Introduction

Hi! My name is David. For the next two years I will be teaching 1st-9th grade general music and electives at the Wahaha Bilingual School, a private school that serves local and international students and is attempting to combine eastern and western perspectives and philosophies of education. As the expat music teacher, I have been invited to bring the "Western Perspective of music," whatever that looks like (I will have later posts reflecting on this and other music-related issues: #musings-on-music-ed). As the school is only entering its second year, I have basically been asked to help build and develop the music program.

As you can imagine, this is a very exciting time in my professional career! I am keeping this blog to help me sort through the experience and to share it with friends, family, and those who are simply interested. Welcome!

I'd like to start by reflecting on some concerns:

• As a Taiwanese-American, I constantly hear so many negative points about China - its shortcomings, backwardness, close-mindedness, etc. Many friends and family members have advised me to be very cautious. I know I will need to make adjustments as I make my way over to China (I will have posts on typical, every-day encounters as they pop up: #navigating-life).
• As a first year teacher, I am already freaking out and over-preparing, even though there is not enough information at this point in time. I have been asked to think about electives or topics I would like to teach (I'd REALLY like to start an iPad ensemble!), and I have tons of ideas as a Jack-of-All-Trades kind of teacher. I have been nervously purchasing and packing books knowing that Western resources would be limited there; yet, mentors have been telling me to chill out and simply enjoy the ride (#rookie-teacher-problems).
• Cultural differences: I may look Chinese, but I have grown up in the US. I would like to say that I have a fairly good grasp of different perspectives out there as I grew up as an Asian-American, encountered different kinds of people over the years and done some personal exploration myself. Yet, I fear that I would be judged/attacked as I will be a minority disguised as one with the majority. Can I learn to respect those of another culture while being confident in my own identity? Who knows, maybe I'll learn a thing or two (#cultural-comparison).
• All of this boils down to the unknown: what will I encounter? How will I navigate this new environment? As one who was trained to teach in western settings, how do I go about bringing the "Western Perspective" in an eastern environment?

At the end of the day: as nervous as I am about all these issues, and knowing that I will be challenged in all kinds of ways, I know that I will be learning A LOT, and that's exciting in and of itself: culture/identity has always been an interest of mine, and I know these experiences will help me construct meaning in that regard. I hope that you (readers) could also vicariously partake in this journey with me; feel free to leave comments or ask questions that could help me generate future posts!

In the meantime, I will hang tight as I make preparations to fly out next week!

Thank you all for your support!