At the beginning of the year, I signed up to learn Chinese for 8 weeks, which was daunting enough. For someone who has never learnt a language before, even in school, taking on Chinese was a bold move. The classes were difficult and at the beginning, I thought I might not carry on with the course. It was my close friend who mentioned the course to me and encouraged me to take it with her and I’m extremely glad she pushed me to do it and mentioned it to me and together we successfully completed it. I definitely wouldn’t call myself an advanced Chinese language speaker, but I am confident in saying I can hold some conversations and know some vital words, which came to good use when I spent 2 weeks in China.
The language course was open to people of all levels and people of all ages. You didn’t need to study at the University of Leeds. I liked this because it gave me a chance to meet people who I wouldn’t necessarily bump into on campus on my way to a lecture. Taking part in the language course made me eligible to take part on the trip to China, which was at the end of March/beginning of April. The trip, hosted by The Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds and UIBE (University of International Business and Economics in Beijing) was, as cliché as it may sound, eye-opening and most definitely life-changing.
Before jetting off to China we had several brief meetings, which was a chance to get to know other people on the trip. However, I didn’t really put myself out there. I went to the meetings and left as soon as they were done. It hadn’t dawned on me until our final meeting a few days before flying that I didn’t know anyone going on this trip, I didn’t even recognize any from my language class. We had to choose someone to share a room with and let the leaders know otherwise we’d be randomly allocated with someone, and the unknown is what scares me most. I bit the bullet and asked a girl if she would like to share a room with me and luckily she said ‘yeah why not?’ (I now consider this girl a good friend of mine, so I did a good job choosing).
A couple of months into the New Year I decided to take a temporary leave from University due to ill mental health. This stopped me from taking part in a lot of things. My anxiety would constantly take over and I would constantly think of the worst possible situation, and this is what I did the day before flying. I was more nervous than excited. I had nothing to be nervous about, we had an itinerary, we had places to stay and we had leaders both from the University and also from the University in Beijing. I was back and forth between ‘I’m not going’ and ‘don’t be silly, this is going to be amazing,’ and eventually, I went with the latter. And believe me, it was amazing. Luckily my friend (who I was sharing the rooms with) and I went to the airport together and things for me just started to fall into place. I felt at ease and more relaxed than I had been the night before. I just remembered that this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I didn’t know when I was going to be able to go to China and experience it in every sense as I was able to, in a long while or ever in my life.
Becoming friends with everyone was so incredibly easy. People were in the same boat and were nervous or were a bit reserved, but once everyone got to know each other there was no holding back. The 30 (plus) of us all experienced this trip and its craziness together and that’s something we will all have forever. We experienced the Great Wall of China, the Terracotta Warriors, saw the Temple of Heaven, got very drunk off Mojitos made by a woman on the side of the street who to this day I’m not sure she had a license to sell alcohol, but as I learnt in China… anything goes. We spent a day in a school making dumplings, learning calligraphy, Chinese painting and trying to master Tai Chi all whilst seeing how different the school system is, especially compared to my school.
For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to see and visit the Great Wall. It has always been on my bucket list, even as a young child. The walk up to the Wall was tiring, but once I was stood on it, I felt so many emotions. Happy, tired, overwhelmed and adrenalized. After how horrendous my year had started off, I couldn’t believe where I was stood. I have now gone through all my diaries I made over the years and ticked off ‘See Great Wall’ and ‘Go to China’ from my Bucket List.
As much as I loved visiting the monumental sights and seeing the ‘must sees’ in China I think just exploring the cities, both Beijing and Xi’an on my own with my new found friends and just having a laugh were my favorite parts of the entire trip. I normally hold back in situations where new people are involved and especially in a new city, and one as big as those in China I was very impressed with myself to just seize every activity and take part in it all. You would never really think China was a place to go out, but they’re the best nights out I think I have ever experienced. KTV is a MUST for anyone who visits China. A couple of nights we got together, paid for a room and sang to our hearts content. (KTV is the Chinese equivalent to karaoke, but 10 times better). Being pale and ginger also went down quite a treat as a lot of local Chinese residents wanted pictures with me, but I didn’t mind.
To end this on a sweet note, after months of not feeling myself and crying everyday on the phone to my Mum about how down I was and that I didn’t know what I was doing with my life and whether to stick with University of not, going to China was the best thing that has happened to me this year. For two whole weeks, I barely spoke to my Mum (apart from sending her a couple of pictures every now and then to keep her updated) and I laughed every single day, for pretty much the entire day. I experienced things I never thought I would and tried things I never thought I would be lucky enough to try. I was able to make friends with people who knew nothing about me at all, they didn’t know about my mental health unless I decided to tell them. I went to China as almost a fresh canvas and opened myself up to a bunch of random people who turned out to like me for who I am. The group was extremely diverse, and I have friends from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Latvia, Greece and many more places. I am extremely lucky to say I am still in contact with these people and still see them regularly, and every time we meet we carry on the laughter we started on the coach, the plane and the walks down the side streets of China at 2am in the morning. Travelling and meeting new people seemed to be a remedy for me to make me smile and laugh again and I would recommend it to absolutely anyone.
P.S – try ALL the food no matter how weird it may look you will be happily
surprised!
All Words and Images By Dearbhla Marnell McKnight