#ISSAProcess Cont….
Sometime ago I wrote to you all about the process and the journey that I have been on. If I timeline-d it out it would look something like this:
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December 2016
Dec 5, 2016 – Apply to work for Disney English in China (online Interview) — eeek! What am I thinking?
Dec +/- 12, 2016 – (It was about a week later) Skype Interview — my first SKYPE interview!
December 21, 2016 – 3rd Interview (Skpe) —– they want me they really want me!!! A 3rd interview is a good thing. Right?!?!?!
December 27, 2016 – Merry Christmas To Me 😊 Accepted the offer to work for Disney English in China
January 2017- The process begins. I have written out a lot of it before but now it begins.
- I begin my TEFLC Courses- All online.
- I begin the initial paperwork process
- Digital Photo – Sent this right away – Come on now?!?!? This is KMG. Yall know sending a photo was easy.
- CV/Resume – Sent this right away
- Copy of Passport Bio/Photo Page – Sent this right away
- Copy of Bachelor’s Degree – that became a journey in itself – so I used my Masters – once I finished my program 5 months later
- Employment Verification Letter(s) – Sent this right away
- TEFL Certificate- Began working on this immediately. Finished the entire course in June.
Lots to do and this is only the beginning.
- By January 31, 2017 I have finished Unit 1 of TEFLC. This was a must with the application process. I now have until I leave for China to complete the 20 units. I decided I wanted this done by June (which I did) so that I would not have to worry about it during the summer.
- I also began the process of the following:
- Degree Legalization
- Police Clearance
- Medical Check
February 2017:
- Medical Check done – Later had to have this form authenticated
- Police Clearance done- Easy Sneezy- Used Downtown Dallas Police Station – Later had to have this form authenticated
February-June 2017:
- TEFLC – Work on 20 unit course. TEFLC – Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Children. Completed in June
March 2017– Started Degree Legalization Process – This process is in an earlier post.
APRIL 2017– Still need this degree legalized. Jenkies! About to graduate- Yeah!
MAY 2017 – Graduated from UTA – Maters in Education, Leadership, and Policy Studies
Degree Legalization process- not complete
June 2017- Ready for it all to be over and to leave for China. Why is it so hard to get documents authenticated? Sheesh!
June/July 2017– Continue Degree Legalization Process/Authentication of documents- Police Check/Degree/Medical Form (This form did not have to be authenticated but it needed a stamp/seal from my doctors office)
July 2017 Still working on getting these documents authenticated. Lots of travel between: Dallas-Austin-Houston
- Medical Check – Authenticated
- Degree- Legalized/Authenticated
- Police Clearance Form – Authenticated
July 2017– Sit around tired, exhausted, and mad wondering if its all gonna work out.
August 2017– Send documents to China. Original documents. Degree, Medical form, Police Clearance Form – ALL Authenticated documents
WAIT. I have now been told it’s a 30 day process to get your Invitation Letter/Work Permit.
So I wait.
….. wait
Wait……
And I
……WAIT……
August-September 2017– Wait for Invitation Letter/Work Permit to arrive from China
September 2017– Invitation Letter/Work Permit arrives. Apply for Visa. This Invitation Letter/Work Permit allows you to apply for your Visa.
September 20, 2017– Visa is ready.
September 25, 2017 Aunt picks up Visa in Downtown Houston.
September 27, 2017 Aunt drops Visa off to me in Dallas
September 27, 2017 KMG filled with immense amount of excitement and JOY
September 27, 2017 – #ISSAVisaInMyHand
My beautiful aunt finished up this process for me. A couple weeks ago she dropped off my passport, invitation letter, and work permit to the Chinese Consulate/Visa Office in downtown Houston. This office is quite, well, inconvenient to say the least. But- family is amazing. She did it anyway. Well- the first time she went the office was closed (Been There- Done That- So Annoying -aaaargh), she went a second time, dropped it off, went back when her scheduled allowed and picked it up, and brought it to me here in Dallas. Whoa BABY. She didn’t have one issue with her part of the process. That is a blessing.
