Sharon KELLS

University of New England, Australia
Exchange to Shaanxi Normal University, China

As a student of Mandarin language at The University of New England, it was a natural assumption that I would spend time in China once the main focus of my degree was complete.

After applying for a scholarship to study in Xi’an, the opportunity came with a grant from the Cheung Kong Group, allowing me to spend four months attending Shaanxi Normal University in Xian.

For me, it was such a privilege to receive a scholarship of this nature, offering a dimension and understanding of not only the language, but an intimate exposure to the evolving fascination that is modern day China, something impossible to experience anywhere else but the country of origin.

I arrived in Xian in February, on a cold, crisp winter’s day. The temperature was minus 17 degrees, the sky a surreal orange-grey tone, the trees stark and bare of leaves. It was a daunting landscape, but one still full of excitement and mystery.

In those first weeks, Mandarin didn’t come easily.

The strength of my studies to date had been in written and grammatical work and the jump from classroom conversations to the day-to-day exchanges of the real world was more than a challenge.

What I began to understand was that the simple experience of being constantly in the language environment, was a lesson in itself.

You hear the words walking down the street, exchange sentences in restaurants, listen in on other people’s conversations, ask for food items in the supermarket, visit the local doctor.

There was also that great moment in learning a second language, that I imagine is a common experience and one that I certainly enjoyed in China, when you find yourself speaking without consciousness.

It’s in these day-to-day exchanges I believe the almost ‘miraculous integration’ of a new language seems to occur - that one moment when you no longer have a consciousness that what you are actually speaking is Chinese.

It’s a truly delightful moment. It doesn’t come with a bang, and in fact, when it happens, you almost dismiss it.

But it’s the recognition and experience of that change, that transformation, that to me is a benchmark in really taking on the language.

The grant awarded me the opportunity to live among the people of Xian, a city of some 7.5 million people, and a 16-hour train ride west from Beijing.

What I found here was a genuine warmth, openness and decency that I had not expected.

It was the essence of what I can only imagine are the threads of old China, where community values are strong and necessary and where people still appear to care, to share their lives and to lend support when it is needed. It seems part of the way China itself and its social history have evolved.

In Xian, I found a city and people that are alive and joyous, in every way.

In the evening, the sports oval in the university was buzzing with families out walking or exercising, with young children and their parents playing games together or taking part in sports, with older people, men and women, graciously moving in unison performing tai chi or the beautiful traditions of the fan dance.

Lots of laughing, lots of involvement, an environment that was evident in much of the day to day of life of Xian itself - involved, active, purposeful.

To me, China never felt lonely, not because of the obvious fact that it shares itself with 1.5 billion people, but because of the feeling of community and family that is so strong and tangible, even to outsiders.

It’s impossible to be in modern China today and not feel the constant change that is surging through the country.

© Copyright 2018 CK Group. All rights reserved.