About Wall Street Institute in China

Wall Street Institute Guangzhou - China

EXCEEDING YOUR EXPECTATIONS
By David Robyak
Wall Street Iinstitute Guangzhou, China (Service Manager)

Before coming to China, I considered it a developing country and believed my stay would be short, just a fun diversion from my "real" life in the U.S. Before I began working for Wall Street Institute, I viewed English teaching chiefly as a ticket to world travel and adventure, not really a serious profession with career opportunities. Both China and Wall Street Institute have pleasantly surprised me. 

Western visitors to China are rarely prepared for the experience. Whatever our assumptions(1) and prejudices, China is never quite what we expected. China leaves deep impressions, with the initial astonishment often followed by lasting changes in attitude and perspective. Tourists and expatriates here develop all manner of opinions and feelings about the country, but few regret having come or think the same when they leave. 

Most Americans think we know China before we arrive. China is in the news, in the movies, in our communities, homes, and offices. We frequent Chinese restaurants, buy an increasingarray(2) of Chinese-made products, and study China’s history in school. Many of us have Chinese-American friends, neighbors, or classmates, and "Chinatown" quarters grace some of our major cities. Debates about China influence our politics at home and diplomacy abroad. China’s rise and development affects nearly every American. But we actually know very little about life in contemporary China and horribly underestimate the country.

I arrived in Shanghai in early 2002, more keen to explore the monuments of its colorful past than to witness the making of its future. I had followed reports of China’s economic boom and changing society in the press, but expected Shanghai to be drab(3), industrial, and stiff, its development decades behind America’s major cities. I was imagining the old Soviet Union with Chinese characteristics. Like most visitors, I was stunned. Cosmopolitan, sophisticated, and ambitious, Shanghai is every bit the modern world city. The effects of globalization are everywhere, the pace of development almost unbelievable. It’s a city being reborn.

Ultra-modern skyscrapers stand beside beautifully restored colonial edifices and ancient temples. Ubiquitous(4) construction cranes heave new landmarks to their feet so fast the skyline seems to change overnight.

Late-model family cars and SUVs jockey for position with a million VW taxis. Starbuck’s, McDonald’s, and KFC have colonized virtually every block in the city. In cafes, malls and boutiques, Shanghainese chatter on the newest mobile phones dressed in the latest fashions. All styles of international cuisine, music, and film are available. While the benefits of the new economy have yet to spread to everyone, most people seem hopeful, curious, warm, and open.

There is an overwhelming sense of history in the making. Perhaps the most striking things about Shanghai, and China in general, are the contrasts and dynamism. Modern and traditional, global and local, very old and very new coexist and mingle. Bearded, elderly men in Mao suits share the sidewalk with businessmen in Armani suits. A teenager in an NBA jersey listens to an MP3 player as he walks casually onto a subway escalator. Behind him, others assist a bewildered woman from the countryside who has apparently never seen moving stairs before.

Although development remains concentrated in the East of the country, it is evident even in the most remote places. A rustic farmhouse might be equipped with solar collectors and satellite dishes. Wherever you go, China is country of great energy and diversity I began working for Wall Street Institute shortly after coming to China and have served as teacher and head teacher at four centers in Shanghai. Wall Street Institute is the premier *TEFL job in the country, and the company, like China itself, is evolving quickly. Constant improvement in the quality of customer care and service are the focus. The competition tries to keep up with us; we’re too busy raising the bar to look back.

To use an American phrase, Wall Street Institute is the Cadillac of TEFL companies. The students here are likewise impressive-diligent, open-minded, respectful and appreciative of their teachers, interesting as well as interested. I couldn’t ask for a betterteaching environment. 

During its five years in China, Wall Street Institute has opened 14 schools in three cities and become the market leader, serving business and government elites at some of China’s most prestigious commercial addresses. Expanding beyond its home bases in Beijing and Shanghai, Wall Street Institute recently established itself in Guangdong Province in the heart of South China’s industrial Pearl River Delta. Having unveiled(5) its first Guangzhou (Canton) center in May and a second in July, Wall Street Institute plans to open others in Guangzhou and Shenzhen before the year´s end. There seems to be no limit to the nr. of people who want to learn English. 

Eager to experience more of China, I readily accepted the post of service manager at Wall Street Institute's first Guangzhou center. Opening in a new city was challenging, both for me personally and the company overall, but the results have repaid the efforts. By the end of September our center should have nearly four hundred students. Life here is good and the city compares favorably with Shanghai, despite the warnings of many Shanghainese friends that Guangzhou was rough and provincial. (The Shanghainese, it seems, are the New Yorkers of China.)

A short distance by bus and rail from both Hong Kong and Macau, Guangzhou offers access to the best shopping, dining, and culture in the South, as well as being the focal point for export manufacturing in the region. Have I mentioned that I can watch David Letterman, "24", "ER", "Queer Eye", etc. on Hong Kong TV here? You can’t do that in Shanghai. Guangzhou’s fashionable Tian He District was the obvious choice for Wall Street Institute's first center in the South. Shimmering new office and residential towers ring a vast green zone boasting a well-manicured park and modern athletic complex. The world’s sixth-tallest building rises majestically nearby, though I never would have believed its stature, if I hadn’t stumbled across that fact on the Internet. (It looks big, for sure, but I foolishly continue to underestimate things here.) Across from the park and adjacent to a metro station, Caifu Guangchang (Fortune Plaza) has a near-perfect location. The building is a five-minute walk from high-end malls, five-star accommodation, and a host of restaurants, including the largest Japanese eatery in Asia.

Fortune Plaza center is entered through a lobby on the ground floor arcade, with the main school above accessed via twin staircases that bookend reception. It’s beautifully and intelligently designed. Classrooms, offices, and Social Club look out picture windows onto the broad, tree-lined sidewalk below. Small groups of passersby often stop to gaze up at classes in progress. It’s no accident that Wall Street Institute Fortune Plaza enjoys the highest number of walk-in clients in the country. Students and staff alike love it here. Wall Street Institute’s future in Guangzhou and across the country is bright and promising, and I hope mine along with it.I’m planning to stay a while in China. I have a front-row seat at the world’s biggest attraction: the birth of the next superpower.

I encourage everyone to experience this country first-hand. You simply can’t believe it unless you see it.

1. Assumptions - something which is likely to be true even though you have no proof.
2. Array - a large number of things related in some way.
3. Drab - without color or interest.
4. Ubiquitous - omnipresent.
5. Unveil - officially announce something which has been a secret