Helen is the Chinese woman at the centre of the photograph, which was taken when we went out to dinner for her birthday with her mother, husband, baby daughter and sister in law. She is the person in the foreign affairs office at the school who is responsible for looking after and organising the foreign teachers. This means that as well as taking care of bureaucratic necessities such as our visas and residence permits she helps us with everyday things like buying train tickets or going to the post office and liases between us and the school management.
We are so lucky to have her, as she is incredibly kind and helpful, and thankfully is a lot more organised than some Chinese people. Without her, quite simple things would be almost impossibly difficult, as we speak little Chinese, and most people in this city don’t speak English, unlike bigger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.
It has been very interesting getting to know her, as she is a good example of the hopes of young Chinese people from more modest backgrounds. At 28, she still has a lot of the traditional values (such as no sex before marriage, not showing your shoulders, marrying and having a child quite young) that people from big cities who are even a few years younger than her don’t have anymore. Her style of dressing is also different to that of the more sophisticated younger generation, which is very similar to what is worn by teenagers and twentysomethings everywhere, as she goes in for clashing colours, as many sparkly things as possible and bold prints. Two of her main interests are collecting stamps and winter coats: throughout this winter I have never seen anyone wearing so many different coats!
Her husband’s parents are poor farmers from Sichuan province, so they couldn’t purchase a furnished apartment for the young married couple, as is normal amongst the wealthier middle classes. That means that even with her parent’s help, they have had to struggle a lot to set up home, and Helen is very ambitious about improving her family’s prospects. She works incredibly hard to improve her English, and at her job, because she hopes to be able to go abroad and teach Chinese.
I will miss her a lot when I leave, although I am looking forward to being able to send her some presents from the UK.
We are so lucky to have her, as she is incredibly kind and helpful, and thankfully is a lot more organised than some Chinese people. Without her, quite simple things would be almost impossibly difficult, as we speak little Chinese, and most people in this city don’t speak English, unlike bigger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.
It has been very interesting getting to know her, as she is a good example of the hopes of young Chinese people from more modest backgrounds. At 28, she still has a lot of the traditional values (such as no sex before marriage, not showing your shoulders, marrying and having a child quite young) that people from big cities who are even a few years younger than her don’t have anymore. Her style of dressing is also different to that of the more sophisticated younger generation, which is very similar to what is worn by teenagers and twentysomethings everywhere, as she goes in for clashing colours, as many sparkly things as possible and bold prints. Two of her main interests are collecting stamps and winter coats: throughout this winter I have never seen anyone wearing so many different coats!
Her husband’s parents are poor farmers from Sichuan province, so they couldn’t purchase a furnished apartment for the young married couple, as is normal amongst the wealthier middle classes. That means that even with her parent’s help, they have had to struggle a lot to set up home, and Helen is very ambitious about improving her family’s prospects. She works incredibly hard to improve her English, and at her job, because she hopes to be able to go abroad and teach Chinese.
I will miss her a lot when I leave, although I am looking forward to being able to send her some presents from the UK.
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Interesting post, Helen is a strange first name for a Chinese lady isn't it ?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Helen. My though too isn't it a stange name for a Chinese woman.
ReplyDeleteHHHugs to HHHelen!
Tyra
THE GREENHOUSE IN TYRA'S GARDEN
Helen is her English name, not her Chinese name. Most Chinese people who speak good English will take an English name, in the same way that foreigners who speak good Chinese or who have been here a while will have a Chinese name. I tried to get my kids to come up with a Chinese name for me, but nothing came up that suited me.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet her, and happy belated birthday! Sounds like a lovely person!
ReplyDeletehello helen!
ReplyDeleteHelen sounds like a truly remarkable woman. May she celebrate many more happy birthdays!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is really interesting. An English woman in China - an eye-opening experience. Much better than Vegas.
ReplyDeleteShe sounds wonderfully kind and helpful. How nice!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a person who would be interesting to know. Happy Birthday to Helen!
ReplyDeleteThe price from Beijing to Taipei should come down soon. At least, now there are direct flights. Thanks for visiting our blog
ReplyDeleteSounds as though Helen is a real blessing to you all.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to learn that you have Helen to help with the problems of being English in China. Coping on your own would be nearly impossible, I would think.
ReplyDelete