Assistant Professor of English Joanne Nystrom Janssen was nervous as she boarded the airplane. She had never been to Asia before, let alone taught there. But she was optimistic, hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Her destination was Chittagong, Bangladesh. She was teaching an English literature class at the Asian University for Women. 

“I felt so confronted by everything around me,” Janssen said. “It was all so new.”

Janssen first learned about the job while she was finishing her Ph.D. Her husband was searching for jobs and found the application online. At first she did not take the application seriously, but her husband convinced her to fill it out.

“To this day, I wonder if I would have thought twice about that ad—probably not,” Janssen said.

She left for Bangladesh at the end of June in 2010.

Her biggest worry about teaching in Bangladesh was moving her toddler-age son away from his home in the United States. Janssen said that her worries quickly faded, and he was comfortable in his new home.

Janssen said she was attracted to the job because the teaching involved women in Asia.

“Gender equality is important to me,” she said. “It would be fulfilling.”

Janssen says the biggest difference between students in the United States and students in Bangladesh is that the students there are generally aware of what a privilege college is. When she offered to edit her students’ essays before they were due, 30 of her 31 students came for editing sessions. The one student who did not come was in the hospital for food poisoning.

Wherever Janssen and her family went, they would always draw crowds. Most of the people had never seen someone with blonde hair before. Janssen said she was also a “giant” compared to the local people.

After living in Bangladesh for two years, Janssen and her family moved back to the United States on May 15.

“There are aspects of America that I thought were normal before which I don’t anymore,” Janssen said. “I don’t know how to deal with these thoughts or emotions.”

Janssen said that while to her, this is coming home, to her preschooler son this is going away. Having spent most of his life in Bangladesh, the United States is a new experience for him.

This is Janssen’s first year teaching at Baker University. While her time at Baker has been brief, she has had an impact on her students.

“We spend a lot of time going through symbolism in class,” freshman Clare Courtney said. “I’ve never really understood it before. She helps me see it more clearly.”

Freshman Jerome Tujague added, “Her class is less about her telling us what to do and more about her helping us figure it out for ourselves.”

Whether she is in Asia or North America, Janssen loves teaching and helping students understand texts with which they are unfamiliar.