My arrival in China was facilitated by my good friend who had come to Hong Kong from Zhuhai to greet me and to guide me back to Zhuhai before the border closed. I had thought when I landed in Hong Kong after a very long, 14- hour flight from Vancouver, Canada, that I had arrived in China. But no, there was yet another border to cross, lines to stand in, forms to fill out, and two different currencies to become familiar with. My heart quietly yearned for the day when the world becomes borderless, when each of us has the status and attitude of a world citizen, and there is no need to be constantly changing one country's currency for another each time we cross these imaginary lines called "borders."
I arrived in late January, 2001, and had some difficulty adjusting to the cold! Yes, that's right - me, having left Canada during its winter found it cold in Zhuhai! Before coming to China I had sent my resume to numerous universities, seeking employment teaching English. All who replied indicated that their policy was to not hire anyone over 60. I then decided that the best thing for me to do was to come here and let them see that I could walk, talk, and teach - that I was not incapacitated by my age (70).
Good fortune eventually smiled upon me. My friend had a daughter who was teaching at Gateway Language Village and I went there with her to participate in an evening English Corner. Her corner had 25 participants and I felt that was far too many to allow participants an opportunity to speak English so I asked her to split the class with me. During the following weeks I did more English Corners and was eventually offered a full- time job teaching in this school that I later learned is one-of-the-top-ten English schools in China.
I am very happy teaching in "GLV". It has a wonderful program (total immersion in English - speaking in Chinese is not allowed in the school) and the staff reflects a total absence of prejudices - there are teachers of many colors, both male and female, from many countries in the world, and there are two even older than me! Our school accepts students 18 years old and up and they come from all over China and a few other countries in the world. Class size is seldom over 12 (and frequently less) with classes for beginners almost always less than six (sometimes two or three). I thoroughly enjoy helping our Chinese students - most are friendly and very diligent; they have ready smiles and enjoy a good laugh.
I am still young in heart, in good health at 73, and the school authorities seem to be pleased with my services. I have therefore recently bought an apartment in Zhuhai and while I am still a functional "old man", I will continue to help students improve their capacity to use English and thereby help them to play a vital role in building a national and world economy, prepare them for study and travel abroad, and make it possible for them to communicate with English-speaking people anywhere in the world.
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