Teaching in China - Catherine's dream comes true (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)

Teaching in China - Catherine's dream comes true

1:21pm Tuesday 9th February 2010

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A DREAM has come true for an ambitious teenager who has raised £4,000 to help children in China.

Catherine Rawsthorne embarked on a five-month fundraising drive so she could spend eight months in the country's Gansu Province teaching English to youngsters.

And after a month in the Far East, the 18-year-old former Bury Youth MP, of Glebelands Road, Prestwich, said she is settling in well.

“We've had a ridiculously busy week with teaching and trying to find our feet, but we’re slowly getting there,” said Catherine.

She added: “The school is massive with just under 1,000 pupils in each year group. I will be teaching 16 to 17 year olds.

“The pupils work exceptionally hard and are under a ridiculous amount of pressure to succeed and go to a foreign university.

“The normal school day starts at 7.30am and doesn’t finish until 5.30pm. One student tells me she stays up until half past midnight completing the homework.”

Catherine attended St Monica’s RC High School and left Holy Cross College last summer.

She signed up with the Project Trust, which arranges foreign teaching placements.

Having arrived in Beijing on January 7, Catherine spent a few days in Beijing - visiting a snpwy Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City - she took a sleeper train north to Gansu.

Passing her verdict on her new temporary home, Catherine said: “It is definitely the ‘real’ China.

“The city has 3.2 million people in it and only around 50 to 60 foreigners live here. We get a lot of stares and double takes.

“We’ve seen some really odd sights, such as kebabs being cooked with hairdryers on the street and lots people asking for photos with us.”

Click here to follow Catherine's online diary

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