Humans of Warwick - Dr Jianhua Yang

Dr Jianhua Yang

Associate Professor - Reader, WMG

"The webcam at Coventry Cathedral helped me keep in touch with home."

“Encouraged by my parents I came from China to Warwick to do my Masters degree. It wasn’t easy. Leaving home and moving to a different country is tough. I found the language barrier a big challenge and I did think about going home on more than one occasion.

I was only supposed to be here for a year, that was back in 2002, but I was fortunate enough to get sponsorship from Warwick and the UK government to do a PhD. After studying I went straight into working, in Birmingham which I did for five years. After that I returned to Coventry to teach, everyday was the same so I didn’t do that for long and then took a job at Jaguar Landrover (JLR). It was then that I saw WMG were recruiting. I jumped at the chance, and it was a wonderful feeling to come back. People were so kind to me when I studied here, and it was great to see some familiar faces. It’s been a long journey to get back here but it’s also the best decision I’ve made.

I also left my girlfriend at home, which was difficult, keeping in touch was even harder. Where I lived at the time had no internet access, so I used to go and stand in front of the webcam at Coventry Cathedral and wave to home. Due to the time difference, I’d then let my girlfriend know what time I’d been there so she could log in and find me. It sounds silly now, but it was our way of staying in touch with each other. It was worth all the effort, she eventually joined me in the UK and now we’re married with three little girls and a dog!

My girls were born in the UK and consider themselves to be more English than Chinese, but we’re trying to teach them everything about their heritage. They attend a Chinese school on a Sunday, and we celebrate all the traditional festivals with them. New Year, Lantern festival, Mid-Autumn, they mean so much to me and my wife and we think it’s important that we keep the traditions alive.

I get home occasionally to see my parents and they’ve also been here but found it quite overwhelming. Neither of them speak English or drive so they felt quite isolated. Where I grew up is pretty small as well so when they go out, they know everyone, they didn’t have that experience here. They are incredibly proud of me and everything I’ve achieved, if it wasn’t for them pushing me to come here who knows how things would have turned out.”