With July already here, I was personally excited for the change in season. Not necessarily the literal season (I know everyone in Southern California is burning up right now. We feel your pain here as well), but a change of pace. With my teaching classes now complete, I am looking forward to the month of July to accomplish a lot of things on my “When I have time, I’ll do them” list. I’ll share some of those things here:
1. Driver’s License
This past semester I had two 6-day vacations because of how the Chinese holidays and my off days worked out. I missed out on a prime opportunity to travel to nearby Chinese provinces. So one way to pounce on those opportunities, is to apply for a Chinese driver’s license.
There are a few stages to getting your license if you are a foreigner. Because of the stages, it takes some level of resolve to jump through each hoop. The first hoop is to get a health examination. This requires going to a public hospital and bringing a 1 x 1 photo of yourself. Of course the health examination check is just an eye test. After waiting a couple of hours (because the hospital was on a lunch break), my friend and I gave our photos, paid the fee, filled the application and took a minute-long eye exam. A minute might be too generous. 15 seconds. Literally, “This. This. What number is on this card? Okay.” Smh.
The second step is to make copies of important documents and get a translated copy of your national driver’s license. You need to get copies of your passport, visa, accommodation registration, and birth certificate (just kidding). All of that was done pretty quickly.
The next step is to travel to their version of the DMV. The cool thing is that the DMV here is centrally located. It’s in one place. The bad thing is that this place is an hour and half away from where I live. In other words, this is going to be a half-day affair. My friend and I met at a meeting point, and we set off to the DMV. At first, we got there and I used my broken Chinese to ask where we can apply for the driver’s license exam. She pointed us in one direction and said, “一直走” which means go straight. All I saw was a sign for the restroom. I know my Chinese is bad, but I’m pretty sure I mastered how to say “restroom,” and I know the Chinese I used is not even close to the word “restroom.” So I went exploring, and after a minute, I went back. She told me the same answer: “一直走.” Providentially, my friend remembered reading something about getting to the place is a little tricky. So we walked toward the restroom, and we realized that there is another hallway that leads into the foreign department. Again, smh.
Following that, we turned in all our documents, and after being checked and paying a test fee, we signed up for an appointment to take the exam. Just an appointment. Not the exam. Just the appointment. Of course, my friend and I read about it, so we were okay with it, but you can’t help but think, “Isn’t there a better way to do this?” And what helps me process all of this is: I’m a foreigner. It’s supposed to be hard.
So now, I’m writing this blog on the eve of the exam. For the past six days, I’ve been studying the 1,300 question pool, in which 100 will be selected for my exam tomorrow. It’s in English, but the translation at times makes the question and answer difficult to understand. Here are some questions from the exam:
I think I remember seeing this scenario in Inception. I don’t think they followed these directions.
High character and moral drivers are important. Glad to know.
I’ll post something on FB if I pass the test. If I’m FB-silent, just assume the worst.
2. Chinese Classes
This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. It’s good to actually be a student again after being out of class for the past year and half. With more time to dedicate to studying after class is done, I’ve decided to take July to review and deepen my Chinese. The plan is to take the classes twice a week until August, take a break, and then resume the schedule at the end of August. Once my teaching classes start again, I’ll probably drop it back to once a week. But we’ll see. Jen and I have talked about taking classes together, but her vocabulary is much higher than mine at this stage. So I’m hoping to catch up.
3. Health
With more time, I’m hoping to cultivate healthier habits to get more energy (instead of eating chips and drinking soda for that sugar high). Jen and I recently got gym memberships in our complex, so we’re hoping it’ll benefit the both of us to get our bodies healthy.
But more importantly, I need to get a physical. Getting older and not going for a check-ups when I was younger, has been a bad combination. I’m hoping, with more free time, I can schedule a check-up and get the A-OK from the doctors.
4. Reading and Writing
I’ve been reading a lot of children’s novels, and that’s been a real joy. It’s kind of nostalgic to re-read classics like The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye in the last few months. Even spending the last three months reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has been good to reflect on the allegory in that classic, and explaining it to the kids. But I’m looking forward to reading books for my enrichment. There’s a book on parenting that Jen has been recommending, which I started. Looking forward to finishing up reading the 2-3 OT survey books that I’ve been slowly consuming in preparation for a future study. Just a lot more reading and writing to finish up before September rolls around.
5. A Special Visit
Another change in the season is the upcoming visit by some of our friends overseas. Jen and I are really excited to catch up, and to have them interact with the people that we’ve been investing into over the past two years. We’re especially excited to see the opportunities that will come up. If there’s one thing I know will happen (that has happened every year) is new opportunities to engage in the work.
Conclusion
It’s just two months, but I’m praying that God will give me the strength to use these two months to, not only work, but be renewed. There will be times to relax and take it easy (a common piece of advice I hear from my local friends here). But for now, I long to make the best use of time given. Continue to pray for our family as we engage in the work this season.