文、译/ Kokoshko Valeriy

时光飞逝，高中毕业后我就只身一人从哈萨克斯坦来到中国，已在中国生活了五六个年头。虽然那时我完全不会讲中文，但这种对陌生语言的恐惧从未减少我想来中国的热情。回顾起我与中国的第一次邂逅，无数个记忆在我的脑海中闪烁而过。画面定格在成龙大哥打斗的场景，《警察故事》是我看过的第一部中国电影，也是我与中国的第一次邂逅。成龙大哥一直是我小时候的英雄，一身正气，虽然他不像美国电影中的超级英雄有超能力，会上天入地，能够刀枪不入……但是在我眼里，成龙大哥完全是靠自己的双拳打出一片天地，血气方刚，是真正的英雄。当我决定来中国学习和生活，体验这里的风土人情、文化和语言，我从未想过我的人生会有巨大的改变。

I moved to China from Kazakhstan directly after I finished high school. I have been living here for fi ve to six years now and it has all gone by so quickly. I did not speak much Chinese when I moved.Nevertheless, I did not let the fear of not speaking the language to keep me from this adventure. Everything I knew about China was in fl uenced by what I saw in Chinese movies. Jackie Chan was always my favourite actor and a hero of my childhood. He did an amazing job by combining Chinese culture elements with his Kung Fu movies. When I decided to move to China to experience the culture and learn the language, I never knew that it would change my life.

初来乍到的小尴尬

Funny stories when I fi rst came to Beijing

初到北京，我不会说中文，也没有朋友和家人，复杂困难的书本知识和不熟悉的语言环境，曾让我非常沮丧。多亏有一群良师益友，在学习和生活各方面都给予我很大的帮助，使我能够适应并开始享受我的新生活。我开始学习中文，慢慢独立。

The first time I came to Beijing, I could not understand the local language, I did not have any friends and family here. I had a hard time getting used to a new culture and different environment.Initially I was very depressed but later thanks to the group of mentors and friends, I was able to adapt and started to enjoy my new life. I begun to learn Chinese and learned how to be independent and responsible.

2014年，我在北京理工大学拿到了奖学金，开始了本科学习，北京的学习和生活之旅也随之开始。我的专业是动力与能源工程，说实话，那些长得都很像的汉字对我来说真是太难了，我还时常为此闹了不少笑话。有一次特别尴尬的经历，我去一家小餐馆吃饭。我非常想吃茄子，但是当时脑袋一下短路就是记不起茄子叫什么，隐约记得有一个“子”字在后面，我绞尽脑汁去想所有带“子”的词语，终于想起来了。故事的后续就是，一个白人男孩，在一个中国餐厅里想点一份“炒孩子”。显然，服务员被我吓了一跳，一脸惶恐地跑去找经理。我不知道是不是我的面相让我看起来像是一个会吃“小孩”的人，他信以为真，用英语大喊“CLOSED!（关门！）”并把我赶了出去。当时我还非常不解，不知道犯了什么错。后来，我跟老师讲了这个故事，才明白我点了一份“炒孩子”。但是风雨之后终有彩虹，现在，我的中文已经越来越好，与人交流已经不成问题。语言的熟悉也让我慢慢融入了中国这个大家庭。

In 2014, I was honored to receive the scholarship at Beijing Institute of Technology and started my Undergraduate study. My major was Power Engineering. Studying in China as international student was hard. I am not going to lie - having thousand of characters, with many almost exactly alike did not make my life easy. While learning the language, I had many funny stories due to misunderstandings. The story that comes to my mind is about my trip to a small restaurant. One day I had a craving for some fried eggplant. Unfortunately, I did not remember the right word to express my need, but I knew that it was the one that had “子”at the end. I decided that by knowing this, I could still get what I need. Thus, a big white guy went into the restaurant and asked for some “炒孩子”. Suddenly, the waitress got very scared and ran away to her manager. Her manager came out and started to scream:“CLOSED!” in English (he, probably, thought I was American) and pushed me out from the restaurant. Only when I shared this story with my teacher, I realized that I was asking for some fried children,not fried eggplants. Nevertheless, with great dif fi culties also came great rewards. With time, my Chinese became better and I started to communicate with others having less problems.

中国美食征服了我的胃

I felt in love with Chinese food

本科顺利毕业之后，我仍旧不舍得离开中国，在老师的推荐下，我申请了北京工业大学的硕士研究生并拿到北京市奖学金，继续深造。

Moreover, I could successfully graduate. After the graduation I refused to accept an idea of leaving the country. Having recommendation letter provided by my teacher, I decided to extend my studies. Fortunately, I received another scholarship to start doing my Master's degree in Beijing University of Technology.

