It's been a while

It's been a while since I've written in here. I have been teaching children from 8:30-4:30 everyday, 6 hours each day with 2 different classes. I did two camps, and since it take an hour to get to the campus, we had to be at the bus stop for all the teachers by 7:30 every morning. This required waking up at 6am, and basically getting home around 5:30-5:45 every evening. It was tiring, but I really didn't feel it since I was enjoying the fact that I was giving mostly eager kids some of my knowledge in English and the world.

Since I have now recieved my paycheck, I feel I can reveal the name of the company I used to work at that has created much of my unhappiness in June. It's called PRC Study, Consulting. I doubt this will ever spring up on Chinese searches, since each time I try pulling up my own blog, it just says the page cannot be displayed, meaning I've written something to offend the Chinese government and they decided to block my page.

In the end, I got paid 3,000RMB of the supposed 5,000RMB in which there was a 2 week penalty for not giving my "2 weeks notice". Ironically enough only the moment I asked to quit, was I told of the employee handbook and of this penalty. So, technically since I did not even know of the rule, nor had my hands on the employee handbook at all until the day after I claimed to resign, nor did I sign anything, her means are quite illegal and I have the freedom of speech to speak about it here. I think I'll put it together in a string of posts once I arrive home because I have written about this woman named Vivian Pan quite thoroughly while noticing her treatment towards her employees, and as a "writer" (I was basically hired at the company under this job title to plagerize but later on you can judge yourself once I write out my job description), like this girl who also used to work there claimed "only save your best writings for yourself." Though it's been said even through her illegal means (though in her mind she claims is quite legal, but she can keep thinking that) of giving me only a small portion of my 1 months salary, people who know/worked for her have been surprised she did not deduct even more. So here within this blog, I pour out most of my thoughts.

So in a series of future posts I will string together my story working at PRC Study. I really don't have regrets working there, since it is an experience, good and bad nonetheless. I've gained a lot in China. I mean, for those who are interested in going through that program, well it's quite overpriced like most study abroad companies and I can't say, according to students from the program, it's amazing, it's just typical. So those who really want to save money in China should try to enroll directly in the chinese universities, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing/Peking University, Tsinghua University.. Without being at PRC Study, I would not have made some of the friends I now have today, and I would not have found such a character of a boss to work for. As many people say, "It's not like you meet someone like her everyday", that is, with a negative undertone. However, as most people see this boss at her pinnacle, we all (especially girls I think) fear, "we all see a bit of Vivian in us". Perhaps that was the reason I was supposed to come to China. I just had that gut feeling I had to be here this summer. Nothing really magical happened, but I think most of that gut feeling has been fulfilled.

I still have about 3 weeks before returning home to the US, where many of my family and friends are waiting for me for various reasons. It's my senior year, and I just had a taste of the real world in China.

A New Month

There was this beauty in the full moon several days ago. It was so round and full, ready to be filled with hope.

Well, I finally quit my job on Monday. I think the boss finally realized her illegal means in trying to keep me beyond my will through the threat of subtraction in pay. By then I did not care about money. Life...my time...was all there is to be valued. The moment I left the building and said goodbye to my good hearted coworkers, I was sprung with phone calls of potential jobs that wanted me for the hours I put in, and at a higher rate than 30RMB/hr.

Though my days just last longer than the usual 9-6, I felt so much more comfortable even simply knowing I was not bound by restraints and work exhaustion. Well, today is the 4th of July, so I guess it is the best day to feel like this.

Previously, I had so much in my mind to talk about. I don't regret working where I did, though I did literally grow a grey hair from the experience. I met new friends there. For the short period of time they were there studying, I enjoyed spending my time with them.

I never knew the extreme value of my smile. I always try to keep an upgoing happy face as I know a smile goes a long way. That is, until a coworker told me, "You were the first person to smile at me in the office". I felt really touched by that statement because sometimes I just smile for the sake of I can move those muscles, and I never knew how much a smile can be remembered from a person. A smile is definitely the first connecting bridge to diplomacy and I hope peoples' smiles can really make a difference in the world.