A cautionary tale

Poor old Baggy Trousers! I have not posted during the time I was in China and yet it remains a case of 'build it and they will come', as the blog appears to grow in visitors when I DON'T post. Humpf!

The Wuxi experience (the job, the people, the city of Wuxi) was fantastic but things are in limbo as I await salary payments for January and February from the company. The American businessman who recruited me has exited from the company so I am left experiencing something a friend had warned me of before I left for China (Simsy you know it). That something being a seeming reluctance for Chinese companies to pay a man what he's earned.

We were given a one way ticket home for the Chinese new year amid promises of payment, promises of a return ticket and visa extentions but none of those things have materialised. Indeed our apartment in Wuxi has been handed back to the landlord. The writing on the wall is plain to see, even for me.

I have been waiting in New Zealand to see if a long promised new contract to work in China was going to materialise and I have continued to wait patiently for my pay to arrive.

Obviously with this limbo I have needed to consider my future in China. While patiently waiting, I have yearned for the stability I had in the Middle East with Cognition Education, or longer ago the stability I had working for the NZ government as a teacher.

Those were the good old days!

It's a crash course for the ravers (David Bowie)

I've just returned from a full on week in Christchurch, learning all about aviation English from Colin Davis and the kind folks at Airways New Zealand http://www.airways.co.nz/index.asp.



Colin and my fellow student Mike.

My Wozza's Place blog has details on my new career path in Wuxi, China. Before I can embark on that I needed to be certificated in Aviation English teaching by Colin,
This meant a flight to Christchurch early on Monday morning to the headquarters of Airways NZ. I had no idea what a huge concern this is. TI noticed their organisational chart on the wall and it was vast; made Cognition Education look like a corner dairy in comparison.

Day one of the course and we are analysing air crash disasters! Gulp! Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of your beloved blogger knows what a nervous flyer I am. Yes - since 2003 I have flown all over the world but that's thanks to red wine, diazepan, and a carpe diem attitude.

The blogger and the trainer.

 So to say this was just a teensy weensy bit out of my comfort zone is like saying Usain Bolt can run a bit.

After a while I shrugged it off and started concentrating on learning as much as I could about aviation terms in three days. I slept well each night, believe me.

The fourth day was about putting my new knowledge into practice with some Japanese students from the Christchurch flight training school. A lovely bunch they were too. I took three sessions and managed to gain my certification.

Which means - next stop Wuxi!