A Tale of Two Cultures

Stepping into the totally unfamiliar English classroom nearly three months after the school year had started, I embraced the new environment with an uneasy smile. Distressing questions troubledly lingered in my mind, and it seemed like it would take forever to plead for their disappearance, until I heard the warm and comforting voice, “Hi! Welcome, Teenie.” That was my first meeting with my new English teacher, Ms. Wilson.

I saw her reading through a Chinese literary analysis book once. Delicate annotations brightened the book, and her concentration in the boisterous environment truly moved me.

Two months later, I decided to conduct an interview with her.

“I started learning Chinese in my school’s extracurriculars offered by a charity, starting in Year 7.”

Chinese became a fundamental part of her teenage years. Initially approaching the Chinese language through a club organized by a charity in her school, she developed a profound appreciation for both the language's cultural and literary dimensions of the language. She recalled with some laughter at pieces of cherishable memories caused by the cultural barriers during her process of learning Chinese.

“One time, I was shopping in the market with my mom, and I bought some paper money because both of us didn’t know what it was. I took these to my Chinese lesson, and my teacher, who was a Christian from Taiwan Province, shouted with a frustrated voice, ‘Put that away, this is death money.’”

Later on, Ms. Wilson continued pursuing Chinese in GCSE, while appealing to her parents to find an additional Chinese tutor, simultaneously. Eventually, her passion for Chinese prompted her decision to major in the language during her college years.

“When I was a teenager, I knew about English culture, I knew about English literature, I knew about European culture, but I wanted to know about the rest of the world. Chinese, at that point, was my best option to find out about the rest of the unknown world.”

Ms. Wilson on a train in France, heading to meet Ms. Addison and Ms. Karisma during the holiday.

Growing up in Cambridge, the quaint yet scholarly university town with both parents working as staff there, she understood exactly how Cambridge and its constituent colleges functioned. Preferring a different and more special environment, she enrolled in Oxford instead of remaining in her hometown for her undergraduate times, allowing her to delve deeper into the complexities of Chinese study. 

When I asked about her favorite course during Oxford, she remembered a thought-provoking seminar about the comparison between Shakespearean plays and Chinese drama. The insightful study of comparative literature provoked her to rethink cultural narratives, encouraging a deeper understanding of the universal themes shared across different theatrical traditions.

In her later half of her Oxford journey, she joined a study abroad program at Peking University, marking her first visit outside of Europe. At only twenty years old, she decided to step out of her comfort zone by living alone in a mysterious foreign land for the first time. This was no longer a two-hour seminar about Chinese culture; this was her immersion into the world of the East, distinct from the Western world.

Graduating from Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts degree during the pandemic, she directly approached YK Pao School for a job. Her goal was clear—she wanted to stay in China more than anywhere else in the world. Coming to Shanghai and joining YK Pao was never a regretful decision for her, given the opportunity to combine both Western and Eastern elements into her daily life.

Ms. Wilson with Ms. Gregory in Beijing. 

She enjoys every aspect of YK Pao. It is a tight-knit community where kindness and inclusiveness are valued. Unlike others who favor the metropolitan lifestyle, she finds Songjiang, the suburban district of Shanghai, more fascinating. She loves the combination of urban and nature, seeking a tranquil area on the boundary of a fast-paced city. Her interests in exploring the tiny museums in Songjiang Old Town, the birthplace of the modern mega-city, have driven her to understand the city’s history more. 

Songjiang Old Town, taken by Ms. Wilson. 

Aside from these, she also discussed modern Chinese literature with me and found out we share the same favorite Chinese author, Eileen Chang. Ms. Wilson was particularly attracted by the exquisite descriptions of the building’s inner decorations in Chang’s writing, as well as the oppression of young women from a feminist perspective.

“My friends heard about my departure to Shanghai and believed that working in China was scary. It wasn’t frightening after all.”

We chuckled together at the comments made by her English friends. 

Sitting on the cozy sofa in A House’s common room, we both glanced toward the window in unison. It was already 6 pm, and the darkness had claimed the world outside. In the reflection of the window, I could vividly see a teenage girl at her home in Cambridge, dreaming of overcoming the uncertainties that lay ahead, yearning to one day live in China. And yet, here she sits now, in YK Pao, weaving stories of that very land she once only imagined.