Hong Kong: Tourist Visa

In years past I had landed in Hong Kong a few times.  In the early 1980s I had performed with "The Diamonds" in southeast Asia and had been at the old Hong Kong airport on the way, both going and coming from Singapore.  But, I had never really seen Hong Kong at the street level.  From the old airport all I had seen during my flights in the 80s were tall apartment buildings with black, or grey mold which looked very depressing.  I think that is the result of the wet tropical air and pollution which looked rather peculiar to a man who had only seen temperate zone weathering, mostly in Oregon and California.

But, now I was going to arrive at the new airport and follow the plan put forward by the SSIS human resource department.  Because I was coming "as soon as possible" to take on this job I would do it under the rules set forward by their elementary principal.

The school had paid for my flight to Hong Kong and a three day stay in a nice hotel while I went through the process of obtaining my Chinese visitor visa.  Of course this bothered me in that I was going to come into this foreign country and work for a month under a tourist visa which I knew was not kosher.  But, who was I to counter their orders.  I was this American with no background in working long term in China.  I assumed that this must be par for the course.

I landed at Hong Kong International Airport and retrieved my two pieces of luggage.  I had taken my guitar on the plane as a carry on, so I now had these two luggage pieces plus my guitar.  This was more tricky than I had thought it might be and I was all alone.  When you land in Hong Kong the first thing you must do, after going through customs is to exchange money.  So, off I went to the exchange counter to get a reasonable amount of Hong Kong dollars for getting around in the next few days.

My stay at the hotel was paid for, but I had to get there first.  The new Hong Kong International airport is built on an island and is quite a ways from the main part of the city.  So, the way to get there easiest is by way of the train, a part of the subway system.  Again, I had to maneuver my suitcases and guitar after I took them from the pushcart.  The nice thing about my luggage is that hey have great rollers on the bottom.  If that were not true I would be in having big problems with their bulk.  I set one right next to the other and propelled them forward with my guitar in my other hand.  I lucky that the speed train had not been crowded and that it had a luggage area on each car to stow my suitcases.  Airport Express

When I arrived at Admiralty Station  Hong Kong Transit Map  it was time to get off the train rails and trade them for taxi wheels. There was a queue for taxis and I had my hotel information on my itinerary which had the street address for my hotel.   That was where the awkwardness of my luggage and guitar got a bit too much.  I had to pull and push these items along avoiding bumps that might overturn them.  Let it be said that it took a little while to make it to my taxi for the trip to the hotel.

Old Hong Kong is built on hills and my hotel was in this district.  The roads twisted and turned until I made it to nearly the top.  I paid the taxi, and was assisted into the hotel, checked in, and went to my room.  The room I had was rather small which is quite normal for Hong Kong.  I wasn't there for a vacation, but rather for obtaining that all important visa.  Immediately upon arrival I had asked for information as to how to get to the Chinese visa building.  Because all, or most all of the taxi drivers speak Mandarin I had to have directions written down to get me to my destination the next day.

My view from the 9th floor of the hotel overlooked what?  The street and hillside of this part of Hong Kong was like a beehive of interconnected lives, businesses, and activity.  To the left from my window you could see the winding road from which I had arrived.  Above that was a steep hillside which was held back by a high concrete wall.  Slightly to the right of that were apartment buildings reaching 20 floors upward.  From my window I could see the goings on of some of these apartments with residents going about their daily lives.  There was a rooftop swimming pool on one shorter building and a tennis court on another.  Straight across from me was the beginning of small businesses which winded serpentine up  and to the right.  These included boutiques, barbers, small grocery stores, etc.  Some of these "stores" were not much larger than a door with their kitchen or working place spreading back into the interior.  

