We are at the moment waiting for our visa to arrive. The tickets are paid for and the excess luggage has been forwarded. We are hoping to leave on Friday 26th. Rhonda is showing amazing patience and calm in view of the tightness of the time line and absence of a visa. Hopefully the next submission will be from Jiangshan - the school we finally contracted to after a whole range of options.

My resume was approved by teach internationa yesterday and posted on their notice board. I received my first offer of a job this morning. It is in Jingmen in Hubei province but the wages seem to be slightly lower than average. The package includes all of the other bits- accomm - food etc.

I intend to maintain this Blogg during my year long stay in China. My wife, Rhonda, and I hope to teach there from September 2005 until August 2006. As yet we have no contact with schools but do not foresee any problems getting a job as we are both very experienced teachers. This entry seems a long way ahead of entry to China but the way time has been flying lately leaving seems just around the corner.