Karrin Varucene '08 reflects on a year of teaching in China

Today (August 26) is the big day for most of the 19 recent Skidmore graduates who will be teaching in China at five Chinese colleges and universities during the 2009-10 academic year. Seven of the eight who will teach at Sun Yat-Sen University will land in Hong Kong and ten of the 11 who will be teaching in Dongying and Qufu will land in Beijing. (One teacher will fly to Hong Kong next week and another will fly to Beijing from India.)

The Dongying and Qufu contingents will begin their assignments September 1 and 2. The Sun Yat-Sen contingent will begin their teaching assignments September 10.

Nearly 100 Skidmore graduates now have had the experience of teaching in China and the program has expanded to seven institutions. It started with Qufu Teachers University in Shandong Province, where retired Skidmore English professor Murray Levith and his wife Tina made the China connection during Murray's sabbatical in 1987-88. The College embraced his proposal to establish a formal exchange and sent a first contingent of new graduates to Qufu in 1989-90. Skidmore graduates this year will also teach at China University of Petroleum and Shengli College in Dongying, a new branch of China University of Petroleum University in Qingdao, a new branch of Qufu Teachers University in Rizhao, Xin Tan College in Qufu, and Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, near Guangzhou.

"China is opening up and there's so much more that these English-speaking university students are now able to do with their English instruction," said Sandy Welter, director of the Teach in China program. "They're more open-minded and they can now freely spend their money."

Fourteen members of the Class of '08 taught in China last year. We asked one of them, Karrin Varucene, an English major who taught at Qufu Teachers University in the city where Confucius was born, to reflect on the experience and share her best advice with the new contingent of teachers heading in.  (Note: This Q&A was initially shared on the China Diary blog.)

Karrin Varucene '08

Q: Are you glad you did it?

I am absolutely glad I did it and wouldn't take it back for anything. At about the halfway point, I remember doubting my decision, feeling lonely and eager to return home. However, after entering the second semester refreshed from time spent traveling (mostly in the south where it was warm and sunny) and with a new outlook on how to approach my role as teacher, I found myself in disbelief that the whole experience would soon be drawing to a close.

I'm glad I did it for many reasons:

• I made closer relationships than I ever expected to with my fellow Skidmore teachers and especially with my Chinese students and colleagues.
• I got a view of China that most tourists never get.
• I got to live, eat, breathe (unfortunately?) China for almost an entire year, something that often seems like a far-off dream.
• I got to travel and see a part of the world the way I most prefer to: from the inside.

Q: What are the main lessons the experience taught you?

I learned to have patience, with myself and with others. I learned to have confidence in myself and my abilities, having been thrown into completely uncharted waters--standing at the front of the classroom, charge with the responsibility of somehow imparting knowledge. I learned things about the Chinese people and culture that one simply would not learn in a book. And that is, perhaps, most valuable.

Q: Have you changed your career plans as a result of the experience?

I had never considered teaching as a profession before going to China. But I loved the experience so much. It is such a gratifying feeling to stand in front of a classroom, explain something to the best of one's abilities, and see 35 heads nod with understanding. It is even more meaningful to build personal relationships with certain students who come to see you outside the classroom, perhaps to discuss class material, and sometimes to discuss non-academic subjects.

Sharing life knowledge and exchanging opinions and ideas with my students was so enjoyable that I am now considering teaching as a profession, though I have decided first to focus on my interest in book publishing. My teaching experience in China was such a great one that I fear most of the passion and enjoyment came from such a unique and isolated circumstance. I'm not entirely sure those charged feelings would occur for me in an American classroom. However, if publishing does not work out, I intend to explore a career in education.

The experience overall did give me some much-needed self-confidence, especially when it comes to applying for jobs. I currently have a number of resumes out to most of the major publishing houses on the East Coast.

Q: What advice do you have for the contingent of 19 Skidmore teachers who will be teaching in China in the coming year?

I suppose I would say: It is all what you make it. Many of us Qufuans agreed that we could see how one could be miserable in Qufu (as many of our students claimed to be). It is still "developing," quite filthy, and about three decades behind us in many ways. However, there is also much to love about it. Qufu has character, charm, great food and an authenticity not found in Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong. It is "the real deal," so to speak. We all seemed to make the unspoken decision to fall in love with Qufu, and that was it.

Also, I would say:

• Don't be afraid to try new restaurants and food.
• Make yourselves available to students and colleagues. There are truly wonderful relationships to be made if you make the effort and put yourself out there.
• Enjoy the quiet and simplicity that the yearlong experience has to offer -- you'll miss it once you return to the U.S.
• Take calligraphy lessons if you can! It's an unbelievably cool (and challenging) art form.
• Always have some TP and sanitizer on-hand.
• Be sure to ride in a rickshaw. (Don't forget to bargain!).
• Soak it up and take it all in.

Tags: global, china, teaching in china