Thinking of studying abroad, I always tended to regard it as an arduous journey---once you stepped on the road, you will be utterly on your own. It was not until I met my three interviewees--- Sangare Zan, Mamadou Bah and Cisse Daouda, that I started to realize how outdated this idea had been. During our short interview, I could not sense any feelings of loneliness or frustration. On the contrary, their optimism and hopefulness had deeply impressed me.
Sangare is from Mali, a beautiful country in West Africa. He is now a PhD student of International Relations. Speaking of his reasons to continue his postgraduate study in WHU, Sangare’s answer was a little bit unexpected: “At first it was my father’s decision instead of mine.” After he got his bachelor degree, Sangare was not quite sure about his future. With his father’s support, he finally chose China as the place to continue his study. “Since Wuhan University is one of the top universities in China, having a PhD here will definitely polish my CV. Besides, with my new Chinese friends, my life in WHU is an absolute delight.” During his stay here, Sangare had made friends with many Chinese students. “We have been most helpful for each other. Our help is quite reciprocal: they can teach me Chinese; while as a foreigner, I often provide them with ideas from a new perspective. During my spare time, I play football with them. You know, sometimes they would even call me ‘Da Ge’ (big brother)!” Having stayed in China for eight years, his pronunciation was excellent.
Just like Sangare, Mamadou is also a PhD student of International Relations. To my surprise, he had been learning Chinese during his undergraduate study in the U.S. “I’m very interested in Chinese. But so far, my Chinese is not that good…still trying.” He was trying to be modest. To my admiration, Mamadou was literally a multilingual who could speak no less than seven languages. “My father is a professor who travelled a lot. From my young age, he had taken me many places around the world, so I’ve found learning languages quite useful and interesting.” When he was asked about whether he had noticed any changes that occurred during his stay here, the first thing he mentioned was the teaching mode. “Although we share many cultural differences, a lot of teachers now have dedicated a lot to foreign students like us. They have changed and improved their teaching styles.” According to him, the courses he takes this semester are becoming more and more “fashionable”. In the past, professors tended to focus on the ability of memorization. While nowadays, those dull and inefficient works have been gradually replaced by more advanced methods like critical thinking, which remind him of his undergraduate study in the U.S. With more emphasis put on the value of individuality, students in WHU could have plenty of space and time to fulfill their ambitions. It was a very promising signal that marked WHU’s further steps toward the goal of internationalization.
Cisse Daouda, my last interviewee, comes from Cote D’Ivoire. Unlike Sangare and Mamadou, he is now a PhD student majoring in International Law. Before moving to Wuhan, he used to spend a few years in Inner Mongolia. Speaking of the inconveniences his living as a foreigner here had caused, he thought about it for a while. “As a foreigner, when I first arrived here, I used to find the Chinese language quite difficult to speak. But with the kind help from my friends and professors, my Chinese has improved a lot. I’ve grown to love here. It’s like my second home.”
Indeed, for Sangare, Mamadou and Cisse, and for many more foreign students, WHU has already become their sweet home. Around our beautiful campus, it is a common sight for people to see Chinese students with their foreign friends, walking, chatting and laughing, without any barriers of cultural differences, as if they have known each other for a long, long time.
(Edited by Jiahao Xiang, Mark &Sijia Hu)
