“Life’s A Beach: My Journey from One Coastal City to Another” by Anvita Ramakrishna

Coming to China was such an incredible happenstance. I used to learn Chinese as a hobby back in my hometown and now I’ve been living in Xiamen for almost 3 years!

I still remember my first day here so vividly. I had stars in my eyes the moment I landed at Gaoqi Airport in February 2019. Everything was so foreign to me yet strangely familiar at the same time. My Chinese was still not good enough to have a decent conversation, all I could confidently say was 你好. But that didn’t stop the overfriendly taxi driver from talking to me. He still continued to make conversation and made me feel so welcome. A long 40-minute drive later, we arrived at the East Gate of Xiamen University. He dropped me off right at the entrance since he couldn’t go inside. I was standing with my huge suitcases just taking in the whole scene. This was it. A new beginning.

A touristy picture in front of the twin towers never gets old

I was so clueless about where to go from here. Being a painfully shy person, I couldn’t bring myself to ask anyone for help. Thankfully, two students saw me and approached me, then helped me drag my bags all the way to the dormitories. Day by day I realised that everyone here is so friendly. I never felt homesick.

​​My first year was spent in Xiamen University where I was learning Chinese; all my classmates were from different countries and I had never even heard of some of them in my entire life. My social skills improved significantly; I broke out of my shell and made a lot of friends. We’d explore all of Xiamen in big groups and also travelled around other cities in China together. 2019 was the best year of my life.

Class picture from the Spring 2020 semester, good old days

​Attending classes didn’t even feel like school; every day was so fun and interactive and the teachers were so friendly. We had classes for listening, speaking and literature. They were spaced out very nicely during the week so we didn’t feel burdened by it. The beginner classes were the hardest and most of us were taking longer to understand certain topics, kudos to the teachers for being so patient with us.

With a lot of happy memories also came a lot of sad memories. There were a lot of farewells at the end of each semester since many students had to go back to their home countries, it was so heart breaking. I still try my best to stay in touch with them, even until today!

​My hometown is Mumbai, which is the financial capital of India. Although Xiamen and Mumbai are both coastal cities, they each have their own different charm.

Xiamen has a population of about 4 million but Mumbai’s population is almost 21 million! Mumbai is known as the city that never sleeps; even at 3AM in the morning there is traffic outside and people going on about their day. The food there is also something that I really miss. You can find literally anything and everything. Restaurants in Mumbai love creating their own versions of popular international food items, which they call a “desi twist”. Even McDonalds in Mumbai has a different menu compared to other outlets around the country, that’s how enterprising they are. I once took my Chinese friends to a Chinese restaurant there thinking it was authentic at the time, but boy was I wrong! They were surprised to see that there wasn’t a single authentic Chinese dish in the menu. I’d like to believe they still enjoyed the food anyway.

Malatang is just hotpot for people who don’t like to share their food!

Speaking of food, I was not familiar with any authentic Chinese food when I first came to Xiamen. All I knew was Chinese people ate fried rice. Learning to eat with chopsticks was the first hurdle I had to overcome and now it all feels so effortless. Some of my friends are also a few of the restaurant owners around here, they really love to chat. I love eating Malatang so much, I even started posting about it online and about all the other interesting food you can get here.

It said curry rice on the menu but this is what I got, what a culture shock!

This was during the very first lockdown in 2020, we looked happy only because we got to meet each other after weeks!

​I was initially supposed to leave China in 2020 but then the pandemic struck and flights got cancelled. I fell into a deep depression and was on the fence about what to do. I really missed my family even though we videocall almost every single day. My intuition said I should continue staying here in Xiamen and I’m so glad I listened to it. I met some really amazing people here who have given me the same warmth and compassion similar to what my family would. I never took any of it for granted. I felt so happy and content here. I came to a realisation that this is where I wanted to be. This is home now. Of course I did have days that made me feel miserable, but being here changed me for the better. I learned to be independent and hardworking. I learned to be courageous. Coming here really shaped me into a better person.

Disneyland Shanghai with my best friends!

​Currently, I’m still a student at Xiamen University learning Chinese but now it’s all online. It’s a completely different experience compared to the one I had in 2019.

My goal is to crack the HSK-6 exam and later get my Master’s degree. I still have quite a while to go but living here keeps me motivated enough to continue persevering.

Thank you for reading my story and I hope it inspires you all to chase your dreams as well!

 

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