Chinese teachers arrive in Sisters

With the arrival of the Chinese ambassadors and teachers Vivian Zhang and Eva Xu, Sisters schools have taken the next step in an ongoing cultural exchange between Chinese educators and students and Sisters schools.

These two young educators will be teaching Mandarin language classes and Chinese culture classes at all three Sisters schools. Zhang is teaching Mandarin at Sisters High School (SHS) and will soon be offering classes at Sisters Middle School as well. Xu is teaching Mandarin at Sisters Elementary School (SES).

The salary and travel expenses for these two teachers have been provided by the Hanban/Confucius Institute, a Chinese public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education that is committed to providing Chinese language and cultural teaching resources worldwide.

Both teachers also come with $10,000 each to spend on supplies and materials for the classrooms. The teachers are here on a three-year visa.

Stateside, the visit was coordinated by the Confucius Institute at Portland State University. The institute brought 22 Chinese educators to Oregon this year.

Locally, the two young ladies are sharing a bedroom in Blanche Tadlock's home. A widow and long-time Sisters foster parent, Tadlock is sharing her home with three other girls along with the Chinese visitors. Vivian and Eva already refer to her warmly as "grandma."

Zhang is married, and hopes that her husband, a computer programmer, can get a visa to join her at some point in Sisters. While he will not be able to get a paying job due to visa restrictions, he could work for "trade" in a local high-tech company.

The teachers' housing is taken care of, but without a car, transportation in Sisters is a challenge. Tadlock's home is very close to SES for Xu. Zhang catches the school bus at SES and takes it to SHS. But just getting around to shop and become familiar with the Sisters area and Central Oregon presents a problem. Xu should have her Oregon driver's license in a few weeks, according to local sponsor David Perkins.

Perkins and Tadlock are hoping that someone locally might donate the use of a car for a period of time to allow the young ladies more mobility.

Tadlock has also suggested that other members of the community might enjoy getting to know these Chinese visitors. She offered her phone number, 541-508-3125, for anyone that would like to take the young ladies out for a meal or a visit. They both teach English in their home schools and their spoken English is good.

In Hunan province, Zhang teaches high school English. Her high school has 2,000 students and over 200 teachers. Sisters High School represents quite a change for her. When Vivian was in elementary school herself, there were typically 90 kids in each class.

At home, close to Beijing, Xu teaches English at a local college. At SES, her challenge is to plant the seeds for a Chinese "immersion" program in the future.

Both women report that they have been treated with great warmth and friendliness by all those that they have met in Sisters. Zhang reports that her biggest surprise so far has been that many people don't lock their doors in Sisters. Xu has been pleasantly surprised to see deer in the yard.

The teachers' local sponsor, guide, and interpreter is Sisters High School Mandarin teacher David Perkins. Perkins and his wife, Paula, lived and worked in Taiwan for 21 years and in Hong Kong for five.

The cultural exchange began in the fall of 2008 when Perkins began teaching Mandarin classes at SHS. In summer of 2010, Perkins and his wife took their first group of Chinese language students to China for a cultural exchange, classes and some volunteer work. They stayed with local Chinese families.

In the summer of 2012 Perkins hosted a second, similar trip to China with a new group of language students.

In November of 2012 Mr. Zhang (no relation to Vivian), a middle school principal from Xi'an, visited SHS and spent several days with Sisters Superintendent Jim Golden and the Sisters community. This spring, Golden visited China for 10 days in a cultural exchange between educators.