Never in Romiley for too long... Off to France!

Tomorrow I will be going to Morgat on the Crozon peninsula in Brittany, northwest France, with my parents, youngest brother, Ethan, and my family's dog, Roxy. My other brother, Fraser, is at Leeds festival at the moment and will get back home after we leave so is therefore not coming with us. We're travelling by car and ferry so will be leaving at about 3pm tomorrow in order to give us plenty of time to get to Plymouth for the night ferry to Roscoff. 

My parents have got a little holiday home there so it is where a lot of our holidays have been over the last few years. I've always found French easier than Spanish which may be due to these regular opportunities for me to practise the language, this was why I decided to spend the majority of my summer in Spain this year. I also went to Leeds festival last year which means that this is the first time I'll be going to Morgat in two years. It'll be nice for me to spend some time with my family before my year abroad as well as practising French and relaxing on beaches!

We have to pay to use WiFi there so I'm unsure whether I'll be updating this while I'm away but if not there will be a post after we come back on the 3rd September, just 10 days before leaving for China! I think I've got most things organised for it now though so shouldn't be in a mad panic trying to get things done when I get back.

À bientôt!

One of our favourite beaches - Lostmarch

Ethan and I in the garden of the house in 2010 with the swimming pool behind us

TEFL

Last Monday Fraser (my brother) and I signed up to do a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course with TEFL England. The way it works is that we have to do 100 hours online, made up of 50 hours TEFL, 30 hours of grammar and a 20-hour video course, and an intense 20-hour weekend course. The next course in Manchester is on 31st August and 1st of September when I'll be away in France with my parents and Ethan (youngest brother) which meant that I couldn't do it although Fraser could as he's not coming to France with us. I decided to do mine in Sheffield last weekend instead as it's not that far away.

The course ran from 9am until 8pm on Saturday and from 9am until 6pm on Sunday so was long and tiring! I booked myself into a hotel for the Saturday night as if I went home I would have had a late night on the Saturday and early morning on the Sunday. Fraser dropped me off at Stockport station on Saturday morning and I got to the venue without any problems, he then picked me up from Sheffield to take me home on Sunday.

I was one of 8 students on the course with a tutor who guided us through everything for the weekend. She made us to various activities which I didn't envisage doing including making us touch the floor with varying numbers of body parts, throwing a soft toy around and having a lesson completely in Thai. The idea was to put us in the role of the student and learn the different ways that you can teach rather than constantly working out of a textbook.  We were given the chance to teach a couple of lessons ourselves as well, one on each day, which meant that we could practise planning lessons and be given feedback on both lesson planning and delivery (body language, enthusiasm etc. ). This proved the most difficult for me as I'm not always the most confident of people but I'm glad I did it as it helped improve my confidence and watching other people teach gave me some good ideas. The easiest part for me was probably when we looked at grammar. Being a languages student I'm more aware of the names of the different tenses than other native English speakers as we simply do not learn our own grammar at school. When I was in Spain, the girls I looked after had lengua (Spanish language) classes at school in which they did learn how to form different tenses and other grammar rules in their native language.

I'm hoping that this qualification will mean that I'll be able to tutor Chinese students during my year abroad and gain a bit of money and experience before going to a French or Spanish speaking country to teach next summer, I'm not being an au pair again! Just need to get through all the online course now... Would be nice to get it done before China.

Yesterday I got the train across to Norwich to visit my grandparents meaning that I didn't have long at home after Sheffield! I haven't seen them since Christmas though so it's nice to catch up before I go away again. I normally see them every Christmas but I'm not planning on going back to the UK for it this year as it's still term time in China and flights are expensive. My gran took me out for lunch today before we looked through my photos from Spain and had a walk in the sunshine this afternoon with gramps.

China preparations: Flights

Yesterday I finally got round to booking my flights to 中国 (China). I probably should have done it earlier but I wanted to get my visa first to make sure I would be able to get into the country. The last couple of times I've been to China I've flown with China Southern/KLM and it turned out that they were still the cheapest. I rang a couple of travel agents to see if they could find me a cheaper deal but they didn't so I decided to go ahead and book it before it got any more expensive! 

I leave from Manchester on Friday 13th September, not the luckiest of days! My flight to Amsterdam with KLM is bright an early at 9:15am. I then have to wait about an hour and a half before my China Southern flight to Guangzhou, southern China. Unfortunately my wait in Guangzhou is a bit longer, 5 hours, before my final flight to Xiamen. The whole journey will take about 24 hours with getting to the aiport early before I fly and getting to the campus in Xiamen. I will be exhausted when I finally get there!I booked a return flight as well as I'm not sure whether I need it for my residence permit or not but it's probably better to have one booked. Surprisingly, it was actually cheaper to book a return than a one-way ticket anyway. 

