Senor and Cheryl Bagley gain new world experience in an ancient country.
Hundreds of Star Valley students will remember Senor Kdell Bagley for his Spanish classes at Star Valley High School. Now a few hundred Chinese university students will remember Senor and his wife, Cheryl for teaching English in Asia. Just how does a Spanish teacher from Star Valley end up teaching English in China?  That is, indeed, an interesting question.

Kdell and Cheryl made the decision last year to retire and become a part of the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies through Brigham Young University. They attended a two-week training course in Provo prior to leaving.

“For the last 18 years the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies has sent approximately 40 couples to major universities in China to teach,” said Kdell. “As part of the training we learned the teaching strategies that have proven to be successful over the last 17 years, what a resource that was. You mixed what had worked in the past with your own personality and went on from there.”

Where Kdell and Cheryl went on to was Jinan, China to teach at Shandong University.

Jinan is the capital of Shandong Province on China’s east coast. The cities population is approximately six million. To the north is the Yellow River, which is called the “cradle of the Chinese nation.” Jinan boasts a number of natural springs and is known as the “City of Springs.”

During the first semester at Shandong University, Kdell and Cheryl team taught about 150 students.

“Our students were doctors or medical teachers who had been practicing medicine for five to 10 years and were now coming back to school for their Ph.Ds,” said Cheryl. “So they were older students.”

“Most of them were married and had their one child,” said Kdell. “English was one of the required courses for the Ph.D. program.”

The Bagleys had a furnished apartment on campus that was located about a five minute walk away from where they taught. They earned $700 a month in salary.

“That was plenty of money to live comfortably there,” said Kdell. “Basically what we bought was food and $700 in United States money was plenty for us to get what we needed and even eat out two or three times a week.”

Kdell and Cheryl each spent 14 hours a week in the classroom. In the hours that fell inbetween class time, they explored the city of Jinan, spent time with friends or toured Asia.

“I was somewhat concerned about how we would spend all our time before we got to China,” said Kdell. “But with the time we spent exploring the city, spending time with friends and touring, it didn’t seem that we had too much time left over. We spent more time together in the last year than in all of the other years of our marriage. We would hold hands and just walk through the city.”

“The Chinese people respect teachers, foreigners and old people,” said Cheryl. “We were all three and everyone was just very respectful. We didn’t run into any of the problems that you associate with a big city.”

According to Cheryl, the Chinese Government allows the BYU teachers to get together with other Christians in the country two times a year, Christmas and Easter. On both occasions the Bagleys attended religious meetings in Chinese churches with a mix of both Westerners and the people of China.

“It was fascinating to see that the people were singing traditional, popular, American Christmas songs in English,” said Kdell. “That was something that surprised me. You could see the Western influence.”

The touch of the West was not limited to holiday celebrations, however. Every city also boasted several McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.
“They charged prices that are similar to what is charged in America, but that is very expensive for the Chinese,” said Kdell. “But those restaurants were always busy. We went to Pizza Hut three times while we were there and each time we had about a half an hour wait. You could live for a month on bread and fruit and such bought on the street for the $14 pizza you ate at the restaurant, but it was always busy.”

The second semester at Shandong University, the Bagleys each had their own classrooms. They taught sophomores, juniors and grad students.

“The younger students had a better grasp of the English language because they had had more of it,” said Cheryl. “They start learning English in middle school. It’s extremely important to the government of China that their people learn English.”

Kdell and Cheryl were in China for 10 months, from September 2006 through June 2007. During that time they had the chance to visit many places in China, itself, as well as Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand and Tibet.

“We did things and saw things that we thought we’d never see,” said Kdell. “I would not exchange the experience in China. We have no regrets.”

In fact, as their months in the Orient concluded, the Bagleys made the decision to take part in the program again. They will be leaving for the city of Chengdu, China on Aug. 29.

Chengdu is located in southwestern China in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. The city if famous for its giant Panda reserve.

In Chengdu, the Bagleys will teach English at the University of Electronic Science and Technology. They will be the first such teachers at the university.
“Normally through the BYU program at least two couples are sent to any university but Chengdu only had space for one couple so Cheryl and I will kind of be pioneering there I guess,” said Kdell. “That is one of the reasons that we decided to return. We will be doing some ground breaking work in that area.”

Chengdu is about twice the size of Jinan. But with the smattering of Chinese the Bagleys have learned in the last year, they are up to the challenge.

“You should always learn as much as you can,” said Kdell. “Cheryl and I have picked up on some of the language and that is one of the exciting things about going back. In the last three or four months that we were there we were beginning to be able to put our own sentences together and we will be able to build on that.”

They will also be able to build on the many friendships and experiences they already have in China.