I set out to explore the area nearby the hotel.  I went to the front desk and asked where I might find some cafes where I could eat.  Walking the streets of Hong Kong was to be my exercise for the days to come.  This area of Hong Kong has features which are very curious.  About a hundred yards to the right of my hotel was a covered stairway/escalator which went down the side of the hill first one block down, then another, then another.  The hillside was nearly a 45 degree angle incline, so normal walking of this could quickly tire certain people.  The escalator was created to go down at one time of day when the foot traffic was going to work and upward when the foot traffic was returning home in the PM of the day.  Clever!  

The next day was my visa run day.  I got up early and, using my Mandarin directions on the back of the hotel's business card and took a taxi to the Chinese visa building.  When I arrived I was greeted by a long double line that almost went the whole block.  There were a host of different types of people who were in the line, but the first thing I needed to do was go to the front of the line and get a form from one of the Chinese attendants standing there.  I then returned to the rear of the line and proceeded to fill out the form with the help of my passport, etc.  The line moved very slowly which I didn't understand until I got into the active processing room.  Meanwhile I stood next to a Chinese man who had great American quality English.  He was from southern California and he had moved there years ago seeking work and now visiting his family in Shenzhen.  But, he was just one of many different stories that I overheard.  There were many British, Australian, Indian, and other nationalities who were visiting China for a host of reasons.  Chinese Visa Office in Hong Kong

I finally made it to the front of the line where all belongings were put through the security X-ray machine.  I picked up my change, watch, and other metal objects and went into the elevator to take me to floor five.  When I got there it looked a bit like a modern horse racing betting room.  There were 10 windows with professional looking Chinese women seated taking the customers as their numbers came up on the electric sign above there stations.  "Now serving # 104, etc, etc, etc" I had been told before arriving that I needed 8 passport sized photos of myself and would now give those, my passport, the filed document to one of these women when my number came up.

I've never been good for waiting, but this was an essential that had to be dealt with for my entry into China, so it was not my place to complain.  In the back of my mind was still the factor of my being a tourist but working full time.  Could this have negative repercussions?  But, now I left the Chinese visa office without my passport, to return 48 hours later prior to my flight to Shanghai and ultimately Suzhou, China.  As trusting as I am it was a little scary to have my all important passport taken from me, but that is part of the process.

I went back to the hotel and looked for ways to pass the time.  One thing that did creep into my mind was the fact that only a month later I was going to have to return to Hong Kong and do this whole procedure over again in order to secure a working visa.

I was lucky that good friends of mine from Guam had recently moved to Hong Kong from the same school that I had left.  They had found teaching jobs in an international school in Kowloon, a district to the north of Hong Kong.  So, the next day I set out to meet them at the school and get a guided tour of the facilities.  It was wonderful seeing them.  They are both musicians and we had worked many years together on many different dramatic and musical projects.  I was given a full tour of their beautiful school.  It was different from a US school in that the school was stacked upward with the rooftop space used for athletic courts and playgrounds.

We finished the evening with dinner and photos of ourselves reunited.  Then, it was back to the hotel in preparation for the next day of visa pickup and off to the airport.

I got up early and made my way to the hotel cafe where I made use of the free breakfast offered with the hotel stay.  The room was filled with mostly British people although I saw a tall elderly couple which was German.  After breakfast I prepared for the day, packed, and took my luggage down to the concierge to keep until I finished at the visa bureau.  I caught my taxi once again and this time got into the line for "pickup".  This line was much shorter than the long queue I had dealt with two days before.  I again went through security, up the elevator, and into the visa room.  I had been given a specific time to arrive and I now checked in with the Chinese visa official who gave me a number to be projected on the LED sign.  This whole process went much faster than the first day and I was happy to get my tourist visa prior to my flight in the afternoon.

With the visa in hand I now took a taxi back to the hotel, picked up my luggage, and using the same taxi went off to the train station for transporting to the airport.   Everything was in reverse of my arrival.  I was a bit nervous now knowing that I was truly on my way to China, by myself.

