This is a detail from the entrance to the XinBei (新北) campus of C.I.T. (常州工学院). There are basically four buildings in which teaching is done on this campus as well as performance and music centre, library, dining hall and dormitory buildings. The place is actually quite attractive with well kept grounds. I took this photo in August 2006, before I had a tour of the campus on one of our first walks before classes had begun. Both of us were curious about where we would be teaching. We knew that most of our classes would be held in either buildings three or four because of our contact with a previous foreign teacher (FT) who had taught on this campus.
Now, in continuing with preparing for the journey to China, the need for a visa is paramount. In the past few days, I have hunted for an on-line form for the medical requirements, the Physical Examination Record For Foreigner. Here is the URL for the document, a PFD. This copy was taken off the Chinese Embassy web site for the U.S.A. and came to me courtesy of another teacher in China. For anyone interested, here is the URL for the Chinese Embassy in Canada. There are consulate offices in a number of cities in either country. Do the research to find out to which embassy you will need to send your documentation in order to get a visa. In my case, I must use the consulate in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
According to the information I received from the FAO, it would be a good idea to bring test results and x-rays with us to China so that the process wouldn’t be repeated once we got there. The first time to China, we got the medical but in the end, we still had to do all of the medical tests again once we got there. It is just one of those things that happen. Rather than let the duplication of the process get to you, just accept it as the way it is. Once you arrive and go through the process, you will get a sharp image of just how different things can be between countries. Again, accept and don’t judge. Somehow the system works for the Chinese, a culture that has existed much longer than our culture.