What inspired you to work for Premier English?
I had two interviews and in both I spoke to Daniel. He was honest and I trusted him. There were a lot of other schools which did not seem so trustworthy and honorable. Since arriving, Premier English has always been honest with me.
Carrie and me with some more of my students
Why do you do what you do?
I love the students. I really want to help them. The children are always grateful, and their parents always show appreciation for my work. I also know that, as a teacher abroad, my Chinese colleagues are relying on me to do a good job. We have a great team spirit at Premier English and I want to do a good job for them too.
What is your favorite part about being a teacher?
Getting to know my students. Sometimes I get invited for dinner with students and their parents, on those occasions I get to know them really well. I appreciate those hospital acts because when I arrived in China I had no friends here. Now, after two years, I have lots of friends. The parents and my colleagues made me feel comfortable away from my home country.
Alex and Sally are two lovely students in my class
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Get a VPN! It's hard to get one installed once you're in China. I was also really worried about the culinary before I came. I thought I wouldn't like the food, but I actually love it. There are so many options to choose from, even though I don't like spicy food. As a general advice,I would tell my pre-travel self to not worry about that too much.
What makes Premier English special?
We all try to help each other out and I think people here are very trustworthy. We aren't the biggest or the richest school, but we are proud of our work and get on really well. I've been here for two years and I really feel part of the team, we built a reliable network.
What hopes do you have for the future of Premier English?
I hope we can continue to grow. We put more effort into teaching than lots of other schools in China. Our students are much better at English than students from other schools. I hope we can grow as a school so we can teach English to more students. It's sad to see the children losing time and their parents wasting money at other schools where the teachers don't care like we do.
How do you help support participants?
I always try and make people feel welcome. When new people join our school (both Chinese staff and foreign teachers). I always send them a welcome message, even though our school has 4 campuses in Qingdao and I don't work with everyone on a daily basis. It's really important just to let people know that there's someone they can ask advice from. This type of welcoming effort really helped me when I arrived here in China, so I try to spread it out. I try to do the same for the students, let them know I'm there to teach and help them with whatever I can.
Jason is one of my best students. He's really smart and a nice young man. Carrie at the front is one of my Chinese colleagues.
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
Before coming to China, I had never left South Africa. It was really scary for me at first and I wasn't sure how to interact with people from different cultures. After a while you learn how to be flexible and that's really important in life.
What advice do you have for individuals thinking about teaching abroad?
You must find an organization that you can trust. Make sure they have a good website and that you can speak to some of the teachers who already work at the organization. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Friendship. You must always be safe, but also always try to meet as many new people as possible. I have been to lots of places in China, but it's going there with friends which makes it special.
What qualities in Premier English’s community are important to you?
The openness and honesty we have with one another. We have so many people teaching here from all over the world who rely on the school for their livelihood and accommodation. It's important that people are able to trust the school they work for. It's also important that parents can trust us to do a good job teaching their children. So I think openness and honesty is the most important thing, because this is the way we build trust.
