First time in China

I have been teaching English for years and never stopped enjoying it. All my life, I have been teaching from my heart and not from the book, so I made many friends and earned the respect and recognition in the community I come from.
Last year, I decided to take my teaching to a higher lever and try to combine it with experiencing different cultures, values, and customs first-hand. I believe that teachers who are open to other cultures and willing to personally experience them are able to connect better with their students and make their teaching meaningful. They can also be the ones building bridges between cultures. My choice fell on China. With the TopEDU Beijing's excellent support, I got a teaching position.
A few months later, here I am in Shanghai living my dream. Shanghai is a most vibrant city with a large, multi-ethnic international community. There is a lot to see and experience here. Majority of people who travel abroad experience a degree of culture shock. Even though many things are so much different from where I come from, I didn’t find it too hard to get used to living in Shanghai. Chinese people are friendly and ready to help, despite the language barrier. The city itself is surprisingly clean considering its size and population. Shanghai metro lines are extremely well-organized and reliable. Considering the time you save if you travel by metro, the price is also more than acceptable. There is an abundance of local food in supermarkets but you can also find the sections with the imported food, though more expensive. There are all kinds of restaurants many of which offer unique types of cuisine coming from different ethnic cultures. Housing is relatively expensive so many find a solution in apartment co-sharing. It’s safe and the streets are full of people until late in the evening both on workdays and at week-ends.
I am really having a great time here. I like my new students very much. There is no safe way to teach a class and be sure that will be just as I planned, as the teaching process-related challenges here and back home are quite different. As a teacher, I have to find the right way to deal with them as they come to the benefit of all. As you can imagine, it is not always easy, but it is definitely rewarding and empowering.
I have come with an open mind and a great desire to grow professionally and personally and broaden my perspective on just about anything and I never miss an opportunity to do so. For me and my family, this is an incredible learning process. Surely, each experience is unique, but based on what I have seen and experienced here so far, I would not hesitate to recommend fellow teachers to come.