All the new beginnings start with a goodbye to the previous ones, so did mine. To be here I had to bid goodbye to all the things that were dear to me; my friends, my family and in this case my country too. As people say, nothing is certain in life, I had no clue that I would come to China for my studies. The idea of leaving my country and staying in a strange place away wasn’t easy for me but I had to take a decision and so I did and till date I have no regrets. Now I have a new family here, new friends, new hobbies, new life and a good one indeed!

First group picture of language batch 2013

I was really confused about what to start with but meanwhile I saw this picture and it reminded me of the beginning of my journey in SDU. I don’t remember the exact date but this picture was taken in September in the year 2013. My main motive of coming to China was to study medicine but I know I won’t just be going back with a certificate of clinical medicine; I am going to take a lot more than that.

My journey in SDU started with a language course of about 10 months. Learning Chinese made life much easier in China and I don’t need to think twice to say that those were the best moments of my life. It was like going back to school. The teachers treated us like nursery kids and loved us like we were their own children. Those singing competitions, cultural festival, Hangzhou tour were amazing and I really had a wonderful time throughout. My classmates and friends were from all over the world and were awesome. All of us got really close and shanda felt like a “home away from home”.

Cultural programme 2013

My class- 一班 with Yan laoshi and wang laoshi in Yan laoshi’s birthday

With my class after singing competition in Christmas

Language time was fun but sadly it had to come to an end and all of us had to graduate and go to our respective universities to continue medicine.

Language graduation

But luckily my journey with SDU wasn’t over because I was to continue my study in Shandong medical university. It was extremely difficult in the beginning, taking classes with Chinese students and studying it in Chinese was itself a huge challenge and above that all my friends left. They thought I was lucky to get to stay in Shandong. I can’t say I wasn’t happy but shanda didn’t feel the same without them, particularly the first few months after they left but later， I got used to it and now I smile when I walk and think about the memories associated with my friends near the class building, the canteen, the university hotel, the cafeteria and almost every corner of the university. Some of the memories make me laugh until my stomach hurts and some bring tears to my eyes.

Everything was running smooth until a strong earthquake hit my country Nepal and each one of us was devastated at the thought of not being there with our family at that moment. We felt helpless until SDU stepped up to help us. The university helped us organize a donation campaign, called press and media to attract attention so that we could get maximum help and finally we were able to send some funds and help a lot of people. We, Nepalese cannot thank enough for all the love and support SDU provided us during the time of need.

Nepali students during donation campaign

Later that year, we also participated in the exhibition conducted by the university. All our country mates worked really hard and made our stall presentable. Letting people know and learn about our country was fun, especially when you are surrounded by the people all around the world and you get to know their stories as well. Awesome experience!

People observing our stall during exhibition

Besides these I have learned many other things about China, learned Chinese culture, made Chinese friends, been to places like Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou ,Qingdao, Wuqing, Shidu ,tasted Chinese food, made dumplings, celebrated Chinese new year with Chinese family, played with fire crackers, launched rockets, flown lantern during light festival and a couple of more exciting things that I might have forgotten to mention.

Talking about our respective countries in Chinese friend’s house

With my Chinese friend and her family

Life is now a lot easier compared to my first few days in China. Normal communication in Chinese is no longer a problem and finding the stuffs I need doesn’t seem impossible anymore. Life got easier also because of my friends and country mates who care about me and stay by my side all the time. We always have a gathering during weekends and sometimes during festivals. I get busy and exhausted during week days because of long lectures and practical classes but the fun we have during weekends help me get through the whole week. After the semester a long vacation awaits. My vacations are always amazing. I usually travel and explore places during vacation. Going places has helped me learn a lot about China and Chinese culture and China is no longer a strange place especially shanda, Jinan.

A trip to Guangzhou with my country mates

Within this period I have developed a very good relationship with a few Chinese people and I am really glad that they are always there to help and we can talk. Sometimes while I walk on the way people stare at me finding me different, I just smile at them and say “Ni hao”. Some old people come to talk to me and it’s really nice to talk to them. I like how Chinese people love sharing and most of them are really helpful but what I admire most about them is their dedication towards what they do and the ability to stick to their schedule. I guess that is the reason why China has developed in a rapid pace during the past few years.

My journey has been amazing so far. I have learned a lot but it’s not enough and It’s not possible for me to explain all my journey in an essay of a thousand words but I have tried to include the best memories I have had so far and I am looking forward to experiencing lot more adventures, having extreme fun, studying hard and gathering memories for a life time in my remaining journey in SDU. My essay ends here but my amazing journey continues…….