I just saw on SVT Play a program about the Chinese food. It really made me think about my time in Beijing and everything I experienced.
When I traveled to China I had a wish of learning chinese and do something totally new, something that I had never done before. I wasn’t sure who to ask or where to go, but I knew I wanted to live in Beijing and I had a goal. I contacted the few (two) contacts I had to see if it leed something. Both of them wasn’t even in Beijing at that time but one of them was coming back in just a couple of days so I thought; Why wait until they come? I contacted and organization called Foreigner too see if they could help me with getting settled in Beijing. They tried to help me but the courses in Chinese and other educations had already begun so I had to start search all by my self. I was in a new country, with a language I didn’t understand or couldn’t even translate, all alone, living in a hotel somewhere in the huge city of Beijing.
After I have been traveling for many years, sometimes by my self and sometimes with friends and family, I have learned that if you have security, then it is much easier to develop something from there. Thats why I thought it would be best to have somewhere to live, but not a hotel. I found some rooms available on the website TheBeijinger.com. I traveled around whole Beijing (I felt like it was whole Beijing, but actually it was just a small part, the city is huge!) and looked at different rooms. Most of them didn’t even have a bead, and believe it or not, I didn’t bring a bead to China. Finally I found a room close to a University that soon will come to be my new home. I moved in directly!
After moving in with all my stuff (suite-case and a bag-pack) I walked down to the Beijing International Studies University to find out if it was possible for a Swedish guy to study Chinese there. The University was big and I had a hard time to find someone to talk to. Finally I found the right room and I signed up for a semester of Chinese studies, beginners lever of course. I started two weeks after and met a lot of new people from all over the world. A lot of mexicans studied there and due to my staying in Playa Del Carmen, we had a lot to talk about.
The studies from the beginning seemed impossible. From the moment the teacher stepped in to the classroom until he walked out, he only spoke chinese. I had never studied chinese at all so the first two weeks of school I didnt understood anything he said. Every day I sat 4 hours listening to something that could had been Russian, Japanese, Korean or any other language and didnt understood anything. I went home, studied until it was night, same thing next day. I was close to give up after the fist week but I thought; If all the Koreans in the front of the classroom could do it, I COULD DO IT! I kept trying and in the end of the second week I understood probably one or two of the words he said, and one or two of the characters he wrote. The week after two more and thats how it continued. When I came to the midterm, I got one of the highest scores in my class and that gave me even more motivation.
After a while of studying I wanted to learn more about the chinese culture, see how the chinese people really think and act. I lived in Beijing but I mostly had foreigners around me and I wanted to get to know China more. Thats when I started to look for a job. I had noticed that the chinese people are not very good in english so I decided I wanted to work as a English Teacher. I applied for tree jobs where I got one of them. I started to work every sunday at Wei English School Beijing and teaching kids from 5 to 18 years old english. I loved that job and the kids where amazing. I hope I inspired them to continue with their English studies.
When the term had come to its end the final exam was due. I studied very much for this exam and it gave results. I got the second highest score in my class and I won a trip to Shanghai because of my good test scores! Unfortunately I had already booked my trip home and had a job waiting for me back in Sweden so I couldn’t go. I got my studying diploma with my grade, I said farewell to my lovely friends, said good bye to Beijing and went home to Sweden for new experiences and new challenges.
If you have the opportunity to go to Beijing, or anywhere in China, I would strongly recommend it. I loved the place and will some time get back there and enjoy the country and people as much as I did during my staying in Beijing.
