TEFL

nice flowers! Bear Basin, McCall, 6/2

I'm going to miss my mountain bike, sigh.


I hope I'll have a bike for transportation in China.  The 122 page volunteer handbook for China states, "Daily travel in many parts of China, including many, but not all, of the areas where Volunteers serve, is often by bicycle. Although Peace Corps/China does not provide bicycles, many Volunteers use them as their regular means of transportation. The Peace Corps requires every Volunteer to wear a bicycle helmet and will issue one if needed."


Helmet or not, we cannot drive any motorized vehicle, including travel to other countries where there is a Peace Corps program. 


Also, "You are not allowed to ride on the back of motorcycles or other motorized vehicles."  It'll be bike or public transportation all the way, every day!

Why is the Peace Corps in China?    

My job with the Peace Corps will be university English teaching, or Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  In a welcome letter to trainees, the country director explains our role:

"Because China has a shortage of 500,000 English teachers, the Peace Corps was invited to work with Chinese colleges and universities to prepare future English teachers. In urban areas, China has almost reached its goal of providing nine years of schooling for every Chinese child, but there is still a ways to go in the rural areas where 80 percent of the population lives.
In addition to English teaching, the Peace Corps has two other equally important goals in China. The first of these is for the Chinese people to get to know you as a person who lives and works with them and who lives a lifestyle that is consistent with the way they live. Most of you will live on campus in the same apartment buildings where your Chinese colleagues live. The second of these goals is to use all the knowledge and experience that you gain in China to take back to the United States to help explain China to people in the U.S."  

This is the 18th year of PC volunteers in China, promoting education development and a greater understanding between US-Chinese educators.