Sebastian KEYS

Student of University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Exchange to Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China

In 2009 Martin Jacques said as China develops it is not going to become more Western, but rather the West is going to become more like China.

As noisy and loud as China is with its screaming shopkeepers, guttural jet-engine style spitting and constant jack hammering, its influence internationally is much quieter and subtler. Very often when people return from visiting China they are shocked by realising its ever-growing presence in our daily lives. Staying in China allowed me to recognise these influences and appreciate them for what they are. China is inevitably shaping the world around us and how we choose to react to this is where the fun lies.

The thing we have to understand is that "foreigners" have been dealing with the Chinese for thousands of years. However, for some reason we seem to know so little about the modern Chinese lifestyle. What makes this current period so interesting is that China, which makes up one-seventh of the world's population, is changing as it has never been before, and with so little media coverage it is hard to know. Well, what does this change mean for Australia? How are we going to deal with it? How is it going to affect us? These are some of the questions I asked myself during my stay in China.

From August 2016 to January 2017 I had the honour of studying at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. To be honest, my time spent at the university was a mixture of joy and frustration. Intolerant bureaucracy, crumbling living facilities and student segregation were the norm. International students were seen as a novelty and were not treated anywhere near like local students. However, if you were able to push through some of the barriers you would find it was possible to engage with people on a much deeper and more enjoyable level. I found getting to understand the nuances of the way Chinese society worked and how people interacted highly fascinating. I was happy speaking to many students who had a genuine interest in finding out how "Westerners" lived and acting as an ambassador in bridging the gaps between China and the west.

One of the most enjoyable experiences in Wuhan was meeting and being accepted by a group of musicians and artists who introduced me to an enclave in the city that most foreigners had no knowledge of - secret teahouses, restaurants and artistic spaces deep within the mazes of the concrete jungles. The friends I made through these visits would help me enhance the Australia-China relations in a more socially productive way. Currently, through a few contacts I made there, I am setting up networks to import Australian wine and bring music to the country. Hopefully these networks will lead to a better understanding and a mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries and their people.

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