6/3/2004 - Donat and Irina

This article appears in AFS Switzerland’s latest edition of ACROSS which follows the pioneering adventures of Donat and Irina, two AFSers who journeyed through China.

Under our eyes lies the Forbidden City, Beijing and around us talk foreign tourists in all kinds of languages. We are not tourists. We are a kind of Chinese – at least in our feelings. We set out seven months ago together with 21 other students from all over the World. We set out with the mission to explore and experience Chinese people, life and culture. Now the first big travel in China: to Beijing.

In “western countries” (the World is, for Chinese, separated into China and western countries) manners are sometimes so pointless. It is great to be able to crowd over the table smacking your lips and slurping (especially as it helps to enjoy the food more) during the meal and nobody cares. You actually attract attention if you make NO sounds.

Change of scenes: We are back from Beijing and again four hours apart from each other. If there is one thing we found out, it is that little distances in China are already a huge difference. Even though our two cities are very near, they are worlds apart. When I (Donat) went to Shanghai for the first time I felt very strange because nobody stared at me, nobody shouted “Hello!” out of a car, things that are absolutely usual for Nanjing.

But the differences get bigger the farther you go to the west. Before I (Irina) came here, the picture of Chinese people that I had was just the one of Han Chinese, the people with the small eyes and all of them speaking Mandarin. I learned there was so much more to China than I had imagined. I had no idea of all the minorities and different languages. I am really lucky that my school is taking part in a project and is hosting more than 200 students from Xinjiang. The first days in school, I was actually kind of confused: “Are there so many other exchange students? Or is there an international part?!” Not just the looks, but the way of thinking and temperament are so different.

To make up for the few holidays you have as a Chinese student, we sometimes also have to go to school on Saturdays and Sundays. Just like now during May holidays: First seven days off and then seven days school in a row! Studying is very hard, our classmates basically have no free time. During the holidays, they can go you maybe one or two days and the other part is just homework and private study to gain an advantage over the other students. For me (Irina) that was very difficult and it took me a long time to get used to it, that the friends in school just do not have any free time. The Chinese students come to school at 7:15 in the morning and stay there until five o’clock in the evening. After it, they return home to study. Their whole life happens in school and that is really influencing their life. Also their thoughts usually circle around school stuff. They have a strong “school-patriotism” and even a “class-patriotism”. For us who are used to more liberty, it was surely difficult to find our place within these structures, but I also found the safety a school like this can give to you. When I meet someone in my school’s uniform, I know he is my schoolmate and thus, my friend. One of the things I think I (Donat) enjoy most in my life here is the incredible liberty (apart from school) that I have. With my bike I can ride everywhere in Nanjing, I can explore every place and when I have any problems or needs, the Chinese will help me, eager to get known to the foreigner a bit closer. When they see that I can talk a bit with them and that I am interested in them, it happens very often that I leave a place with a very good feeling of warmth and that the people care about you. The conversation often starts with a “Welcome to China.” It is very easy to travel on your own and it is incredible to have the liberty to sit over the Forbidden City, wait for the sunset, talk with some Chinese and just feel comfortable.

by
Donat Blum, Switzerland to China, 2003
Irina Hotz, Switzerland to China, 2003

In the photo: Irina and Donat at the Great Wall of China