I arrived in Quzhou at the beginning of September，after spending a few days seeing the sights in Beijing with the 45 other“gappers”（GAP students）from the UK，Australia and Canada。My name is Emma Tasker and I’m an 18 year old student from England。I finished sec-ondary school last summer and am now taking a year out from study，also called a“Gap Year”，to travel and gain experience before I start university in England next Autumn。I was given a teaching placement in Quzhou through an organisation developed for students，like myself，who are taking a“gap year”and are between the ages of 17 and 21.The organisation provides the opportunity to travel and live abroad for up to one year，carrying out volunteer work such as teaching，work-ing in the community，with children，or on a conservation project。
I knew very little about China before I came here，which is one of the reasons I chose to work in this diverse country as I wanted to find out more about the chinese culture and way of life。I think I have definitely acheived this aim and have had so many great experiences in the process。I chose to teach English in a school because I enjoy working with children and I believe it is important to support them as they are the future。I realise that for most of them，it is important that they learn to speak English as it will be a valuable skill for their future careers。Therefore I hoped to be able to help improve their English，and also get to know them。I think it’s always useful to have a native speaker around to share experiences about western culture，the life and the language，and to give students a focus as to why they are learning English。
I am currently placed at No。2 Middle School，Quzhou，where I have now lived for just over 4 months。I share an apartment with my GAP partner，Crystal，an Australian student。Compared to other schools I have visited in the Zhejiang Province，I am very lucky to have been given the opportunity to work in such an excellent school，where the students are hard working，polite，enthusiastic and a joy to teach。The same can be said for the teachers who have made my life here so much more enjoyable through their efforts to make me feel welcome and their generosity。