Windy Shao
ROBIN FERRALL from New Zealand has worked in Shenzhen for seven years and now considers the city his home.
“Life has become routine for me and I’ve got used to things here,” said Ferrall, who has been working as a kindergarten teacher since 2001.
After obtaining a certificate in childcare in New Zealand, Ferrall had taught at kindergartens in Japan, South Korea and China’s Taiwan since 1999 before he settled in Shenzhen.
“I met a woman from Jiangxi Province here and we were married six years ago,” he said.
“I’ve got a good job here and things must have changed a lot in New Zealand, so of course it’s Shenzhen when we talk about home.”
Ferrall, 41, was proud of an experience in 2002 when he tried to change the traffic situation near the kindergarten in Bao’an where he worked.
“You could see buses driving on the footpath sometimes. When kids were crossing the road at a designated crossing, drivers wouldn’t stop even if the lights were red.”
He felt he should do something so he took photographs and called the Shenzhen Daily to complain.
“A Shenzhen Daily reporter went with me to see the head policeman and to talk about the traffic. I just cared for the kids.”
To his delight, the traffic improved after that.
“I don’t know whether it was because of my complaint, but later I found motor bikes and scooters were disappearing and the traffic was better.”
Ferrall now lives in Nanshan District and teaches at a Futian child center and is glad to see changes.
“Nanshan looked dirty five or six years ago. Now it is cleaner and it’s amazing to see new buildings everywhere.”
He experienced the 1999 earthquake in Taiwan and felt he should do something after the devastating Sichuan quake.
“I made a collection box and told the parents and kids about the experience and helped raise some money for the quake-affected region.
“I can still remember how I was awakened at about 2 a.m. in a building near Kaohsiung and people were rushing down the stairs.
“There were many aftershocks. Truck wheels were bumping and buses rocking from side to side. I could even feel the earth shaking.
“If I have the opportunity, I would like to go to Sichuan to do something,” Ferrall said.