Life in China, why did i come and why do i stay.

I came to China at the beginning of 2007, actually it was a sort of an impulsive decision that led to it. I came because of curiosity and I have stayed because I’m enjoying it so much.

I had dome my CELTA and i was busy teaching English as a second language (TESOL) in Cape Town and when i met an old friend and she told me she was having a wonderful time living and teaching in China. I spoke to some other teachers that had been to China and most of them said that it was an amazing country. I had just read a book called “The World is flat” by Thomas Friedman and that made me very curious about China. I had searched for some information about China but couldn’t find much and there were almost no Chinese nationals in Cape Town at that time. I had met some Chinese crew-members while i was working on a ship but they couldn’t speak much English and they didn’t really socialize with the other crew-members because of the language problems.

One of my teaching friends said that she’d be able to get me a job in China so i thought “What the heck, lets give it a try for 6 months or so and see how it goes”. Within a month i had a job offer, Invitation from the Language center and all the necessary documents and approvals needed to apply for a work visa.

Many people have asked my why i stay, there are too many reasons to count but my main reasons are;

1. It’s the safest country that I’ve ever been to, I have travelled to about 21 different counties so far and I have never felt threatened or that my life or safety was in danger in China, and as a South African that means a lot.
2. There is very little visible crime, most of the crime seems to be white collar crime and in the 10 plus years that I’ve been here I’ve only seen 1 physical fight, and that was a group of young girls fighting about a boy in front of a Karaoke bar many years ago.
3. Chinese people are respectful of adults and especially teachers. Teaching is a very noble profession in China.
4. Chinese people are some of the most optimistic people that I’ve ever come across. Even poor people with almost no education believe that if they just get the right chance, they can also become rich and successful. The new American dream has been replaced by the Chinese dream.
5. Most Chinese are extremely hard working. It’s so nice living in a place where people have a good work ethic.
6. Chinese people taught me how to live within my means and save money.
7. There’s always something to learn, I haven’t been in a comfort zone since i got here.
8. Things happen, people don’t just talk about it or debate a subject to death.
9. There are so many opportunities for hard working people.
10. It’s so different to life in an English speaking western country.
11. Even though China is classed as a developing country it’s a lot more developed than many so called “developed countries” that I’ve been to. Sometimes i think South Africa is un-developing if there is such a thing.
12. I have been received with such kindness and generosity thats it’s left me speechless many times.
13. I believe it’s turned me into a humbler, more patient and altogether better person.

I’ll cover a lot more of these topics and go into more details in future posts.