中国有句话，“读万卷书，行万里路”。中国有着无尽的美景，利用假期时间，我去了许多城市，感受中国的大好河山。我最喜欢热情似火的山城重庆、文化古都西安，雄奇壮美的青海……其间，最让我激动的是华山的长空栈道，它建立在华山的峭壁之上，非常狭窄和危险，站在上面，我看到的风景令我心潮澎湃。旅行的时候，我喜欢乘高铁胜过飞机，因为这使我领略更多秀丽风景。旅行让我深深体会到，在中国，不同城市有着不同的风土人情，同时也让我爱上了许多中国美食。

There is a well-known saying in China which states “读万卷书，行万里路”. This country has endless places to go. I was happy to spend my vacation time and explore the great rivers, mountains and historical sites of China, my favourites are: — Chongqing, the worldfamous ancient capital—Xi'an, and the magnificent Qinghai. One of the craziest things I experienced in China was the Chang Kong( 长空) Cliff Road, this is an extremely narrow and treacherous walkway along cliffs built on Huashan mountain, a scenic mountain in China's Shaanxi Province. The view I saw there was enough to make my heart beat out of my chest. Most of the time I tried to travel via high-speed trains, rather than planes. By doing this I could see a lot more of the country. While travelling I noticed that every city has a different style and its own traditions. I enjoyed many beautiful landscapes and felt in love with a variety of Chinese food.

我品尝过许多中国美食，但我仍觉得这些对于中国美食来说，还都只是皮毛。就像别人谈起俄罗斯的菜就只能想到罗宋汤和土豆一样，我以前对中国食物的印象就只有蛋卷和油炸食品，我从没想过一种食物可以包含那么多种不同的口味和佐料，竟然也如此好吃。在哈萨克斯坦也有一些中餐厅，我那时候就觉得味道还不错，但是来到中国之后才发现，原来我们国家的中餐厅里的那些中餐：牛肉、花菜、幸运饼干等其实并不算是什么真正的中国菜。而且我非常震惊在中国原来也有茄子和豆腐（因为我们国家也经常吃）。游历各省，我发现在中国，几乎每个省的美食都有不同的特色。从前，我不曾了解中国美食分为八大菜系：鲁菜、粤菜、川菜、苏菜、浙菜、闽菜、湘菜、徽菜。我最喜欢宫保鸡丁、火锅，还有青岛啤酒。甚至有一次，我还吃了一些虫子做的菜，蝉、蝎子和一些奇奇怪怪的虫子。

During my life in China, I tried to eat as many different dishes as possible. I still believe that I had barely scratched the surface. I was amazed at the diversity of different ingredients and unique fl avours. Backhome people tend to simplify Chinese food down to egg rolls and fried food. This is the same as believing that Russian cuisine is just borscht and perogies. Growing up, I was in love with“Chinese” food. In Kazakhstan restaurants had something for all food tastes and I thought that our “Chinese” food was not too bad.I was surprized to fi nd out that beef, broccoli and fortune cookies are not really common in China. I was shocked to see eggplant and tofu in Chinese menu. While travelling around the country, I also noticed that food change completely from province to province.Previously, I did not know about many of the regional cuisines:Shandong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Jiangsu Cuisine, Zhejiang Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine, Anhui Cuisine,and much more that I have not explored yet. My all-time favourite dishes are 宫保鸡丁, hot pot and, of course, Chinese beer.Here I also had a true “bug experience”, I tried so many: cicadas,scorpions and other mystery bugs.

令我流连忘返的中国

I was enchanted by China

无论我在中国的哪个地方，人们总是非常有礼貌且特别友好。我的老家是一个特别小的城镇，在那里很难接触到这么多人。来中国之后，我很多时候都觉得，无论我走到哪都有一些人对我感到好奇，想要与我同行。这里的人们特别爱聊天，尤其是出租车司机，我甚至觉得有些滴滴司机就是为了跟大家聊天才开车的。毕竟现在互联网技术那么发达，人们很少会面对面地交流了。旅行途中，我发现在一些小城市的人很少有机会与我这样的外国人接触，因此，无论我说话吃饭还是走路，总会引来一片围观的目光。甚至还有路人想要与我合影，或者让我抱着他们的宝宝，我非常享受这种如明星般的光环。

Wherever you go in China, you will find people are friendly and polite. Living in a small town most of my life, I found hard to get used to see so many humans around. Most of the time I have a feeling that wherever I go, half the population has also decided to join me. I noticed that people here love to talk, especially taxi drivers. I was shocked to find out that many DIDI drivers work only to chat with people they pick up. Since life today is more technologically based, they say it is harder to meet someone face-toface. While travelling across the country, I also found that there are some places where local people do not have many interactions with foreigners like me. Therefore, sometimes people stare at me while I am talking, eating or walking down the street. Many people asked me to take a photo with them, others wanted me to hold their babies.I really enjoy doing both, sometimes I feel like a super star.

