Meredith welcomes new Chinese
professor as part of exchange program
Zhunan Zhou comes
from China to teach
two classes and get
a taste of American
culture.
LINDSAY
SAUNDERS
Staff Reporter
Meredith has a visitor
from around the world.
Zhunan Zhou is on
exchange from Dongbei
University of Finance and
Economics in China, one of
Meredith's sister universi
ties, for the semester to
teach two classes,
Introduction to Chinese and
China Today.
English Professor and
Coordinator of Foreign
Studies Dr. Betty Webb
arranged Zhou’s exchange
and, in March, will pay a
visit to Dongbei, which is
in the Liaoning Province in
the northeastern comer of
China.
Of Zhou’s immigration to
the U.S., Webb said, "We
were braced for trouble.
Since Sept. 11, a slow
process got slower.
[Immigration] takes longer
than it did two years ago.”
She said she thinks he was
able to come to Meredith
so easily because Meredith
and Dongbei have an estab
lished exchange program
that has been working
smoothly for several years.
However, Zhou’s arrival
was delayed slightly. He
did not begin teaching xmtil
the second full week of
classes.
Zhou said choosing to
take one of his courses is
wise. "I tell
my students,
when the
fruit is
scarcest it’s
taste is the
sweetest,” he
said.
Senior
Sheila Joshi,
a student in
Zhou’s China
Today
course,
agreed that
the different
cultural per*
spective Zhou
provides has
been valuable.
“He is someone who is
genuinely interested in
teaching us about the
Chinese culture,” Joshi
said.
Joshi said that the class
will be learning about dif
ferent aspects of the
Chinese history and culture
during the course, includ
ing festivals, marriages and
food.
Zhou's impressions so far
have been positive and
most of that has come from
the people. "I like the peo
ple here because people are
very friendly, very nice,
veiy helpful and very con
siderate,” he said.
To help him with his
English, especially while
he is in the classroom,
Zhou was given a computer
program called "Power
Word" to help him decipher
and translate words. "It's
very important for me for
my classes," he said.
Zhou said he attended
Jilin (pronounced ’'Ji-
deen") University, which he
likened to N.C. State
University,
where he
majored in
English
language
and litera>
ture. Jilin
University
ranks third
among
compre
hensive
universities
in China
and is now
the lai^est
university in
the nation.
He has
been teaching in the
Department of Finance and
Economics at Dongbei for
20 years.
His wife, Guo-Xiaonan,
is a librarian at Dongbei
and his 20»year-old son,
Hairan, attends Northeast
University. ''
While visiting Meredith
College, he does not reside
in such a busy location. He
does not drive. He walks.
"Eveiyday I can walk to
my office," he said. He
walks the ten minutes from
the Sarah Lemmon House
just across Faircloth Street.
Former English and History
Professor Sarah Lemmon
left the house to Meredith
when she passed away.
Zhou said he is eager to
learn more about American
culture. This is his first trip
to the United States. "I will
see what America is like,
get to know what the
Americans are like," he
said.
Zhou enjoys his office with a view in Harris.
Photo by Julie Stansbury
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