- Arrived in China in 2012, trained in Beijing, then taught in Changsha, embracing its wild nightlife and challenges.
- Moved to Nanjing in 2013, experiencing its history, culture, and proximity to Shanghai, feeling more connected and stable.
- Returned to Nanjing in 2021 post-pandemic, adapting to a tech-driven China after an 8-year gap and strict quarantine.
- Each arrival brought unique experiences, from teaching adventures to cultural immersion, shaping my evolving relationship with China.
I am lucky enough to have not one, not two, but three arrivals stories to China. I survived a year in Changsha, weathered a following year in Nanjing and then returned to Nanjing again 8 years later, this time as a fully-fledged teacher.
我很幸运，不是一个，不是两个，而是三个到达中国的故事。 我在长沙活了一年，第二年在南京熬了一年，8年后又回到南京，这次是一名成熟的教师。
I first arrived in 2012, spending two weeks in a “teacher training camp” in Beijing. The sarcastic speech marks are due to the fact that it became apparent this was a teacher training camp to me and my group of fresh-faced, trainee travellers; and simultaneously a summer school for a group of unsuspecting Beijing schoolchildren.
我第一次到达是在2012年，在北京的“教师训练营”呆了两周。 讽刺的演讲痕迹是因为很明显，对于我和我的一群新面孔的见习旅行者来说，这是一个教师训练营；同时，这是一群毫无戒心的北京学童的暑期学校。
In a stroke of absolute genius, the organisers had sold this package to two separate groups; we paid to receive on-the-job training, and they paid to have “expert” foreign teachers! Still, the experience was certainly beneficial for us; there really is no training like being thrown into the frying pan and being made to get on with it. I just wish we were given more than 20 minutes notice before leading our first ever “lesson”.
在一次绝对的天才中，组织者将这个套餐卖给了两个独立的团体；我们花钱接受在职培训，他们花钱请了“专家”外国教师！ 尽管如此，这次经历肯定对我们有好处；真的没有比被扔进煎锅和继续下去这样的训练了。 我只希望在我们上第一课之前能提前20分钟通知我们。
Whether the students got quite as much out of it, I never discovered… but the bonds and camaraderie we all enjoyed at the end of the 2 weeks would have been hard to fake. I learnt quickly that a lesson involved some actual effort on the student’s part, even if, at first, it was no match for the sweat, stress, and desperation not to fail I poured into my part.
学生们是否从中获得了这么多，我从未发现……但在两周结束时，我们都享受的纽带和友情是很难伪造的。 我很快了解到，一节课需要学生付出一些实际努力，即使一开始，这无法与我倾注的汗水、压力和绝望相提并不上。
My enduring memories of that time, besides the abject terror I felt in front of a class of expectant faces, was the sheer alien experience of being amongst so many people, in a sprawling metropolis with one foot in history and its face firmly forward.
我对当时的持久记忆，除了我在一群期待的面孔面前感到的可怕恐怖外，还有在这么多人中间的纯粹的外星人体验，在一个广阔的大都市里，一只脚踩在历史中，脸坚定地向前。
An overnight sleeper train to Changsha was another treat waiting just down the line, and being cosied up to families of strangers and playing cards through the night is one of those expat experiences with which long-term China dwellers will surely resonate.
前往长沙的过夜列车是排队等候的另一种享受，整晚与陌生人的家人相聚，打牌是那些外籍人士的经历之一，中国长期居民肯定会产生共鸣。
Arriving in Changsha itself, we quickly realised that our accommodation was of… varying quality. My apartment was perfectly pleasant, relatively clean, and got some daylight. Josh’s; not so much. Nicknamed “The Dungeon”, it was down a dingy flight of stairs and had not been occupied for, at a conservative guess, 3 years.
到达长沙本身，我们很快意识到我们的住宿是……不同的质量。 我的公寓非常舒适，相对干净，而且有一些阳光。 Josh的；没那么多。 绰号“地牢”，它沿着一层土楼的楼梯往下走，保守估计，已经3年没有被占用了。
Dust, mould and spiders were the residents, and had to be kindly but firmly moved on before Josh could live comfortably. Of course, we ended up doing this ourselves.
灰尘、霉菌和蜘蛛是居民，在Josh能够舒适地生活之前，必须亲切而坚定地继续前进。 当然，我们最终自己做了这件事。
That year was wild. Changsha has (or had) a firm reputation as one of China’s party cities, and it certainly lived up to it. We would take taxis, e-bike scooters (still a rarity in those days) or our good old two feet to each corner and club of the city. We got our first tastes of city nightlife, Chinese hospitality, and baijiu.
