I had no choice!

Last Thursday, I was testing the English levels of some new students coming to our school and learned about a change of government policy that took place 11 years ago.  What I do to test is usually have a simple introductory conversation with the student.  I can usually learn a student's level of English very easily from these conversations. 

I always ask the students about their home town.  Sometimes, I ask the students, if they are not from Wuxi, why they came to Wuxi.

I happened to talk to a female student who came to Wuxi 12 years ago and I learned that she was forced to come here after she graduated from school.  She had no choice then.  Her teachers told her she had to come to Wuxi from Xian.

Today, I happened to talk to a male student who graduated 11 years ago.  Having just talked to the female student who graduated 12 years ago, I asked him if he was forced to come to Wuxi after he graduated.  He told me he wasn't because the government changed the policy of forcing graduates to go to certain locations the year he graduated.

I have had older students tell me that they were separated from their spouses because the government forced married couples to go to  different locations.  One man told me he was only able to see his wife once a year.