back to square one

Well, I was supposed to be at work now. But yesterday, on my first day, I was fired.

Ok, not fired... but there's no way for the company to get me a work permit. Apparently it's really hard for someone under 25 and with my skill set (nonexistent) to apply for a work permit. As they already have a lot of foreigners working there, it would be really hard to get another. So the back room administration gave me the axe. I even offered myself as an intern, doing the same amount of work, but less pay and under a student visa... the guy trying to hire me liked that, but the administration said no way--it requires a letter from my university or college saying this internship will be for credit.

So, that put an end to it. My boss (ex-boss, rather) was pretty disappointed. He had no idea.

I'm not sure whether this means that I won't be able to work at all, or that just this company refuses to try and get me through the system. I am going to look for volunteer opportunities around Beijing and possibly some classes, and just basically keep my eyes and ears open for possible interesting things to do like that, or for whatever they might be.

I see it as a positive, it would have been nice to be set and on my way--but maybe going back to square one is a good thing.