When Lisa Balaban, a junior at St. Francis University of Pennsylvania, was chosen to travel to China to help students learn English, she thought she would be the one teaching. As it turns out, the Connellsville woman ended up getting an education herself.
Balaban, a 2000 graduate of Geibel Catholic High School, was selected to take part in a program designed to create a better alliance between schools in China and universities in the United States, like St. Francis, which is located in Loretto, Pa. She left on July 4 to spend 40 days as an intern teaching students in Fuzhou, China, the basics of the English language.
Balaban, who is currently a junior majoring in elementary and special education with a minor in psychology, said she was interested in the unique program so she could gain more hands-on experience in teaching.
In her experience at home, Balaban usually taught in front of children kindergarten through sixth grade. While teaching low level English in China, Balaban's students ranged in ages from 8 to 21 with varying levels of knowledge of the English language.
An additional challenge in China was that some of her students were from different villages and spoke different dialects. In addition to not understanding her, there were some that didn't even understand each other unless they spoke Mandarin.
Although she was told and expected students in China to be much different from students in this country, the first thing she learned is that students in China and America are very similar.
"They were just typical kids," said Balaban.
The students she taught in China were in a school system that was close to a summer camp and they - like she guesses American students - weren't too thrilled to be there. One difference in the school system that she witnessed was that it is much more difficult to get into college there than it is in America.
While in China, Balaban said she made a lot of new friends. In fact, she said she still sends and receives e-mails from some of the teaching assistants she met during the experience.
Balaban said that China is very different from American culturally, especially in the way they treat one another.
"They genuinely care about each other. They don't care about themselves," said Balaban.
One thing in particular she remembers that took some getting used to was how the Chinese address each other. They say the last name first out of respect for the family.
Another difference that was hard to accept was how the Chinese treat their women.
"It's pretty bad. At first, I felt really uncomfortable with it. It's not that it's poor treatment. Women are just pushed off to the side. They don't matter," said Balaban.
Balaban was also shocked to learn of the deplorable conditions the Chinese live in. She said families live in places that are the equivalent of a hole in the wall. Also, she was shocked to find out that Chinese babies don't wear diapers, but just have a hole cut in their pants.
Although it took Balaban a while to become accustomed to the way things in the Asian country, it was also an adjustment for her Chinese friends.
"Many over there have never even seen an American. They didn't like it when we spoke English. They wanted us to try to speak Chinese," said Balaban.
Balaban said she and the other interns were able to pick up a lot of Chinese conversational words and phrases that allowed them to get by. However, she was intrigued by how open the Chinese were to try new things.
"They were willing to learn, not like us. They have very open minds," said Balaban.
Although she spent a great deal of time in the classroom, she had plenty of time left for touring, shopping and other excursions.
She said they toured two temples while in China, which allowed her to learn another lesson about the Chinese. As she believed that everyone in China was a Buddhist, the Chinese believe that all Americans are Christians. Neither, of course, is true.
Another similarity between the two countries is the misconception that every area is beautiful. Like America, China has some very beautiful and gorgeous scenery, but it also has some not-so-nice areas.
For instance, Balaban remembers the beaches along the South China Sea. In China, the beaches aren't cleaned at night, so they are nothing like beaches in America. Also, the area where they lived and taught (the American village) resembled what she called "the bad side of Pittsburgh."
Despite all she saw while in China, Balaban has no reservations about going back.
"I've already said I would go back because I really enjoyed the time I spent teaching there," said Balaban.
