The times are a'changin!

So Ella and I finally got settled into our new place. Yes, new! Why did the school give us a new place? Well, I'm not exactly sure. But it's brand new, cleaner, and roomier than our old space. We actually have two apartments (one for each), but we only use one of them. You can probably tell by the photos that the other is just our kitchen and... hang out area? I guess? I don't know, seems unnecessary. But I'm not complaining about getting a free apartment.

But in more satisfying news, we finally got the visa process all sorted, and it looks to be that I will have my various permits in a few weeks. This was a major headache lifted off my shoulders, because they would refuse to accept the background check from Kentucky. This came into effect only a few months ago, so it seems they're still trying to work out the kinks in the system - namely, America's disjointed nature means that a background check from City A in Kentucky is nothing like a background check from City B in California. We had to appeal, then talk to a manager, and go back, and appeal again, and just in general cause a big kerfuffle until they gave up and accepted it out of frustration, probably.

Unfortunately by the time all of that was sorted, it was too late. My tourist visa was about to expire, which is not really the end of the world. Americans get a 10 year multi-entry visa to China now, which is pretty amazing. Still, you know what that means? Visa run!! Fortunately because of our location we're spoiled for choice. Both Macau and Hong Kong are just an hour or so away, and both count as "other countries".

We planned to go to Macau for a day or two, but a typhoon happened to be coming into the area. Macau is pretty much on the ocean, so instead I decided I'll just hop across the border and back in Hong Kong. Northern Hong Kong is actually pretty mountainous, and besides, I would only be in the "country" for 30 minutes. (more on that later - it was actually closer to 2 hours) Wanting to make a trip of it, Ella tagged along and we decided to explore Shenzhen (The Chinese city on the Mainland China side of the border).

Shenzhen is like the Silicon Valley of China. With about 15 million or so people, most of the big tech companies have their HQ there. Plus it's sort of a gateway to the capitalist world with Hong Kong literally in spitting distance. And that's what I did after we arrived - I took the metro and pretty much left "China". I'm not used to taking the metro to leave a county, so that's a first. Of course the actual process involved walking through immigration. Which, the immigration is in what looks like an old shipping yard. Large concrete structure with ramps, strung lighting, and low ceilings. I took a wrong turn and arrived at the Chinese citizens' exit, after which a security guy pointed me back to the foreigners section. When I tried to leave, another security guard stopped me and said I was not allowed to leave the area. I told him the other guard told me to go to the foreigners exit. He agreed that I was in the wrong place. So.... I was not allowed to leave, but not allowed to proceed? I pointed out how ridiculous this was, but he wasn't having it. I stared at him for a moment and started to walk away, when he finally gave up and escorted me out of the area. When I got to the foreigners section, it was nice! I mean, reverse racism I suppose, but everything was new. I didn't like that, but, I had a border to cross.

So I left "China" to Hong Kong, when I realized that there basically was no way I could just turn back around and go through the border. Shocker, they don't encourage people to visa run. So I had to get onto the metro, which required money, which required an ATM trip, which required breaking the large bills. So I went to a store, took the metro one stop, came back, and exited back into "China" with some "imported" cola and Japanese snacks. I noticed once I crossed how incredibly clean Hong Kong was compared to the mainland. I'm sure Ella and I will visit one day.

Back in Shenzhen, it was already getting kind of late. Still, we had time to visit the Shenzhen Museum. I don't really know what the Shenzhen Museum wants to be. It has various small exhibits, but they seem completely disconnected and mostly unrelated to Shenzhen. Like, they had a diorama of various animals. Cool, but, why? And an exhibit on international trade. Neat, I guess? (Not really, it was actually boring) The one really good exhibit was one that was a mock-up to show how "ancient" (really, before 1980) Shenzhen looked. While a bit overdone in its "traditionalness", it actually was really cool and would have been interesting to live in a city like that.

We checked into our hotel after, and went out for a night on the town, so to speak. We were only here one night so we wanted to at least sample the night life. On the way we stopped by a steak restaurant in an underground mall. Kind of a rare (har har!) thing to see in Asia, they're usually not so big on steak. But what really caught my eye was their steak combo in a cup. Like, a Big Gulp cup. I do not know why it was in a cup, but it made me happy. Behold, in all its glory - the steak cup! Surprisingly it was pretty decent steak. I'm not a huge steak fan, but I definitely have never had one come on top of a lemonade. A memorable experience for sure. Later we poked around a mall and went out to the bar district. A bit expensive and hiso in Shenzhen, but then again we were in the middle of downtown in a city full of young people. The bars did have a really solid beer selection though, so that was nice to see. After a few drinks we turned in early to get a start on the next day.

The next day was an art filled day. We went out to the Window of the World, a very green part of the city full of expensive theme parks. Theme park being like, a folk village and famous word monument miniatures. I know, I know - no roller coasters, although I think there are some near the outskirts. Anyway, there are some free art museums there, but one had no photography. And the other... I just don't understand what it was. A lot of random household objects covered in blue paint, arranged in different ways. I don't get art. If you have those old red and blue 3D glasses, put the blue side up to your eye. Look around your apartment. You just went to that museum.

After we went to a pedestrian area, a sort of outdoor art installation that seems like it would be much cooler if it were more busy. We spent the day looking at different shops before stopping into a coffee shop for a definitely overpriced but much needed coffee. And, no joke, this was one of the best coffees I've had in my life. If Shenzhen can pull out a coffee like this, I don't mind paying $4 for it. And that was mostly it for Shenzhen. We stopped at a Science Museum I wanted to see, but it was clearly designed in the 80s and for little kids. It did have some interesting things, but we just did a quick walk through when we realized everyone here is a parent or a 6 year old. Back on a train to Guangzhou, we made it back home a bit after dinner.

Which is a good thing too, because the typhoon was already starting to pick up. The next day was just a wash (ha!), with high winds and pouring rain. Nothing too extreme, but enough that going out would have been annoying. And later that week, school began. I got to meet my new classes, which I'm pretty happy with. The kids are pretty sweet, and overall good. Definitely more so than Thai kids, they are eager to learn and try out what they know. The only complaint I have is the sheer number of kids spread out over 22 classes - almost 600. Basically, learning names will be impossible. However, I do love my schedule. Or rather, I love how the school schedules things. Every day has a 2.5 hour lunch break, the classes are 35 minutes, and Friday is over by 11am. This definitely means the other days are pretty packed. But being able to come home and eat every meal together with Ella, as well as getting an early start on the weekend is definitely worth it.

But that's about it so far. Ella has not started yet as of writing, but she will in a few days. I'm curious how the high schoolers will compare. But overall, I really like it here. Everything seems to be a nice setup between school and work, and just today it feels like we're settled. I'm feeling optimistic about the year, so let's see how it goes.