have use of for 3 months.
Here's the view from our window:
And now we are on to a new adventure - job hunting. I have a some
anxiety about this as many employers don't want to hire 57 year
old employees even if I am the best fit for the job. Also it seems
having just returned from China isn't helping. One of the jobs I
applied for is with a company who contracts to the federal government.
To qualify for this job I have to pass a security clearance. I thought
it was no big deal as I had this same security clearance before I left
for China. But, the company called me for an interview and in their
pre-screening, asked me if I had lived outside the country within the
last 5 years. Well I found out that I am now ineligible for any
government job or any job with companies who contract for the
government. And Victoria is a government city so it really does limit my
opportunities. (if I had lived in the US or a Commonwealth country it
would have been OK, but not China.) So, let me know if you hear of a
good job for a systems administrator or network technician, especially
in the Victoria area. Here is my new job search optimised website: www.leuze.ca
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