Paola, AFSAI student is currently in China.
She wrote to us to tell us about her positive experience both in her family and at school and how she is living this difficult moment after the discovery of the coronavirus.
Paola has been in the city of Zhengzhou, in the Henan region, for five months. I can begin – she writes – by saying that this experience in China has allowed me to understand more deeply the culture that is lived within the family and school. China is for you if you are inclined to enter a different lifestyle.
Living in China
I had the good fortune to end up in a wonderful family. They made me share in family life, making me feel like a member of the family, more than an “adopted” exchange. Obviously there have been and still are moments of discouragement; even from those I have learned not to give up, strengthening my character and my will. We are all together in the family; I do a lot of activities with my family or simply study as I did for all the previous 5 months when I came back to the family only on weekends.
Studying in China
In my school routine, I have mainly been doing my own study of the Chinese language: from 7:30 in the morning until 17:10 in the afternoon. Not being a student attending a college in Italy I can say that living a school life in a dormitory 5 days a week and with friends from all over the world is an extraordinary experience. It has given me the opportunity to create beautiful memories of all kinds. As far as Chinese students are concerned, I had the chance to see how much time they dedicate to study, compared to us Italian/Westerners. The alarm clock rings at 5:00 a.m., classes start around 6:00 a.m. and continue until the evening, at 9:40 p.m., also counting the lunch break that goes from 12:10 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. A different way of life!
The coronavirus
Speaking of the crown virus in progress at the moment, I can say that I, an exchange student living in the Henan region of Zhengzhou City, do not have any major problems at the moment. I can say that the virus at the moment has only prevented the Chinese people from celebrating the most eagerly awaited holiday, the Chinese New Year, and has brought the city of Wuhan(武汉) which gave rise to the virus and all its citizens enormous suffering. But despite this virus, I have found that no one in China has given up. They are all fighting together against this virus and are all supporting the citizens of Wuhan. Even if you look into the narrower circle of the family, you see that there is unity and that people are encouraging each other. For the moment in my city, as I said before, there is only a different air than usual: there are fewer people on the streets, many normally populated areas are quite bare; but if you talk normally to people you can find peace of mind in relation to everything that is happening; I believe that in these circumstances having calm and a firm pulse are the best prerequisites to deal with the whole situation.
I have found instead that news and newspapers were the first factors to cause panic not only in Italy but also in the rest of the world. This scaremongering is bringing to the surface even more serious problems such as racism towards the Chinese/East people. I will conclude by saying that for the moment I do not feel that my life is in danger to be in China and in my city. I just hope that this whole global situation of misinformation and ignorance will improve as soon as possible for the sake of civil welfare and if you can call it humanitarian.
What is this experience teaching you?
I have developed a greater knowledge of these people; I have also had the opportunity to change personally. If you can put it more succinctly, to mature. I have learned to be patient and appreciate or otherwise understand customs and habits different from my own; by improving my Chinese, I have also had more opportunity to integrate myself into Chinese society and the city where I live now. I can say, after five months, that China is not a country for everyone, but if you are inclined to know a world different from yours and enter a different way of life, this place is one of the best you can choose.