Interview with Kelly Fitzgerald, October 26, 2021

Interview Summary

Kelly Fitzgerald served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in far northwest China from 2013-2015. She discusses joining the Peace Corps to gain a better cross-cultural understanding of educational and communicative practices. She tells stories about living with a Chinese family during training and her life at Hexi University where she interacted with the city’s large Moslem and Tibetan population. There, she taught English, maintained the English library, and organized the Shakespeare Club. She talks about the being continually watched, people’s attitudes toward, and misconceptions about, Americans, and prejudices against African Americans and Asians. She hopes small interactions with students and members of her bike club broadened their perspectives, as they did hers. She tries to reteach Americans about Chinese people and interest young and older people in joining the Peace Corps. She also discusses RPCVs work at FEMA.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (US) China (Country of Service) Education (Peace Corps program) 2013-15 (years of service) Zhangye, Gansu Province Chinese attitudes about Americans Chinese American Friendship Volunteers

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