by John & Wendy Preston

The Chinese government has made serious efforts in recent years to upgrade the standard of English language learning (a core subject) in its high schools. One measure has been to invite native speakers to China to teach oral English. Here is the story -- along with a few thoughts and reflections of a married teaching couple partway through a 12-month teaching contract in western Hunan Province.

Let's begin by saying that we both love to travel, and are agreed that we like to spend time living and working overseas. We first heard about the teaching opportunities in China in June 2001 on a radio program at our home in Brisbane, Australia. As all our children have grown up, it sounded just what we were looking for. We decided to investigate the matter, and did a lot research on the Internet, as well as attending a promotional meeting. This is how we found out about the Chinese State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) and became determined to work in China only through SAFEA-accredited organizations. We were initially offered a good position starting in September 2001, but were unable to arrange our affairs in time. To cut a long story short, we got our Z-visa to work in China and were allocated a school where we would take up our duties in February 2002. Arrangements were mostly made by e-mail. Note that we were "allocated," and so had no part in deciding on either the school or region where we ended up. We couldn't have chosen any better, however, as our school, located in the outstandingly scenic area of Zhangjiajie, made us extremely welcome.

By Chinese standards, we are living in a relatively rural area. This means we have the privilege of being able to observe at close quarters ways of life that are fast disappearing as China develops. The local population in Wulingyuan is less than 20,000, and that of the nearest "big city" of Zhangjiajie (35 km away) is less than half a million. Many of our students are from farming families that live up to 50 km away. But this is not easy farming country, and making a living calls for hard work on small plots. So far as we know, apart from a sprinkling of overseas visitors among the constant stream of tourists to the region there are no other Western people resident within 200 km of us. This means that we have a sort of celebrity status here. Not only do nearly all the locals know us by sight, but we also get invitations to dine out and socialize with local dignitaries. We are most impressed by the commitment on the part of the public officials here to learn English.

Perhaps we should say a little about the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, which is just five km from our home. The outstanding natural beauty of this area was acknowledged in 1992, and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Although renowned within China, this forest park is almost unknown outside, other than perhaps in South Korea. Certainly very few Australian -- or British, Canadian or American people know of it, and prior to our arrival we, too, were completely unaware of its existence. We think of it as "China's Best-Kept Secret." The park's most outstanding feature is its wealth of massive vertical pinnacles of rock to which scenic luxuriant vegetation tenuously clings, and between whose lush gullies flow gurgling streams. A number of excellent facilities giving access to the finest scenic spots have been installed in the park. They range from wide, paved walking tracks to cable cars that save time and effort in getting to the loftier lookouts. As local residents, we can go to the park any time we wish, and so visit it quite often. We sometimes do it "the hard way" and climb the 3,000-odd steps to viewing vantage points. We count ourselves very lucky indeed to have been sent here, and had we been given a choice, could certainly have done no better.

We are probably the only people in the area who think that it has a pollution problem. Because of the relatively sparse population here in the mountains, the water is clear and the air only gets misty through natural processes. Local residents regard their clean air and water as a boundless resource, and are by no means alone in this regard. The locality is, however, redolent of exhaust fumes from two-stroke diesel motors, and most noticeable from poorly constructed and operated coal-fired heaters. I have to admit that even our own school fails on the latter count. But the most serious violations are those of kerb side food vendors, who leave a trail of refuse wherever they've been. A couple of these marginal operators run stalls near our school, and the state of the river bank in the area where they operate is, to Western eyes, disgusting.

Our inquiries in Australia before we left did not prepare us for school life here. The students -- and consequently the teachers also, work a 13-hour day, 7 days a week for all but two days a month. There are breaks during the day, so it's not all hard grind, but, compared with Australian schools, ours carries an impressive workload. As a concession, the school timetable calls for us to work Monday to Friday only, so we have the weekends off. We both teach fourteen classes a week, plus two periods for the English teachers on the staff.

Our school has done very well in providing us with accommodation on campus. We have been given a nicely furnished and fairly spacious apartment. The reverse cycle air-conditioner in the bedroom is particularly appreciated. We didn't actually need to do very much in the way of improvements, but have added one or two things to personalize the place.

The World Wide Web and e-mail were indispensable to our getting here, and continue to be essential for our continuing happiness and well-being. We are particularly cognizant of this, having experienced a few difficulties at first, and were very frustrated at being "off the air." These problems were eventually overcome by getting an English-language operating system for the PC, and making the outlay necessary for an ADSL broadband Internet connection. We also really appreciate the CCTV9 International TV Channel, as it brings us the news, and educational and documentary programs, in English.

We have taken every opportunity to travel in China. In July we were invited to Jiangsu Province, and, because we traveled by train, we saw quite a lot of the Chinese countryside in other provinces as we passed through. We later took a long weekend in Shanghai, a really amazing city. Having, in the past, walked along Fifth Avenue, New York, Oxford Street, London, the Champs Elysees, Paris and through the Plaza Victor Emmanuelle, Milan, (not to mention Collins Street, Melbourne!) we can say that Nanjing Road is right up there with the best of them.

