Foreign Oral English Teacher---Wally---in My Mind’s Eyes (445 words)

I once asked my previous oral English teacher, “Why did you choose teaching? When you began teaching, what were your goals?” He replied; “I thought this was a really cool thing to do. I could provide students with encouragement, and could create the notion in somebody’s head that anything they thought was possible if they marshaled their resources to bring it about. I set out to help them achieve their dream,” he said. Although he was a competent and qualified foreign oral English teacher, he is a member of an oppressed group suffering envy, devaluing, cheating and exploiting. Why do I say so?

Westerners, as a rule, hold a subordinate and relatively powerless position in China and foreign oral English teachers are especially devalued by the Chinese education system.

I’m reminded of scenes from Alex Haley’s book Roots in which he described how the slaves used to compete with each other over whose master has the more successful farm or biggest crops. Common sense dictates that no high-level government official in China is going to squander his Guanxi, which is more valuable than money, here, helping out some foreigner who is thought of just as a transient worker.

Several weeks ago, I had a casual dinner with Scott and Vivian. After dinner, on our ways back to school, Vivian told me a lot about our club and Wally’s life here. I heard that he suffered a series of disappointments and unequal treatments let down by our Chinese and these served as the impetus for this speech.

 We can’t imagine how low paid and exploited foreign oral English teachers in China are. The average income of a foreign teacher here is only 4000 yuan per month, far lower than what they can earn in their home countries. However, our Chinese always think they must be rich. On the contrary, we can find the fact is that sometimes there is even no single coin in their wallets. We should bring home to people that most foreigners are more interested in getting life experience than money.

To sum up, I learned a simple truth. Do not judge someone by appearance. When we look at someone (even when we ourselves, do it) we tend to judge by external appearances. Just like we would when looking at a rough ball of clay. It doesn’t look like much from the outside. It isn’t always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. But there is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that real person, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem inside begins to shine forth.