The People’s Story

My year in China has come to a close. So many reflections, so many memories. Many people will ask, “Tim, what’s your deepest impression of China?” The world’s most populous country often seems so homogenous to outsiders: 1.3 billion heads of black hair, 2.6 billion almond brown eyes. Under the surface, I began to discover a world of different outlooks, lifestyles… people. I decided to tell you about the best stories from my year in China: the stories of the distinct individuals who affected my life.

Becky
Becky has known me a long time: we met when I taught English in Beijing two years ago. At that time, she wanted to know more about studying abroad in the U.S., but it seems she did a better job than me and a year later she was helping me come to her university in China. She thinks we probably won’t see each other again but she’s wrong. Thanks Becky for explaining so much Chinese grammar to me.

Agustinus
Hey, he’s an Indonesian born in August, but we call him “Agus.” My year-long roommate, the guy got a free English lesson. It helps that he was already familiar with the names of every U.S. city (with an NBA basketball team, that is). A natural learner, Agus is also available. Girls, please email tufareast for details.
 

Timothy (Zhang)
My e-friend: Timothy and I met online before I arrived in Beijing. While searching for information online, I landed on his blog. When I landed in Beijing, I found his dorm was across the street. Timothy makes friends with the American international students each year, who—except for me—are pretty Asian girls. When I first arrived, this is the man who helped me find the net café, a saint. Usually brothers have the same last name- when we have our weekly Monday lunch we both talk about our faith in Jesus. He also introduced me to Sophia and Seal (from left to right).

Gulinazi
That is not a Chinese name- “Gulnaz” is from China’s western Xinjiang Automonous Region and ethnically Kazakh. She’s one of those soft-spoken cuties who had a moment of bravery, asking a strange American to have language exchange. Of course, we became great friends, eating delicious non-pork dishes in the Muslim cafeteria, chatting in Mandarin and English and dreaming about one day moving to Xinjiang- a wonderful land of mutton shish-kabob.

Shijie and Shuangshuang
No English, no problem. For ten minutes a day I enjoyed great Mandarin conversation with these young ladies, two international experts. By the end of the semester, we were quite close. They are bold and deal with Mandarin-massacaring foriegners every day. Many kudos.

Kerry
I only knew Kerry one minute before I asked him to go to a rock concert with me—I know he would like it—the guy is a walking rock star. Every time I met him he had a different wardrobe- and there I am wearing the same clothes everyday! But beyond the fashion, Kerry is a sincerely nice guy. We had a good time at the concert, playing mahjong and other fashionable entertainment pursuits.

Helen
Helen introduced herself to me standing in line at church. Her British friends told her about Jesus so she came to check things out for herself. We have had some great, worthwhile spiritual discussions and I have watched Helen’s faith develop greatly. When I first met the girl she was a Marxist, but a nice one. People like Helen have a way of asking great questions, with an objective outlook on Christian beliefs. Call it Christianity with Chinese characteristics.

Zhu Bin and the Chairman
Meet the future leaders of China. These are the masterminds of my American culture speech and Chinese rock and roll performance. Actually, “the Chairman” and Zhu Bin are student council leaders. They were so warm-hearted to me—I’ll never forget it—treating my like family. I enjoyed eating out in hutong restaurants with these friends, truly feeling like I fit-in in China for the first time. Their group of friends went out of their way more than once for me and left me with one of my best, deepest impressions of Chinese people. The future of China is in good hands!

Ning
This is the person from the university broadcasting club who never called me back. Thankfully, I ran into her one day, finding out she was Becky’s roommate. There were other similarities which produced five hour long conversations about linguistics, international exchange and God. Finally, the coffee bar kicked us out, so we started going to countryside villages, climbing mountains, launching fireworks and even her family’s house- my first Chinese home-stay! Ning is not only a China phenomena, she is one of the best friends of my life. We’ll stay in touch.

(If you had the patience to read this far, I’ll reward you with a secret: Ning is my wonderful, beautiful, brilliant and lovely nupengyou (that means “girlfriend”).  Ask me about it in person!)

Now I know I’ve only scratched the surface of China with these few friends (indeed, there are many more great people whose picture I don’t have: the EBA team, Marianna, Angela…) But I have already discovered that people can’t be categorized by country. I would tell you that Chinese people are all so wonderful, so hospitable, so nice. But I can’t group them all together, not even if it is a compliment. They are individuals: 1.3 billion lives, worlds, cares.

What’s next for tufareast? I am now at my parent’s home in Dallas. My job search is underway. Soon I’ll be gaining experience for my next trip, one more step around the world.

Thank you, everyone who shared the thoughts and images of my year in China. Thanks for being there for me, electronically. I may not be updating the tufareast site for a while, but feel free to contact me this way. As soon as the next adventure starts, you’ll be the first ones to know.