It cost me £818 so at the moment I'm feeling quite poor... Looking forward to student loan next week! As I'm going abroad as part of my course I'm entitled to a bigger maintenance loan, the first instalment of which comes at the end of August to help with year abroad costs such as travel. 

I found out something about my 4th year in Southampton yesterday too: my brother's going to be there! He received his results and found out he's been accepted by Southampton to study BA Modern Languages, the same course as me. It was already going to be strange going back in 4th year. As most degrees are 3 years, a lot of my friends will have already left. I will still have some friends there with other linguists, engineers and medics having longer courses and of course, I'll have swim team, but it won't quite be the same, particularly as I'll be bumping into my brother at Avenue campus and at swim training and socials! That's right, not only is he doing the same degree but he'll be joining the swim team as well. Now all he needs to do to completely follow in my footsteps is live in Connaught halls for his first year and study Chinese as his third language! He hasn't yet decided what his third language after French and Spanish will be but is having a gap year so will have plenty of time to decide. I suppose this means that if I'm bored of life as a 4th year I can go and party with my fresher brother!

China preparations: Visa

Today I picked up my passport with my China visa which means the only thing stopping me from going to China now is that fact that I still haven't booked my flight, should probably do that soon! 

There are two ways you can apply for a China visa: by post or by going to one of the centres in London or Manchester. Last year when applying for my visa for Nanjing, I didn't really have the time to go to either of the centres whilst busy in Southampton with coursework/exams so did it by post. I'm not entirely sure why but I hated the idea of my passport being sent off in the post. I was constantly checking Track & Trace to find out its whereabouts which meant that I knew that it should have arrived back for me in Southampton and Monte reception. It was a Wednesday so I went along in the afternoon to pick it up. However, when I asked if it had arrived I was surprised to here that there was nothing there for me even though according to Royal Mail it had arrived at about 10am that morning. Fortunately, I glanced down at the list of parcels and signed-for envelopes (which mine was) and saw my reference number which I knew so well from typing it in to track it on the website. Next to the number was the name "T Postpant". I almost didn't get my passport with my visa inside because someone had written my name down wrong! I know my handwriting's bad but it can't be that bad? The Xiamen visa application was done by courier which was much less worry. 

I decided that this time, seeing as I live on the outskirts of Manchester, the best option would be to go to the centre in person and I'm glad that I did! When I got back from Madrid last week, I went on the visaforchina.org website and booked myself an appointment for the Friday afternoon as that was the earliest they had available and I wanted to get it sorted. I then filled in the form online without too much difficultly having made two other visa applications fairly recently before printing it along with the declaration and signing them both. I had to sign then photocopy my admission notice and visa form from Xiamen to take with me as well. The only thing missing was a photo and after searching my room for a while, knowing I had some passport photos somewhere, I gave up, packed a glue stick in my handbag (but forgot scissors)  and planned to get some taken in Manchester before my appointment. Thankfully Manchester Piccadilly train station has a couple of photo booths (which I'd never really noticed before but then again, I'd never had to use them) so I paid £5 to get 5 photos done there - I swear it used to be cheaper? The hilarious results of this are displayed below, why do I look so orange? I usually look white as a ghost in these things! Safe to say that passport/ID photos are never attractive. 

So serious.

I then realised I'd forgotten to bring any scissors with me but had the bright idea to go into Boots and ask if I could borrow some scissors where they give out the prescriptions. I don't think anyone's gone into Boots to do that before! With one of my new passport photos cut out, I left the station to walk to 75 Mosley street where the centre's based. I had to press a button and speak to someone to let me in before going up to the first floor. A lady at a desk asked my name and gave me a queue number. I went and sat down to wait for my number to be called. I chatted to a couple of the other people waiting about where they were going etc. There was a girl there going to China for the first time who was asking me lots of questions: What do you fill in for local ID card number? (n/a - we don't have ID cards in the UK unlike the Spanish who seem to use theirs all the time!) Do you need to get any jabs done for going to China? (No, don't bother. She was only going for 3 weeks and I've never had any done. Thinking I may get some done before my YA though). There was a photo booth there all along so I needn't have worried about finding one. I only had to wait about 10 minutes to be called up to a desk. I handed over the various documents, the guy checked them and handed me back the originals for the admission notice and visa form, gave me a slip with the collection date on it (today) and that was that. Nice and easy!

