The Magic of China

 Shirley, a Chinese girl of around 26 years old, was a new student of the centre, who was working in textiles for a company that needed to communicate in English as a supplier. We were the same age and she had specifically asked for a class with me, because she said I was 'beautiful' and the only foreign girl in the centre. I was on a full schedule in three weeks, teaching 20 classes, but normally taking 16, as if there were no bookings then the class would be cancelled.  Face to Face classes were usually given to a maximum of four people, though it was unusual to have four, and most commonly two. Occasionally the higher level English classes were taken by only one student, which was great, because in this case we could usually have a normal fluent English conversation that deviated from the class dictated on the PPT. Other, larger classes were 'Business English', which could have up to 20 people, and specifically targeted at Chinese intending to learn English for busin...

 I had finished my first full week in the training centre at around 8pm on Saturday. I took appropriate lengths to make sure I made a good impression by dressing formally the whole week in navy blue trousers paired with a light blue high neck collar silk shirt. One of the benefits of choosing EF adults was that, unlike EF Kids who were paid more, there was no uniform, and working on online classes would involve taking a pay cut, so teaching adults seemed to be the best 'compromise' between the other two.  Figure 1: Drinking coffee at a cafe in Hangzhou During the week, I had observed around five classes by local teachers and foreign teachers, mostly the Dan, an obese ginger bearded American from what he calls the 'countryside' of Las Vegas. I also taught half of one class myself, which was to a Level 7 student who was advanced in English. To my relief, my first half class wasn't awful-I think. I kind of just read whatever was on the PPT and got the student to repeat...

 My first Chinese 'friend' was called Victoria, a Chengdu girl who had recently moved back from teaching English in various countries in Asia. She seemed very laid back and relaxed, turning up to every meeting at least 30 minutes late, and getting lost most of the time too. My British colleague, Johnny, who was in China with his long-term Chinese girlfriend says 'she's from Chengdu so she's really laid back'. This was probably my first 'education' about the differing places in China. All I knew about Chengdu was that it was the home of some really cute pandas, nothing so much about the individual characteristics of its people. The differences between Chinese cities are not only geographical, but cultural and linguistic, with each having its own attributes, or rather 'personality traits' of its people. This small encounter made me realise that I knew nothing about China She was a new 'local' teacher, basically meaning that she did the exac...

 I had my first of adventures in Shanghai, and this is when I realised I was starting to like it. The company had provided us with a a metro card with 50 RMB-I had no idea how much this was, but I was very grateful. I knew, unlike most of my fellow cohort who were remaining in Shanghai, that I probably wouldn't use the money.  Jason, who seemed to like me, invited me to go out with him to explore, so we met up together downstairs in the hotel. We found a place close by the hotel on the evening called 'Yang's dumplings', and of course, I ordered the cheapest thing, because I was worried about money, so I bought the 8RMB dumplings, which were pork soup dumplings, one first of the most delicious foods I had ever had. I was trying to learn to use chopsticks, but just ended up sticking them in the middle of the chopsticks, which I learnt was rude because I just wanted to eat.  Figure 1: Shanghai's famous skyline. We caught up with other members of the group and saw an im...

  Figure 1: The skyline in Shanghai I arrived in Shanghai Pudong Airport on November 16th 2016, what would become my ''Chinaversary'', and I was amazed to find that I quickly went through passport control, immigration, and collected my luggage with no hassle. But the next task was to find the driver who was taking me to the airport. As I arrived and walked over to collections I saw huge groups of Chinese drivers with various names of individuals and companies....I was so happy and relieved when I saw one sign that read EF. I think I was the second person he picked up, as I realised that we were waiting to collect at least a few other people. I remember being shocked to find how warm it was....I didn't think to check the weather in Shanghai but assumed it was cold this time of year to find that it was around 13 degrees and there was no need for layers of jumpers and coats. Slowly.....other future colleagues trickled in, one called Jason, and another guy who had recen...

 I had no real idea what to pack, I thought that bringing clothes plus bed sheets would be the best idea, since the expectation was that I would be getting an apartment. I remember my mum buying a really beautiful set of duvet covers, which I loved....along with packing a dressing gown and formal clothes.  I was also told to take at least 20 000 RMB in cash with me for startup costs. I watched EF videos about setting up in China while, they said China was a very 'cash up front' society-I didn't really seem to understand this, and didn't take it too seriously. But I took around this amount with me in Chinese money, thinking that I probably wouldn't really need that amount.  My magistrate mum wanted me to have the 'best start' so she arranged for her friend Ray, also another magistrate, to drive me in his jaguar to Humberside airport to give me the final 'goodbye'. I had asked Ray to take a look at the EF contract and look up the company-my mum's m...