Dear teachers, classmates, good afternoon.
Now I’d like to give a brief self-introduction. My name is You Ziyin, from Indonesia. I am a freshman at JISU majoring in tourism administration. Today it’s a great honor to have this opportunity to share my feelings about China with all of you.
As far as many foreigners are concerned, China gives the impression of a country with Han nationality as its mainstay, a five-star national flag, a long history and the largest population in the world.
Maybe some of you may wonder why I chose to study in China as an overseas student, how I feel about living here, am I getting used to it, and so on.
In my childhood, my parents often mentioned China and said it is a country with splendid culture and picturesque scenery. As a result, I have indulged myself in Chinese traditional culture since. Later I seized the opportunity to study in China. To my surprise, China felt familiar when I first got here.
When I was in high school, I had the thought of studying abroad. Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, I firmly decided to study in China. The tourism in Indonesia has been developing rapidly in recent years. I finally chose JISU because it is an application-orientated university.
What has impressed me most is the Chinese language environment that I am exposed to. Around me are all Chinese people and overseas students speaking Chinese, which provides me with a lot of chances to practice my Chinese.
When I first came here, I couldn’t talk with others like a native speaker. But through half a year of hard work, I now can talk with them smoothly.
I also found many differences in customs and culture between China and Indonesia. For example, people use chopsticks to have dinners in China while Indonesians eat with spoons.
Moreover, people pay in cash when they shop in Indonesia, while in China I notice that people just take their phones when they’re out and pay via Wechat and Alipay. It’s so amazing! And also People can go shopping online via Taobao without taking one step outside because goods will be delivered right to their doors.
When I first came to this university, it was summer time and the lotus flowers were in full blossom in the pool, and the lush green trees perfumed the air with lilacs. I fell in love with JISU at first sight. I remember having great expectations of the campus life. By accident, I knew that our president gave up her own business and founded our university after returning back to China with a firm determination to push forward the overall development of China’s education. Through constant efforts, our school was officially renamed as JISU this year and a grand renaming ceremony was held on May 25th. I was thrilled and excited to be a part of it when I got informed of the news.
That’s a summary of what I think of Chinese culture and local customs, and maybe my thoughts are different from yours. I’d love to share more with you and continue learning more about China through our mutual exchanges. I hope we can work together to promote cultural exchange between China and Indonesia.
Thank you all.
