国籍：格鲁吉亚

Occupation : Overseas Market Manager

职业：海外市场经理

I first came to China in 2015, but the journey to China started a long time ago. More than 15 years ago, when I was a little girl, I had a conversation with my dad about my future goals. He suggested that I should study the Chinese language, he said the 21st century is the “Century of China”, and the Chinese language is the “Language of the Future”. I didn’t understand him at that time, because China seemed to be very far away, and I hardly knew anything about this country. In those times, we didn’t have internet, and the only link to the world – the TV – never talked about China.

我第一次来中国是在 2015 年，但我的中国故事很早就开始了。15 年前，当时还是小女孩的我和父亲一起讨论我的未来。他建议我学习中文，他说21世纪是“中国的世纪”，而中文是“未来的语言”。当时我还不理解这句话的含义，因为中国似乎很遥远，我对这个国家几乎一无所知。那个年代没有互联网，唯一能了解世界的渠道——电视也从未介绍过中国。

Years later, when I went to the university, I was interested in linguistics. I’ve studied the basics of Ancient Greek, German, French, Russian, English, and of course Georgian to understand the structure of the languages. Once, at the beginning of a new semester, I found out that my university was offering classes in Chinese. I immediately remembered the advice my father gave me years ago. Besides, I hadn’t learned any Asian language before, so I decided to give it a try.

多年后，大学时期的我对语言学非常感兴趣。我学习了古希腊语、德语、法语、俄语、英语的基础知识，当然还有格鲁吉亚语，从而了解语言结构。有一年，新学期开始时，我发现大学要开设中文课。我立刻记起了父亲多年前给我的建议，而且我没有学过任何亚洲语言，所以决定试一试。

The journey of learning Chinese was not easy. In our society, if something is hard, we say “It’s as hard as Chinese”. But after several months, I found out that the Chinese language has a very logical system, and even though there are thousands of characters, there are keys to organize them. This was the moment when I decided to keep learning, and so I did!

学习中文的过程并不简单。在格鲁吉亚，如果形容一件事很难，我们会说“它和中文一样难”。但几个月后，我发现中文有一个清晰的逻辑体系，虽然有成千上万的汉字，但总有把这些汉字组织到一起的关键。于是我决定继续学习中文，并且说到做到！

I remember the moment before departure. That night, I was sitting in the airplane cabin and it was my first flight ever. I was going somewhere where I knew nobody, somewhere where I had never been, and I didn’t know what to expect from this place. But my heart was full of excitement, joy, and willingness to start the journey.

我依然记得出发前的那一刻。那天晚上，我坐在飞机舱，这是我第一次坐飞机。我将去一个谁也不认识的地方，一个我从未去过的地方，我不知道要对这个地方怀揣怎样的期待。但我的心充满了兴奋、喜悦，迫不及待地开启这段旅程。

My first year in Beijing was full of adventures. Besides learning the language, I also traveled across the country. Before traveling, I used to think that the rhythm of life was very quick in China because it is like that in Beijing.  But after visiting smaller places, like Leshan (Chengdu Province) and Yuanyang (Yunnan Province), I found out that there can be many types of lifestyles in China, you can choose the one you like.

我在北京的第一年充满了冒险。除了学习中文，我还去中国各地旅行。旅行之前，我曾认为中国的生活节奏非常快，因为北京就是这样的。但去过一些小城市后，比如成都乐山、云南元阳，我发现中国人的生活方式多种多样，你可以选择你喜欢的方式生活。

Once I finished my program in BLCU and went back to Georgia, the only thing I was thinking about was to find a way to come back. I participated in dozens of activities related to China and finally was honored to win second place in the Chinese Bridge competition in Georgia. This gave me chance to visit China again. During the Chinese Bridge Summer camp, I was invited to a family in a rural place near Changsha. The family lived an ordinary life there, had domestic animals and a beautiful garden full of vegetables. They knew almost nothing about me but still received me as a good friend coming from a far place. I stayed there only for a day, but I will never forget their hospitality and kindness.

我从北京语言大学毕业，回到格鲁吉亚后，我一心想要回来。我参加了几十项与中国相关的活动，很荣幸在格鲁吉亚的汉语桥比赛中获得了第二名。这让我有机会再次来到中国。参加汉语桥夏令营期间，我到长沙农村的一个家庭里做客。这家人过着普通的生活，园子里养着家畜，种满蔬菜。他们对我一无所知，但仍然把我当作一个来自远方的好朋友来接待。我在那里只待了一天，但我永远不会忘记他们的热情善良。

The hardest time for me in China was my first semester at Tsinghua University. At that time, I had to learn the subjects that were already very hard, in the Chinese language. That was the most challenging time of my life. But what made me go through, was the support I received from my teachers and classmates.

我在中国也经历过困难的时候，那是在清华大学的第一个学期。我得用中文学习那些非常难的科目。那是我生命中最艰难的时刻，但我坚持下来了，离不开老师和同学对我的支持与帮助。

So, what makes me love China? Why do I keep coming back to this country? Is it because China has vibrant cities, beautiful sceneries, yummy food, and incredible technologies? Surely, yes, but if I had to choose only one reason, I would say: it’s because of the people. People, who build the huge cities; and those, who keep the beauty and simplicity of the rural places; the people who create modern technologies to let everyone live an easier and safer life; the people who are chasing their dreams and diligently working for a better tomorrow; the people who share my happiness and give me a helping hand when I need it. It is the people who make me feel safe and calm here.That’s why it is the place where I learn, grow and the place where I want to be.

是什么让我爱上中国呢？为什么我会不断回到这个国家？是因为中国有充满活力的城市、美丽的风景、美味的食物和难以置信的技术吗？当然是的，但如果只说一个留在中国的原因，我会说是中国人民。是他们建造了大都市；是他们保持了农村的美丽和淳朴；是他们创造了现代技术，让每个人的生活更方便、更安全；他们也在追逐梦想，为更好的明天努力奋斗；他们分享我的喜悦，在我需要的时候给予我帮助。正是这些人让我在这里时刻感到安全和平静。所以中国是我学习、成长的地方，也是我未来想留下的地方。

作者：桃漫 翻译：潘泽彬

If you would like to contribute your story, feel free to contact us.

Email: luz@mts-tech.com