Teachers might occasionally tell their students who have questions, “The door is always open.” As a new English teacher at a small college in South China, I quickly learned that was the norm.
Night after night, a steady stream of students came knocking on my door—as they did with other foreign teachers—to practice their English and engage in some free-wheeling discussion.
Sitting in my living room on campus, with tea and moon cakes on the coffee table, we learned about one another's cultures and societies. Some of those lessons were quite practical: according to Chinese custom, for example, I had to offer something three times–tea or desert or a beer or what have you—before a guest would accept it.
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