Christine Coetzee touched home base in April after living in China for three years, an experience she says “I would do all over again.”
This, despite the country’s limitations on freedom of speech, information and freedom in general, notwithstanding being in the grip of Covid-19.
“It was a crazy time and experience that required compromise,” Coetzee said, “but everything else in China is just so super-efficient and safe.”
She first travelled to the East in 2019, beginning her journey in the Sichaun province, in a city called Chengdu. In 2021 she moved to Shenzhen in the Guangdong province.
The former La Rochelle learner explained that although having toured North and South America before, she chose to move to China for she wished to be within better reach of places such as Australia and New Zealand.
“I worked as an expat teacher giving English classes to 1- and 2-year-olds at the Benebaby International Kindergarten. Asian kids are so adorable, cute and vastly advanced compared to their South African counterparts. What our kids accomplish at age 4 they’re pressured to accomplish by the age of 2.”
This melted her heart with sympathy, since her tender pupils faced tremendous pressures to outperform their peers and universal age group.
“The parenting culture in China is very strict, a problem I also learnt is related to the increasing suicides among minors there.”
Most of the things one hears about China and its restrictive laws are true, Coetzee testifies.
“You’re not allowed the popular western online platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, unless you have a VPN installed at your risk. One’s only option for social media is WeChat, which includes text messaging, video chat and mobile payments.”
To her it felt as if the government was constantly watching her. “I remember once I had an accident with my scooter and posted a picture of it online. Within a few hours it was removed from my timeline.
“Their news coverage on media platforms displays only positive stories and no real news that would promote discontent among the people.”
It is forbidden even to talk about wrongful actions or ongoing events allegedly exercised by the government.
“It was so surreal when, during my initial training, the facilitators referred to a genocide occurring in Hong Kong. We were strongly advised not to ask any questions about it, research it online or anything of the sort.”
On the other hand, Covid-19 pandemic restrictions were not as bad in certain parts of China as reports in general suggested.
“I believe the restrictions and severity of it depended on the district one lived in. The cities were definitely more authoritarian because of their bigger populations. In the districts I lived in, for instance, it was more chilled.”
Coetzee did, however, need to register for a pass that would grant her an hour’s freedom outside her residential complex to go grocery shopping.
“There was a time during the harsh lockdown at the beginning when one would need to test every single day, which was provided for free by the government. When just one case was reported the restrictions would increase on a local district scale.”
She says despite all the desperately lacking liberties commonly shared in China there were other perks that made up for all of it.
“The country offers people a considerably good life,” Coetzee declared. “They pay a ridiculous amount of money for a job in which you would get paid far less in South Africa. It’s easy to attain a comfortable lifestyle and it’s extremely safe. One can walk the streets at 3 o’clock in the morning totally worry-free.”
To her it seems the people of China are content, whatever the limitations imposed in, say, western values. And as for her interaction with the locals, what were these like?
“It was strange at times. There were some instances when someone would walk up to me, take a picture of me with a straight face without saying anything and continue on their way. It’s a supposedly common tendency towards foreigners.”
A traveller at heart, Coetzee cannot stay in one place for too long. “Next, I plan to travel to Mauritius. I recently landed a new contract at another online English teaching site called Amazing Talker.”
This enables her to teach English to older kids and even adults who have the option simply to practise conversation from anywhere in the world.
“I must admit, I don’t see myself ever settling down in South Africa. I still have so many places I wish to see and experience for myself.”