I went back today and it was even easier. I arrived at about 2pm and had to wait about a minute before I was called over. I paid the £66 by card and the lady handed over my passport complete with my third Chinese visa, a receipt and a slip that the holder of the visa needed to obtain a residence permit for aliens within 30 days of arrival. I love being called an alien! They call foreigners aliens on the arrival and departure slips you have to fill in when you enter and leave China as well. The visa itself is an X visa (student visa) valid until 13th November for me to enter the country. For duration of each stay it says 000 days which is a bit odd, it's probably because I need to change it to a residence permit asap when I arrive. This is also the first of my three visas to say 曼彻斯特 (Manchester) for the place of issue rather than 伦敦(London) which is less exciting. Looking forward to being an alien for a year!

China preparations: Foreigner health examination

I'd known for some time that I would have to have a series of tests done in order to gain my residence permit in my first 30 days of entering China. Any foreigner there for more than a few months needs to get this, it's like a kind of visa, and the health test is compulsory, whether you do it in your home country or once you arrive in China.

Last summer, when taking part in the Nanjing summer programme, I remember Elliott, a student starting his year abroad, having to go to and from the hospital for these various tests without much of an idea what was going on. I decided that I didn't really like the idea of that and would try to get them done in the UK where I trust the health system a bit more and can understand the language! My friend Izzy had had to do it to even apply for her scholarship (different scholarship to mine) and it had cost her £230 which didn't seem too bad considering what the test involves. She did it back in Southampton and it had taken about 3 weeks to get all the tests done and receive the results. 

As part of the information I got from Xiamen University through the post, I needed to either get the tests done in the UK by printing off the "PHYSICAL EXAMNATION RECORD FOR FORERGNER" form, getting it all filled in and bringing it along to the registration as well as the test reports to submit. However, there would still be a 60RMB (roughly £6) charge for verifying the records. Knowing that Izzy had done it all through her GP in Southampton, I went along to my local GP on Thursday morning to enquire. 

I had no idea how hard it would be. Firstly, I was no longer registered there as I was registered in Southampton instead, so I would have to re-register and wait for at least 2 weeks for my records to come through so that they could fill in some of the parts of the form. I agreed and filled in the forms, alcohol questionnaire and all, to register again at the GP I'd been going to since the age of 8. The receptionists wanted to ask the doctors about what to do with the form so I left it with them. 

My form probably provided the entertainment for the day! It's a two-page grid in English and Chinese requiring basic information such as name, sex, date of birth, address, nationality etc. along with a photo. It wants to know your blood type, height, weight and blood pressure which all seems fair enough. However, it goes on to ask if you've had any of a list of diseases including typhus fever, poliomyelitis and typhoid and paratyphoid fever as well as eight others, the majority of which I've never heard of. The next question is similar to do with "disease or disorders endangering the public order and security". This list include toxicomania, mental confusion and three forms of psychosis: manic, paranoid and hallucinatory. Then comes a series of boxes with one word in them: development, nourishment, neck, vision, corrected vision, eyes, ears, nose,... etc. Not really sure what the doctor's supposed to put in those, would a simple "OK" do? The next page is for the tests including chest x-ray, ECG and blood tests for HIV and syphilis. Finally the doctor needs to sign to say that cholera, yellow fever, plague, leprosy, AIDS, psychosis, venereal disease and opening lung tuberculosis were not found during the examination. Seems very thorough considering I'm not going to be there that long!

Anyway, I got a phonecall back from the receptionist later in the day to tell me what the doctors had said. Bad news. Apparently they would be able to fill in about half of the form (once the records from Southampton had been transferred) but that I would have to get the x-ray, ECG and blood tests privately, they couldn't refer me for it like Izzy's GP had done. I looked into getting it done at a local private hospital but it would have cost about £600 so really wasn't worth it! I told the receptionist on the phone about how my friend had got it done in Southampton and she genuinely suggested to me that I go down there to get it done. Ridiculous. 

It seems now that my only real option is to get it done once I arrive in China. From the information Xiamen have given me, it looks fairly organised. It's going to cost 550RMB (about £57) to get it done over there at the Entry-exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau. I will have to go along on the 17th September with my passport, 4 photos (what is their obsession with photos? I already have to take 10 to the registration and they're going to take another one of me for my e-card) and the money. I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything before in the morning before the blood test. 

Hopefully everything will be fine, it does sound quite organised! It would have been nice to get it done and out of the way before I went though.

