Journals from a vanished world — travelling and teaching across Asia, 1989–1992.
Originally from Toronto, Ontario. Twenty-five years chairing the Humanities Program at Centennial College. Author of two memoirs drawn from journals packed away for thirty years.
Michele H. Turner, a photographer, writer, and teacher originally from Toronto, Ontario, travelled and taught in Asia between 1988 and 1991.
Like many Western educators in China during this time, Turner kept a journal of impressions, experiences, and personal interactions with students and fellow teachers. Packed away for thirty years, these journals were recovered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She served as the Chairperson of the Humanities Program at Centennial College in Montreal, Canada, where she dedicated twenty-five years of her career. She earned a BA in Philosophy and another BA in Art History from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Additionally, she holds an MA in Philosophy and Religion from McGill University, along with degrees in Education, including College Teaching, Human Relations, Family Life Education, Educational Counselling, and Outdoor Education from Concordia University.
In 1996, she contributed to a team assessing the Social Science Program at the collegiate level throughout Quebec. In 1993, she participated as a member of a writing committee formed by the Minister of Education to establish standards and learning activities for the Humanities Program in the Province of Quebec.
Travelling in Asia, 1989–1991
This book provides an introduction for ESL teachers and licensed educators who are interested in teaching abroad. It can also be enjoyed as a reading adventure worthy of Gulliver’s Travels.
Turner taught in China from 1989 to 1991, after the Cultural Revolution, when English teachers had a unique opportunity to understand and develop friendships with their Chinese students. It represented an opportunity for Western teachers and entrepreneurs to connect with Chinese citizens and share their aspirations for the future. Turner offers an overview of life in Taiwan during the Tiananmen Square Incident.
Teaching in Taiwan also offered the chance to travel to Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Beijing, and beyond. While riding the Trans-Siberian Express to Moscow, Turner discovers the black market delicacies of champagne and caviar, and, like others, waits in line for the opportunity to buy food that is in high demand. Moscow’s rich architectural wonders, the underground museums of its metro stations, the treasures of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, and the Bolshoi Ballet showcase a spiritual richness that contrasts with reality. Within days, it becomes clear that revolutions and food shortages are more than mere historical curiosities. A rebellion simmers on the back burner of history, poised to push the country to the brink of famine and lead to state collapse.
Desperate to secure a ticket for a five-day journey across Siberia, through Mongolia to Beijing, she is compelled to disembark by Russian soldiers in Outer Mongolia. Finding the local people unwelcoming, she joins a group of Russian black marketeers travelling to Inner Mongolia. While the vast desert landscape showcases stunning beauty, the Mongolians find themselves caught between their traditional way of life and the remnants of Russia’s 20th-century infrastructure, now reduced to rubble in the desert.
Drawing from her journals from that period, Turner offers an account of her travels and teachings, exploring foreign lands, celebrating triumphs, and confronting the many fears and limitations inherent in being human. A study guide, ideal for self-study, provides essential historical information and thought-provoking questions for independent learners.
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Beijing, 1991–92
In the spring of 1989, a government crackdown on the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square occurred, and two years later, life continued as though it had never happened.
Turner signed a contract to teach graduate students at the Beijing Language Institute. This is the story of a year in Beijing spent among foreign teachers and Chinese students, set against the backdrop of the ever-present Foreign Affairs Office.
While the Hundred Years of Humiliation was now history, and all memory of the turbulent days of 1989 was forgotten, it seemed that foreign visitors needed protection. Under the watchful eye of the Foreign Affairs Office, teachers were sheltered from the world outside the confines of their work unit. This reflected a significant psychological projection of the mindset within the Chinese Communist Party; it had an impact on teachers. Were there spies and informants in every aspect of the normalcy of everyday life? That was one explanation for what happened that year.
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