Danielle in her apartment [Photo provided to China Daily]

Danielle, from the US state of New Jersey, came to the city of Changchun, Jilin province, in August 2014 as an English teacher in Jilin University, as she put it, under the influence of her Chinese teacher in the US.

Her Chinese teacher was sent to a Confucius institute from Jilin University, which then sent the teacher to Danielle's school.

Danielle explains, "The university has a Chinese course where I begin to study the language which I found really interesting and I have an interest in East Asian history and Chinese was helpful in reading Oriental literature during my PhD studies. My teacher told me I could come to China as an English teacher and learn Chinese, so here I am."

Choosing chocolate in the supermarket [Photo provided to China Daily]

Danielle says that Changchun's weather is somewhat similar to New Jersey's, but that New Jersey's temperatures go up and down in winter, so it can be 15 C today but below zero tomorrow and the temperature can feel colder than it really is, with minus 4 being just like minus 15. But in Changchun it stays the same, so, "Here I just wear my winter pants and down coat and don't need to put on four layers of clothing to cope with the uncertainty of the weather."

Danielle describes the food in Changchun as "so delicious" and says she's learning some Chinese recipe, with persimmon egg soup being a favorite and it doesn't take much time to cook, "5 minutes is enough", then adds, "In the United States, the most traditional chicken soup needs an hour to cook, but if we have a heavy amount of work, we don't have time to make it. Chinese steamed buns are also tasty, just like a sandwich, with chicken sauce and onions."

Looking for sausage in the supermarket [Photo provided to China Daily]

She says she likes to try lots of different Chinese food, especially snacks and often go to the supermarket to find snacks that friends recommend and if they're good, she'll send some to her parents, sister and boyfriend in the US.

Danielle is a motivated, hard-working girl and, in addition to teaching at Jilin university she teaches BEC at an English training institute and tutors three children on the side. She gets an average of four hours of sleep a night and comments, "I only slept two hours yesterday, because class today needed to be prepared. I try my best to make class lively and interesting. Sometime I am so tired, I use most of my free time to sleep. But if I don't have classes, I like to go shopping, Hotwind ,Teenie Weenie and Uniqlo are all favorite brands and if I get the opportunity, I'd like to get a cheongsam.

She says that the Chinese economy has developed so fast that in New Jersey they joked about not messing with the Chinese people because of the economy and the large large population.

She concludes, "In July, I'll be back in New Jersey to continue my studies, but in two or three years, I'll come back to China, better if it's Changchun, I like this city."

By Ma Tianjiao from China Daily in Jilin