My name is Cody Monico LaBoy, and I’m from California. I studied English Literature at San Francisco State University, and I would love to teach literature at some point in the future.

I enjoy reading, writing, learning languages, learning about people and various cultures, playing football (soccer), and, more than anything, spending time with my wife. After graduating from university, I received my CELTA certification from International House Barcelona, where I lived and taught ESL for two years at a private language school. 

My classes ranged from young learners to retirees, which really helped to get me started and develop as a teacher. Anaïs and I got married in Spain and then took three months to travel South America from Colombia to Chile. We then lived in Santiago, Chile for about a year and a half, teaching English for a company that worked primarily with business professionals in one-to-one and group classes.  We then moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina for a few months, where we taught private classes.

So far, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with JESIE. JESIE offered Anaïs and I a few of the things that we had been looking for. On a personal level, I needed a challenge. I want to continue to grow as a teacher and as a person. That said, moving to China certainly offers us that challenge.

The United States, Spain, Chile, and Argentina all have plenty of similarities, both culturally and linguistically. I have learned both Spanish and Catalan but both languages are (supposedly!) some of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. Here in China, I hope to take the opportunity to learn a bit of Chinese, as it is becoming an increasingly important language in our globalized world and because it is so different from the languages that I know. I was also attracted to the city of Nanjing, which is another reason that JESIE caught our eye. There were plenty of job opportunities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, but Anaïs and I were drawn to Nanjing for its size and history.

On a professional level, JESIE offered us the opportunity to teach for public schools, something that I have always wanted to do and would like to do in the future. Although private schools certainly have their benefits, I feel more “at home” in a public school environment.

I have gone to public schools all my life and truly believe in them. Aside from that, I have never worked with classes this large, as my language school in Barcelona had a maximum of about 15 students per class. In that regard, JESIE has given us the exact opportunity that I was looking for – the chance to learn about a different culture and people and the chance to work in new situations and environments.

Even though it is only the first week, I have really enjoyed my experience so far. The staff at JESIE has been extremely helpful and has really made us feel welcome and taken care of.

It is evident that JESIE cares for its teachers and fights to give them the best situation possible, which I think inspires teachers to really give their all and represent the organization as well as possible. My school is lovely, and my fellow teachers have been friendly and welcoming.

Most importantly, I have really enjoyed myself in the classroom with the students. So, at this point in time, I only have positive things to say about JESIE and Hexi Middle School.