MORE FAMILY GOODBYES

THANK YOU

 

A big thank you to Anton and Sanchia for driving all the way down to Pinetown from Johannesburg to pick us up.

 

On Saturday we decided to have another family farewell whom we have not yet said goodbye to.  So we decided to have a BARBEQUE  -  NEVER.

 

 

WE BRAAIED

SOUTH AFRICAN STYLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you all who came.  It really meant a lot to us.    Here are some photos  of the evening.

 

 

DADDY AND MOMMY

 

AUNTY VIRGINIA

 

                   STACEY                                                                                                         GAIL

 

 

                  OUR BRAAIERS 

 

 NICOLE AND SARAH            

MARK AND MERLIN 

 

 BERENICE, THE TWINS AND AUNTY VIG

KERRY AND MICHAELA

 

It was a fantastic evening.  You will be dearly missed.

 

Then Sunday came.  Time for farewell to Paul's mom and dad.  Daddy prayed the Lords Blessing and safety on us and put us on the road.  There were so many tears.  Thank you so much for putting up with us for two years.  We appreciate everything you have done for us.  And we love you all so much.  A new season in our lives has started.  So off to Johannesburg we drove, with butterflies in my tummy knowing the days to flying are almost here.

 

And now I am sitting at the computer, Monday, and have already checked in online.  It only a matter of time.  One more farewell, and that will be at the airport.  WOW!

 





OUR LAST WEEK

ITS JUST AROUND THE CORNER !!

Well its nearly done.  Our biggest hurdle now was having the correct weight for our luggage.  And if you know teenagers, everything is important to take over. 

 

PINETOWN JUNIOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

 

It was my last week at school as well.  A very emotional week for me.  On Monday 22nd July was my last assembly.  Miss Osman said the goodbyes on behalf of the Grade R's and Grade 1's.  I spoke a bit about where I was going, still having good control of my emotions.  Then the learners sing a song for me and that was the end of controlling emotions.  I am going to miss my learners dearly.

 

TEACHERS DURING ASSEMBLY

 

 

LEARNERS DURING ASSEMBLY

 

 

Then on Wednesday we were all called into the staffroom for a staff meeting.  BUT it was not a staff meeting but a farewell for myself.  WHAT A SURPRISE.  And tears were shed again.  Thank you to all the teachers.  Thank you for the gift and all the kind words spoken at the farewell.  I will miss you all.

 

On Friday, the day I was dreading, had come for me to say goodbye to all my friends at PJPS and of course my learners.  It is amazing how attached a teacher can become to her class.  There were tears again as I said farewell to my Teacher Aid, Mrs Mnxasana, and the other Grade R Teacher Aid, Mrs Mkhize.  I don't know what I would have done if it was not for the both of you.  You are excellent teachers yourselves.  And too my class, I will miss you dearly.  And I wont say goodbye but rather till we meet again Pinetown Junior Primary School.

 

MY LEARNERS

 



 

MRS MKHIZE AND MRS MNXASANA

 

And so a new chapter starts for myself and my family.  An exciting and adventurous one.







PREPARATIONS COMING TO AN END

ALMOST THERE

Sorry I have taken so long to write my next post.

VISAS AND HOME SCHOOLING

 



Where did I end off..... Oh yes, applying for our visas.

Well the next day after our DHL ordeal, we went down to the Chinese Embassy and applied for mine, Pauls and Sarahs visas.  It only took 3 days for the collection of the visas.  The same day we went to see Accelerated Christian Education SA (ACE), to register Sarah for homeschooling.  Everything fell into place.

I had to start work again on the 15 July, so Paul had to do all the running around.

BOOKING OF AIR TICKETS

Then we booked the air tickets.  We are flying Cathay Pacific.  (Will let everyone know what the service is like.)  We had to book one way for the 3 of us, myself, Paul and Sarah, and a return for Kerry.  Because she is over 18 years old she cannot be put on my work visa. 

So after we booked our air tickets Paul had to go back down to the Chinese Embassy to apply for Kerry's holiday visa so she can come with us.  We thought she would be able to get a 1 year visa but she was only able to get a 6 months visa.  But God is good, as they said that when the visa is about to expire then she can apply for another in the hometown where we will be living.  But hopefully Kerry will be able to get into a university before the end of the year and she can then go onto a study visa. 

Everything has now been sorted out and paid for, our home school is called  'Canhams Home School'.

LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL

 



I am now spending my last week at school now.  I had my last assembly on Monday and I promised myself I was not going to cry.  But when the Grade R's and Grade 1's started singing a song for me, I couldn't hold it in.  I think all the emotions just bottled up.  Its weird mixed feelings.  Glad I am leaving and sad at the same time.  Excited and nervous.

Well the next post will be after Sunday when we have officially left KwaZulu Natal and travelled to JHB and stay with Sanchia and Anton for the last couple of days before we leave for China next Wednesday.  So watch out for more stories.

THE ADVENTURE IS ON OUR DOORSTEP

GOODBYE FAMILY

BRAAI

Well today we had a braai at my Joanne's, twins sister, house to say good bye to my family. And as usuall we had it a typical South African style. Loads of meat.

THE BRAAIERS

 

Thank you Paul and Deon for braaing the meat. It was delicious. We had so much meat we could have fed an army.

 

COMPANY
 

We had good company join us. Thank you Granny,Aunty Beth, Vanessa, Angie and Gary,

 

Dad,

Joanne and Brian, thanks Brian for cleaning up...

 



Angi and Ash, 
 

 

 

 

Deon and Seone, Astyn and Tyra, 

Fiona and Liegh.  

Thank you Jo and Brian for having the braai at your place. Much appreciated.

We also skyped Mom and Nikki so all the family could speak to them. Was nice chatting.

As we were leaving I thought that it has been great so far, NO TEARS. I was wrong. Dad started then Joanne. Which made me teary. We are going to miss you all. But we will keep in contact, which ever way we can. Love you all.

I start work again tomorrow for two weeks. The days are definately going to fly by and before you know it we will be on the plane heading for China. YAY!

(P.S. photos will be added later)

PREPARATIONS CONTINUED ...

Where did we end off. Oh yes.

DHL EXPRESS

Well I said that they were an excellent company. And they are. Until they come to Durban, Kwazulu Natal. Then the hassles begin.

They were meant to deliver the documents on the Tuesday 9th of July and they didn't. So I phoned and made arrangements with them to deliver the next day Wednesday the 10th July at 9am. We left JHB at 3am to get to Durban in time in case I had to sign for the package. 9am came and went and still no DHL Express. So I phoned again and the call centre phoned the manager in Durban to find out what was going on. And he came back and said it would only be delivered on Friday. WHAT?????

I SAW RED

I requested to speak to the manager in Durban myself, so customer service put me through. Apparently they deliver worldwide but not to Mariannridge. They use a third party to deliver and that only takes place on a Friday. (But the agreement between the client and DHL was to deliver on Tuesday) So I told him that I was going to complain to the HQ in JHB. He quickly wanted my directions and then Paul gave it to him. Not even 2 minutes later he phone back and said his driver is only leaving the yard at 11am and so will only get it to us by 11:30am. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. The Chinese Consulate closes at 11:30. Why did we leave so early to get there if DHL Express Durban were not bothered to deliver. Paul took the phone and told him that we will do his job for him and go down to fetch the documents.

AND SO WE DID

He had left the parcel at reception, but we requested to speak with him. He came in and didn't even greet. What a manager! I told him that I thought that there was bad communication between their depots as it should have been said to the sender that it wouldn't get there until Friday. And even if there was bad communication between the depots, they should have seen my parcel was due then and phoned me to say there was a problem. Anyway we got our documents, but he was meant to get back to us and nothing has happened. I will be writing on 'HELLO PETER' tonight.

CHINESE CONSULATE

We managed to go to the Chinese Consulate the next day and my work visa will be ready for collection on Tuesday, 16th July. YAY

ACCELERATED CHRISTIAN EDUCATION HOME SCHOOLING

We then had to go and meet the company Sarah will be doing her homeschooling through. They are called ACE - Accelerated Christian Education. Her diagnostic test that Sarah had to do while in JHB, showed that she remains in Grade 9. RELIEVED. So documents were signed and all paperwork completed.

BANK

We then had to go to the bank to get bank statements for Kerry and myself, and change pay dates for debit orders, and buy a little gadget so we can use our Internet banking in China.
It was a stressful day. But a lot was accomplished.

All that is now left to do is to book our airfares and to apply for Kerry's visa. And there is only 20 days left. Time is flying by. I will write another post after Sunday when I am having a goodbye braai with my family.

EXCITING TIMES AHEAD

IT EVENTUALLY HAPPENED !!!

