Full Version: American expat Trey's involvement in education in Tianjin, China

American expat Trey's involvement in education in Tianjin, China

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His sojourn in Tianjin, China is part of American expat Trey's dream to travel, to live in other areas of the world. His involvement in education, his love of photography, and his desire to meet new people are all being fulfilled in this Chinese city. The fact that the cost of living is cheap is an added bonus to his stay!
  
Trey Menefee  
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August 11 2006

-Where were you born?
I was born in Jacksonville, Florida; spent half of my childhood in south Georgia; returned and had spent the past ten years in Jacksonville before I left.

-In which country and city are you living now?
People's Republic of China, Tianjin

-Are you living alone or with your family?
Living "alone" in the sense that I came alone, but I have two roommates.

-How long have you been living in China?
I have been living in China for a little over one month.

-What is your age?
25

-When did you come up with the idea of living in China?
It was around the beginning of May when I decided to come. I was teaching high school in Jacksonville and realized I was slowly losing my dream to leave my hometown. I had a friend who worked for my present company for two years and after extensive discussions it just seemed like the easiest way to start a very long journey of getting paid to see the world.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
I’m on a tourist visa right now, but we’re working on getting a work visa.

-How do you make your living in China? Do you have any type of income generated?
I’m working with a company that sends Chinese students to America as well as provide English classes with native speakers in three Chinese cities.

-Do you speak Chinese and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
Languages have always proven difficult for me, though I think it’s very important that I learn the local language. I don’t believe my understanding of the culture will be very deep unless I can converse with street vendors and students.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
I miss my nephew and sister quite a bit. Honestly, I might be staying in touch with family better here than I was at home. I might miss blue skies the most, though. Florida is the Sunshine State, you know? The smog in Tianjin is horrible. It also interferes with my favorite hobby – photography. The smog destroys shadows, which give photographs depth. I also miss having real beaches nearby.

I have a very small social network, all coworkers, here in China. We’ve invented our own inside jokes and whatnot to make the best of it, but I really miss the deeper connections back home… friends who have known me for years and really get what I’m about.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
If I can learn Chinese, I’ll likely stay in Asia for a bit longer. I’ve had my eyes on Latin America for a while, though. I think I’d pick up fluency in Spanish much easier than in Chinese. My grand plan is to kind of bounce around the world for awhile. This kind of job lets me do all the things I love: travel, meet new people, teach, and find new experiences to photograph and write about.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
My company provides housing. I'm very happy with my current setup in Tianjin. My room is quite large and all the furniture is very nice. A three-bedroom place this spacious would likely run around $1200/month or so back home. I've been told the housing in the other cities my company operates out of are dormitories inside middle schools. I'll be moving in a month, so things might change.

-What is the cost of living in China?
Cheap, cheap, cheap. I eat lunch on the streets for less than one American dollar, sometimes as little as 30 cents. Dinner at a nicer restaurant for three or four people typically runs around $8-10 for everybody. Foreign style clubs and American restaurants (TGI Fridays) can get expensive. I've had a $50 night out, but that was a pretty ridiculous night.

-What do you think about the Chinese people?
The staring was a little uncomfortable at the beginning, but I rarely notice it now. It was pretty bad when we spent two weeks in a small mountain village near Jixian. My coworker – who’s of Indian descent – and I would walk into the village to use an Internet café and the entire village, it seems, would grind to a halt to stare at us. They would often read over our shoulders while we typed even though they couldn’t read a word of it. The funniest experience was when an entire restaurant stopped eating and many pressed their faces against the window to watch me walk by.

Back in the city, it's nothing near that bad. All the students are extremely friendly and helpful. Last night I had to discourage two students from trying to walk me home. I'm surprised by how common it is for Chinese to think highly of America. They're stunned when I tell them many Americans think there might be a war with China in the future as China arises as a superpower.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in China?
I think the strongest plus of living in China is the lifestyle of a foreign English teacher. The pay is comparatively high (I discovered I get paid two and a half times as much as a high school teacher), the work hours are light, and there is plenty of time to explore the country or just the neighborhood. I'm seriously considering a trip out to Tibet. All of Asia seems so close now.
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-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in China?
I'm still fresh off the boat, so there's little advice I can give the old-timers. For someone new coming in, though, I'd give the same advice my friend gave me. She spent two years here and said, "Let China be China. Don't try to bring America there."

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about China?
I'm still poking around the blogosphere trying to find good Chinese blogs. The best so far is Shanghaiist, which is a community blog with many writers. I think it’s an excellent idea.

I'm keeping my own site, Treyopia, as updated as I can. The original idea was that it would be a photoblog, but there are a lot of short stories and current events type stuff too.