Lovely children

My Experience

I’ve travelled to many different countries and have volunteered and taught in a few of them and my experience in China has far exceeded my expectations. The staff at the school has been so inviting and helpful to me, the workload is light, and the students are great! I’ve had lots of free time (weekends and many holidays) to explore more of China and meet more people in different cities and locations. If you are a nature lover/outdoor fanatic, this is a great location for you! There are many mountains and areas nearby in the Hunan Province that are great for hiking and exploring. This is a great school and location if you are looking to be fully emerged in the Chinese culture and to truly experience it day in and day out. But if you want a big city Chinese lifestyle, with lots of other foreigners then you might want to consider another location.

Buckland has been extremely helpful to me. They are always available if I need to discuss something or have any questions for them. I have always been paid the correct amount and on time as well (which I have heard is a very common problem with some other companies). And if you are interested in finding work in the summer, they are happy to help you with that as well. My overall experience with Buckland, teaching English, this school, and China in general has been a great one. It’s going to be hard to leave all of the friends, memories, and the life that I’ve made here. If you have any other questions for me, you can ask Buckland for my contact information and I’m more than happy to answer them via wechat.

Yong’an，it’s a nice combination of both worlds

Yong’an is a great town with many wonderful people in it! However, it is not a big city with tons of things to do so you might want to ask for another location if you’re looking for the city life. That being said, this town is still in a wonderful location! There are 2 major cities within 45 minutes of the town (one of which is the capital of the Hunan Province) with many fun and exciting things to do. I love being in this location because I get to experience a bit of the countryside and small town feel, and can also leave to experience the city life for the weekends. It’s a nice combination of both worlds.

The Food: It's known for being very spicy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious!

The food in the Hunan Province is known for being very spicy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious! However, it may take some time to get used to. The school provides free breakfast, lunch, and dinner to the students and teachers in the canteen on campus starting with dinner on Sunday evening through lunch on Friday afternoon (no food is provided on the weekends). The food in the canteen is pretty good for school food. I’m not much of a cook, so I normally eat there when meals are provided. It’s also a great way to get to know some of the other teachers at the school. If you like to eat out often, there are plenty of options in town. The apartment is about a 10-15 minute bike ride into town where most of the restaurants and shops are. There are plenty of places with noodles, dumplings, and small cheap dishes where you can get a meal for no more than 10 RMB.

If you are ever craving western food, there are a couple more expensive options. Mr. Diamond’s Café just opened up in the shopping center and has good coffee and a couple western options for food. Lou La Café is another option if you want pizza, steak, pasta, or some other snacks. The western food is not going to be like it is at home (just as Chinese food here is not the same as what we consider “Chinese food”), but it’s decent and good for settling any cravings.

Impression of Hunan

Honestly, there’s not a whole lot to do in town. The Laodao River flows through town and there’s a nice pathway along the river that people like to walk during the evenings. There are plenty of small shops, restaurants, supermarkets, and things of this sort. There’s a movie theatre in town as well. I have never been to it because I am gone most weekends, but I believe they play some western movies there from time-to-time in English with Chinese subtitles. There are some options for KTV (karaoke) in town as well, which is always a good time!

I normally travel some on the weekends. Yong’an is in the middle of two major cities, Changsha and Liuyang (each about 45 minutes away in either direction). Changsha is the capital of the Hunan Province. There are tons of things to do in this city. Changsha has a huge selection of restaurants, shopping malls, bars, cinemas, etc. Not only this, but there are some temples and other great places to go and sight see. You might see some familiar restaurants and stores here as well (Starbucks, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Metro, etc.). There are also 2 train stations in Changsha, one of which is a high-speed train station. This was a huge bonus for me because I enjoy traveling often. Train tickets for both stations can be purchased online and picked up at the station. I use an app called Ctrip (the English version) to buy all of my tickets and I’ve yet to have any problems with it. I definitely recommend it if you will be travelling a lot.

The Hallelujah Mountains in Zhangjiajie

Liuyang is a bit smaller than Changsha, but still has lots to do. It’s the firework capital of the world so there are firework shows every weekend that you can watch! Liuyang No. 1 High School is very beautiful as well and has a couple foreign teachers. If you ever get the opportunity to visit the school and meet the teachers, you should take it !

Transportation in China makes it very easy to visit many places all over the country. The high-speed trains are a lifesaver and I often take them to visit different provinces on the weekends or holidays. Zhangjiajie is in the Hunan Province and is the location of the “Hallelujah (Avatar) Mountains.” I HIGHLY recommend making a weekend trip here. It’s my favorite place I’ve seen in China; it’s breathtaking.

The kindest and most welcoming people I’ve ever met

The people here are some of the kindest and most welcoming people I’ve ever met. They have truly made my experience here better than I could’ve imagined. People are constantly checking in on me, giving me rides, inviting me to meals, activities, and helping me whenever I need it. The first term I worked at the school, there were very few of the other teachers that spoke English well enough to have a full conversation with. However, there are multiple new teachers this second term that speak English fairly well. Although, being in an environment where few people spoke my language forced me to learn a bit more Chinese than I probably would have otherwise.