Leaving Guam for Suzhou, China

What is it that makes people do extreme things?  Sometimes life gives us few options.  We work as hard as we can to stay in the status quo.  The status quo is safe.  We know it....it's happened before and we can have it go on and on.

But, God doesn't always allow us to keep doing the things we want.  Sometimes we try and try and try to fix problems but it just can't be fixed.  If that occurs then maybe it's time to walk away and start something new. 

You've reached the top in your particular job and still what was good in the past is somehow not accepted by those who are around you.  You can beat up on yourself and take it, or you can say, "that's enough" and start in a new direction.

That's what happened for me.  I worked at a school in Guam, thought of as the best on Guam, and perhaps it was, at one time.  But, people from the outside, who had no idea about the traditions of the school and further, did not respect those traditions came in and started chopping off heads.

I was NOT one of those who had their head chopped off.  I was a cooperative man who could adapt to new ways, if necessary.  But, the decline in the school had already been set in motion.  So, my friends disappeared in quick fashion.  Of 60 teachers, 26 disappeared, either forced out or sympathetic to their co-workers' plights.  The following year the school's student population fell and with it the income to the school.

By the end of the second year of this new administration the school was now  monetarily driving on fumes.   One day in the spring of the new administration's second year I accidentally found in the trash, next to the copy machine, notes that the headmaster would be using for the board meeting.  He had been given the job, by the board, of eliminating those teachers who had been found to be superfluous.

But, the layoffs did not happen.  This new administration's third school year began with all 60 teacher in place.  Within one month "financial austerity" was declared to the assembled teachers by the headmaster and immediately 7 teachers were laid off.  This was too much for me, especially since I had been privy to the memo from the springtime which stated that the headmaster must act.  But, he had waited until the school year began and then had laid these teachers off.  I felt this was beyond cruel to have taken someones signed contract and throw it away one month into the new school year.  For me this was writing on the wall.  I needed to find a job that would meet the same income standards that I'd had at this school, and do it NOW.

Most of my friends, who had left, but who had taught at this school had gone to international schools in the Asian area.  This seemed like the best possibility for me also.  I had been checking international school hiring websites for the past few months and had found a job opening at a school in Suzhou, China where a friend of mine had previously worked.  That's what I needed!  This would be a natural departure.  

So, it was time to prepare for going to China.....a lifelong interest of mine.
I had always been curious about China since I was a child.  My parents had a travel encyclopedia which I had pored over and China had been of special interest.  Asia was so much different from what I had seen growing up in Portland, Oregon.

Dave Janssen's Music Online
 "Hafa Adai" in the classroom, Spring 2010

My beginnings with Suzhou Singapore International School were from a listing that I'd seen for an elementary music specialist position which I'd seen listed in early September of 2010.  This was a lucky break for me because usually international schools advertised in December and January prior to the beginning of the school year.  So, this was an opportunity that I was lucky to have found.

As a part of being hired I had talked to the elementary principal, a director of PYP (a system of study in many international schools), an elementary music teacher already in place, and the head of the arts department.  The interview was done by telephone which surprised me.  I thought they might use Skype in a face to face conversation.  


24 hours later I received word that I had been successful in my interview and my move began in earnest.


I needed to pass all my important papers to the human resources department so that they could begin the process of my Chinese work visa.  This was one of the most important aspects of moving to China.  For me,  I had not been hired in the normal fashion so the school did not have adequate time to get my work visa, which usually takes a few months.  The principal wanted me there immediately so they were going to us other ways to start me out.


As it turned out the music teacher that I replaced had come to the school the first day of school, turned, and left without returning.  So, the second music teacher had been under a double work load for the past month and a half and wanted out of that circumstance as quickly as possible.


The solution for the school was to land me in Hong Kong, get a 30 day tourist visa, and then make my way to Suzhou in haste.  What this meant was that I would have to leave the country after 30 days of work at Suzhou, to return again to Hong Kong to obtain my work visa.  But, that will be written of in a future instalments, at length.