About one year ago, Elma came to China from France as an international exchange medical student. She chose China out of her deep interest in Chinese culture and traditional medicine. Her initial experience in beautiful Wuhan University was to be the beginning of an interesting and colorful life in China. Just before the beginning of her exchange program, she took part in the Luojia international summer camp in WHU in 2018. Throughout the 20-day summer camp, she made friends with people from all over the world and also visited various sights in Wuhan, a charming and glamorous city in central China.

Elma (upper left corner) with her friends from the Luojia international summer camp

During her time in Wuhan, Elma watched the once-in-a-lifetime HanShow which is full of the essence of Chu-Han culture. She also experienced first-hand many Chinese traditional culture activities such as paper-cut, traditional Chinese painting and shadowboxing, known as t'ai chi ch'uan in China. All these experiences enriched her knowledge on Chinese culture and history.

Elma learning Chinese characters from traditional couplet

As a medical student, Elma worked hard and had a strong academic performance. Even with her heavy course load in medical study, she successfully completed her minor in philosophy. Besides, Elma also made attempts to step outside of her comfort zone by communicating with Chinese students in Mandarin.

During her vacation, Elma set foot on many places in China such as Xi’an, Dali, Dunhuang, Yunnan, Beijing and so on, making a lot of unforgettable memories. She also volunteered at Fanpu farm in Chengdu, a place aiming to bring warmth and companionship to the left-behind children in that area.

Elma playing with a kid as a volunteer

When asked about the most precious treasure she obtained during her stay in WHU, she said it must be the chance to experience a whole new and independent life different from her life in the last twenty years, and the opportunity to perceive China and her own country from a special perspective.

When it comes to her career in the future, she said she would like to apply her expertise, both in medicine and philosophy, to working abroad in NGOs and contributing to making the world a better place.

Edited by Xu Yixian, Wang Wei, Shi Weiya & Hu Sijia