Outside my square box by Shirley Matthews (books suggested by bill gates .txt) 📕

Outside my Square Box


As I sat in my lonely unit I wondered what I could do with the rest of my life. The skies had darkened and rain was imminent which made my unit seemed even more depressing. Although I was 67, I felt I still had much to offer. I have always been a busy person, with five children to look after and a variety of jobs, it was still hard for me to ‘retire.’
The phone rang stirring me out of my dark thoughts. It was Denise, a good friend of mine.
“What are you up to? Want to go out for coffee?’
‘Sure! Be around in 10 minutes.’
Arriving at her house, a burst of thunder exploded overhead and drenched the earth in a sudden downpour of rain.
We decided to brave it and drove to one of our favorite cafes on the beachfront. There is something ominous about the sea on a dark, wet and windy day. The squalls appeared out of no-where and even though the waves crashed heavily onto the shore, there was an air of tranquility on the deserted beach.
Over coffee, Denise told me about a friend of hers who had left to work in Dubai.
‘Why don’t you try something like that? She found work on the internet.’
My mind raced. Could I do something this adventuresome? The coffee became secondary in my desire to rush home and search the ‘web’ to see what I could find. Who cared about the weather, I now had a goal.
I logged onto the internet and much to my amazement there was a lot of work available: the catch was you had to pay for it. I could not believe it; volunteer work that you actually had to pay for? Prices started from $4500 for approximately 12 weeks: I decided this was not for me and wondered what to do next.
Suddenly, a newspaper advertisement jumped out at me. It read ‘Come and teach communication English in foreign countries with TESOL College.’ Maybe this is it and made an appointment next for the next day.
The excitement oozed from me as Jasmine explained about the course in elementary English. After paying the $200 deposit of the $1600 fee, I couldn’t wait to get started. When I graduated they would also find me a teaching position.
There was a lot of work in Asian Countries, particularly in China. I had always wanted to walk on the Great Wall of China and see the Terracotta Army. I knew the Olympic Games were to be held in Bejing in August; who knows, maybe I’ll go.
My family’s reaction was amazing when I told them. They all thought it would be great. That’s all I needed. I soon completed my course. Marie and Jasmine at the College were so good to me, always helpful, understanding and patient. Even though I was older than most of the other teachers, they assured me there was plenty of work available.
Almost straight away, I was offered a position at Jiangsu Suzhou International English School in a particularly beautiful part of China, close to Shanghai and commonly called ‘Venice of the East.’ It was a large school of 3000 pupils. A furnished apartment would be available for me. This all sounded perfect and I signed the contract the school had sent me.
Next, I gathered together my resume, references, police check, medical certificate, business visa and passport in preparation to leave by the end of December.
At the same time, I had been looking for a unit to buy and was surprised when I found one that was due for completion around June of 2008. The timing was perfect. I paid the deposit and concentrated on my prospective trip to China.
The contract to the school was for 12 months. I was due to leave Australia on the 30th December 2007. This was delayed until the 5th January 2008 due the late arrival of my visa.
It was freezing in China so I purchased some warm clothing and bought some souvenirs for the children.
Departure day came. I would miss my family but hoped my days would be filled with interesting adventures to relate.
Finally I boarded the plane that had been delayed due to a thunderstorm, turned on my video controls, relaxed, and accepted the invitation to a drink and contemplated what the next few months would bring.
At Singapore airport I decided to have a shower and add extra clothes and wait for my flight to Shanghai.
When called, I proceeded through the gate and realized I was the only white person. This created a lot of attention. I felt like standing up and yelling, ‘What’s wrong with you all. Am I such a novelty, after all I am going to China to teach your children English? I’m not from another planet!’
As I took refuge in my comfortable seat and I contemplated what I was getting myself into. Surely everything the College told me about ‘Teaching in China’ was going to be as good as they said. It was 1.30am and I dozed off to sleep.
It was freezing when we landed at 6.30am. After clearing customs I looked around for Sang. He was not there.
The Airport emptied out and everyone ignored me as I tried to find an information desk. Nothing was open. I asked a security guard for help. Useless! He couldn’t speak english. A Hotel booking desk had just opened and I asked a nice young boy who spoke a little English if he could ring Sang’s number. Fortunately he spoke English and told me he was just around the corner and would arrive shortly.
Two hours later he showed up. It was minus 3 degrees outside, different from the 30 degrees of Brisbane I had just left. I found Shanghai depressing as we sped past the grey dilapidated buildings sadly in need of repair. No trees and the only green areas were littered with rubbish. There were as many bikes as cars.
Sang negotiated four lanes of traffic and weaved his way through the vehicles continually tooting his horn. When he missed a turn stopped, reversed back, blared his horn and drove at right angles across three lanes to the exit. This was blocked by a barrier and as the cars swerved to miss us a large truck bore down upon us. This is it! I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and waited for the crash. Much to my amazement, the driver stopped just feet away from my door and climbed out of his truck. Here’s a go; there’s going to be trouble.
Instead he waved the oncoming traffic down and allowed us to maneuver round the barrier. Sang simply ignored him and continued on without as much as a thank you. It was a frightening experience that would never happen in Australia. We parked alongside grim looking hotel and went inside. He went to eat and said, ‘Stay here until the teachers from the school arrive to collect you. They should be here by 2.30pm.’ and left me to sit alone. How would I survive four long hours in this grotty place?
I watched the people of Shanghai going about their business. In this old part of the City everything was grey, dirty and depressing. Most people wore black. They neither smiled nor looked happy. Young girls didn’t walk the streets chatting and laughing like they do in Australia. Bikes and motor scooters were driven on the footpaths.
Men and women rode three wheeled bikes pulling dilapidated trailers. They rang their bells to collect all sorts of rubbish including cartons, cans, broken furniture which they take to a recycling depot and sold. No welfare here; if you don’t work you don’t eat.
I walked a short distance from the Hotel and carefully negotiated the badly maintained footpaths. Once again my white hair was attracting attention. Entering an American style coffee shop I ordered a coffee from a photo and ended up with an almond flavored something at $8. I watched as a large crowd formed outside watching a group of men playing cards, evidently gambling goes on everywhere in China.
Returning to the hotel, the staff was pointing and laughing at me as I forlornly gazed out the doors. Shanghai is a city of grey high rise apartments. It had the feeling of neglect everywhere. I did not know that there was a beautiful new modern city not too far away.
The only bright spark in this drab city was the large murals of China’s sporting heroes, advertising the upcoming Olympic Games.
The Hotel staff couldn’t speak English and I felt very alone. I wished I could go home. Time dragged. At 3pm using sign language I rang Sang. He told me the teachers were just ‘Around the corner and would soon be here.’
Another two hours passed and I needed the toilet.How? I remembered my translation book and found the word toilet. There were three men and two other women at the desk as I pointed to it. I was beyond caring as they all burst out laughing at me; I had no pride left. Thankfully, I was shown to a bathroom. Wouldn’t you know it, the toilet flush was brokenI thought to hell with it and meekly returned the key.
Shortly after this Sang rang and told me they were just ‘around the corner’ and would be there soon. At 6.00pm he returned and waited with me. It was dark by the time the Director and his assistant showed up at 6.15pm. What a day. I was exhausted and just wanted to go home.
The Headmaster of the school could speak no English, so I worked through his assistant VJ to answer their questions. They were satisfied with me and we rushed to catch the 7.00pm train. My first meal in China was KFC; Chicken-burger, 2 large chips, 2 chicken pieces, large pepsi, large ice-cream sundae, all for the princely sum of $4 which I ate on the bullet train.
They took me to a Hotel