Seems China has quite a policy of who may stay here and who gets sent home. Today all of the new teachers from three different campuses were run through a physical, whose process took 3 hours. Besides having our weight, height and temperature measured, we had to have blood drawn, a sight test, a sonogram done, chest x-rays and be poked in the belly similar to what it felt like when the nurses move your belly around after having delivered a baby. Ouch. Do not want to be over x-rayed, but can't live in this country without going through this process and being deemed healthy.

The lady who did the sonogram was brutal, punching and poking to the extend that I now have quite a few bruises where she was checking on my liver. The whole experience felt like I was on a spaceship run by aliens whose language I couldn't understand and I was just a guinea pig. On their part, they just wanted to be efficient and cared not how it impacted us. Glad we only have to do that once, and that it is not like each time we leave the country having 24 hours to reregister our address with the police. The good news is that after each station the person declared me "normal" and I got to move to the next station. No wonder the initial application form to work here asked about one's health status.

To treat the staff after this ordeal, especially since we weren't allowed to eat/drink since midnight until we finished, which was around 11:30 am, we were taken to a marvelous restaurant named 2121 and treated to a 21 course meal. Dishes kept being delivered on the lazy susan in the middle of each table. We were invited to sample fish (with eyes still intact along with its skeleton), kofu (really yummy, made out of tofu, tasted like sautéed beef), egg rolls and other Chinese favorites. There were ample vegetarian dishes as well as chicken, pork and beef dishes and they ranged in spiciness. This is a place to go when visitors come to visit China.

Today was also stressful in that we were informed that China mandates what banks can be used by foreigners in their country and if we didn't open an account at the specified bank, we could not get paid! We sat through an hour of being told about all of the different fees that would be accessed for being able to have them handle our money. No way would I pick that bank voluntarily. It was one of those hours where one can begin to feel indignant righteousness, having lived in a free country, only to take a deep breathe and tell yourself that this too shall pass and simply accept the undo control in your life. Did ask enough questions to find out that I can immediately have the money transferred to another bank which will then transfer the money to my bank (nope got to have that third bank in there and their fees also) so that I can use my ATM card (can't be issued one here by this bank as foreigners must have one issued by a foreign bank or a bank that can pretend its from elsewhere and then issue you one from that other place) and withdraw money. The rules say that you may not transfer out more money than what you are paid. There goes side jobs and under the counter payments just in case someone was interested in tutoring or teaching English on the side. This fascinated me: You cannot ask for money to be changed into a currency other than China's without your passport, your work contract, and sending a fax at least 24 hours in advance, plus paperwork that says you are current on all of your taxes that have to be paid each month from your salary. How do you like that? You cannot withdraw your own money without showing proof of being current on your taxes to the government! The school helps us by choosing ANZ (Australia, New Zealand) Bank and providing them monthly with the appropriate documentation of taxes paid, our salary, etc so that we can then pay the bank to transfer our money to where we want it to go for a mere $50 a month! But to get this service costs us $100 initially. Don't understand why my rebellious spirit had issues with this. Bankcards will be sent to the people wanting them from Australia or ANZ's bank in Singapore. Also, all Chinese currency must be exchanged prior to leaving the country, as they don't allow it to be exchanged outside of the country. In other words, I can't legally sell back my rmb (Chinese money) from outside of China! This gave me much more appreciation for other country's systems, especially our own, but then our banks are in trouble and China's are not...This is one of those things you swallow and just have to accept.

More news, people only have washing machines here and no dryers! Everyone hangs his or her clothes to dry. Now, this is not done outside as then the clothes would be dirty again. So today I purchased a "clothes drying rack" from IKEA (yup, just like in the States and in Europe) as I want to be ready to do laundry this weekend. The rack takes up the entire spare room in the living room and is the only place where it fits. We were also informed that during the winter there would be times when our clothes would not dry period. Can't wait.

So, all in all, today was interesting and except for the bank thing, which still irks me somewhat, I'm doing well.

Found out Shanghai is hosting the 2010's World Fair. That ought to be interesting. So for those of you planning to visit, and sleep on my gold couch, that would probably be a great time to come. Am doing well and getting to practice adjusting to new circumstances and being flexible while constantly getting to monitor my own attitude. Great opportunity to stay in gratitude as my reactions fluctuate... and so I give blessings to each of you in my life and this great opportunity for continued growth.