I've been in the midst of a funny couple of weeks.
First: the news. I am going to be working at the School of Music office! Since the School is brand-spankin' new and kind of groundbreaking in its intention to teach music curriculum in English here in China, there's a lot of materials that are going to be put out bilingually. And some of the ladies already on staff have international experience and a pretty great English foundation, but it needs a little polish... so I get to put my thumbprint on reworking and crafting exciting new English language documents and press as we're getting off the ground.
But, in true China fashion, getting the details worked out, contract drafted, and registration completed is taking forever. So, I'm still not working and didn't get to help prepare for the opening premier concert this upcoming Sunday. Which is a bummer, since this is our first POW! introduction to the Suzhou/Shanghai music community. And it sure would have been nice to place a critical eye on the materials, but oh well. Next project. When I'm officially on the team!
Also. We tried to prepare the paperwork for getting our shipment of boxes through customs and because Suzhou is in Jiangsu province and Shanghai (and the port through which our stuff arrived) is kind of its own thing, we needed stamps and approval from both customs' offices. Meaning backandforthandbackandforth travel to Shanghai- a day-long waste of a day trip each time. Foooorget it. Rob's colleague swooped in and saved the day by calling her shipping agent from earlier in the summer, who will be managing the rest of the paperwork and having our items delivered for us. And she's crazy capable, so I'm very grateful.
Moral of the story. It all takes literally four times longer than you think it should and is at least 7 steps more complicated. All of it.
Sigh. Of relief!
Jeans: Gap...Tank: Banana Republic...Cardigan: thrifted...Shoes: Target |