occupation – Beijing Kids

People in Your Neighborhood: Mandarin Teacher

Nimo_Wanjau — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 01:00:00 +0000

In our daily rounds of Shunyi, we encounter lots of people who help and perform services for us. Some we recognize, still others we may even know by name. Wouldn’t it be nice to get to know a little more about the people in our neighborhood?

Not all students make good teachers. Some people are fantastic at absorbing information and retaining knowledge without being able to impart it to other people. The moment you find someone who is able to clearly communicate what they know and finds joy in sharing this knowledge with others, you know you have yourself a good teacher. Wang Juan, a young Beijingren who teaches Mandarin to foreigners and beginner-level English to locals, is one such teacher.

As a young girl and a diligent student, Wang always dreamt of being a teacher. She admired her teachers for making lessons come alive. She wanted to one day stand in front of a group of people and have an intelligent exchange of ideas with them. Having grown up in the very traditional Chinese educational system, much of her learning was by rote and required constant repetition.

To this day, Wang believes that the best way to remember new information is to practice, practice, practice. However, she always tried to include something interesting or personally relevant.

As a young girl, her favorite subject was history. She was taken by all the stories of days gone by and the magic of imperial China. The stories she heard in school took root in her imagination. Armed with a vast knowledge of history and a keen interest in Chinese culture, Wang one day began to think that perhaps teaching was not what she should pursue. Instead, she set her sights on being a tour guide in her native Beijing.

Her cousin was already working as a tour guide. Wang would borrow all her cousin’s materials, pore over them in her spare time, and make up her own scripts for how she would regale groups of tourists. She would practice her spiels on her friends whenever they went sightseeing. It was a win-win situation. She played the role that she envisioned herself to be doing as a future profession, and her friends enjoyed learning from her. She was moving closer to fulfilling her dream.

But out of the blue, she heard about an opening for a Mandarin teacher at a small language school in Shunyi called HLCC Culture Center. A friend of hers knew the owner of the school, and as it goes with guanxi, she was eventually put in touch with the owner. They both had the same vision for teaching: the school was to be a place where foreigners would not only come to learn the Chinese language, but the lessons would be infused with information about Chinese culture.

It was a perfect way to get their students interested in an otherwise difficult subject, and they could learn more about their host country as well. In exchange, Wang stood to gain exposure to different ways of thinking.

Without realizing it, Wang did end up at her dream job, but one she thought she had already set aside. To this day, four years later, she has no regrets about becoming a teacher. She thoroughly enjoys encountering different personalities and feels a sense of accomplishment when she sees a spark of comprehension in her students’ eyes. She shares in the personal triumphs of students when they do well in external exams. Naturally, she infuses her lessons with lots of Chinese history and culture.

Wang has a lot of respect for foreigners who decide to learn her language, her city, and her country. She admires the many women and some men she has met who struggle through the adjustment blues upon coming to Beijing. But most importantly, Wang gives of herself to her students and in return becomes their friend.

Not all students make good teachers. But the good students who become the best of teachers know that they can also learn a lot from the people they teach.

Photo by Dana Cosio-Mercado

Dana is the beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Beijing in 2011 (via Europe) with her husband, two sons and Rusty the dog. She enjoys writing, photography, theater, visual arts, and trying new food. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city and driving along the mountain roads of Huairou, Miyun and Pinggu.

People in Your Neighborhood: Pinnacle Plaza Framer

“Our family name is Fan. Our elders decided that our generation would all have the same middle name. So my cousins are Chang Hung, Chang Zhi, and Chang Bo. And I am Chang E. It means very beautiful woman. Do you know the mid-autumn festival? She is the beautiful girl with long hair that goes up to the moon. That is Chang E. Here, let me get a book and show you.”

And so rattles off Fan Chang E, known to clients by her English name, Fanny. She has been working for Tammy’s Wins Arts and Framing Gallery for ten years now. The shop has had various locations in Shunyi in that time, but finally settled at the Pinnacle Plaza branch. Fanny came straight from her native city of Xiangyang in Hubei when she was just 16. Having already known shop owner Tammy for many years, her parents allowed their Fanny come to Beijing to work in the shop, where she is responsible for framing and for selling local gifts popular with the expat crowd.

