Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China
当我到北京的时候，我只看见空荡荡的飞机场。除了跟我一起飞人的以外，飞机场里看不到其他任何人。我对中国的第一印象与生活在世界上最受欢迎的国家的没有太大的区别。尽管我曾经在中国有过旅行，那些推挤着，吵闹地冲向下一个目的地的，永不停息的人流仍然让我十分吃惊。不仅如此，巨大的摩天大楼和穿越北京市中心的多车道公路十分令人惊讶。是中国和中文的特殊性吸引我学习中文。在我看来，中国文化和生活方式的多样性非常迷人。 接下来的一年会使得我在过去两年本科阶段学习中文时遇到的挑战十分值得。
但是，我的中国年并没有一个完美的开端。我在大约第一周都在忙于堆积如山的检查——体检、找房子、大学注册和居住证申请等等。最后，当我签订了房屋合同，并且获得了居住证后，我终于能够开始放松，享受北京。可能我前几个星期的亮点就是游览北京各种各样的著名景点。我之间看过所有的这些景点，但是这次却没有看景点的压力，所以我能发现很多之前我所忽视的方面。这些人都和展出的那些人一样有趣——一群老人在颐和园的走廊里打麻将，新郎新娘在天坛拍摄婚纱照，还有无数的旅行团匆匆地奔走于各个旅游景点。这些都让我觉得中国的文化很有魅力！
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Upon my arrival in Beijing I was greeted with an eerily deserted airport with not a single traveller to be seen other than those on my flight. My first taste of China couldn’t have been more different to the reality of living in the world’s most populous country. Despite travelling in China before, the never ending flow of people, pushing and shoving, noisily rushing to their next destination never ceases to amaze me. Even more so, the giant infrastructure of skyscrapers and multi-lane highways slicing through the centre of Beijing is staggering.
It is the otherness of China, and the Chinese language that first attracted me to studying it. I find the vibrancy of the Chinese culture and way of life enchanting. It is this coming year that will make the challenges of the past 2 years spent studying for my undergraduate degree in Chinese worthwhile.
However, my year did not get off to the best start. My first week or so was spent struggling against a mountain of admin – health checks, flat hunting, university registration, residency application and so on. Finally, with my flat contract signed and my residency permit obtained I could finally relax and start to enjoy Beijing.
My trips to the multitude of famous tourist destinations in Beijing are perhaps the highlight of the past few weeks. I have seen them all before, but without the pressure to tick the sights off the list I discover new aspects I would previously have gone unnoticed. The people are just as interesting as the exhibits – the groups of local pensioners playing Mahjong in the shade of the Summer palace, the newlywed couple posing for their wedding photos under the Temple of Heaven or even the endless tour groups racing round the attractions all give a charming insight into Chinese culture.
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China