Here are some photos of what I hoped would be my only visit to a Chinese hospital in Nanjing last summer. Taken by my friend, Jean. 

Hospital toilets, nice and hygienic!

Room we waited in while my friend has a CT scan

It's a long story...

China preparations: Xiamen information pack

Now that I'm back in the UK, it's time for me to get back to preparations for my year abroad. So far I'd managed to get my place and scholarship confirmed at Xiamen University but there was little more I could do while I was in Spain. 

When I got back on Tuesday evening I had a look at what Xiamen had sent me through the post. For some reason they'd sent me two packs: one with an admission notice and visa form (needed to apply for visa) with a map of the old campus at Siming by the beach and plans of what the new campus would look like, the other with another admission notice and visa form, a map of the new campus and a double-sided information sheet about visa application, physical examination, financial management, arrival to the university, registration, accommodation and contact details all for the new campus. It seems that I'm going to be based at the new campus like I'd feared. 

I was lucky enough to visit the university for a week in the Easter holidays as part of a student delegation for a special Southampton Day to celebrate the universities' partnership and the signing of a new partnership agreement. I was very lucky indeed as everything - flights, accommodation, food, activities,... - was paid for. I really enjoyed my week there and loved the old campus, despite all the tourists (the university campus is one of Xiamen's main tourist attractions). Lu, my Chinese teacher at Southampton, was part of the professor delegation and I got to have a brief conversation with him on the way to Gulangyu island for a sightseeing trip. I wanted to know how things were looking for my year abroad and he said that everything seemed to be fine apart from the possibility that I may have to go to the new campus. On one of the days we were taken to look at the new campus. We got a bus from outside one of the university gates which took about an hour as the new campus is in Xiang'an, on the mainland, whereas the old campus is on the south of Xiamen island. The campus is built in the middle of nowhere, they've built a few shops next to it but that's about it and the roads the bus went on to get there didn't even seem finished! Everything there is huge, looks the same and doesn't seem quite real. This probably wasn't helped by the fact that it still wasn't finished, there was work being done on several buildings as well as a huge sports stadium. I instantly hoped that Lu was wrong and that I wouldn't have to go there. We were shown where the Overseas Education Centre was going to be built and I was relieved it wasn't built yet, perhaps it wouldn't be ready in time? However, it seems that I will be going there now and there isn't much I can do about it. 

University of Southampton Day at Xiamen University 26/03/2013

Main building from across one of the old campus' lakes

View of the old campus with th sea in the distance from the hill behind Nanputuo temple

I'm probably overreacting about it anyway. Once the campus is complete, it will be its own mini town including swimming pools, shops, sports pitches, a health service, canteens and dormitories. If I'm busy studying I may not have time to leave the campus much anyway and the city centre is still accessible by bus if I want to go for whatever reason. The accommodation sounds quite nice. Overseas students get a four-bedroom appartment with four balconies, sitting room, bathroom, air-con, washing machine, sofa, coffee table, safe, cooking table (whatever that is. Worktop maybe?), water heater (boiler?) and internet access for eight students max. I'd always known I might have to share a room with someone so we'll just have to see how that goes... Compared to Chinese students this is luxury as they're four to a room! 

Buildings at Xiang'an campus (new campus)

Basketball courts with dormitories in the distance

Sports stadium under construction (probably finished by now), basketball and tennis courts

More of the new buildings and surrounding grass and plants

I need to arrive no earlier than the 14th September as the accommodation is not available before then. Registration is on the 14th and 15th at the Overseas Education College where I'll need to bring my passport, admission notice, visa application form (which ones? They gave me two of each!), 10 two-inch photos (why so many?) and physical examination record for foreigners (I'll talk about this in another post). I then need to get a registration form, update information on student system, have a photo taken for my e-card (even though I've brought 10 with me?), collect my ID card, map and other documents and have a brief interview with Chinese teachers. It's safe to say I will be shattered by the time I've travelled there, gone through this whole process and finally be granted my free accommodation (covered by scholarship)! On 16th September there will be an opening ceremony (I've learnt from my trips to China that the Chinese enjoy events like these), Chinese placement test and campus tour. On the 17th will be the physical exam for those who didn't get it done in their native country and on the 18th the class lists will be published, we meet our teachers and buy any books we might need ready for class beginning on the 19th. I'm sure it'll be a loooong week. 

I'm actually quite impressed with the information I've been given and actually having some idea what's going to happen when I arrive, nice and reassuring! It's all becoming a bit more real that I'm going to China for a year very very soon but it's all exciting as long as everything goes ok. Fingers crossed!