作者：Anvita
翻譯：潘澤彬
校對：Luz、Zuzana、Joanne
Coming to China was such an incredible happenstance. I used to learn Chinese as a hobby back in my hometown and now I’ve been living in Xiamen for almost 3 years!
來到中國是一個不可思議的巧合。我在家鄉(xiāng)的時候，就喜歡學習中文，它曾是我的愛好，一晃我已經(jīng)在廈門生活了將近 3 年！
I still remember my first day here so vividly. I had stars in my eyes the moment I landed at Gaoqi airport in February 2019. Everything was so foreign to me yet strangely familiar at the same time. My Chinese was still not good enough to have a decent conversation, all I could confidently say was “你好”. But that didn’t stop the overfriendly taxi driver from talking to me. He still continued to make conversation and made me feel so welcome. A long 40-minute drive later, we arrived at the East Gate of Xiamen University. He dropped me off right at the entrance since he couldn’t go inside. I was standing with my huge suitcases just taking in the whole scene. This was it. A new beginning.
來到廈門第一天的情景，仍印在我的腦海里，栩栩如生。2019 年 2 月，飛機降落在廈門高崎機場，那一刻我的眼睛里充滿了星光。一切對我來說都是那么陌生，但陌生中又帶有一絲熟悉。我的漢語仍然不夠好，無法進行像樣的對話，有信心脫口而出的詞只有“你好”，但這并不能阻攔那個過于友好的出租車司機與我聊天。他一直和我閑聊，讓我感到賓至如歸。漫長的 40 分鐘車程后，我們到達了廈門大學東門。司機不能進去，所以就在門口把我放下了。我提著巨大的行李箱站在那里，欣賞著眼前的一切。這就是廈大，一個全新的開始。
I was so clueless about where to go from here. Being a painfully shy person, I couldn’t bring myself to ask anyone for help. Thankfully, two students saw me and approached me, then helped me drag my bags all the way to the dormitories. Day by day I realised that everyone here is so friendly. I never felt homesick.
我根本不懂該往哪里走，而且我害羞極了，不敢求助任何人。好在有兩個學生看到了我，向我走來，幫我把行李拖到宿舍。日子一天天過去，我感到這里的每個人都是非常友好。我從未想家。
My first year was spent in Xiamen University where I was learning Chinese; all my classmates were from different countries and I had never even heard of some of them in my entire life. My social skills improved significantly; I broke out of my shell and made a lot of friends. We’d explore all of Xiamen in big groups and also travelled around other cities in China together. 2019 was the best year of my life.
我第一年是在廈門大學度過的，在那里學習漢語。所有同學都來自不同的國家，有些國家我甚至從未聽過。我的社交能力有了顯著提高，打破了束縛自己的外殼，交了許多朋友。我們大伙兒一起探索廈門，也一起到中國其他城市旅行。2019 年是我人生中最美好的一年。
?Attending classes didn’t even feel like school; every day was so fun and interactive and the teachers were so friendly. We had classes for listening, speaking and literature. They were spaced out very nicely during the week so we didn’t feel burdened by it. The beginner classes were the hardest and most of us were taking longer to understand certain topics, kudos to the teachers for being so patient with us.
上課不像是在上課，每天都是非常歡樂，充滿互動，老師們也很友善。我們有聽力、口語和文學課程，這些課程安排得十分合理，我們不覺得有什么壓力。初級課程是最難的，大多數(shù)學生需要花費更多的時間理解，但老師會不厭其煩地給我們答疑解惑，真心感謝他們。
With a lot of happy memories also came a lot of sad memories. There were a lot of farewells at the end of each semester since many students had to go back to their home countries, it was so heart breaking. I still try my best to stay in touch with them, even until today!
回憶中有很多快樂，也有許多悲傷。每個學期末，許多同學不得不回國，因此我們也不得不經(jīng)歷一場場令人心碎的告別。直到現(xiàn)在，我們依舊努力保持聯(lián)系！
My hometown is Mumbai, which is the financial capital of India. Although Xiamen and Mumbai are both coastal cities, they each have their own different charm.
