In 1988, when I graduated from university, a professor from my
school helped me write a letter to a university in China to apply for a
teaching position. I ended up teaching English 15-20 hours a week at a high school in
Guangzhou (Canton.) Not hard work, even though I had maybe 300-400 students.
They really just needed to hear a native English speaker talk, so I didn't
bother with grammar or lessons - just talked up anything I could remember
about life in that faraway alien land, America. Many of these kids had never
been in the same room with a foreigner. Almost 20 years later I more fully
understand how little I understood what was going on around me in China.
I was there teaching English because it seemed a good thing to do when I
didn't know what else to do. I never studied the Chinese language, though
I read a lot of history while I was there. Even though I left in dramatic
circumstances - it was the summer of 1989, the time of a national uprising -
I've hardly paid attention to China since, although I think and talk about
it quite often.
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For more information, contact me via email at: markallancarpenter@gmail.com.
