Lisa in China …(continued)

Let me tell you more about my friend Lisa. She and her husband are spending a year in Pinghu, China (pictured here), a city of approx. 500,000.

This area has not experienced a western invasion as have Shanghai and Beijing so they find themselves being stared at quite a bit, but for the most part the people are very friendly.

Lisa’s husband was hired to teach 28 10th graders and the first weekend that they were there some of the students took them on a tour of the city. They were taken to an old Chinese mansion built in the 1800’s and to a Buddhist temple constructed in the 1500’s. The culture and traditions of China were explained to them as they toured and they ended the day with a traditional hotpot meal. A boiling pot of broth was brought to the center of the table along with a selection of vegetables, meat, dumplings, etc. that the students had selected.

Lisa, unlike her husband, did not have a job waiting for her when they came to China but she was hoping to find work. Luckily for her this soon came to pass & she now teaches 2 sections of English as a Second Language (ESL).

Her students have a tough schedule consisting of 5 classes in Chinese and 5 in English, which includes ESL, Chemistry, Algebra II, World History and Reading /Writing. After 3 years they will have completed both the Chinese and American High School curriculums.

As I mentioned, Lisa and her husband are quite the novelty in Pinghu and one day while waiting to cross a busy street a Chinese man on a scooter stopped and asked where they were from. It turned out that he’d done his graduate work at the University of Wisconsin and is now teaching English.He was on his way to a sports complex and even asked Glen to join him to play basketball. An example of how ordinary people can break down the barriers of two very disparate nations.

I love getting Lisa’s emails and will share them with you. They make me realize that it’s an intriguing world and I want to learn as much as I can about it.