Author Profile: Rebecca Persons

Biography »

Rebecca Persons is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin. Rebecca is finishing at UT in May 2009 with a degree in print magazine in the School of Journalism. Rebecca greatly enjoys writing and reporting and has interned at KUT 90.5 F.M. and Texas Monthly Magazine in Austin, Texas. Rebecca also worked as a reporter for The Daily Texan. Rebecca greatly enjoys traveling and studied abroad in Italy, as well as backpacked in Europe for two months. The 2009 trip to China will be her first visit to Asia.
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Publications »

Graduation day at New Century

Graduation day at New Century

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[28 Jun 2009 | 3 Comments | ]

After three long days of final exams, teachers, families and friends gathered to watch 112 fifth-graders graduate at the first private school to open in Shanghai.

Before: Almost there

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[23 Jun 2009 | No Comment | ]

I recently was looking at pictures that a friend of mine took in China. She moved to Beijing last October and is planning on living there until the travel bug leads her elsewhere. Looking at those pictures, I could tell myself that was where I was going to be in a couple months, but I couldn’t actually imagine myself going to this country I’ve never been to before. I felt overwhelmed with excitement and nervousness as I imagined getting lost in a crowd of people who speak a language that …

Exchanging classical music for terracotta warriors

Exchanging classical music for terracotta warriors

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[20 Jun 2009 | No Comment | ]

Flautist Carole Bean didn’t anticipate anything out of the ordinary when she learned that she would be traveling to Xi’an, China to perform with the American National Symphony Orchestra. But soon after the concert on June 14, she realized that the Washington DC-based symphony’s role in bringing classical music to the Chinese people had made her and her colleagues cultural ambassadors.

“I think it’s good that it was the NSO that came,” said Bean. “We represent the nation’s capital, and it opens up [Sino-U.S.] relations more.”

The choice of Xi’an as a venue was also important. An ancient capital that is now a modern city, Xi’an values its relics and monuments and with a reason. The city received a big boost in 1974 after local farmers discovered numerous terracotta statues. . . .

Chinese encounter discrimination at English language schools

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[13 Jun 2009 | One Comment | ]

When Chinese citizen Karen Dang took a job as an office assistant at Learn First, an English conversation school in central Beijing, her goal was to parley her impeccable language skills into a teaching position. This past May, however, she quit when she says she realized the school’s unwritten policy of hiring only Caucasian foreigners as instructors would prevent her from ever getting the job she really wanted.

In talking about her experience, Dang expressed polite disappointment: “They didn’t offer me a better future,” she said.” [And] I’m a good worker.”

At the same time, Dang’s experience reflects the complaints of a growing number of young Chinese speakers of English who claim they are denied job opportunities in Beijing’s burgeoning foreign-language teaching market. The bruised feelings are understandable. A foreign English teacher can make as much as USD 30 an hour. Chinese teachers aren’t likely to make nearly as much but they would still like the opportunity. . . .

Poppin’, lockin’ and breakin’ expands its turf in China

Poppin’, lockin’ and breakin’ expands its turf in China

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[13 Jun 2009 | No Comment | ]

Imagine a swimming pool filled with snakes gliding through the water, suddenly shocked by an electric jolt that contorts their bodies. This is how Beijing hip-hop instructor, Hero Cheng, describes the Korean-style street dancing that he teaches in Beijing.

Cheng’s former instructor actually placed snakes in a pool and zapped them to inspire new dance moves. Along with the Los Angeles styles of street dance, Cheng’s method is the prime influence shaping the street and hip-hop dance scene in China today. . . .