Binjiang Centre

 I had been working at Hubin Centre near WestLake at Yingtai shopping mall in Hangzhou for the last year, but I had noticed a decrease in the number of classes, that is 'no shows'. It was very close to Wulin centre, in fact, only around a 15 minute walk away. To specify the work schedule, I would have a maximum of around 21 classes each week, that is, between four to six per day, with a weekly meeting at 10am on Saturday. Most classes would be face to face classes, F2F, with a maximum of four people, though normally at Hubin, it was only two or even one attendee, with me taking most of the advanced level classes. Other classes were life clubs, which could have between 20 to 35, with many of the 'food' making classes over-subscribed, where they could use English freely, though it always resorted to Chinese. But they rapidly started declining in attendance and time on the lease on the space in the shopping mall was running out. 

The company had already decided not to renew the lease, and so I would move to Binjiang Centre which was located next to Alibaba headquarters, and another shopping mall. Being close to the headquarters of other technology companies such as Nokia, it was the perfect location for staff working for international businesses to learn English. At the same time, it also meant I could continue to work consistently with one boss, Andy, which was a relief because I had heard horror stories about Wulin centre. My colleagues changed too, with Dan gone, and no opening for a new local teacher at Binjiang, Chris Yu would go to Xixi centre, so I still had yet to get to know my colleagues. 

I knew the names of people at the centre, including the local teacher, Iris who had spent the last eight years studying in the US and could speak English and Chinese perfectly with native accents. The others would be Janet, who recently had a son, Eric, and spent time studying in Ireland. Suki, who even went to High School in Australia, though her English was no were near as close to the native-level of Iris. 

It was a nice change from being me and all guys at Hubin centre, as my initial impression was that this industry was very male-dominated. A change with all girls, plus my boss Andy was a welcome change. The other foreign teachers were Lewis, who had been in China for the last eight years, who had learnt to speak perfect native-level Chinese at Zhejiang University. He had a Chinese wife, Munchen who he had met while working at a different training centre, already with a son too, with another on the way, all at the age of 29. He already had a reputation within the company for being a good teacher, and this was probably because of his passion for teaching, as well as his high level Chinese language ability, it meant that he had an intricate understanding of both languages. This also meant that Chinese students could be lazy during class and simply resort to Chinese. We got along well, instantly, through our shared interest in going to the gym, as he was really into working out, especially weight-lifting. But, similar to Andy, whom both could speak Chinese and had Chinese wives and children, he was growing 'tired' and 'disillusioned' with China after living here for eight years, and was looking for his 'escape' route. He moved to EF with an ulterior motive, and that was, for the company to fund the Diploma in TESOL so that he could be more competitive in the job market back in the UK. With the prospect of moving his wife along with two kids, he really needed to move with a job already in the bag. 

Kat, from Manchester, was another foreign teacher, who had been in China for around 5 months, and hated it. Rumours about her hating it were also rife within the 'Hangzhou' EF circles. It was reported that she frequently came to work in fits of tears because of a break-up with her British boyfriend, based in the UK. Being half Ukrainian, she also liked to drink heavily, sometimes during the day. She pretty much hated everything about China, including the people, the food, with a preference for only rice and sweet and sour pork, it seemed she hated every minute of China, and would often give commentaries of her sexual conquests from the expat community, in detail, much to the shock of her colleagues. She was a fully qualified English literature teacher, with a PGCE, and decided to move as soon as possible to Australia, while she could, though I have no idea as to why she wanted to take a job in China, as liking the food was an integral part of the culture. 

I didn't like the idea of moving from Hubin centre at first, as I was only just settling in, and getting into a routine. But this was China, its fast-paced, organised-chaos, and no two days are ever the same. But Binjiang would not only allow me to step outside of my comfort zone once again, but it would give me new friends, experiences and memories that would last a lifetime.