那一年很疯狂。 長沙作為中國的政黨城市之一有著（或曾經）良好的聲譽，它當然不負眾望。 我们会乘坐出租车、电动自行车踏板车（在那些日子里仍然很罕见）或我们美好的两英尺远去城市的每个角落和俱乐部。 我们第一次尝到了城市夜生活、中国好客和白酒的味道。
As the year neared an end, we wanted more, so secured a job at Nanjing Forestry University. After a summer spent recuperating in England, we started off on our second adventure.
随着今年接近尾声，我们想要更多，所以在南京林业大学找到了一份工作。 在英国度过了一个夏天的休养后，我们开始了第二次冒险。
The arrival this time was much more low-key; no sneaky twice-sold training camp. Living on campus at NFU in our apartments (which were actually just international student dormitories; space for four students given to two foreign teachers), we got our first taste of the Southern Capital.
这次的到来要低调得多；没有偷偷摸摸的两次出售的训练营。 住在NFU校园里，在我们的公寓里（实际上只是国际学生宿舍；四个学生的空间给了两个外国老师），我们第一次尝到了南方首都的味道。
Nanjing felt different to Changsha; less hectic, more stable. The foreign population was bigger, the city felt more connected. The proximity of Shanghai was enthralling, something I was to take full advantage of being here again in 2021-2023. The feeling of connection to history was all around, and I marvelled at the old districts, the parks, the city walls. I learnt with horror about the Nanjing massacre, and I welcomed visiting friends from England to this bustling city that felt like it was exploding into the future.
南京感觉与长沙不同；不那么忙碌，更稳定。 外国人口更多，城市感觉更有联系。 上海的接近令人着迷，2021-2023年我会充分利用这里的机会。 与历史的联系感无处不在，我惊叹于老城区、公园和城墙。 我惊恐地得知南京大屠杀，我欢迎来自英国的来访朋友来到这个繁华的城市，感觉它正在向未来爆炸。
To be able to show them the wonders of hotpot, KTV and all-night clubbing with the knowledge of a (semi) local felt special.
能够向他们展示火锅、KTV和通宵俱乐部的奇迹，了解（半）当地人感到特别。
Home and family called, and I left in 2014, thinking at the time I wouldn’t return. Events never play out as planned. After training to teach in 2017, and the pandemic was starting to wrap up in 2021, a friend convinced me to apply for a role at the British School of Nanjing. Despite China still being in strict lockdown, I got the role, got the visa, and got the flights out there.
家和家人打来电话，我在2014年离开了，当时以为我不会回来了。 事件从未按计划进行。 在2017年接受教学培训后，2021年疫情开始结束，一个朋友说服我申请南京英国学校的职位。 尽管中国仍然处于严格的封锁状态，但我得到了这个角色，得到了签证，并得到了航班。
I think, without my previous experience of China, I might not have lasted the 3 weeks initial quarantine in a hotel in Guangzhou, plus the extra week not leaving my apartment once I arrived in Nanjing. Certainly, going from the end of one school year almost straight into moving to China again left me dizzied.
我认为，如果没有我以前在中国的经历，我可能无法在广州的一家酒店度过3周的初步隔离，再加上我到达南京后没有离开公寓的额外一周。 当然，从一个学年结束几乎直接搬到中国，让我头晕。
China was a very different beast this time around, and arriving while the rest of the world was opening up was a move that, in hindsight, I wouldn’t make again.
这次中国是一个非常不同的野兽，在世界其他地区开放的时候到达，事后看来，我不会再这样做了。
In my 8-year absence, smart phones had multiplied (I didn’t even have one first time around), and everything now existed online. Where before I had been paid in wads of cash each month, I now had to set up WeChat, Alipay and all the other apps we know and love so dearly.
在我离开的8年里，智能手机成倍增加（我甚至没有第一次使用），现在一切都在线存在。 以前我每个月都会得到成套现金的报酬，现在我不得不设置微信、支付宝以及我们非常熟悉和喜爱的所有其他应用程序。
Still, I adapted quickly, and settled in. I remember my first night-time wander around Nanjing; everything felt uncannily similar, but completely different. Facemasks and social distancing did affect the experience. But I found my people, and found my groove, and got up to some of my old tricks again…
尽管如此，我还是很快适应了，并安顿下来了。 我记得我第一次在南京过夜；一切都感觉非常相似，但完全不同。 口罩和社交距离确实影响了体验。 但我找到了我的人，找到了我的节奏，又用了一些老把戏……
While I left, again, who knows what the future might hold. I wonder what a fourth arrival to China, sometime in the 2030s, might look like…
当我再次离开时，谁知道未来会是什么。 我想知道在2030年代的某个时候，第四次抵达中国会是什么样子……