中国在很多方面都是独一无二的。在老家的时候，我习惯了使用谷歌、脸书还有一些我们国家的平台去看一些视频。在中国，这些平台有很多是无法访问的。不过现在我已习惯了这些，开始熟悉使用一些类似的中文软件。特别是微信，我几乎可以在微信上做任何事：看和分享生活中的动态，发送短信和语音信息，发送文件，使用微信钱包，发红包，甚至购买飞机票！一个APP居然如此神通广大，真的是让人印象深刻。

China is unique in so many ways. Backhome I got used to use Google, Whatsapp, Facebook as well as watch many movies online on the local platforms. In China most of those platforms are forbidden. Fortunately, there is a Chinese version for some of those applications. Here We Chat is everything. It can be used to watch or share news from our life, send text and voice messages, send documents, pay for your expenses using We Chat Wallet, transfer money to your friends and relatives and even buy plane tickets! I still believe that all of the above is very impressive, especially via the single app.

空气污染是我最不喜欢的一点。起初，我并没有意识到雾霾有多么严重，我不关心手机上提示PM2.5爆表的消息，也从来不去戴口罩。但是现在，我认识到了错误，3M防护口罩相对于普通的医用口罩真的是一个不错的选择，它能更好地保护我们的呼吸道。不过令人欣慰的是，现在北京的雾霾天已经越来越少了。

Another aspect of the daily life that was hard to accept is air pollution. When I just moved to China, I did not know about its pollution level. I was not aware of the special app that can show the real-time pollution situation and did not wear any masks.Fortunately, I am more educated today. Although many people tend to wear a surgical mask, I prefer to use the white 3M construction mask since this has a better protection level.Fortunately ,the number of smoggy days are decreasing.

说起来，我还是最喜欢我生活和学习的地方——北京，这座古韵和现代共存的城市。在这儿，你能看到许多对比：既有古老的建筑又有耸入云霄的摩天大楼。我常赶在日落之前，爬上景山俯瞰整座紫禁城，也时常会在午后和朋友去颐和园散心，去胡同里闲逛，去什刹海滑冰。在这样的北京里，我总觉得自己回到了古代的中国，这里的一草一木都伴随着悠久的历史。

The best part of living in Beijing is living in Beijing! This is a magical city that has a combination of ancient and contemporary architecture. Here you can see a vast contrast: ancient temples right across the street from shiny skyscrapers. Sometimes I feel like I can return to ancient China at any time, where all of the surroundings remind me of its long history. This city gives me an opportunity to experience something new every day. Me and my friends enjoy walking around the Forbidden City, hiking the Great Wall of China and Buddhist temple in the mountains, exploring Beijing's hutongs and Jingshan Park.

在北京，我还经常遇见一些不同寻常的趣事：在胡同里，我可以看见提着鸟笼闲逛的人，在公园里，我也常能在早上看见打太极锻炼身体的老人，北京真的是一个充满惊喜和可能性的地方。

In Beijing I could see many unusual things. This is the city where people take birds for a walk. This is a famous and very old tradition that is sill popular in Hutong. Here you can also see how elders practice Taijiquan early in the morning. The capital of China is a place full of surprises and potential.

这六年来，北京也在一点一滴地发生着变化：越来越多的破旧平房变成摩天大楼，越来越多的互联网产品让我们的生活越来越方便，越来越多的优秀文化在这里生根发芽。而我也在这里一点点地长大。

Over the past six years, Beijing has also changed a lot: more and more dilapidated bungalows have become skyscrapers, more and more Internet products have made our lives convenient, and more and more excellent cultures have taken root and sprouted here. More than anything,I also grew up here .

16岁到22岁，我青春岁月中最重要的几年都是在这里度过，当我刚来到这里的时候，人们都说你还太小了，该怎么照顾自己！但现在，我非常享受在北京度过的每一天。在这里，我学习知识，结交朋友，获得学位，收获爱情。我非常感激六年前那个孤身一人来到北京的自己，坚持不懈地奋斗，慢慢融入这个高速发展的城市，让世界因我的存在变得不一样，相信我的努力不会白费。

From 16 to 22 years old, the most important years of my life were spent in China. When I just moved here, many people said: “You are too young to live by yourself!” Nevertheless, I enjoyed every day I have spent here. I gained knowledge, made many friends and met my fi rst love. I am happy that I made such a life choice and moved to this wonderful country six years ago. I have been working hard to integrate into this society and sure my effort was not in vain.