"I love every part of this job, especially the Final Celebration at the end of every team when I see smiles, handshakes, hugs and tears filling up the Pacific Ocean and connecting American and Chinese hearts together forever."

Ni hao! (nee how) My Chinese name is Hu Di (who-dee). My English name is Nancy Hu. I am the Country manager for Global Volunteers in Xi’an (she-on), China.

I was born in November of 1978, just as China began to implement the “One Child” policy. Our small family was comfortable and happy. My father was an engineer for a large electric power company and my mother sold business insurance in our area for PICC (People’s Insurance Company of China).

My hometown is a county of 20,000 people in southern Shaanxi (shawn-she) Province. It is located about 240 kilometers south of Xi’an in a beautiful valley between mountains and by streams. In Chinese its name means “rocks and streams.”

As a child, I enjoyed everything but studying. The little brain, full of naughty ideas, did not make my parents proud of me, but it did leave me with good memories of my childhood. My parents and I have always been very good friends and they gave me 100% democracy in making life decisions even when I was little.


While American parents say “finish your plate, there are many hungry kids in China,” Chinese parents say, “study hard, you will make a fortune in America.” In China, exams pave the road to success. Luckily enough, I passed one of them and in 1996 went “over the mountain” to the big city of Xi’an enrolled as a student at Xi’an International Studies University. This changed my life and I have lived in Xi’an mostly since then.

After getting my bachelor's degree in English, I worked for a Taiwanese company for a short time. Then planning to change my life path from a businesswoman to a teacher, I went back to my college to get a Master degree in linguistics. I graduated in July 2005.

Recently I married a young Chinese man who was my Japanese language teacher in college. As I write this, he will soon be moving back from Japan where he has worked for a couple of years. We are looking forward to beginning our new lives together.

In May of 2004, I met with Global Volunteers by chance. Thanks to the Grand Celebration of Team 100 in China, Global Volunteers and our China host were looking for local volunteers to help during this very large event. A notice on my campus caught my eye and, along with many other schoolmates, I signed up for this chance to practice my English with native speakers. Again, luck knocked at my door and I became one of eight volunteers who were selected from a long list. Two weeks were short enough for practicing English, but long enough for me to learn something about my life. I fell in love with Global Volunteers and found my personal life goal in its motto. In September 2004, I began to work as assistant to the country manager and team leader. In January 2006, I took over the job of China Country Manager and Team Leader.

This job has enriched my life enormously. It has brought wonderful people into my life. It has given me the chance to see friendships blossom and grow and many miracles happen in the world. I love every part of this job, especially the Final Celebration at the end of every team when I see smiles, handshakes, hugs and tears filling up the Pacific Ocean and connecting American and Chinese hearts together forever. I feel great gratitude to all the volunteers who dedicate themselves to making a small change in the world.

My job ranks the first in this category. The second is traveling. As a student for most of my life so far, I haven’t had the time or money to realize my dream of traveling around the world. I squeezed every penny out of my pocket to visit Disneyworld in Orlando in January 2005 on my first abroad trip.

You would never imagine how tightly Mickey Mouse could grasp a little Chinese girl's heart!

My philosophy of life: 

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.