家外之家 2021
My story in China started when I got a job offer for a company in Guangzhou. I never thought of China as a place where I would like to live, I only considered it as a place to travel sometime in my life. Surprisingly, China has turned out to be the country that has brought me the most exciting adventures and experiences in my life so far.我收到廣州一家公司offer的時(shí)候，我的中國(guó)之旅也隨之開(kāi)始。我從未想過(guò)，今后我會(huì)住在中國(guó)，我只把它看作是生命中的旅居之地。但令我驚喜的是，中國(guó)帶給我的是最激動(dòng)人心的冒險(xiǎn)經(jīng)歷。
家外之家 2021
My first time in China was 18 years ago. I visited Xiamen as a tourist with my mum, my aunt and her daughters. Not many tourists came here at the time, and everything was rather cheap. We had booked 3 rooms in Mandarin Hotel but they gave us an upgrade to stay at whole Vila. Yes, we got a 5 stars vila all to ourselves! That was so beautiful, like a wonderland. An unforgettable first impression.我第一次來(lái)中國(guó)是在 18 年前。我和媽媽、姨媽和她的女兒來(lái)廈門(mén)旅游。當(dāng)時(shí)來(lái)這里的游客不多，而且東西都相當(dāng)便宜。我們?cè)趷側(cè)A酒店訂了 3 個(gè)房間，但他們給我們升級(jí)到別墅房。沒(méi)錯(cuò)，我們住進(jìn)了一套五星級(jí)別墅！那里美得就像一個(gè)仙境。廈門(mén)給我留下了難忘的第一印象。
家外之家 2021
The first time I step foot on Chinese soil was in 1997 when I went to Beijing for a work trip regarding the design of a hotel there. Coming here for the first time helped to dispel a lot of the misconceptions in my head and the rumors that I heard about living here. I heard that China was so crowded absolutely everywhere, that people misbehaved, that there were no proper toilets!? Well, of course, it was all wrong.我第一次踏上中國(guó)的土地是在 1997 年，我當(dāng)時(shí)去北京出差，為一家酒店進(jìn)行設(shè)計(jì)。第一次來(lái)到這里，打消了我腦海中存在的許多誤解，那些關(guān)于在中國(guó)生活的傳言也不攻自破了。我聽(tīng)說(shuō)中國(guó)哪里都很擁擠，人們行為粗魯，也沒(méi)有體面的廁所！當(dāng)然，這是完全錯(cuò)誤的。
家外之家 2021
After my college graduation, I met up with my high school friend, Renelyn, who was at that time working as a foreign teacher in Xiamen city. After hearing her wonderful experience here in Xiamen, I asked her the procedure on how to apply to work as ESL teacher. At that time, the qualifications required for ESL teachers weren’t that stringent, basically, the requirements were to hold a Bachelor’s degree and a TESL? certificate. I was lucky enough to pass all interviews and landed my first job as a foreign teacher in Xiamen Educational College which eventually merged with 2 other colleges and renamed into Xiamen City Vocational College.大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，我偶遇了高中同學(xué) Renelyn，她當(dāng)時(shí)在廈門(mén)做外教。她給我講了在廈門(mén)的精彩故事，然后我問(wèn)她如何申請(qǐng)成為 ESL（以英語(yǔ)為第二語(yǔ)言） 教師。當(dāng)時(shí)，對(duì) ESL 教師的資格要求并不嚴(yán)格，基本要求是持有學(xué)士學(xué)位和 TESL（英語(yǔ)作為第二外語(yǔ)教學(xué)） 證書(shū)。我很幸運(yùn)地通過(guò)了所有的面試，在廈門(mén)教育學(xué)院找到了我的第一份工作——外教，該學(xué)院最終與其他兩所學(xué)院合并，更名為廈門(mén)城市職業(yè)學(xué)院。
家外之家 2021
My husband and I lived in Xiamen for almost ten years, but apart from colleagues or friends in groups involved in saving animals, we didn’t meet that many other foreigners. The reason is simple, we didn’t have time.?我和丈夫在廈門(mén)生活了近十年，但除了一起拯救動(dòng)物的同事和朋友外，我們并沒(méi)有認(rèn)識(shí)很多外國(guó)人 。原因很簡(jiǎn)單，我們沒(méi)時(shí)間。
