|
When I first landed in China I was not
sure what to expect I just knew I had
a burning desire to be there. Little did I know that my
next 17 months were
to be the most memorable experience of my life.
Zhuhai is located just 1 mile (not even that) inland from
the international
coastal city of Macau and a short ferry ride from Hong
Kong.
My first impressions of Zhuhai City were
a bit hazy because my flight had
taken hours longer than expected to arrive as I routed
through Beijing. Jet
lag consumed a day or two, then over the next week I settled
into my
comfortable 15th floor, three bedroom, security gated
apartment and began to
slowly take it all in. Was I crazy for going so far away
from everything
and everyone I knew? Probably- but that never stopped
me from having a good
acventure before! I was so excited. The furnished apartment
provided was
ideally situated in the center of town, just a short,
10-minute walk from
the school campus, over a grocery store and a restaurant.
Work, food,
shopping, and entertainment were all within a stones throw
of my home.
Perfect!
I came to learn that Zhuhai is not the
typical Chinese city. It is not
crowded or as polluted as other cities in China and the
population is a
melting pot from all over china. Every face you pass represents
a different
part of China and you hear several different dialects
walking down the
street. There is an excellent bus system all around the
city and I found
the teachers more than willing to show me around. The
BIG city of Guangzhou
is only 2 hours away by bus. Zhuhai is in a Special Economic
Zone so it is
a special place.
My employer gave me a car tour of Zhuhai
on my first afternoon out, and I
began to learn the different parts of the city as I learned
a little about
my boss. Eastern and Western cultures are nothing alike.
Having attended
Purdue University my Chinese boss had a unique perspective
on foreigners and
so he knew how to genuinely make me feel at ease and welcome
in my new home.
He invited me to dinner at his home with his family, and
he let me know he
was there for me if I needed anything at all. I was so
appreciative of
this because I knew absolutely no one.
I began working at GLV shortly after my
arrival and settlement into Zhuhai.
There was so much to learn. As a foreigner I did not want
to be offensive
or inadvertently do something wrong, but at each turn
the Chinese staff and
students gently helped me navigate within their culture.
The friends I made
on staff and through the student body of our school were
such valuable
examples of the Chinese heart that I immediately fell
in love with my new
home.
I was pleased to learn that Chinese students
are respectful and responsive.
They are also quick to recognize when a teacher is interested
in their
welfare and they respond accordingly. They are used to
a strict educational
standard in the classroom and are surprised at the relaxed
but firm western
approach. It was impressive to me that we endeavor to
teach culture along
with practical knowledge and academics.
During the school year I met many foreign
teachers from other schools. I
was always pleasantly surprised to learn they had heard
great things about
my school. They always seemed to have a problem with Chinese
bosses and
getting paid on time and I never had this problem.
Taking into account the needed flexibility
of foreign teachers and all the
curiosity of being in a new country, GLV devised a flexible
system of
scheduling so I have been able to travel. In 17 months
I was able to
schedule out a week here and there to travel to Guangxi
three times, and
several day trips to famous tourist spots within my own
province.
What a dream job meeting wonderful people
and living the good life.
|
