An American who is 'homesick' for China

EDITOR'S NOTE: "My China Album", a story-sharing project run by the Chinese embassy in Washington and China Daily, aims at highlighting the friendships between Chinese and American people, as expressed in photographs and accompanying captions. Those interested in participating in the program are invited to submit up to three photos with accompanying captions of 300 words or less, explaining the person-to-person exchange or relationship depicted in the photo. The deadline for submissions is April 12, 2019. For more details visit http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/mychinaalbum.

Kayla Raden, a former high school chemistry and biology teacher from New Jersey, went to China to teach at an international high school in Fengxian, a district in southern Shanghai, from 2016 to 2017.

"Since then my whole life has been changed because I'm so fond of Chinese culture and Chinese language," Raden told China Daily. "Since then I have started to study Chinese characters and culture and my life has been fantastic, challenging and great."

Raden taught ninth and 10th graders at St Paul American School in Shanghai. She had lots of interaction with the students both in and outside of class.

Raden has some of her students on WeChat and she often sees their postings. When she went to the school website and saw her students all grown up and going off to college, she cried.

"It was probably one of the hardest jobs I've ever had, but it was the most rewarding job I ever had," said Raden.

When Raden came home in 2017, she was "really homesick for China". She started to learn Chinese characters to make herself feel she was back in China and at home there.

In 2018, Raden received the People-to-People Award from the Confucius Institute US Center and joined the 2018 Confucius Institute Honoree Alumni Trip to China.

Raden, who now is a program associate at the Confucius Institute US Center, submitted her photos from the trip to My China Album.

One photo shows Raden learning about Peking Opera and traditional Chinese dance at Sichuan Art Vocational College. A university student is teaching her how to move with the long sleeves of the dress.

"Never before had I had such a special opportunity to learn from someone so kind and patient and willing to teach others about the art of dance," Raden wrote in the caption she submitted to My China Album.

Another photo shows Raden playing a guzheng.

"It was quite surreal to sit in front of such an ancient and beautiful instrument and learn how to play a few simple songs and still have them sound so lovely. Getting the chance to learn about and play this 2,500-year-old instrument helped me to truly appreciate Chinese music," Raden wrote in her caption.

Her third photo is with kindergarten and high school students at Tangwai International School in Chengdu. The students were helping Raden learn the words to Mo Li Hua, a popular Chinese song.  

"My teachers were patient and encouraging while I learned both the words and how to sing the tune properly. I was truly humbled by their openness and kindness toward me. 

"While they are learning English, I am learning Chinese, so we are all students trying to communicate with one another and understand each other," Raden wrote.

"I think it's really important for American students to learn Chinese, to be introduced to Chinese culture, because learning Chinese makes me a better person and I'm hoping that other people can feel the same way," said Raden.

Raden said her goal is to live in China and continue teaching, and she would like to write about her "amazing" experiences to share with people and encourage more people to visit China.

"There is a very big world outside of us here. I think if we can share some similar experiences, it will make us feel less alone, it makes us feel that there's a friend we have everywhere, and you can have a family in the rest of the world that's different from the family you've grown up with," she said.

"When you find someone else who has had a similar experience, you are really going to have a really deep friendship," said Raden.

Jiayi Wu in Washington contributed to this stwory.