José is sharing chocolate with students.[Photo provided  to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first time I started learning Spanish I was immediately hooked, not only for the charm of the language itself, but also for my dear Spanish teacher José María.

José is a 30 year-old Spaniard with thick whiskers on his blushed face. He cannot speak Chinese at all. He speaks English, but only with a strong Spanish accent. At the beginning, I found it difficult to figure out what he is indicating in the class. My heart sank when facing Spanish. With time elapsing, I am finally able to keep pace with him. Thank God! Regaining confidence, I started to devolve myself into this course.

I hold my belief that some individuals are endowed with the unspeakable miserable personality like appetency and warmth, making you feel like you are bathing in the glorious sunshine. José takes the gift. The overall feeling he has given me is gentleness since he understands Chinese etiquette while posses foreigner’s adorable character at the same time. We often joke with him as a soul artist. It is mainly because he is adept at painting, both drawings on the blackboard and in our exam paper to enable us to better understand what he is explaining. Indeed, his paintings help a lot. More importantly, his extraordinarily funny pictures cheer us up when we learn.

Frankly speaking, he is so mediocre that I scarcely find anything different between other foreigners and him. Nevertheless,from some tiny details you might consider him a well-educated man. For instance, some teachers will clean the blackboard before the class in case they would like to write down some key words in the class but José would clean the blackboard after his class. I have never seen any teacher did before. That is a kind of consideration for the teacher in the next class.

During the days that I get along with him, what impressed me most is Christmas Day.On that special day for Europeans,we decided to give him a surprise in the class,namely a gift embracing a box of chocolate and a Christmas hat.With an animated face,he couldn’t help putting on the hat and unpacking the chocolate from the box.To our surprise,he shared his chocolate with us at once.We refused to accept because that was the best wish we gave to him,also with our gratitude for his selfless dedication,but we received the sweets.I used my cellphone to capture such a memorable moment just in time; when he shared his gift with us.I will cherish this photo forever.All of us enjoyed a merry Christmas on that day.

Once I asked José some questions for my curiosity.I wonder why he would like to come to China.He said that his university in Madrid offered him a vacant job here.Being a Spanish foreign teacher in our college,he is allowed to research in his field,write his PhD paper and make a living at the same time.Besides,he has quite a few Chinese friends who are very nice in Madrid.Therefore,he wanted to learn more about Chinese culture and this country.Additionally,I asked him what did he think of his present job.“I am satisfied now in the second semester.The conditions at the university are good and the students are excellent.I am happy that what I am doing is rewarding.I’m fine.I have a roommate to help me with some problems,”Jose said. When it came to his future career,he listed a few plans but still hasn’t decided yet.

José is nobody more than a foreign teacher,neither a hero nor a celebrity,but we like him deeply.I am convinced that he is a positive person, otherwise how can he dare to go to an unacquainted country alone with an unsubstantial foundation of Chinese.Hardly can we imagine the difficulties he has when he lives in China.Life can be tough,but he made it.His motto is “Motivation Is Everything”,as Napoleon said.He interprets the motto as the idea that the motivation is the only importance because everything can find the motivation in your sense.I can’t agree more with him.His words spread a striving seed in my heart,which always motivates me to move forward.