Articles Written by Our International Teachers

Self-introduction

by Kolbjorn Nelson
Joined since: 2003 - 2005

Origin: Minnesota, U.S.A

My name is Kolbjorn (Kully) Nelson and I come to Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou from the United States. I thought I would begin by telling a little about myself, my family, my home, and how I arrived in Yangzhou. I have a wonderful family who I love and miss dearly. I have two great parents, Brock (53) and Martha (52). My father is CEO of a hospital, and my mother was a housewife who raised four children but now is a volunteer teacher. I have two older brothers, Thor (27), Haakon (25), and a younger sister, Berit (21). In addition I also have a new sister-in-law named Gretchen (24). Thor is a hospital administrator, Gretchen is an elementary art teacher, and Haakon receives his Master’s in Elementary Education and English as a Second Language in May. Berit is a junior at university studying sociology and American studies.

I grew up in Minneapolis/St. Paul (“the Twin Cities”), Minnesota, USA. I attended a suburban public high school called White Bear Lake, where I served as Class President, Minnesota Association of Student Councils Secretary, and also received an honor of Minneapolis Star-Tribune (newspaper) High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year for excellence in academics and football. After high school, I received a cum laude Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics from a private liberal arts school called St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. I was also fortunate to spend time studying abroad during my years at university. I enrolled in a one-month literature course in Cuba during my sophomore year, and during my junior year I enrolled for a semester at The University of Ghana in West Africa. Football has been an important part of my life as long as I can remember. I played for both my university teams in Minnesota and Africa, and have also trained and played matches with professional teams in Minnesota and Ghana.

After graduating from university, I went to Washington D.C. to pursue my interests in international economics and politics. For nine months I served as a research assistant in the Center for International Trade and Economics at The Heritage Foundation, one of Washington’s most prominent think-tanks. There I conducted extensive research on international economic policy developments in all countries of the world, and had my name acknowledged for research in The Wall Street Journal’s 2003 Index of Economic Freedom.

While I still have long-term interests to receive either my MBA or Master’s in International Affairs back home in the United States, I wanted to first gain some challenging work experience in a different culture. Given that I love children and have extensive experience working at youth soccer and outdoors camps, I became interested in teaching. I applied to many jobs throughout China and Asia, but was most impressed with Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou. I immediately noticed the professionalism of Dr. Wang and Judy during the hiring process, and I was further impressed when Dr. Wang mentioned his experience at the Concordia Language Villages in northern Minnesota, the place where my younger sister attended Norwegian language camp many years ago. Assistant Principal Dr. Bob happens to be from my very same city, where he and my parents have mutual friends and acquaintances. And as if that wasn’t enough, the famous “Mr. Larry” (the school’s teaching consultant from America) and I traced back our family trees and realized that we are actually related!

While these connections made it easier to come and feel not so far from home, it is the Beijing New Oriental Community as a whole (students, staff, families, etc.) that has truly made me feel at home here in Yangzhou. I honestly could not have imagined a better group of people to work with on both the professional and personal levels. It is the students, however, that have made my work here as delightful as it has been. If I have a moment where I might be a bid saddened, their smiles always seem to instantaneously brighten my day. Our students are all incredibly gifted and super individuals, and I look forward to watching them continue to grow and learn as students and people in one of the best schools in all of China. I would like to send you off with a brief anecdote that reflects how fulfilling and enriching it can be as a member of the Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou community. During a lesson with one of my second-grade classes, one of my students approached me. She quietly whispered to me (in English) if I ever cry before I go to sleep because I miss my mother. I told her the truth that one night I had in fact shed a tear, and that it is completely normal and okay. I asked her if she had, and she told me she had the previous night. Regardless, we both giggled together, knowing we were not alone, and we continued right on with our lesson. It was simply a special reminder in life of how regardless of age, nationality, race, gender, etc., we are human beings and more similar at our cores than meets the eye. For me, this moment symbolized what a special place our school is, and I’d like to thank everyone for giving me the chance to be a part of this special experience. With that, I wish us all the best of luck as we continue this exciting journey together!