This week I decided to make some money off of the referrals that I have been giving. I have a friend here that has his MBA from Yale as well as his TOEFL teaching certification. I met with the school that I have been teaching Business English with today to negotiate a finder’s fee. I am waiting for them to write up the contract, which will pay me 300RMB after the teacher has been hired and worked 5 lessons. Funny, as I was telling the boss about his qualifications he said they dont matter just that he is a foreigner??

I am not sure how far this will go, but I do know several teachers and as I meet them in the coffeeshops or where ever else, I can go ahead and do what I would ordinarily do; make a friendship and try to help out – only this time, I have an arrangment where I can get a few extra bucks out of the deal!

Other than that, I have been living in a new apartment with a German girl. The place is nice, but it has gotten a lot smaller since she returned from her trip. Either way, I still have my credit from the Century 21 office, so I will probably start looking for a new place here pretty soon. I’m too old for roommates

I taught tonight as well. It was the MAERSK class, which I like very much – they are all quite intelligent and we can have interesting conversations about all different topics – my typical class strategy is to start off with idioms and quotes – high end quotes from Voltaire, Twain, Montaigne, and of course Muhammed Ali! After that I usually print off a business article regarding China, the Economy, etc. It is a class that I really look forward to each Thursday. Tonight the article was about whether there are consequences to China’s red hot growth.

My computer had broken down last week (just after I moved into an apartment with an internet connection.) I got it back yesterday. They wouldn’t honor my SONY warrenty (computer is only four months old) but the cost to repair was only about $35. Not sure of the exact nature of the problem, and I wasn’t going to be able to understand even if they explained to me.

I am getting excited to have most of my major things taken care of. The weather is getting really nice and I plan to go out for a jog today. The last thing I really need to do is find a gym. The last one I joined shut down after about a week and it doesn’t appear that it will be re-opening anytime soon.

In retrospect the last couple months have been active and with a lot up in the air, but it wasnt bad at all. I often believe that things happen for a reason, and all the experience should come in handy. I was also able to meet some great people along the way.

I am in my new crib and really like the location. There have been lots of distractions since I arrived, but I have learned a lot, and experience is the best teacher. Now it is back to business. This week, I have a lot in the air, need to find out about a new job that has been presented and also need to get my classes scheduled. I should also find another gym or see if the other one is opened back up.

This last week has been the May Festival here in China. Most people were off of work. Last Friday, I went out with a group of friends here to a club called Baby Face. One of the guys that was with us plays for the Qingdao team and has appeared in two World Cups. The other folks in the club, recognized him and treated us like VIPS.

I was able to catch the De La Hoya-Mayweather Jr. fight as well. They showed it here for free and some friends and I went to a Japanese restaurant and had a great time. It was a pretty good fight; I thought De La Hoya was the more aggressive fighter and did enough to keep his belt, but when you look at the punch stats, it is hard to argue against the decision.

I have really been thinking a lot about the value in focus and purpose. It can be very easy (or maybe just a habit) to look for the negative aspect of things, and, by looking, obstacles are easy to find. Life is always full of challenges and problems, but it is also here that man creates meaning in his life. It is he that persists in spite of these obstacles that gets the greatest value out of life. Well……………as Plato once said “To know good is to do good.”

Papa Murphy’s names new president and CEO
Posted by The Oregonian April 19, 2007 17:34PM
Categories: business
Clarice Turner has been hired as president and chief operating officer of Papa Murphy’s International, the Vancouver-based pizza chain announced.

Turner worked 16 years for Yum! Brands in executive positions at subsidiary Taco Bell Corp.

She earned her undergraduate degree in geology and a master’s in business administration from San Francisco State University. She also attended Fudan University in Shanghai, China and the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Papa Murphy’s is the sixth-largest pizza chain in the country with nearly 1,000 locations in 30 states and Canada.

– Allan Brettman

Funny enough – I got that job at MAERSK. I guess there were probably two reasons for this: First, I made sure I got paid for the last class, and secondly, I called the guy who seemed to be the decision maker from last time, and told him that I thought that he had make a mistake in not choosing me just because I didn’t have Business English Teaching experience, per se. Anyway, I am glad that I got a call back. I was going to refuse it out of spite, but that wouldn’t do any good. Tonight I had five students; three of them were new from a couple weeks ago. Very smart and good English; First, we started with common American idioms – (the grass is greener on the other side, the early bird gets the worm, etc.) After that, we read an article about recent talks between Korea and China regarding a Free Trade Agreement – it was pretty heavy in high level business terms regarding trade, tariffs, etc. I had them rotate paragraphs, ask me when they needed clarification on words, and, at the end, discuss the overall meaning of the piece. Time flew by and I will employ this format from here on out.

I have been offered a couple other jobs. I have a possibility for one at LG, which is a big Korean-owned company that makes cell-phones and air-conditioning units. So, I can then keep the curriculum that same for both companies. I am happy to have my days filled with the gym, school, and work. It is also really nice that I can do it at my own pace – I need to keep reminding myself that I am very, very fortunate to have this opportunity in life where I can really focus on improving.

I was feeling pretty down yesterday morning, because I still had not found an apartment. The ones I had seen (many) were not “right” for one reason or another. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and I felt even worse because of it. I voiced some frustration to my agent, Jessica, who has been very sweet and helpful, and she was able to help me get closer – I really expect to have a contract signed by the end of the week.

The great news, that made the difference in my day, is that I got a job here yesterday. I will be teaching Business English to Chinese employees of Maersk. Maersk is one of the world’s largest shipping companies. I am sure that you have seen their containers at any port around the world. I have my first class tomorrow and it is to be a bit of test run, I gather. So, I hope to do a good job and make a good impression. I am very happy about this for two reasons; one, it will allow me to make a couple extra dollars and, two, it will allow me to make some new connections for friends and otherwise. I will be working three hours a week and it will pay about half my rent. Cool.

I have befriended a couple guys here in China that both have experience teaching English to Chinese – Vernon from NY (by way of Belize) and Paul from Malta. Both are great guys, and have offered me some great teaching resources.