I got the email on the 15th May 2013 form the Principal at Yew Chung International School in China, asking if I was still interested in working overseas.  Well what do you think I said?

"YES OF COURSE"

 

So an interview was set up for the next day, the 16th May 2013 at 5am South African time as they are 6 hours ahead of us.  I did not hear anything from the School HR department until the 24th May.  They asked me to take an online assessment.  Which I did promptly.

 

"GETTING MORE EXCITED "

 

The head of the HR was trying to get hold of my referees so they could fill in online reference forms.  This took a little while as we were in the process of sports day.  What wonderful references I got.  Thank you Miss Ntaka, Miss Singh and Mrs Killian.

 

"SORTED THAT OUT"

 

It was now the 24th May 2013 and the HR contacted me to complete an online psychology test and to also send them my credentials including academic certificates, teaching certificate, reference letters from your employers, photo page of your passport, and  it was for  - "It will help us to ensure sufficient document for work visa application."

 

"STILL HAVENT BEEN TOLD I HAVE THE JOB YET"

 

But it sounds like I have it in the bag.  On 28th May I received an email from the Chaplain at Yew Chung International School.  He also wanted to have a skype interview with me.  So a skype interview was set for the next day at 4am South African time.  At the interview I decided to be bold and asked outright if I had the position or not.  He then told me that he was the last person in the process so probably, but I will get confirmation.  An offer will be emailed to me which I will have to accept.

 

"WAIT AGAIN - NOOOO"

 

THEN IT CAME - June 5, 2013.  And what an offer.  I accepted it and was in my element.  I handed in my resignation at Pinetown Junior Primary School on the 7 June 2103.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my 2 and a bit years at PJPS.  I started my teaching career there, so it felt like I was saying goodbye to family.

 

RUN, RUN, RUN 

 

The running around only just began. 

 

All the documents were sent to China via email on the 13th July.  My husband and I had to get our marriage and our children's birth certificates authenticated.  Well that was a mission.  We went through to the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation in Pretoria, 600km away, as Durban does not have a branch of DIRCO,  to get these documents done.  But two documents, marriage and one birth certificate, had to first be authenticated by a public natory and the registrar at the Pretoria High Court.  Thank goodness for a garmin.  But when we got to the court we were told that the public natory was not in.  We were however directed to another natory a block away.  So we walked over and this natory was only going to be in by 2pm.  This didn't suit us at all.  So again we were directed to another natories office two floors up.  And again the natory was not in, but his secretary gave us another option.  We could leave our documents there with her, she will get the natory to authenticate them, then take them over to the high court and get the registrar to authenticate them and we can fetch them the next day at 9am.  This was a great idea.  BUT IT WILL COST YOU R350.

 

Well it beat running up and down, so yes we accepted the offer and went home, thanks Sanchia and Anton for putting us up.  The next day we phoned the natories office at 9am to make sure the documents were ready, but the receptionist said, "oh she not in yet, call back in 15 minutes."  Well this went on till just after 10am.  Then she said, "oh are you the lady that needed two documents authenticated"  YES  "oh they here on my desk you may collect them anytime today"  YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.  We went and fetch the documents, back to DIRCO and only waited 15minutes, and rushed to the Chinese Embassy.  But alas, they close everyday at 11:30.  Why?

 

So back to durban we drove.  Paul took the documents to the Chinese Consulate in Durban North the next day.  They too had to authenticate the documents and charged us R150.  This will take 3 days.  When Paul fetched the documents the following Wednesday, they gave him forms that needed to be filled in for a medical.  Well I went for my medical, xrays, ECG, urine samples, eye tests, blood taken for numerous tests.  R900 later.  But I didn't mind because we were on our way to a great adventure.

 

"ADVENTURE OF A LIFE TIME"

 

On the 28th June I received an email from the HR in China, that they had just sent my forms to apply for my expert certificate and on the 4th July they had received my invitation letter and work permit already and were ready to send it to me via DHL Express.

 

"HOW FAST IS THIS?"

 

DHL collected the documents from Rizhao, China on the Friday, 5th July, 2013 at 18:35, China time and it is now in Durban, South Africa, Monday, 8th July, 2013 at 15:03 South African time.  WELL DONE DHL EXPRESS.  I am IMPRESSED.

 

We are still in JHB, and will be leaving on Wednesday, so more running around will continue.  Will keep you updated.