Peirong Dong, also known by her English name, Catherine, was born in the relatively small town of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province in China. Population 4.2 million.
From an early age, Catherine longed to experience life outside her comfort zone. Her opportunity came when she finished high school and enrolled in a local university that allowed two years of study in Melbourne.
Catherine came to Australia with only an academic understanding of English and felt the pain and isolation of not understanding the spoken language or being understood. But this was not going to keep her down and she threw herself into an immersive language experience by working for Opporto and then as a barista, and learned to speak like a local.
After completing her degree in Finance she decided to take on another challenge and came to Darwin to do an MBA.
In Darwin Catherine experienced our unique lifestyle and culture and she has used the opportunity to discover who she really is. This is Catherine’s Territory Story.
