Clothing design student finds new love in childcare at Expo nursery, Tang Zhihao reports.

Spending the day cuddling, feeding and caring for babies was not the path Jiang Jiang, a 22-year-old from Jiangxi province, had imagined for herself.

Jiang has spent the last three years studying clothing design in Japan, so she was surprised to be offered a position at a baby nursery established by the Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group in the Expo Garden.

During her shift from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, Jiang's main task is to provide assistance to young parents. This includes preparing hot milk for babies and providing some basic childcare advice to young parents. She also needs to make sure the nursery is kept clean and tidy.

"I never imagined I could work in a baby nursery because I don't know much about childcare," said Jiang. "I didn't think I was the right person for this position."

After working in the nursery for more than five months, Jiang considers her experience working at the Yili Baby Nursery Center as a valuable asset.

After three months of training courses and passing several exams, Jiang was qualified to work in the nursery. Jiang still remembers her first day in the Expo Garden when she was asked to look after a 7-month-old baby.

"When I held the baby, I moved like a robot," said Jiang. "I didn't know what to do with the baby."

As the middle child in a family with three children, Jiang said that before she took the job she did not like to be around small babies.

"Sometimes children are troublesome and can be very noisy," she said.

Jiang remembered that during the first month working at the nursery she tried to stay away from children.

Now Jiang said she is much more familiar with childcare and has learned how to deal with children of different ages.

She even thought of taking more classes for nursery care so she could continue to be involved in the baby care industry in the future.

"Finally I decided to continue studying clothing design in Japan after the Expo but I am sure this experience will help me a lot in my life," she said.

Even though she's been working in the Expo Garden for five months, Jiang said she has only visited two pavilions.

"I will try to visit the Japan Pavilion in October because that is the country where I lived for more than three years," Jiang said.

(China Daily 10/08/2010 page)