Our biggest jaunt was in August, in the company of friends from Australia, and a good Chinese friend who acted as our translator and guide. We took a boat trip up the Changjiang (Yangtze River) to see the Three Gorges and the dam site. We were also impressed by the "Little Three Gorges" which was included in the trip. Most interesting of all were our visits to the Buddhist religious sites at Leshan and Mount Emei, where the needs of visitors have been carefully considered. We spent a couple of days in Chengdu, the highlight of which was seeing and cuddling the pandas--definitely a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience. We carried on from there by train to Xi'an--another place that caters well for tourists, to see Emperor Qin Shihuang's terra-cotta army. Finally we went to Changsha and Shaoshan to visit Chairman Mao's birthplace. While in Changsha we came across a tea house that presented a local Chinese opera, and spent a truly enjoyable evening there. We are dismayed to learn that since then this wonderful cultural experience has already become a thing of the past, as the opera has recently closed down. What a pity!

People here frequently ask us if we like Chinese food and how we cope with chopsticks. The chopsticks question is easy. There are many Chinese restaurants in the West -- over a hundred in our home town alone, and we have been eating with chopsticks every now and then for over twenty years. So we were "semi-skilled" in that respect before our arrival here. To some extent, the same goes for food, as we are familiar with certain aspects of Chinese cuisine. This only goes so far, however, because food selection, preparation, and presentation inside China are totally different from the fare offered in Western Chinese restaurants. The biggest difference lies in the selection of food. Many of the dishes -- notably meat and seafood, offered in China are unobtainable, culturally unacceptable, or downright illegal in the Western world. In addition, the scope of vegetables available in China is much wider than in most of the West. Then there's the preparation aspect. All bones -- intact or fragmented, are present in meat dishes placed on the dining table. Diners decide for themselves how to deal with them, generally in a way that Westerners cannot readily accept. This was how we realized that spitting out bone fragments on to the table or the floor is acceptable here. Finally, presentation. We discovered that the Western practice of serving people with "appropriate" portions on individual plates is not the norm here, and that Chinese etiquette is far more flexible. Diners themselves decide what quantities of which dishes they consume and in which order. On the other hand, the fact that everything must be eaten with chopsticks places major constraints on presentation. The absence of knives on the table means that all the food must either be reduced to bite-sized chunks or be soft enough to be split using chopsticks and/or teeth. For example, beefsteak so beloved by Westerners cannot be manipulated effectively with chopsticks, and even something as simple as a crisply roasted potato presents a major challenge. We can say that we are surviving well on a minimum of Western food. Our tea bags and cheese are brought in from overseas and we "pay the price" for some of the items available here, but overall we don't do at all badly. We have found that the restaurant at Baofeng Lake serves absolutely the best coffee for hundreds of kilometers around.

Another question we often get asked is "Do you speak Chinese?" to which we usually answer "Very little." There are many people around us in our work environment who speak English, some of whom have a good level, so it has not been imperative for us to learn Chinese. We have, however, picked up a hundred or so words almost without trying, mainly greetings, counting and money words, and names of places and landmarks. Also, we have the "Lonely Planet" Mandarin Phrasebook which is excellent. So far, we have learnt few verbs, and so rarely speak complete sentences. We have learnt that there's more to speaking Chinese than merely knowing the words. Our pronunciation is frequently unintelligible because we can't get the hang of the tones. But at least we are aware of what we don't know! All this relates to speaking and listening only of course. To all intents and purposes we are functionally illiterate in China. Furthermore, just a little experience with Chinese written characters has convinced us that learning to write would be a major exercise!

Probably the most frustrating drawback to not knowing the language is our inability to order meals at a restaurant. We have developed three strategies to work around the problem. First is the cowards way out, which is to invite English-speaking Chinese friends to dinner, the intention being that they select and order, and we pay the bill. But this plan is often frustrated when our guests slip away and pay the bill before we get a chance! The second option is a variant of the first. We ask for and keep an itemised bill after a good meal, so that we can return to that place with the previous bill in hand and order the same again. The drawback is that if the first occasion was a dinner for, say, six or more, then you're faced with a dauntingly huge spread when just two of you return. So we are starting to use option three now. This involves working out and writing down a list of dishes and cooking methods in English, Pinyin, and Chinese. You produce your piece of paper in the restaurant and point to dishes you feel like ordering. The waitress responds with nods, shakes of the head and grins. By the time you're finished you're likely to have the entire restaurant staff around you, but if you can't stand that you shouldn't be here!

Wendy had a very pleasant surprise on International Women's Day. She had a special visit from the school principal and senior staff, who presented her, and all the other women teachers, with a beautiful basket of flowers, and the rest of the day off. It was a lovely warm sunny day, and Wendy was thoroughly delighted. Later in the year was Teacher's Day, a new celebration for Westerners, and much enjoyed by us. The school gave us a cash bonus payment and a special set of clothing to wear on the day. We were then called to a meeting attended by teachers from all the schools in the area, at which achievement awards were presented to the most outstanding teachers of the past year. Then there were reports from the local area office education administrators. These combine a review of the past year with disclosure of plans and targets for the year to come, and an underlying motivational theme. The meeting was followed by a short break to "meet and greet," and then we all went to a lunch put on by the Education Department. That afternoon the assembled teachers paraded through the streets.

We are now well overthrough our contract, and will soon return home to Australia and our family and friends. There is, however, no need to wait till we leave to state without reservation that our time in China has been a fantastic experience. We have learnt a lot since our arrival, and have had to "unlearn" quite a bit too. China is a wonderful nation currently developing at a remarkable pace, and we are proud and honored to be playing a tiny part in it all. We know we shall be back again before too long.

(China Today February 9, 2003)