There aren’t any other foreigners in Yong’an (that I know of), but there are many foreigners in Changsha and Liuyang and I was able to make some foreign friends in both cities. The FAO here is absolutely AMAZING and has become a dear friend of mine. Her English name is Columbia. She lives in town, not too far from the school, and I often cycle to her apartment to have meals or to visit with her family. Her husband is very kind as well and often drives me places I need to go so that I don’t have to ride my bike (especially if it’s cold or raining) and they have 2 daughters (one of which was born while I was here). From the moment I arrived here, Columbia made sure that I had everything I could possibly need. She immediately showed me around town and the school, and is always available if I need to contact her.

The School and the Teaching

Right is a picture of the middle school. It’s about a 5 minute walk from the apartment. I teach oral English to grades 7 and 8. The students range in age from 11-14 years old. The school is fairly small and it doesn’t take long to learn your way around. I have a desk with a computer in a shared office space with some of the other teachers on the second floor. The classrooms are all located on one side of the building and grades 7,8, and 9 are separated by floor levels so it’s not difficult to remember the location of each class. Currently, there are 10 classes for grade 7 and 10 classes for grade 8 so I am teaching 20 classes every week (4 classes every day). This number may change next term, depending on how many students are enrolled in the school that term.

One of my Grade 8 Classes

My first term teaching here, I only taught 17 classes every week. There’s an English textbook for each grade that they strictly follow so your lessons will have to coordinate with the unit that they are learning in their textbook that week. For the most part, all grade 7 classes will be learning the same unit each week (as will grade 8 classes) so you normally only have to plan 2 lessons each week (one for grade 7 and one for grade 8). This being said, the workload is pretty light. It doesn’t take much time to create 2 lesson plans every week. I get plenty of breaks throughout the day in-between classes as well, which is nice.

The Apartment

The apartment itself is nice! It’s small, but has everything one person living alone could need. It’s fully furnished and has a smart TV, air conditioning, WIFI, a western toilet, and a washing machine. There’s no dryer in the apartment, but there’s a clothesline just outside the front door where you can hang all of your laundry out to dry. The wardrobe they provide is large and holds all of my clothes and shoes with no problems. Sheets and a comforter for the bed are provided. The bed is a typical Chinese bed, which are a lot harder than most western beds. If this will be a problem for you, you can order a mattress topper online and have it delivered within a week or two once you get here. The kitchen has a rice cooker, hot plate, kettle, utensils, and dishes. If there is anything else you need or want for the apartment, the JD supermarket in town should have what you’re looking for. The water from the sink is not good to drink, so the school provides me with drinking water. They bring big gallons of water to the apartment and I let them know when I need more and it’s always promptly replaced.

The living room space	The bedroom	The kitchen

※  Frequently Asked Questions & Quick Facts

- City Size: Yong’an town is a rural town with an area of about 112 square kilometers

- Regional Climate: The annual average temperature in the Hunan Province is about 17°C (63°F). There’s lots of rainfall during the end of spring/beginning of summer. Changsha can get very hot in the summer.

- Class Size: roughly 45-50 students

- Students’ Ages: 11-14 years old

- Teacher’s Workload: 17-20 classes each week (each lesson 45 minutes long)

- Nearby Places: Changsha and Liuyang (each about 45 minutes away in either direction). There are buses that go to each city from Yong’an or you can order a car to take you. I often use the app DiDi (similar to Uber) to get rides from place to place.

- Things to bring: The best piece of advice I can give you for packing is to PACK LIGHT! I can’t stress this enough. I thought I had packed light and realized after I had gotten here that I didn’t need near as much stuff as I thought I would need. There’s nothing worse than a long travel journey with tons of luggage. You will most likely be returning home with more stuff as well, so keep this in mind. Remember, you can always buy things here (and most likely cheaper than you could back home). Bring any special toiletries that you can’t live without. BRING DEODORANT! It’s surprisingly very hard to find here. If there are any western food snacks that you know you will miss, you can throw a few of those in your bag.  Be sure that you set up a VPN before you get here. I use Express VPN and rarely have problems with it. Bring small things from your hometown to give to teachers and friends for special events. The Chinese people love giving small gifts all the time and it’s nice to be able to give some in return. Bring some pictures of your family, friends, pets, and anyone you might miss while you’re gone and possibly some money from home just to show people. Travel adaptors and extra phone charging leads are always a good idea as well.

- Cost of Living: If you stay in Yong’an, you shouldn’t spend any more than 1000 RMB a month, and you can live off of much less than that if you want to try and save money. If you want to travel a lot and go to a bunch of different places, then obviously you will be spending more than that but even still, the monthly salary should be more than enough for you to live off of.  ■