01 Gordon Trimble

From Hawaii, Taught at Hwa Nan from 2005 to present

When I invited Gordon to introduce himself to my class, he said: My name is Gordon and my father was born in 1915. Looking at his wife and said: Her name is Sonia and her father was born in 1915. My father was born in Fujian, China. Her father was born in Fujian, China. My last name is Trimble. Her last name is Trimble.

How can we create an environment where students are competing to improve their public speaking skills?

Learning is difficult, I focus more of the learning process than trying to think of what things students might consider interesting. It is the students that make a class interesting and set the tone and the bar.

I take time to explain why knowing this or being able to do that will make them a happier, more successful person. I try to relate learning to what life is like after college.

02 Dodie Johnston

From California, Taught at Hwa Nan from 2000 to 2011

Because of the international culture created by Hwa Nan for many years, the college has become a meeting venue for culture from different places to travel thousands of miles just to meet a bosom friend. Dodie met Jeanne Philips in 2000. Sometimes you just know when you meet someone, that you are going to be good friends. Jeanne and Dodie liked each other right from the first time they met and built a very special friendship. When Jeanne was unable to return to china, Dodie visited her in Colorado.

Hwa Nan staff were all so accommodating, willing to be friends with foreign teachers. Dodie’s friends who taught at different colleges were jealous about how friendly and supportive Hwa Nan was to foreign teachers.

I brought in National Geographic magazines and had my students pick a country that interested them and convince the rest of us we should go visit.

Life has been very hard for Chinese people for centuries and some of the things I saw as rude or pushy had been necessary for their survival. I cringed when I saw a parent making his down syndrome child beg in a train station or shopkeepers sweeping their commercial garbage into the street. I constantly made a big fuss about not cheating in my class. But what do I know about the conditions that drive people to this behavior? The complexity of Chinese society can sometimes be overwhelming and de-humanizing, at least to an outsider who doesn’t understand it. What I do understand is that disregard for rules when so many rules are enforced arbitrarily or not at all.

The more I returned to China, the more I tried to become flexible in my judgements and to accept that, while I was in their country, I needed to accept how things were done and try to understand why, rather than feeling frustrated or angry. I am sure this is often true for Chinese people getting used to American ways when in the U.S.

03 Lisa Ravenhill

Born in US, grew up in New Zealand, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1992 to1996

With an English father and an America mother, I have the advantage of knowing both accents. My family traveled quite a lot growing up so I got to experience a lot of different cultures . I studied home science at Ogago university in New Zealand, home economics at Texas womens university in the USA, and got a teaching English as a second language qualification through the university of the holy land, Isreal.

I read about Hwa Nan in a professional science journal and realized that my education background fit in really well. Since I had planned on coming to teach in China and was interested in education for women, this college seemed an obvious choice. What I gained in experience, knowledge of a new place and culture, and the chance to be friend with Chinese people was far more valuable.

My goal was simply to get the student to believe that they could learn English and grow in confidence. To that end, I used whatever materials I found personally interesting and actually wanted to teach. I hope that my students would find the lesson equally interesting and my enthusiasm for the English language infectious!

I understand the role of teacher as both an authority in interaction and transaction. This was not hard as I was also a young teacher and is still learning how to teach. Not only that but I was learning how to teach Chinese students, I was learning about their culture, background and point of views. That’s a humble position to be in as a teacher.

Language and culture are deeply rooted. I taught my student the culturally appropriate and natural usage of these words and phrases.

I don’t know if I chose to teach in china or if was chosen for me, but I love living in China. Rather than developing my career, I chose to make a life here. It’s an abundant life because I get to do what I love and I love what I do!

I felt it was a privilege to be in china and the staff of the foreign affairs office were so welcoming, kind and helpful that I was barely aware of the poor living conditions. Again, my life was so rich in experiences and friendships that I did not need to focus on what I didn’t have! There was the occasional rat, bouts and food poisoning, no-water Mondays, no international phone line( and definitely no internet in those days), but these types of “hardship” just made for great China stories and experiences.

In Lisa’s class, there were many interesting things. She took us to McDonalds’s ( just opened in Fujiang in 1994) on the other side of the bridge. We at and chat about anything we liked. She also took us to the kitchen in foreign faculty house and make many different pastries. In one special class, she taught us how to play UNO cards. She said we could only talk in English. It really surprised us that we understood Lisa’s explanation about the game effortlessly.

04 Lisa Long

From Washington, Taught at Hwa Nan from 2004 to 2006

I lived in a big house with most of the foreign teachers from Hwa Nan, so it is like living in a tiny UN or a mini-America. I feel comfortable in Fuzhou, know my way around well enough to give directions to other people and have even been mistaken for a resident of Fuzhou a few times.

05 Martha Sue Todd

From North Carolina, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1992 to1995

Sue put her class everywhere, sometimes in the kitchen of the foreign affairs office, in her living room or in the video room. Sometimes in the market or in the park. Sometimes in the church or in Macdonald. In her class, students often acquired English and used English unconsciously. With Sue’s influence, speaking English became such a natural thing for her students.

Sue named my daughter Esther after her grandma. We stayed in touch for over 20 years. Sue taught me more than just English.

