09/13/2026
Retired teacher recalls the summer she taught in China
By Joan Janzen
Watching students begin a new school year brought back fond memories for Connie Ness, a retired teacher. She spent her long and fulfilling career teaching the deaf for over 47 years in British Columbia. Now she lives with her husband on their farm near New Brigden, and they also spend time at their home in Kindersley. The highlight of her teaching career was the summer she spent in China, but that didn't happen until after she had retired from teaching full-time. However, Connie's interest in languages began long ago.
"I was in my fourth year of university," she recalled. "I was searching for what kind of education I could work in where I could really connect with children.”
One day she talked to a woman who began sharing with her about communication challenges with the deaf. At that time sign language was beginning to be researched and developed as a language. Connie was told the classes were small, with seven to 10 children, so teachers could maintain eye contact with their students. It was just what she was looking for.
Connie applied and was accepted into a one-year diploma program working with the deaf, even though only eight students were selected from across Canada. She later took her master's in linguistics and special education, and studied Chinese culture.
"I loved language and communication and different cultures," she said. "There was a huge influx of Chinese people in our classes. Through the years it was on my bucket list to go to China.”
Finally, after retiring from full-time teaching, Connie's dream came true in 2009. She and two other teachers from B.C. went to Changsha in the Chinese province of Hunan to instruct high school teachers on some new methods that were developing for incorporating English into their classrooms.
"We landed in China and the fellow who recruited us informed me that the place where I was to stay hadn't worked out," she recalled. She was provided accommodation at a motel that first night. On the first day she was introduced to the class, who were told she didn't have a place to stay.
"Each student took me in for a few days, or a week, or a weekend. I got to stay at their homes and I saw every type of home. They were all wonderful people," Connie said.
There was always construction going on in that city, which had a population of over six million. "A lot of streets didn't even have names yet. It was an amazing place!" Connie observed. "One of the teachers lived in a high-rise with the biggest swimming pool I've ever seen in my life. And it was filled with people. You were standing shoulder to shoulder. There was no room to swim.”
During her five weeks in China, Connie never saw anyone walking a dog or having a pet in their home. "And they wouldn't let me walk anywhere by myself because they said there was a risk of being kidnapped because I was a foreigner," she added.
Every day an individual from the Chinese government was present and closely monitoring the class. All the teachers were taking the course during their summer break, and Connie noted some of them were not too excited about it.
"I came with the idea of teaching language through songs, which would be popular with their students," she recalled. She proceeded to teach them old Beatles songs and other popular classic tunes.
At the end of the first week one of the teachers said to Connie, "These are good ideas, but they won't work for us. We have about 200 students in each class.”
So the group began brainstorming with each other on how to get their students to begin using the English language. As they continued to learn North American songs, Connie asked if they would share a Chinese song.
"They sang a song about Tiananmen Square and interpreted it afterwards," she recalled. "I asked how it could be such a happy song when such tragedy happened there, and nobody responded. They couldn't say anything." It may have been because of the Communist Party official who was supervising the class.
She made many more observations during her visit. "I told them I teach the deaf, but I have not seen any handicapped or deaf people. They said the handicapped and deaf didn't go out in public," she noted.
She was also surprised by the food. Breakfast was always a bowl of Chinese noodle soup, and at lunch the group of teachers would go out together.
"We'd go to high-end places, and to places on the street with all kinds of wonderful Chinese soup," she said.
One evening she was treated to a lavish 14-course Chinese dinner with important political leaders in attendance. On weekends her hostesses would take her sightseeing.
She said they visited a pub where there was a long, narrow vase on the counter with a dead snake inside, floating in w**e. "It was called snake w**e. It certainly had a kick to it," she remembered. While sightseeing she climbed holy mountains and visited sites and memorials that were important to the Chinese people.
On her last weekend in China, her group of teachers whisked her away out into the country. They played karaoke, singing the old songs she had taught them, played Chinese board games and shared stories about their lives. "It was so much fun!" Connie said.
"The last teacher I stayed with was one who was not excited about taking the course," she said. However, after her husband left for work, Connie's hostess sat on the couch and unexpectedly began to cry. She confided to Connie that they were only permitted to have one child, but she didn't know if she should have a child. She worried about who would look after her child if she were to die.
Connie shared her own story with her friend, about tragically losing one of her two sons two years earlier. "I told her I treasure every memory, and that's how we have to live," she advised. A year or so after Connie returned home, she received a note informing her that the couple had a baby daughter.
Connie considered her entire five weeks in China a phenomenal experience, and it was difficult to say goodbye to her new friends.
"It was a wonderful experience. My bucket list was complete," she concluded.
