Gen Z Besties Moved to China to Educate English and Journey the World

Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, Sonia Holland and Erin O’Brien have been inseparable.

They met at six and did every thing collectively. At 11, they got here up with a grand plan: One day, they’d journey the world. They even bought brownies to their neighbors and pooled their earnings in a checking account.

“Although the money really didn’t get us anywhere and we lost the bank account, the dream still stayed,” Holland, 26, advised Business Insider.

After graduating from faculty, Holland with a enterprise diploma and O’Brien in science, they determined to set off on an journey overseas.

“We were single at the time, and we had just finished our studies. It was like, let’s go,” O’Brien, additionally 26, advised Business Insider.

Neither had a proper instructing background, however each had spent years tutoring in faculty.

The concept of instructing overseas got here from a man Holland as soon as dated, who talked about his ex had taught in China.

“I said, ‘Erin, let’s go teach in Asia,” Holland stated. “And that is exactly what happened.”

Once they started exploring instructing packages throughout Asia, South Korea emerged as essentially the most sensible selection. China wasn’t an choice on the time as a result of its borders have been nonetheless closed in 2022.

“But it was always in the back of our minds,” Holland stated.

Teaching in Asia

During the 12 months they spent instructing in a non-public English academy in Suwon, a metropolis simply outdoors Seoul, they labored lengthy hours with little downtime.

They taught about 10 classes a day and sometimes had solely five-minute breaks between courses, O’Brien stated.

“One of our coworkers had taught English in China previously, and he loved it. He was telling us how the working conditions were so great, you get so much vacation, the people are friendly, and it’s affordable,” Holland stated.

The two have been desperate to go after their 12 months in South Korea. But with the borders nonetheless closed, they spent just a few months backpacking via Europe earlier than returning to South Africa to take up desk jobs of their unique fields.

“We used that time to see whether that’s a path we want to follow or whether the teaching was still something we wanted to do,” O’Brien stated.

In the tip, instructing received out — and with China’s borders open once more, they might lastly go educate English there.

They utilized to colleges throughout a number of cities and in the end landed jobs in Guangzhou, a serious financial hub in southern China.

“The city has a perfect balance of everything,” Holland stated. Compared to Shanghai, the decrease price of residing permits them to economize. The metropolis is well-connected, making journey simple, she added.

Moving to China

As quickly as they arrived in August 2024, they have been launched to an actual property agent via the varsity, who helped them settle into their new lives.

“She helped us get a SIM card for our phones, set up a bank account, and register at the gym,” O’Brien stated.

They discovered a spacious residence with two bedrooms close to the first faculty the place they educate.

Rent is 4,000 Chinese yuan, or about $570, every month, and the varsity subsidizes a portion of it, Holland stated.

They work Monday to Friday, from 8:40 a.m. to 4:40 p.m., with a two-hour lunch break from midday to 2 p.m.

The faculty supplies three meals a day, they usually’re allowed to go residence throughout lunch, a time they often use to go to the gymnasium, relaxation, or watch a present, O’Brien stated.

They educate about three to 4 courses every day, dealing with totally different grade ranges.

On weekends, they get pleasure from going for walks and picnics on the park, assembly buddies for karaoke or to go to a 24-hour spa, and making an attempt new eating places — particularly barbecue and scorching pot.

They’ve additionally began vlogging their lives in China on YouTube and can sometimes take journeys to different provinces to discover.

So far, it has been simple for them to fulfill new individuals.

“People will come up to you and talk. They’re not actually that shy,” Holland stated, including that they’ve additionally made buddies with the native lecturers at their faculty.

Adjusting to a brand new tradition

The two buddies aren’t alone in making the transfer. According to China’s newest nationwide census, there have been 845,697 foreigners residing within the nation in 2020, up from 593,832 a decade earlier.

Even so, being a part of a rising international group does not imply the transition is seamless, and shifting to China meant getting used to some new issues past the language barrier.

“Everything’s so technologically advanced,” Holland stated. China runs largely on cell, cashless funds via apps like WeChat and Alipay.

“We couldn’t buy our first meal,” Holland stated. “We didn’t have any of these apps. Our translation app wouldn’t work. We didn’t have a VPN yet.”

Although it was scary at first, every day life turned “so convenient” as soon as they bought used to it, she added.

Another factor that stunned them was the nap tradition in China, not only for college students but additionally the adults.

“We go to the bank, they’re taking a nap. Everywhere you go, even the grocery store. But there’ll always be someone there to help,” Holland stated. “They work hard in the day, they deserve their nap.”

The greatest factor they needed to regulate to was the sensory overload.

“Everything’s a lot noisier than what we would be used to from back home. Everything’s very bright, loud, and busy,” Holland stated.

Even although they miss their households, they are saying the expertise has been extremely rewarding. Living overseas has taught them to be unbiased, resilient, and extra open-minded.

“Moving abroad has really taught us to have a bigger perspective and be more understanding of how things work and why people are the way they are,” Holland stated.

And via all of it, they’re grateful to have one another.

When one in every of them has a tricky day, the opposite lifts her up. That’s why they each say they most likely would not have taken this leap on their very own.

“We have each other,” Holland stated.

“That’s the point,” O’Brien added.

Do you will have a narrative to share about relocating to a brand new metropolis? Contact this reporter at [email protected].