“I get to go home once a year, on Chinese New Year, to see my parents. They are farmers, and they are very busy, so they have never been able to come to Beijing to see where I work. I was born in the year of the rabbit; so was my father, who is now 62. And my sister. She’s 12 years older than me, she’s now 38. I think people who are born in the same year get along very well.”

Fanny disappears to get another book to show the characteristics of a person born in the year of the rabbit. “Meticulous,” her tongue trips on the long word. Then she refers to the Chinese equivalent in this bilingual guide to the animals of the Chinese zodiac. “Jing xin. Ah yes, that’s me. I’m very careful and I pay attention to detail.” Her English is impressive, considering she says she came to Beijing with poor English and has improved it via her daily interactions with her clients. She laughs heartily when I out that a framer like her must, out of necessity, be careful and pay attention to detail. “Ah yes, that’s right, that’s right.”

She is a cheerful young lady who not only knows her business; she is also confident among clients and engages in comfortable banter with them. When asked if she could pose for a photograph, she directed it herself saying, “I want to stand here by the frames, because I want to advertise the shop!” The long-standing Shunyi business has a gem in Fanny. Come to the Pinnacle Plaza branch of Tammy’s and ask for Fanny’s help with your framing needs, discuss any of the souvenirs or home accessories, or during a lull in her work day, just simply be with her and talk shop.

Tammy’s Wins Arts & Framing Gallery

Daily 9.30am-6.30pm Door 702, Pinnacle Plaza, 99 Yuyang Lu, Tianzhu Economic Zone , Shunyi District (8046 5266, 158 0159 6180) 顺义区天竺开发区裕翔路99号荣祥广场702

Photo by Dana Cosio-Mercado

Dana is the beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Beijing in 2011 (via Europe) with her husband, two sons and Rusty the dog. She enjoys writing, photography, theater, visual arts, and trying new food. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city and driving along the mountain roads of Huairou, Miyun and Pinggu.

People in Your Neighborhood: Flower Lady

morganshang

In our daily rounds of Shunyi, we encounter lots of people who help us and do things for us. Some we recognize, still others we may even know by name. Wouldn’t it be nice to get to know a little more about the people in our neighborhood?

Anyone who lives in Capital Paradise or frequents the area of the pedestrian gate beside Lion Mart might know this familiar smiling face. She is Wang Zhao, from Henan.

Wang, who is 39, has been selling flowers and plants at this same location for eight years now. When asked what she likes most about her job, Wang replies with a shy smile, "Shi gei nimen de fangzi piaoliang." To make your homes beautiful.

To do this, Wang makes the rounds of nurseries in Shunyi, selecting what she knows her Shunyi clients will appreciate. Nearly a decade of dealing with both local and foreign customers has given her enough experience to gauge their preferences. Spring and summer are always busy times, with people living in the Central Villa area eager to add some color to their homes. Wang is always happy to give tips on how best to care for the plants.

She also has a good memory that enables her to remember what general style of flower pots her clients prefer and she is quick to give recommendations from her small stock in the back. Because of her personal attention to customers and gentle manner, Wang does brisk business despite being one of many flower vendors along her stretch of Yuyang Lu.

Flowers range in price from RMB 6 per pot to a whopping RMB 900 for a tree peony, or what locals call mudan. This is China’s national flower, and a well-nourished plant that survives through winter. In the spring, it can bloom up to eight inches in diameter.

To visit Wang’s flower garden, go down Yuyang Lu coming from Pinnacle Plaza. Past River Garden and a small bridge, you will see her plants flanking both sides of the Capital Paradise pedestrian gate on the right side of the road. Wang walks among her flowers and does business daily from 8.30am to 5pm.

Photo by Dana Cosio-Mercado

Dana is the beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Beijing via Europe in 2011 with her husband, two sons and Rusty the dog. She enjoys writing, photography, theater, visual arts, and trying new food. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city and driving along the mountains roads of Huairou, Miyun and Pinggu.