Country of Origin : Philippines

国籍：菲律宾

Occupation : HR & Training Supervisor for Sealand Maritime Service Co. Ltd.

职业：厦门海陆海事服务有限公司人力资源和培训主管

Years in China : 16 years and 1 month

在华居住时间：16 年零 1 个月

How did your journey in China begin?

你的中国之旅是如何开始的？

After my college graduation, I met up with my high school friend, Renelyn, who was at that time working as a foreign teacher in Xiamen city. After hearing her wonderful experience here in Xiamen, I asked her the procedure on how to apply to work as ESL teacher. At that time, the qualifications required for ESL teachers weren’t that stringent, basically, the requirements were to hold a Bachelor’s degree and a TESL  certificate. I was lucky enough to pass all interviews and landed my first job as a foreign teacher in Xiamen Educational College which eventually merged with 2 other colleges and renamed into Xiamen City Vocational College.

大学毕业后，我偶遇了高中同学 Renelyn，她当时在厦门做外教。她给我讲了在厦门的精彩故事，然后我问她如何申请成为 ESL（以英语为第二语言） 教师。当时，对 ESL 教师的资格要求并不严格，基本要求是持有学士学位和 TESL（英语作为第二外语教学） 证书。我很幸运地通过了所有的面试，在厦门教育学院找到了我的第一份工作——外教，该学院最终与其他两所学院合并，更名为厦门城市职业学院。

What do you like most about Xiamen and China as a whole?

你最喜欢厦门/中国的什么？

There are so many things that impress me, but from the top of my head, it would be the level of cleanliness and beautiful landscapes –mountains, seas and gardens within the city. Every time I return to Xiamen whether by plane, train, bus or car, I know I’ve entered Xiamen just by looking at the streets.

给我留下深刻印象的东西有很多，首先想到的是这座城市的干净以及美丽的风景——美丽的山、海和花园。每次我回到厦门，无论是乘坐飞机、火车、公交车还是小车，只要看到厦门的街道，我就知道我已经进入厦门。

What fascinated you the most about living in China?

居住在中国，最吸引你的是什么？

What fascinates me most about living in China is the rapid development of mass transit. In 2005, I had to travel to HK twice a year to visit my family. Back then, I had to endure a 9-hour bus ride from Xiamen to HK. In 2013, the high speed train from Xiamen-Shenzhen took 3.5 hours + 3 hours transit from Shenzhen to Kowloon city. From 2018, the direct train from Xiamen to Kowloon West train station all takes only 4 hours! It’s nothing short of phenomenal!

生活在中国，最吸引我的是快速发展的公共交通。2005 年，我每年都要去香港探亲两次。那时，厦门到香港需要乘坐 9 个小时的大巴。2013 年，厦门到香港需要先乘坐 3.5 小时的高铁到深圳，然后在深圳换乘，3 个小时到九龙城。2018 年，厦门到九龙西火车站开通了直达高铁，从此，厦门到香港只需要 4 个小时！这简直是惊世骇俗的壮举！

What is your unique China story?

你在中国有什么特别的经历？

Being a foreign expert in China, I’m entitled to a lot of perks and privileges like being invited to government banquets for official celebration of National Day Holiday and given the chance to attend exclusive conferences, for example the 30th Anniversary of the Xiamen Economic Special Zone. It makes us feel very welcome and special. We are usually given VIP treatment which I would never get to experience back home.

作为一名在华外籍专家，我享有很多福利和特权，比如被邀请参加政府庆祝国庆的宴会，参加一些特别的盛会，例如厦门经济特区成立 30 周年庆祝大会。这令我们感受到了欢迎和特殊照顾。我们通常会享受 VIP 待遇，这是我在菲律宾永远无法体验到的。

Some background on my country

介绍一下菲律宾

Philippines is known to have the longest Christmas season in the world as Filipinos start playing Christmas songs on the radio and start hanging Christmas decors at home and in commercial establishments quite early. The whole Christmas spirit usually starts when –ber months kick in, which is September all the way to the 1st week of January which ends at the Feast of Epiphany.

菲律宾是世界上圣诞季最长的国家，菲律宾的广播很早就开始播放圣诞歌曲，人们也很早开始在家里和公司中悬挂圣诞装饰品。九月开始就能感受到圣诞的气氛，一直延续到第二年一月的第一周，也就是主显节才结束。

作者： Jenny Liang 翻译：潘泽彬

If you would like to contribute your story, feel free to contact us.

Email: luz@mts-tech.com