{"id":687,"date":"2008-02-26T12:01:32","date_gmt":"2008-02-26T04:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stevepeer.net\/?p=738"},"modified":"2008-02-26T12:01:32","modified_gmt":"2008-02-26T04:01:32","slug":"looking-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stevepeer.com\/blog\/looking-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking back after 3 years as an ESL Teacher in China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>note: this is an excerpt an unpublished article written for The Toronto Star (after numerous drafts the editor decided she didn&#8217;t want it). It&#8217;s apt considering my third anniversary in \u4e2d\u56fd is today.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I knew I was in trouble when the first taxi driver approached me. It was February 26, 2005, just before noon, Beijing time. I sat outside the Shenzhen ferry terminal, Guangdong Province, the People&#8217;s Republic of China.<\/p>\n<p>Taxi was the only word I understood. The sentence that followed was a melodic sing-song that made as much sense as radio static. I couldn&#8217;t understand, or explain I didn&#8217;t. He smiled from a dark, weathered face at a freshed-face newb, surrounded by a curious assortment of cast-off luggage. With a shake of my head he was gone. I had been extremely na\u00efve. I had told myself: Of course people speak English in China. Maybe half of them do. Right?<\/p>\n<p>In a moment of absolute and numbing fright I realized I was in way over my head.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know what I expected. A new life? I had traveled 7,838 kilometers to a country I knew only from research. I was on a precipice and it was a long way down.<\/p>\n<p>Under contract as an English teacher at a prestigious private school, I thought a drastic change might make a difference and give me both perspective and insight. My life in Canada had become stagnant. Given my age, slipping slowly from 35 to 40, I wanted an adventure. 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