A question that I often get asked from students, friends and
strangers alike is; “Why did you come to China?”
Where to even start? The reason why I moved myself across
eight time zones to a completely different continent and hemisphere is a
stewing pot of different feelings and circumstances. Casting my mind back to my
final, yet terrible, year at university in 2014 (was that really four years
ago?) I’d managed to successfully get a spot on our university’s cultural
exchange programme to Sichuan University, right here in Chengdu.
I was quite lucky as the group I travelled with took the
opportunity to maximise the trip and planned to see other places in
the Middle Kingdom. As I boarded, what was at that time, the longest flight of
my life but also the furthest I’d travelled away from home; excitement didn’t
come close to describing how I felt. The phrase ‘an experience of a lifetime’ is often thrown around willy-nilly, still needless to say this trip was.
As we travelled China’s bustling capital, Beijing, I had my first taste of “real” China (Chinese takeaways and Chinatowns back home pale in comparison). Then onto the spice capital that is Chengdu and its eye-watering and tonsil-burning cuisine - honestly I think I cried the first time I tasted hot pot! The ancient capital, Xi’an, and the impressive Terracotta Warriors was the penultimate stop before finally arriving in Shanghai. A city where money talks with the mesmerising neon-filled skyline and almost futuristic vibe that clashes with the older parts of the city.
The thirst and hunger for something more was quenched. However, it was a craving I had initially not realised was there. It was there, dormant, deep down inside of me as I ebbed away at the daily grind of lugging heavy textbooks to lectures, dodging seminars and staring endlessly at my dull and confining bedroom wall. And then it was over.
Three weeks of adventure and awe drew to a close as we flew home to graduate. Reality quickly set in. I had no job lined up after graduation (the dole office was calling out my name and unfortunately I did have to sign on for a couple of months) and I hadn’t applied to any postgraduate courses. [Although in hindsight this was a blessing; as why would have I wanted to sit behind another classroom desk, stare at another boring PowerPoint and listen to yet another uninteresting lecture, I don’t know.]
Graduation Day was upon me. Still fresh and high on the travel bug; I posed a question to my parents as we sat in a pub with me sitting decked out in my gown and mortarboard. “What would you both say if I moved to China to teach English for six months?” Their reply was unexpected. “Why not go for a year or even 18 months?”
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And yes, I did just did paraphrase the Lion King soundtrack just then. It’s shown every weekend without fail in the classroom adjoining mine and also seems to be my drunken choice of KTV anthem!
