Study in China and teach in China

[Yemen] Al-Harazi Yaser Khaled Abdullah, Northeast Forestry University

Enjoy the Study in China

When I decided to study in China, I was worried about whether I could adapt to life there because its culture, customs and lifestyle are too different from my motherland. However, when I finally came to China, I was surprised to find that China’s lifestyle is so similar to that of other countries. I lived in Harbin where the shops and foods are international. Western fast-food restaurants, such as Starbucks, McDonald’s and KFC are easy to find here. Besides various Chinese food, Japanese food, Korean food and other cuisines are also easy to find.

After being used to the life here, I do feel studying in China as an international student is very meaningful. The Northeast Forestry University I attend is full of academic atmosphere, vitality, and passion. My campus life is colorful. Beautiful campus environment and facilities keep me fit and enrich my mind, including football field, basketball court, swimming pool and skating ring. In these places I get the opportunity to meet and communicate with friends of all over the world. I am extremely satisfied with and enjoy the learning environment. Every day I can acquire a lot of knowledge from the Chinese teachers who are very patient to correct my pronunciation and grammar. After one year of study, I can fluently discuss various topics with teachers and students, even though my Chinese was a little blunt at the beginning. I even learned to speak northeast dialect. Of course, whenever I speak northeast dialect, the teachers will also try to correct my accent.

Work As A Volunteer Teacher to Support Poverty Alleviation

In 2021, I had the honor to join the International Student Support Group in our school, which is a volunteer team that regularly teaches English and introduces foreign culture to middle school students in poverty-stricken counties that the school provides paired-up assistance. Before the participation, the teachers introduced to me the relevant policies, and I also searched and read many stories of poverty alleviation in China. I had no idea about poverty alleviation before and realized how meaningful it was after understanding the situation.

My Teachers told me that China’s poverty alleviation should not only help the local people get rich, but also provide support for the development of culture and technology, for the spirit uplifting, traditional ideas renewing, confidence building and mind broadening. This is both the mission and the responsibility. I am deeply moved by the spirit of poverty alleviation of China and determined to do my best to join this great cause. On the day of teaching, I introduced the customs and habits of my country Yemen to more than 400 teachers and students of the Third Middle School in Tailai county, the paired-up poverty alleviation school of Northeast Forestry University.

I also showed them around Yemen online. At the outset of the lecture, I was so nervous that I seemed to hear my heartbeat. However, when I received the messages, questions and praise from the students online, although across the screen, I still felt the love of the children for international culture and enthusiasm for learning. My tension was gone and replaced by excitement. I realized that I was also a member of the sacred cause of poverty alleviation and must fulfill my mission successfully.

Introduce China’s Anti-Poverty Achievement to the World

When the teaching was finished, I could not calm down for a long time. It was indeed a quite toilsome process to take time from the busy routine schedule for meticulous preparation of courses for students in poverty-stricken counties. For all that, if there are chances later, I will not hesitate to join in. In the past, I studied Chinese and culture of China to gain expertise better and deeper for doing a good job on scientific research in the future.

However, I have another capacity now in addition to being a student, that is, a volunteer for international culture exchanges. I will not only introduce culture of my country to Chinese friends, but also tell my country and the world what I have learned and gained in China. Study in China, teach in China and think in China, I will introduce China to the whole world!

The story is from "My Beautiful Encounter with China" Essay Competition organized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges (CSCSE).