Australian teacher adjusts to new life in Shenzhen

Newman Huo

AUSTRALIAN teacher Barry Spencer says he and his Thai wife like to mingle with his Chinese colleagues whom they believe are "characters with lots of fun and laughter."

"We always seem to have the best nights out and enjoy the dinners with lots of laughter and, of course, lots of drinking," said Spencer, who has been teaching at a public school in Shiyan Township, Bao'an District, for the past two years. "When the eating and drinking is finished, you never know where you will end up next especially if it is the weekend."

Spencer landed a teaching position in the Shiyan Public School through a Shenzhen-based agent in August 2006.

It is his second teaching stint in China following three years in Jiangsu Province. Before returning to China for his current assignment, Spencer was teaching in Thailand.

"It was good in Thailand, but I really wanted to return to China again to teach," said Spencer, 44, from West Australia.

"I knew Shenzhen was a fairly new area so I thought it would be nice to teach here," he said.

Spencer has been married to his wife Jan for more than 10 years. Before their marriage, Spencer served in the Australian Army for 11 years.

With a bachelor's degree in English, he taught English in a middle school outside Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu, from 2001 through 2004.

"Living in Shenzhen is a little more expensive than other parts of China I have been," Spencer said.

"It is hard to find many Western items in Shiyan if you need them," he said.

Spencer and Jan always travel to downtown Shenzhen or to Hong Kong to find foreign food and other goods.

Spencer finds his working life in Shiyan quite comfortable because he has a good teaching schedule, which leaves him plenty of time to relax.

In their spare time, he and Jan like to take long walks in their neighborhood.

As a full-time housewife, Jan loves cooking very much, so she spends a lot of time in the kitchen.

Another thing they like to do together is to watch a good movie and have some beer just to relax and put another working week behind them.