Iveheardasayingthatwentsomethinglike,ifyoustayinacountryforthreeweeksyoucanwriteabook,threemonthsapostcard,andthreeyearsnothing!Iamnowfacedwiththisproblem。HavinglivedinChinaforaboutfiveyears,Iamtotallyusedtodailylifehere。Thatshouldntbesomethingtocomplainabout,right?Adaptingtoadifferentsocietyandcultureissomethingtobesatisfiedwith,isitnot?Usuallyitwouldbe。However,itmakeswritingacolumnaboutmyimpressionsofChinaalotmoredifficult。 Luckilyformetwofriendsfrommycountry,Ireland,cametovisitmeduringthesummer。ItwastheirfirsttimeinChinaanditwasthroughtheireyesthatIrediscoveredthepleasureofexperiencingaforeigncultureforthefirsttimeagain。 AtfirstIfoundtheirremarksandreactionstothesightsofdailyBeijinglifepuzzling。Theywerefascinatedbyeverylittledetail。DetailsthatIbarelynoticed。Whydidtheywanttotakeaphotographofamansellingyoutiao?Whatwassointerestingaboutalineofwaitersstandingoutsidearestaurant?Whywasagroupofelderlypeopleexercisingintheeveningsoenthralling? Istartedtorecallthatscenesliketheseoncefascinatedmetoo。InIrelandyoujustdontseethem。ItwasthenthatmemoriesofmyfirstmonthinChinacamefloodingbacktome。WhenIfirstcametothiscountryIworkedasanEnglishteacherinWuhan。ThinkingbackitwasthestudentsImetinthatfirstyearandChineseuniversitylifeingeneralthatgavemethedeepestimpression。 Inthewest,studentlifeisacombinationofstudyandsocializingwithaheavyemphasisplacedonthesocializingpart!DuringmyfirstweekasanEnglishteacherinChinaIwasinvitedtoastudentparty。HavingonlyrecentlygraduatedfromuniversitymyselfIstillverymuchenjoyedstudentpartiesandgladlyacceptedtheinvitation。 OntheeveningofthepartyIwasaccompaniedtoabuildingoncampusbytwostudents。Iwasledtoaroomandenteredexpectingtoseepeopledancing,drinking,eatingandchatting。Instead,Ifoundmyselffacinganauditoriumofabouttwohundredstudentsapplaudingme。Iwashandedamicrophoneandaskedtospeak。Aboutwhat?Iaskedwithafright。Anythingcamethereply!AfterIgotovermyinitialstagefrightIfoundthatitreallydidntmatterwhatItalkedabout。MyaudiencewerehappytohavetheopportunitytolistentoanativeEnglishspeaker。TheysimplywantedtopracticetheirEnglish。 InthecourseofthefollowingyearIencounteredmanysuchsituations。IwasgenuinelyimpressedbythededicationandmotivationofChinesestudents。WhenIwasastudentIwouldrarelygiveupmysparetimetoanyactivityconnectedwithstudy。Unlessexamswereapproachingmyweekendsweredevotedtohavingfunorperhapsaparttimejob。MyChinesestudents,ontheotherhand,seemedtospendtheirentirewakinghoursstudying。IunderstandthatcompetitioninChineseuniversitiesisextremelyintense。Nonetheless,theirenergyanddriveputmetoshame。 AsaforeignteacherIwasmainlyresponsibleforhelpingthestudentstoimprovetheirspokenEnglishskills。Tomostpeoplethatsoundsreallyeasy。Allyouhavetodoisturnupforclassandchatwithyourstudents。Thatsallverywellbutwh atifyourstudentsaretooshytorespond?MostofthestudentscouldreadandwriteEnglishverywellbutgettingthemtotalkwaslikedrawingbloodfromastone。Theywereexpertsatreplyingtoquestionswithonewordanswers。 Alcoholisthecauseofandsolutiontomanyoflifesproblems!BearingthisinmindIorganizedseveralpartiesandpliedmystudentswithbooze。Oncetipsy,theylosttheirshynessandtheEnglishflowedlikewater。Thisslightlyunorthodoxmethodeffectivelybroketheiceandourspeakingclassesbecamealotnoisier。Inaclassroomnoiseisgood,aslongasitisthenoiseofactivity。 ItmaybetruethatrotelearningisoveremphasizedinChineseeducation。Nonetheless,IfoundthatthisdoesnotreflectthenaturalcharacterofChinesestudents。GiventheappropriateclassroomatmosphereandachancetowarmupthestudentsImetwerenaturallyspontaneousandinstinctivelyenjoyeddrama。Insomeoftheroleplaysweactedout,certainstudentsbecamesoinvolvedintheirpartsthattheywereborderingonanidentitycrisis! MyfirstyearinChinawasalsomyfirstyearasateacher。IfIsaidthatitwasalleasyIwouldbealiar。Itwasbothchallengingandrewarding。IhopethatmystudentsactuallyimprovedtheirEnglishoratleastfeltmoreinterestedinitbytheendoftheyear。OnethingIknowforcertainisthatmyyearinWuhanchangedmeforthebetter。ThankstothepolitenessandwarmthofChinesestudentsIconqueredmyfearofspeakinginpublicandbecamemoreselfconfident。Mostimportantly,Imetdozensoffinedecentpeopleandmadenumerousexcellentfriends。