Ise- Hype- Yall.
I think I covered it all … whew!
It has been almost a year long journey for me. This is month 10 since I started the process. When I leave it will be month 11. I will say this- every journey towards living/working overseas is different. I had a lot going on and a very busy year when I started this process. I was teaching full time, I was in Graduate school full time, I was an overnight nanny, I was working on my Teachers Certification program (an online course for Texas Teachers to be certified), and I was working on my TEFLC. All of that – with working on moving overseas. Some of the things I had to during this 10month process meant traveling to Austin and Houston and I needed to schedule those travel dates around school holidays or take off work. Your schedule may allow for easier travel. You probably will not be in 3 academic programs at the same time. I am sure that you are probably not an overnight nanny. So your TIME will be different than my TIME.
What I can say is that it is all done! I did not do it on my own. Without the help of amazing family members and fantastic friends I would not have gotten half it all done.
BUT GOD— I prayed a lot. God has been with me on this journey. My church family has been praying for me. My ministry partners have been praying for me. This wouldn’t be if God did not want it to be. I am so thankful to God and His Word. (Psalm 119:11)
Althea has listened to me babble and babble on and on about going to Shanghai. She even took a trip to Austin and Houston with me.
Aunt Annie and Cousin Ashley listen to me blahblahblah about Shanghai. I stayed with them on more than one occasion in Houston and they even finished up the last steps of my Visa process for me.
I could not have completed this process without Althea, Annie, and Ashley and many others who have helped me along the way.
If you ever decide to move overseas, travel overseas, or work overseas in a country that requires a visa never compare someone else’s experience to what yours will be like. You can use it as a starting place to know what to expect, it can help you by informing you of what someone else went through, but it doesn’t mean your experience will be the same step by step nor does it mean that your journey will take as long. I had a friend leave for China months before me and her journey was quicker and nothing like mine. She did not have the hold-ups that I had nor the delays. This was my JOURNEY. I am happy to share it.
What I will say is this- GO FOR IT! If you wanna do it or ever thought of it- Just go for it. If you are healthy and able to do it, take the LEAP and go for the experience of a lifetime. A week overseas may be all you need to come back home with a renewed mind and fresh perspective. Working with people from another culture may humble you and move to being more grateful than you ever were for the life you live. Living abroad may just jump start your life so that you are fearless and open to everything the world has to offer you. BE: SANGUINE – just-BE!
Let Us: Fill our lives with adventures and not things. Lets: have stories to tell and not just stuff to show.
I absolutely love who I am. I love being Karla Marie. Someone asked yesterday at Life on Life Women’s Bible Study (@OCBF) what are you most PASSIONATE about??? I did not get the chance to answer out loud but I will tell all of you. I am most passionate about bringing JOY to others. That is not as easy as you may think. Some people don’t want your JOY. Some people are happy living their non-joyful existent lives. One day I realized how living a life of JOY really changed my life. This is not to say that things are not unpeachy for me or that everything goes just perfect all the time. Tis False. My life is not perfect. I am more than anything passionate about being a woman who believes in the truth of God’s Word and living a life that shows I am HIS CHILD. Phillipians 4:8 has always been a great place for me to start. Titus 2 and Proverbs 31. I want people to know who HE is because of the life that I live. And I want HIM to be glorified through my life, words, and actions.
I am thankful to be a daughter of the King.
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I am excited about life! I am filled with Hope. I am overwhelmed with JOY!
I am going to do my best to live by the ‘Glad Texts’
(one of my favorites is–Psalms 98:4) — Did you know that there are over 800 Glad Texts in the Bible?!?! More than one for each day of the year for me to live by.
#FearlessinShanghai #KMarieTakesChina #BlackGirlMagic #KarlaGirlLivingLife #BlackGirlJOy #LivingMyLifeLikeItsGolden #ChinaorBust #ChinaAintReady #LookOutWorldHereComesKarla #KarlaGirlJoy
“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” – Hellen Keller
*I choose ADVENTURE*
…..until next time yall….
PAZ!
FEARLESS in SHANGHAI 