For Aaron Thompson, a native Ohioan, he never imagined that he would end up in China. All he knew that he wanted to do was to travel and see the world.
He first began to think of how he could achieve his dream in college, choosing to study International Business. “I had to take all these math courses and accounting courses, and it was too much stuff,” Aaron said, shaking his head. Looking for another way, he started to study International Studies but was quickly deterred by the political classes. That was when he found the program Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
TESOL was luckily a program that his Bright State University in Dayton, Ohio. It helped him prepare to teach English in a global setting and fit Aaron well. “I already knew that I liked languages because I was studying German at the time,” Aaron said, which only encouraged him to pursue TESOL and graduate.
“I wanted to teach in Seoul, because it was a big city and everything seemed to be very interesting because it was so much different than everything else,”
Aaronthompson
First spending two years in Thailand with the Peace Corps, Aaron taught English there and learned Thai. He returned to the United States and started another search to teach English, wanting to stay in Asia but experience a different part of it. “I wanted to teach in Seoul, because it was a big city and everything seemed to be very interesting because it was so much different than everything else,” Aaron noted.
He searched through Korea, Shanghai, but did not find anything that suited him. The hours at the school did not work for him or the places that he would live were not suitable. After weeks of searching, he finally told himself that he was going to give up his search in two weeks if he couldn’t find anything. That was when Aaron found Amerlish.
Finding the job posting on Dave’s ESL cafe, Aaron applied, interviewed, and found himself working for Amerlish within two weeks. “One of the reasons I came here is because I was flexible with my job search and it worked out that way,” he said. “I had to get my visa in [Washington] D.C. and do all that stuff on my own, but Amerlish really helped me out with that.”
Arriving in Beijing, Aaron quickly enjoyed teaching the kids at Amerlish. One detail that he noted was that he liked teaching the small classes. “I’ve taught very big classes, like 30 students, and that’s not ideal for learning a language. Working with the kids and actually getting to know them, not being so much their teacher but being close to where actually we can interact on a one to one basis. It makes it easier for me and easier for them.”
One thing he especially loves as a teacher is whenever a kid begins to understand what Aaron is teaching. “Some of my favorite memories with the kids is whenever you are just talking to them and you can see little gears in their minds working, and they are trying to speak the language…the most important thing is that they are trying really hard.” He’s enjoyed his time with each kid, having fun little conversations with them as he’s taught them.
Accustoming to China is also something that Aaron, like so many others, has had to get used to. “China is so different from anything that I have ever experienced,” Aaron mused. “At first it’s different. You go through the whole culture shock thing, everything is so different. You don’t really love it as much as you thought you would, and that’s normal. But after you get over the initial shock, you get over the vulnerability of being in the country, it’s okay.”
China has had it’s benefits and shortcomings for Aaron. He’s enjoyed learning the language while he has been year for over a year, even though Chinese is a difficult language to learn. Beijing has been something for him to get used to, being an especially large city that Aaron has never been used to, having to get used to “the hang of everything,” as Aaron says. Getting used to the large crowds has been another thing Aaron has had to get used to. He said with eyes wide, “There are so many people everywhere and you have to get used to it.”
Aaron suggests if someone was considering coming to China, they should be flexible. “If you have never been to Asia before, things aren’t scheduled so strictly. Things change often and very quickly…maybe your class is canceled, or maybe you don’t have a video, or things just don’t happen. That’s okay, you just have to roll with the punches…It’s not America and its not the West,” Aaron suggested. Having already lived in Thailand before, he was accustomed to this already.
Now since Aaron has been in China, he has grown and had to learn how to accustom to a different culture. Being the only passport holder in his family and having left the United States, Aaron has taken his time abroad to share with others. “I’m more open-minded to different cultures,” he said. “You have to change…I like change. I like to be different, I still like to fit in of course, but I like to give my opinion to others on things they have never thought about before.” Aaron is now looking forward to living in China, experiencing new things, seeing new places, and continuing to learn the language.