For some reason China makes it incredibly cost prohibitive for Americans to get visas to their lovely country. While my Aussie and Kiwi friends can get a visa for twenty or thirty dollars, we Americans have to pay US$125 for a sixth month, multiple entry visa. So despite the fact that we live fifteen miles from the Chinese border, all four of us have been without China visas for the last six months. That is, until last Thursday.
In anticipation of our last few months in Asia, we all got China visas. On Friday, my principal Bryan told me that he was running up to Shenzhen on Saturday and wanted to know if I would like to join him. Well, with a fresh hot visa burning a hole in my pocket, how could I say no?
The first three or four months that I was in my new teaching position here, I didn’t quite know what to make of Bryan. He is highly effective and extremely professional educator. He takes his work very seriously, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He is one of the most dedicated educators I have ever worked with. He raises the game of everybody around him. But he also has a wickedly quick sense of humor.
So the first time I saw him wearing a pair of his one-of-a-kind plaid pants, I didn’t know quite what to make of them. When people made good natured comments about his bold plaid pants, he just smiled and seemed to take it in stride. He didn’t really make any self-deprecating remarks, so maybe he meant for them to be taken at face value. True, they were quite stylish; but man, that red plaid was loud.
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