The interview of which I wrote has now had its conclusion. I spoke with my boss, and she informed me that I was turned down for the position, with the explanation that they were looking for someone with more experience.
When I looked at my LinkedIn profile, I saw that the Head Foreign Teacher at Kaiwen had looked at my profile. Considering that, I suppose it is reasonable to think that I have insufficient experience. My fault, really; I created that profile when applying for work in the corporate sector. On the other hand, I still feel that I did not interview well, either.
My boss, Zoe, asked about what I meant, when I noted that it was an American-style corporate S.T.A.R. interview. In China, one’s resume is presented, the “placer/recruiter” sells you to the target school, and they check your last place of employment to see how your colleagues and students felt about you, and there is no direct personal interview until it has been (mostly) decided to take you on.
The fact that Kaiwen was conducting an interview with me directly, rather than talking things over with Zoe, confused her. I explained to her how recruitment in America generally works. And she found the process as odd as I did. Not that I was unfamiliar with that style of interview, as I said; but I was not expecting to be subjected to it here in Beijing, and so was unforgivably unprepared.
I will make sure I am not similarly unprepared next time. Zoe told me that she would start selecting places for me in June, as schools here get back in gear.

My latest book is now available! I advertised it earlier, but here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Wednesdays-Child-Michael-F-Butchin/dp/B088XXL2CJ/ref=pd_ybh_a_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HZX3H5CRDXFD4A3X6X8P

It is a fictionalized memoir, as I wrote earlier. I hope you will all like it. Personally, I was proud of myself for keeping the word count under 50k. After Medousa, I wasn’t sure I could do it.
Speaking of Medousa, I submitted it for a developmental review (six months ago, in fact; somewhat of an annoyance for the cost of the edit). I was interested in two things: There are places where information and narrative points get repeated, and there are paragraphs that have a certain amount of “dead weight” that needs trimming; further, some of the information gets explicitly “told,” rather than teased out of circumstance and dialogue. Too “obvious,” I think.
But, considering Medousa’s length, and the years I spent crafting it, I really need a fresh pair of eyes to go over it. I simply cannot do it on my own anymore.
As a bonus, I am hoping to get clearer direction on the romantic relationship between the protagonist and her love interest. I’m not very good with relationships, and the one in Medousa seems forced. In fact, considering the difference in social status and power between the two women really should preclude an honest, healthy relationship (To be honest, I sort of knew this when I first wrote it, but I decided to err on the side of romanticism for a more emotionally satisfying ending– or at least one that’s not QUITE so tragic.).
If you do check out my new book, Wednesday’s Child, please let me know how you like it, and, of course, rate and review on Amazon.