WSI Guangzhou - China
EXCEEDING YOUR EXPECTATIONS
By David Robyak
WSI Guangzhou, China (Service Manager)
Before coming to China, I considered it a developing country and believed my stay
would be short, just a fun diversion from my "real" life in the U.S. Before I began
working for Wall Street Institute, I viewed English teaching chiefly as a ticket to world
travel and adventure, not really a serious profession with career opportunities.
Both China and WSI have pleasantly surprised me. Western visitors to China are rarely prepared for the experience.
Whatever our assumptions(1) and prejudices, China is never quite what we expected.
China leaves deep impressions, with the initial astonishment often followed by lasting
changes in attitude and perspective. Tourists and expatriates here develop all manner
of opinions and feelings about the country,
but few regret having come or think the same when they leave.
Most Americans think we know China before we arrive.
China is in the news, in the movies, in our communities, homes, and offices.
We frequent Chinese restaurants, buy an increasing array(2) of Chinese-made
products, and study China’s history in school. Many of us have Chinese-American
friends, neighbors, or classmates, and "Chinatown" quarters grace some of our
major cities. Debates about China influence our politics at home and diplomacy
abroad. China’s rise and development affects nearly every American.
But we actually know very little about life in contemporary China and horribly
underestimate the country.
| I arrived in Shanghai in early 2002, more keen to explore the monuments of its colorful
past than to witness the making of its future.
I had followed reports of China’s economic boom and changing society in the press,
but expected Shanghai to be drab(3), industrial, and stiff, its development decades
behind America’s major cities. I was imagining the old Soviet Union with Chinese
characteristics. Like most visitors, I was stunned.
Cosmopolitan, sophisticated, and ambitious, Shanghai is every bit the modern world city.
The effects of globalization are everywhere, the pace of development almost
unbelievable. It’s a city being reborn.
| Ultra-modern skyscrapers stand beside beautifully restored colonial edifices and
ancient temples. Ubiquitous(4) construction cranes heave new landmarks to their
feet so fast the skyline seems to change overnight. Late-model family cars and
SUVs jockey for position with a million VW taxis. Starbuck’ s, McDonald’s,
and KFC have colonized virtually every block in the city. In cafes, malls and boutiques,
Shanghainese chatter on the newest mobile phones dressed in the latest fashions.
All styles of international cuisine, music, and film are available. While the benefits of the
new economy have yet to spread to everyone, most people seem hopeful, curious, warm,
and open. There is an overwhelming sense of history in the making.
Perhaps the most striking things about Shanghai, and China in general, are the contrasts
and dynamism. Modern and traditional, global and local, very old and very new coexist
and mingle. Bearded, elderly men in Mao suits share the sidewalk with businessmen in
Armani suits. A teenager in an NBA jersey listens to an MP3 player as he walks casually
onto a subway escalator. Behind him, others assist a bewildered woman from the
countryside who has apparently never seen moving stairs before. Although development
remains concentrated in the East of the country, it is evident even in the most remote
places. A rustic farmhouse might be equipped with solar collectors and satellite dishes.
Wherever you go, China is country of great energy and diversity
I began working for Wall Street Institute shortly after coming to China and have served
as teacher and head teacher at four centers in Shanghai .
WSI is the premier *TEFL job in the country, and the company, like China itself,
is evolving quickly. Constant improvement in the quality of customer care and service
are the focus.
The competition tries to keep up with us; we’re too busy raising the bar to look back.
To use an American phrase, WSI is the Cadillac of TEFL companies.
The students here are likewise impressive-diligent, open-minded, respectful and
appreciative of their teachers, interesting as well as interested. I couldn’t ask for a better
teaching environment.
During its five years in China , WSI has opened 14 schools in three cities and become
the market leader, serving business and government elites at some of China’s most
prestigious commercial addresses. Expanding beyond its home bases in Beijing and
Shanghai , WSI recently established itself in Guangdong Province in the heart of South
China’s industrial Pearl River Delta. Having unveiled(5) its first Guangzhou(Canton)
center in May and a second in July, WSI plans to open others in Guangzhou and
Shenzhen before the year´s end. There seems to be no limit to the nr. of people
who want to learn English.
Eager to experience more of China , I readily accepted the post of service manager at
WSI’s first Guangzhou center. Opening in a new city was challenging, both for me
personally and the company overall, but the results have repaid the efforts. By the end of
September our center should have nearly four hundred students. Life here is good and
the city compares favorably with Shanghai , despite the warnings of many Shanghainese
friends that Guangzhou was rough and provincial. (The Shanghainese, it seems,
are the New Yorkers of China.) A short distance by bus and rail from both Hong Kong
and Macau, Guangzhou offers access to the best shopping, dining, and culture in the
South, as well as being the focal point for export manufacturing in the region.
Have I mentioned that I can watch David Letterman, "24", "ER", "Queer Eye", etc.
on Hong Kong TV here? You can’ t do that in Shanghai .
Guangzhou’s fashionable Tian He District was the obvious choice for WSI’ s first center
in the South. Shimmering new office and residential towers ring a vast green zone
boasting a well-manicured park and modern athletic complex.
The world’ s sixth-tallest building rises majestically nearby, though I never would have
believed its stature, if I hadn’t stumbled across that fact on the Internet.
(It looks big, for sure, but I foolishly continue to underestimate things here.)
Across from the park and adjacent to a metro station, Caifu Guangchang(Fortune Plaza)
has a near-perfect location. The building is a five-minute walk from high-end malls,
five-star accommodation, and a host of restaurants, including the largest Japanese eatery in Asia.
Fortune Plaza center is entered through a lobby on the ground floor arcade, with the
main school above accessed via twin staircases that bookend reception.
It’s beautifully and intelligently designed. Classrooms, offices, and Social Club look out
picture windows onto the broad, tree-lined sidewalk below.
Small groups of passersby often stop to gaze up at classes in progress.
It’ s no accident that WSI Fortune Plaza enjoys the highest number of walk-in clients
in the country. Students and staff alike love it here.
WSI’s future in Guangzhou and across the country is bright and promising, and I hope
mine along with it.
I’m planning to stay a while in China . I have a front-row seat at the world’s biggest
attraction : the birth of the next superpower. I encourage everyone to experience this
country first-hand. You simply can‘ t believe it unless you see it.
1. assumptions - something which is likely to be true even though you have
no proof.
2. array - a large number of things related in some way.
3. drab - without color or interest.
4. Ubiquitous - omnipresent.
5. unveil - officially announce something which has been a secret | |
