<< back to main page

Mary Perry & Ted Garner

Embarked on a post-retirement adventure in China
Ages: 69 and 74
From: Durban, South Africa and Derby, England

Why did you decide to become EFL teachers?

Mary: I suppose the beginning of the story was when I resigned from my job as a teacher at Durban Girls' High School and went to England for an 'adventure'. After several months spent doing caring and then teaching in a comprehensive school, I was incredibly lucky to land a job as Housemother at the world famous Yehudi Menuhin School of Music in Surrey, where I worked for three years. Then on a walking holiday in Greece I met Ted, a retired soldier, sometime journalist and author. Both of us were widowed, one thing led to another, and we decided to do a TEFL course and see where it would lead us.

How did you make it happen?

After doing a TEFL course with i-to-i we put our CVs on the internet and got quite a few replies - mainly from the Far East. I had originally wanted to go to Greece but my South African passport didn't interest them. We were approached by the Yangzhou College in China and decided it would be far more interesting and are so very glad we chose China as it was absolutely fascinating.

What did you do/Where did you go?

We were at the Yangzhou College of Education. The students were between the ages of 16 and 20 and were studying to be teachers of English. Their grammar and written English was quite good but most of them battled to speak English and were very shy and hesitant. Between us we taught 650 students - we taught separately - and the class sizes were about 46. Most of them were girls but there were a few boys. The salary was not great but living was so cheap that we could buy whatever we wanted and travel extensively at weekends and holidays.

What advice do you have to people wanting to teach in China?

It is not easy, I could never have done it alone as you are very isolated and the culture is completely alien so you do need to be emotionally strong. But embrace the culture and customs, eat like the Chinese (it is so cheap and tasty), take lots to read and enjoy the differences.

What now?

We've just published a book about our experiences of teaching English in China, called Adonis & Bignose in China: Teaching, Travels and Tea (www.adonisandbignose.com). It mixes our experiences of everyday life in China with teaching tips and accounts of our travels.

<< back to main page