Culture differences are less of an issue in a college in comparison with other sectors, particularly in Hwa Nan, where the international faculty is full of love, empathy and tolerance for students. When local faculty speak of Hwa Nan’s international teachers, their words are filled with love, respect, and deep gratitude, which transcend language and cultural differences.

06 Dr. Betts Rivet

From California, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1992 to 2011

Coming to Hwa Nan Women’s college all began with a phone call in 1991. The call was from friend telling me about a college in China that needed foreign teachers. I was 63 years old and was going to retire from education next year. I said: “No, I would never want to teach in China, thank you.”. After several more phone calls from my friend, I finally wrote to the college about the names and phone numbers of other foreign teachers. When calling them, they all had great things to say about Hwa Nan so I decided to take a chance. My friend went “cold feet” at the last minute and did not come with me. I came alone to China to teach English at Hwa Nan, for almost 20 years.

In 1992, there were 14 foreign teachers at that time. We were complete volunteers and that continued for 4 years. We didn’t receive any paycheck from the college and we paid for our own travel expenses.

I lived in Puerto Rico for 14 years. I piloted my own plane into Mexico with doctors and dentists to medically minister in small villages. I even learned to bargain in china by myself. To get along with locals is to learn their ways.

Betts took her students to visit the school for the blind. She also showed the film about Helen Keller, to let her students see different ways of learning a language. Betts found out that around 90% of her students had never been to provincial museum, she rent a bus to take each class to museum.

In the old campus, the kitchen in the foreign teacher’s dorm was dark, dingy and no fridge. Coal was used for cooking. Betts drafted a plan for a new kitchen and with the school’s help, Betts hired a man to build a modern kitchen adding cabinets, gas burners, a fridge, better lighting and tile counters. When the college moved to the new campus, the school budget was slim to furnish all 20 apartments. Betts financed a fund-raising campaign and collected $50,000 in 6 months from supporters in China, USA, England and Canada.

07 Judy & Jack Williamsons

From Illinois, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1989 to 1992

At 10:05 on Friday morning, June 26, 1992, Judy and Jack took flight 5005 back to the US via Hong Kong after 3 years of teaching in Hwa Nan.

Judy taught English in HK as a missionary from the Methodist from 1958 to 1964. She taught English in Malaysia and Singapore from 1964 to 1987.duct.

08 Elisabet Kohler

From Finland, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1988 to 2014

During the summer 1998, there was an ad in the biggest newspaper in Finland that UN was looking for a secretarial skills instructor who could work at Hwa Nan Fuzhou. It felt like Elisabet’s destiny, she applied to become Finland’s candidate for the UNDP( united nations development program) project in China. UNDP was looking for one to be in Beijing and one in Fuzhou. Through a lengthy test done in Finnish Foreign Ministry, she was elected Finland’s candidate for the position. Though she doesn’t hold a MBA, nor is she a native spearker of English, the Chinese education commission chose her. She was the first UN volunteer from Finland who came to China to teach in Hwa Nan.

Every culture has its own specific facial and body expressions which you simply have to learn. That is the intriguing part of meeting people from different cultures. And you should always respect other people and their culture. Never put yourself on higher horses and think that your culture is the only good one.

09 Kay Grimmesey

From California, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1998 to 2011

I have never met anyone as genuinely unselfish and principled as Kay. One year when I(Dodie Johnston) was unsure about returning to Hwa Nan(in the early 2000s when our salaries were very low), Kay paid for my round trip ticket to Fuzhou, an impressive outlay of money.

Kay never complained about the qualities of the students she had, although there may be variations in the students qualities. Eleven years passed like a day, she encouraged her students with her gentleness, caring and patience.

Kay returned to Hwa Nan in September 2013 for the 105th anniversary with Betts. She stayed at Hwa Nan for a month, during which she walkted into the English classroom again to co-teach with Chinese teachers as well as joining the English corner on Friday night.

10 Dr. Jeanne Philips

From Colorado, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1985 to 2003

Jeann’s dorm was very simple in a closed-in area in the back of her classroom. It was extremely cold in Fuzhou in winter and there was no heat back in the days. She used to sleep in four layers of clothes, with a wool hat and two pairs of socks.

Jeann often took a camera with her to take pictures of her students anytime. She sent the best photo for each one of her students as a gift before their graduation and wrote about what the students are good at the back of the photo.

Jean found it was necessary to buy a video recorder to play original English movies to her students, she went out with a teacher and bought one. She then asked her friends in the US to send her movie video tapes as teaching materials for the students.

11 Laihar Wong

From Australia, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1993 to 2003

Laihar is a low profile, diligent and upright foreign teacher full of love, which impresses us deeply. She is our role model. Every year when the winter vacation ends, she visits the orphanage of Fuzhou, bringing the orphans there some life necessities like books and snacks.

Add humor in your teaching- explain words, give an illustration, tell stories, joke with students.

12 Dr. Marian Davis

From Florida, Taught at Hwa Nan from 1988 to1995

Since 1988, Marian had visited Hwa Nan once a year for several years, holding academic workshops for the students of fashion design department.