by Rea from USA.
1. Tell us a little about your background and what are you doing in your country?
I am from the U.S. originally, but now I am living in China. This is my sixth year as an EFL teacher through the Amity Foundation, which is a Chinese non-governmental organization.
2. Tell us more about the city you are in?
Zhangye is the city I'm living in in China. It is located in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province, not far from the Gobi Desert.
3. What have you been doing since left Beijing in our programs? what effects of your study in China last year on your current career?
I have continued in my job as an English teacher in China, but this will be my last year. I am hoping to pass the HSK exam in March, and when I return to the U.S. next year, I plan to work as either an English teacher for immigrants or as a Chinese teacher.
4, Tell us more about what impressed your most in your last year in China？
I still find the sheer determination of many Chinese people to learn English an inspiration, and that's what often drives me to study my Chinese better, even on the days when I might prefer doing something else. If they're working so hard to learn my native tongue, I want to show the same respect to them!
Something I noticed from the last time that I was in Beijing was the rise of cell phones for younger kids. Granted, since Beijing is a bigger city, younger students than I had encountered in my small, western town were carrying mobiles, but here in Beijing I've seen at least one 5 or 6-year-old with a cell phone, and a few others who I've suspected of being quite a bit younger than 10. It amazed me because I'd seen kids with cell phones in junior middle school both in my hometown in the U.S. and in my Chinese city in Gansu, but never kids that young. On my previous trips to Beijing, I had seen 10-year-olds carrying them, but not any younger than that. It was interesting, to say the least.
The other thing that struck me was how much cleaner Beijing has become over the years. I've visited the capitol on 4 prior trips since my arrival in 2005, and on every trip the pollution seems to get better. I've been very impressed with the cleanup.