我的故鄉(xiāng)是孟買，它是印度的金融之都。廈門和孟買雖然都是海濱之城，但它們卻展現(xiàn)著各自的魅力。
Xiamen has a population of about 4 million but Mumbai’s population is almost 21 million! Mumbai is known as the city that never sleeps; even at 3AM in the morning there is traffic outside and people going on about their day. The food there is also something that I really miss. You can find literally anything and everything. Restaurants in Mumbai love creating their own versions of popular international food items, which they call a “desi twist”. Even McDonalds in Mumbai has a different menu compared to other outlets around the country, that’s how enterprising they are. I once took my Chinese friends to a Chinese restaurant there thinking it was authentic at the time, but boy was I wrong! They were surprised to see that there wasn’t a single authentic Chinese dish in the menu. I’d like to believe they still enjoyed the food anyway.
廈門的人口約為 400 萬，但孟買的人口多達 2100 萬！孟買是座不夜城，即使在凌晨 3點，外面依舊車水馬龍，人們繼續(xù)他們的生活。我真的很想念孟買的美食。在孟買你可以找到任何珍饈美味。孟買的餐館喜歡創(chuàng)造本土化的異國美食，他們稱之為 “desi twist”。甚至孟買的麥當勞菜單也與全國各地的其他門店不同，這就是孟買人的創(chuàng)新精神。有一次，我?guī)е袊笥讶ッ腺I的一家中餐館吃飯，當時我以為這是家地道中餐館，但是我錯了！他們驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)，菜單上沒有一道正宗的中國菜，但我相信他們還是很喜歡這些美食。
Speaking of food, I was not familiar with any authentic Chinese food when I first came to Xiamen. All I knew was Chinese people ate fried rice. Learning to eat with chopsticks was the first hurdle I had to overcome and now it all feels so effortless. Some of my friends are also a few of the restaurant owners around here, they really love to chat. I love eating Malatang so much, I even started posting about it online and about all the other interesting food you can get here.
說到食物，我剛來廈門的時候還不懂什么是地道的中國菜，我只知道中國人吃炒飯。學會用筷子吃飯是我必須克服的第一個障礙，現(xiàn)在我用起筷子如魚得水。我有一些朋友在廈門開餐廳，他們十分健談。我愛吃麻辣燙，甚至在網(wǎng)上分享麻辣燙，以及在廈門可以吃到的其他美食。
?I was initially supposed to leave China in 2020 but then the pandemic struck and flights got cancelled. I fell into a deep depression and was on the fence about what to do. I really missed my family even though we videocall almost every single day. My intuition said I should continue staying here in Xiamen and I’m so glad I listened to it. I met some really amazing people here who have given me the same warmth and compassion similar to what my family would. I never took any of it for granted. I felt so happy and content here. I came to a realisation that this is where I wanted to be. This is home now. Of course I did have days that made me feel miserable, but being here changed me for the better. I learned to be independent and hardworking. I learned to be courageous. Coming here really shaped me into a better person.
我本來應(yīng)該在 2020 年離開中國，但由于新冠疫情，航班被取消。我陷入了深深的憂郁之中，到底該何去何從，我著實猶豫不決。我?guī)缀趺刻於紩图胰艘曨l聊天，但我還是很想念他們。直覺告訴我應(yīng)該繼續(xù)留在廈門，慶幸自己聽從了直覺。我在這里遇到了一些很棒的人，他們給予我家人一般的溫暖和關(guān)心。我從不認為這一切是理所當然。我在這兒感到非常幸福和滿足。我頓覺這就是我想要居住的城市，這兒就是我的家。當然，我也有難受的時候，但生活在這里，讓我變得更加優(yōu)秀。我學會了獨立，學會了勤奮，我也學會了做一個勇敢的人。這里真的把我塑造成了一個更優(yōu)秀的人。
Currently, I’m still a student at Xiamen University learning Chinese but now it’s all online. It’s a completely different experience compared to the one I had in 2019.
我仍然是廈門大學的學生，但目前只能在線上學習中文。與 2019 年相比，這是一種完全不同的體驗。
My goal is to crack the HSK-6 exam and later get my Master’s degree. I still have quite a while to go but living here keeps me motivated enough to continue persevering.
我的目標是通過漢語六級考試，獲得碩士學位。今后還有很長的路要走，但住在這兒讓我有足夠的動力堅持下去。
Thank you for reading my story and I hope it inspires you all to chase your dreams as well!
感謝你聆聽我的故事，也希望我的故事能激勵大家追尋自己的夢想！
