China 2015

So, it has been decided: I am returning to China to teach at an International High School although I am unsure of which city or province I will be working in. The company has branches in Xi'an (where I was originally going to go before I turned down their offer), about 3 different cities in Shandong Province (Qingdao and two others) and Chengdu in Sichuan where I originally wanted to work when I decided I wanted to spend another year in China.

Honestly, I would be happy to work in any Chengdu, Qingdao or Xi'an and probably in that order but I can live anywhere for one year and if I like working for this company and they like me I can renew my contract and possibly change my location which is something I am open to.

Putting the paperwork together has been a bit of a chore but I think I'm about 80-90% done with. I went to the Sheriff's Office and obtained a 'Letter of Good Conduct' which shows that I have no arrests or criminal record from 2005 - 2015, scanned it (took me a while to find a scanner but there was one in my parents' house), e-mailed it to the school and today, at the school's request, mailed them the actual physical copy.

I also printed the contract, signed it, scanned it, e-mailed and did the same with my passport, my degree, my TESOL certificate, 3 reference letters and I forget what else.

I also re-wrote my resume 2 or 3 times until they were fully satisfied with it and e-mailed that to them.

Today I went to the Veteran's Affairs Office or Building or whatever it's called and registered so I am now in the system whatever that means, lol. I still have medical benefits for 90 days so I scheduled an appointment on the 26th of this month (15 days from today) and I think that is the last document that I need to scan and send.

I imagine at some point they will put a packet together and send me an invitation letter which I will take to the Chinese Embassy in Los Angeles to obtain a Z-Visa which is considered a working visa and will allow me entry to China.

All I have to do after that is pack up my bags and buy a plane ticket on-line.

Packing might be slightly challenging because I will need to decide what to bring and what not to bring. I'll bring at least one of my laptops and maybe my desktop also. Obviously, I will bring clothes and my Kindle, probably no physical books this time because they take up too much space (I used to bring a lot of books with me in the past)....no...wait...I take it back. I will bring my Chinese language workbooks which are physical books but that won't take up too much space.

I'll bring my Nintendo 3DS, my PS Vita and probably my PS3 too and some games but probably no DVDs or Blu-Rays because I can just buy those there and I have movies on my laptop so my entertainment will be covered.

And, of course, I will be bringing my camera and lenses because one of the reasons I want to go back to China is to take photos and lots of them. If I am able to work in Chengdu then I will certainly explore Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces. If I end up in Shandong than that area as well as Shanghai and Nanjing and whatever else is close by.

It's going to be fun and if it goes well I will consider staying for a second year, especially if I end up making lots of you tube videos (kind of like a video diary documenting my day to day life there) and take lots of pics.

After the year finishes I can decide if I want to stay on for a second year or come back to California and use my GI Bill.

The future looks bright.

Photos taken in Ventura County, California - June 2015

Slight Change of Plans

Yesterday I turned down the job offer in China which I had unofficially accepted.

They've been really pushy and it's kind of annoying. There are tons of other teaching jobs in Asia but this school was almost acting like they were the only one and I felt like they were really rushing me to have all of my paperwork ready in one week and sign the contract immediately and I don't like being rushed.

I've had jobs in Asia before and never really felt rushed so this started getting on my nerves and finally I just told them I was no longer interested in the position.

That plus the fact that they originally offered me certain hours and a certain salary but once I agreed they lowered the salary and altered the hours which I did not like. Plus, they said that in addition to teaching English they wanted me to teach History which is not a subject I feel capable of teaching....at least not now. I could get there through study but when I accept a job to teach English I'm not expecting to teach a second subject also.

I was up until maybe 2am this morning looking at other jobs in Thailand, Laos and China and applied to a few more. I wouldn't mind going to Thailand or Laos for 6-10 months and I think the teaching jobs in Thailand are only 6 months so maybe that would be better.

However, I'm really enjoying life here in California and would not mind sticking around to play music, work wherever and take some college classes wherever.

I still might go back to China in September but I am not open to the idea of staying here in California and just taking a break from travelling.

California

I finally made it back to California. I guess I've been here for about a week, give or take a day. I just asked my Mom (staying with my parents) and she said 8 days. I am glad to be back home and spending time with my family but I feel so disoriented emotionally, socially, physically....I am drained and exhausted and feeling slightly out of place.

I've been sleeping a lot since I returned and I've been sneezing, coughing and experiencing headaches. I feel like now that I can finally relax my body is letting me experience all the aches and pains my mind has forced me to endure and overlook over the past 3 years.

I am really happy to be out of the Navy and back in California. I've been working on some of the paperwork for my Chinese Visa and feeling kind of overwhelmed. I still need to go to the police department in Los Angeles and get a criminal background check to send them which hopefully won't take too long. I'm not sure what else I'll need to do but I hope it's not much because I want to enjoy this summer and not spend too much time doing paperwork or much of anything, haha.

I do want to spend some time in Los Angeles and Malibu taking photographs and I want to write and record some music with my friend Tommy who lives nearby. I also want to spend a lot of time with my family, especially my niece, Riley, and my nephews, William and Parkers.

Going back to China for a year (possibly two) will be a lot of fun but after that I think I will return to California for a good and use my GI Bill to work on a degree in Hotel Management.

I think I'd like working in a hotel in California.

Washington

Well, I made it. I am finally here in Washington ready to process out of the Navy. Hard to believe it's been 4 years already but, at the same time, I almost felt like this day would never come. It has been a challenging experience. The first year wasn't too difficult but my three years in VFA-102 in Japan were very difficult.

Still, I faced and overcame the challenges I was presented with and in about a week will be officially separated and on a plane back to LA.

I am leaving here with an Honorable Discharge, an MP (Must Promote) Eval (Evalutation) and full benefits which include the GI Bill.

I have a job offer for a middle school or high school in Xi'an and I am thinking of taking it and returning to China for a year or two to resume my study of Mandarin and devote more time to photography.

Speaking of photography, I went to Seattle 2 days ago and took several pics of the area.

It's my understanding that it is usually rainy and cloudy here so the fact that the weather has been nice since I got here is remarkable and also funny. Funny because several of the ports I visited when deployed (I've participated in three 6 month deployments) were rainy and cloudy on the days we were there and I prefer taking pics when it is bright and sunny out.

It's almost symbolic somehow. Cold and rainy while serving in the military and bright and sunny while transitioning out.

I am really excited to spend the summer with my family and have the opportunity to take photos of Hollywood, Los Angeles and Malibu. I think that will improve my portfolio tremendously since the majority of photos I have taken over the last three years have been in Asian countries. I also visited Guam and Australia and took photos in both locations but to be able to add images from Seattle and Los Angeles will really diversify and strengthen my portfolio.

Of course, China is located in Asia so I'm not quite finished taking pics of Asia to add to my portfolio but having pics of America in my portfolio is something I really want. I might even take a trip to Tombstone, Arizona with my father this summer if he has time.

It's Sunday here, May 10th and I could be leaving in 7 days or less and this excites me.

Kaoru - April 2015

4 years later

Not sure how to start this. I joined the Navy 4 or 5 years ago and have nearly finished my contract. It has been a long, interesting journey and I am glad that it is coming to an end. I am ready for my next adventure. I started this blog expecting to document my daily or weekly experiences in the Navy but kind of forgot about this blog. That and I didn't realize how busy and demanding Navy life would be. Being stationed in Japan was amazing, I really enjoyed my time here and went to some fascinating places and took thousands of photos. I am also happy to have met a very special woman who I hope will be my friend forever. I went to see her this weekend in Kyoto and thought I would post a photo of her here to look at someday in the future.