As a foreign teacher, I have a very unique relationship with my students. I am 8 years older than my freshman, but most of them are taller than me (yes, surprising perhaps since I'm living in Asia). There is a strange balance of being their friend but also being their authority as a teacher. Here are some interesting examples:

1) Today during break, my freshman girls wanted to take pictures with me using their cell phones. One girl asked me if she could kiss me on the cheek in the picture. So in my picture with her I"m smiling and she has her arms wrapped around me and she's kissing my cheek. That's not a very normal relationship.

2) There is one sophomore student that I've spent time with who is super friendly and we get along really well. When we're hanging out or having a meal together, she acts like my best friend but she still calls me "Miss Dolby."

3) Students ask me all kinds of personal questions about my life and my boyfriend. There doesn't seem to be boundaries with that even though I'm their teacher.


When I think about my own teachers in college, I never would've kissed them on the cheek, shared a casual meal together as if we were friends or asked them personal questions about their life. So you can see how it's strange to be in a foreign culture where those things are ok. What I haven't figured out yet is if these things are ok just because I'm foreign-- would students ever be like this with their Chinese teachers? My hunch is No. The craziest thing is that casual time outside of the classroom doesn't seem to take away from my authority in the classroom. When class starts, I am back to just being their teacher- their authority.

I love this dynamic. I love that I can have their respect and teach them, but also build meaningful friendships with them outside of class time.

This is something that keeps me here.