Meet our Peace Corps Match Volunteer Mathilde is teaching French and English in Gansu China. She's a world traveller & has lived in the US, France, Chile and now China. To write to Mathilde, send a letter and email it to info@chineseforfamilies.com. We'll post your letter here or give you a mailing address if you wish to use snail mail. Here's Mathilde's first letter:

Hello everyone ! Let me introduce myself. My name is Mathilde and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lanzhou, a city of 3 million people in Gansu province. I will be teaching English and French to College students for the next two years. Most of the students at my school are majoring in engineering or sciences. But there is also a school of Foreign Languages, where students can major in English or Japanese. My students are Sophomores, Juniors and Post-Graduates. The youngest are 19, the oldest 35 or so. As for me, I am 24. I am actually American and French. Because I was born in Washington D.C., I am American, and because my family is French, I am also French. My family lives in Paris, France. Thus I speak French and English. However, I learnt English at school in France ! I arrived in China 4 months ago. We were trained by the Peace Corps China for two months in Chengdu, Sichuan. We received training in the Mandarin language, in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), and also some Safety and Security sessions. We stayed with host families, to practice the language we would learn in class and learn more about Chinese culture and life styles. Before I came to China, I knew virtually nothing about this country, let alone its language. Now, after four months, I can buy things at the market or have simple conversations with people I meet in the street. But unfortunately, I cannot read the characters I see all around me. I just know about 40, and a literate Chinese person knows more than 4,000 ! Lanzhou is a very interesting city. It is set along the Yellow River, and is 200 km long ! It is also surrounded by mountains, and at 1,500 m of altitude. The air is very dry, so we must drink a lot of water all the time. I live in the Muslim neighborhood, and the people here are really friendly. One day I walked up the hill behind my school and found a hidden temple. The guardian of the temple invited me in, and eventhough he was obviously really poor, he still offered me tea, bread and fruits, and we watched TV together and communicated without using words (my Chinese and his English being too limited). Another time, I walked down the street to the train tracks, and teenagers invited me to play pool with them. There aren't many foreigners around here so I am a bit of an attraction around here…. Especially, it is very strange for Chinese people when I say that I am French and American, because here, in China, you can have only one nationality ! The food here in Lanzhou is delicious. The city is called " the city of Fruits ", because the dry air and the sun give really good fruits. There are many kinds of melons. But the main specialty is called " niu rou mian ", or beef noodles. They are delicious, and Muslim people cook them the best. So sometimes, we call them " Muslim noodles. " Also, people eat a lot of potatoes. In Southern China, people eat rice, but here, people eat more noodles. It is almost Winter now so it is getting really cold. The school will turn the central heating on some time in November. But for now, we have to wear many layers even when we are inside. It's time to go to bed for me so I'll say good bye for now, but I look forward to hearing from you soon. If you have specific questions, I would be happy to answer them ! Best, Mathilde

Photo by Mathilde Verillaud