Pay Day

Last week I got paid and now I’m rolling in dough. Literally, since I get paid in cash every month. We have no use for confusing banking systems and financial intermediaries here. Picking up a giant wad of 100yuan notes in a small backroom in the basement of the English building made me feel more like I was participating in a drug deal or other illicit activity rather than my respectable position as a Foreign Expert. The only thing that could have made it better were if the 100yuan notes were $100, rather than approximately $16.66.

 And yes, my official title is Foreign Expert. I think Foreign Expert has a much nicer ring to it than simply English Teacher. I am eagerly looking forward to handing a future employer my resume with my new title on it. I also now have my Foreign Expert Certificate, which makes me legitimate.

 With this card I am now legally allowed to reside and work in China. I’m not sure what I was doing before. You are supposed to get this within 30 days of your arrival, so I’m pretty sure there were a few days in between where I ran the risk of being deported. Oh well, I am now allowed to travel out of the country, just in time for my trip to Hong Kong next weekend. And yes, for some reason Hong Kong is considered travelling out of the country…