The China Scare

Many times the big decisions in our lives are not truly felt until further down the line, when we have time to reflect or when the decision comes back to bite you in the ass. Courtney and I made a risky decision to sell everything and move to Spain without a job offer, without a place to live, without fluency in the language, without friends, and without a plan. It is hard to believe that we have already been here for nearly two months. It’s even harder to stomach that we have only been paid about 40 bucks total in that time. This has been a scary season of life. I often mention in conversation to close friends that Courtney has cried more in our second year (all three months of it) than in our first year. Fear drove us to the point of giving up. As of last week I was looking at jobs all over the world. We considered going home, but which home? We considered sticking it out, but how? And that’s right, we considered China!

This is…. the dreadfully wonderful, China scare.

For all of you back at home wondering, yes you can make a good living in Spain, especially if you like losing hair. Spain has 20% unemployment, they don’t like hiring people without an EU passport, and if you do not have proper documentation they like to exploit you and screw you over when you are in need. A few friends of mine were brought to Spain by a company who claimed to provide papers, which meant that they handed them applications for a work permit when they got here and said, “Good luck! If you don’t get accepted be careful, if you get fined and deported we will find someone else to take your spot.” Luckily my Friend just found out that he was accepted. Praise the Lord!

China on the other hand seems to be the land of opportunity. While labor is cheap (meaning you don’t get paid much) so is everything else! Recruiters will get on their knees and beg you to sign a contract… they will throw in affection, flattery, and haiku poetry. They will pay for your flight. They will give you four weeks vacation. They will give you all of your meals for free. They will supply your visa. They will provide language classes. 

So here we are, broke and desperate. Feeling like a couple of jerks. It certainly wasn’t all bad but we just wanted the assurance of knowing that we would be able to pay our bills (and ideally save money). We wanted the security of knowing that we could walk down the street without fearing that a police officer would want to see our justification of residence.  Being an Illegal Immigrant is a humbling reality to live out. In the midst of this trouble Courtney actually turned down a great job offer with a program that is granted by the Spanish Government. Like it or not, we were preparing for China.

We spoke to many recruiters, and to one guy who is about to start his own English Academy in China. The offers each had their perks and all of them offered us the security that Spain had not. Late one night last weekend I began to print out the contract we were leaning toward, reading it, and filling it out. I was also doing some last minute research on the school in China that we would spend our next year investing in. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning when my wife said, "can we please just wait until the morning". Hesitantly, I agreed.

The next morning we awoke to a glimmer of Spanish hope. The same great company that Courtney had turned down because they did not have a position for me, was 80% sure that they could offer both of us a position at the same school. We just needed to wait until Monday morning to confirm that the school wanted to replace two teachers who did not show up to work after Christmas break. In the mean time I also scheduled a number of interviews with various employers that I was not as excited about. None of them payed well nor were they willing to help me with my papers. I was still considering China, we were both praying for Spain. Monday came and went with no news of whether the school wanted to hire us, but another curve ball was thrown. I was offered another job in Spain for more work, less pay, and no papers. They wanted me to sign a contract at 10am this morning (Tuesday). Needless to say, we were confused. So we prayed some more and decided that I would go sign the contract, while Courtney would pressure Jose Manuel of UCETAM (our prospective employer) for a decision by 10am Tuesday at the latest.

I left our house at 9am this morning still not knowing what I would do. At about 9:15am I realized that I had forgotten my Spanish phone and was unable to get in touch with Courtney before my 10am meeting. At 9:20 I missed a stop on the Metro for my transfer. I was pissed, no phone and now I am late for my meeting. I started praying more. At 9:30 once I was back on track with the Metro I happened to see someone I recognized from my job interview. He is a really nice Canadian guy that I had not really spoken to much. It dawned on me that if I struck up a conversation with him then he might let me use his phone to call Courtney! At 9:50am I asked him if I could use my phone, he said yes but there was no service because the metro is underground. I would have to wait until right before my 10am meeting. At 9:58am Courtney was called by Jose Manuel who had called in sick from work but still pressured the school for a decision on our behalf, it was not easy, but he made it happen! Jose delivered the news to Courtney at 9:58am that we would both have jobs, insurance, and visas!  At 9:59am Courtney was jumping up and down on our bed and screaming... yes, she was alone in our apartment! Then finally, at 10am, just before I walked into my meeting to sign a contract for an inferior job, I called Courtney and she gave me the news. With a huge smile on my face, and much thanksgiving in my heart, I gave George (other potential employer) the news that I was offered another job. I then turned right around to meet up with Courtney and sign on with  UCETAM. We start at our new school tomorrow. This was truly a miracle for us, thankfully we have found a generous measure of security here in Spain.

In these two months we have found a church, made friends and have become part of a community.  We have already had many people in that community help us along the way.  We are so excited to continue to get to know our new friends and build deeper relationships, explore more of Madrid and Spain and finally to enroll in Spanish classes!  Our dreams are coming true and we can thank our Spain friends, our friends back home, our parentals :) and most importantly, our Faithful God!  Here’s to 2012 … in Madrid!!  Dream big friends, God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or even imagine (Eph 3:20).