Ni hao to new teacher

DUNKIRK — “Ni hao” (hello) to He Yan Xin.
Dunkirk’s newest resident and teacher has traveled halfway around the world to begin her new job this week at West Jay Middle School and Westlawn Elementary.
He Yan Xin is the Jay School Corporation’s first exchange teacher from China. She started teaching sixth, seventh and eighth grade students this week at West Jay. The 29-year-old exchange teacher will begin teaching fifth graders next week at Westlawn.
A junior and senior high school English language teacher in China, He Yan Xin (prounounced sheen) will be teaching Chinese language skills, history and culture to students here.
She is doing it without a translator, but she admits that her English is more British-based than American, and she is having trouble adjusting to U.S. slang and humor.
West Jay principal Michael Crull said she is fitting right in with the West Jay system, teaching three periods a day as well as handling special assignments.
“We’re looking forward to her being here. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for the kids and the community,” said Crull, a former geography and social studies teacher who founded geography fairs at the school to introduce students to foreign cultures.
He Yan Xin said the feeling is mutual, and it should be a great learning experience for her and beneficial when she returns to teaching in China.
“Actually, I’m excited that Americans are showing an interest in Chinese culture,” He Yan Xin said. “This will help me be a better teacher when I go back,” she said.
The Chinese-American teaching exchange program offers “a big challenge for fostering friendship between the two countries,” she said.
He Yan Xin has a one-year contract to teach in Jay Schools, with an option for that to be extended to two or three years, Superintendent Dr. Tim Long said.
That will depend on several factors — including how she adjusts to her new surroundings and being away from husband Cui Zhi and 23-month-old daughter, Cui Si Han.
Although she misses them, He Yan Xin said she talks to her family nearly every day by web-cam.
Cui Zhi is a journalist for a newspaper in China.
He Yan Xi said her husband “is very proud of what I am doing,” as it will help advance her career as a teacher once she returns to China.
She said there are more than 100 Chinese guest teachers in the U.S. in 31 states teaching Chinese.
Teachers with such experience are in big demand when they return to China.
She is successfully making the transition to American life, but has run into a few hurdles — including searching for mementos to send home.
Kathy Nelson, a West Jay music teacher who has helped with the transition, says He Yan Xin has found many items stamped “Made in China.” “When she finds something she likes with ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ on it, she’s really thrilled,” Nelson said.
He Yan Xin is from AnShan, a city of more than 1 million people, in the Liao Ning Province of Northeast China.
The city, which is heavily industrialized, features skyscrapers, not farm fields and plains as in Jay County. She says that this summer is the first time she had ever seen a lightning bolt strike the ground. In her home city, the view is always obstructed by buildings. “It was a first for me since coming here,” she says.
She says anticipates weather conditions to be quite similar here, as compared to what she has experienced in China, which features four seasons and snow in the winter. “Actually, summer there is hotter than here,” she pointed out.
Adjusting to American food is another challenge for her, although she plans to do a lot of her own cooking. She said that they do have McDonald’s Restaurants in China but chicken is substituted for beef in the sandwiches. “We don’t eat a lot of beef there, like they do here.”
Also she said that she has been impressed with the quality of the food at local Chinese restaurants. While visiting the Panda Buffet in Albany, the cooks were even nice enough to let her buy some ingredients for her to use in her own cooking at home.
When He Yan Xin first arrived in this area, she stayed as a guest in the rural Dunkirk home of West Jay music teacher Kathy Nelson, but she has since moved into her own apartment within the Dunkirk city limits.
Nelson showed her around the community with tours of the Glass Museum and Dunkirk Public Library, as well as inviting her to a West Jay Optimist Club meeting where Nelson is the president. “She’s very personable and enjoys meeting people,” Nelson said.
Nelson held Xin find items for her new apartment and supplies for the classroom.
During the Glass Museum tour, He Yan Xin surprised Nelson and others on the tour by immediately recognizing the Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse on some of the glassware on display. She said Mickey Mouse is quite popular in China. Also she quickly recognized the English word Coca-Cola on several glasses, as that soft drink is also popular in China.
Among her favorite discoveries are Oreo cookies and ice cream from Dairy Dream in Albany, Nelson said.
At the Optimist Club meeting which she attended, a drawing was held for door prizes. Long was one of the winners, but he let He Yan Xin select and keep the prize. She chose a bag of homegrown yellow squash and cucumbers, saying she wanted to try the Indiana vegetables in some of her Chinese recipes.
He Yan Xin is teaching in Jay County thanks to Long, who is a member of the China Exchange Institute.
Long told the Optimist Club members that the world is shrinking, noting that morning he had received e-mail messages from people in six different countries.
Long said he feels the Chinese exchange program will be a great addition to the Jay School Corporation.
Nelson has also inquired about the possibility of having He teach a non-credit Chinese language/culture class for adults through the West Jay Community Center or John Jay Center for Learning.[[In-content Ad]]