Preface
The richness of the new era lies in the details of everyone's ten-year memories. In Hebei, the faces within the frames of the new era not only belong to Hebei natives who were born and raised here, but also to an increasing number of foreign experts who have come to work and live in Hebei.
Starting today, this column launches the "Foreign Experts in Hebei" series. We focus on several foreign experts who have lived and worked in Hebei for a long time. From their own experiences, we can hear various insights. These insights touch upon the daily realities that we have been reflecting on, as well as the pulse of the times as Hebei undergoes changes and developments over the past decade.
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On August 12th, in the office of the International Cooperation Office of Hebei University, standing in front of a world map, foreign teacher Mizu from Hebei University stretched out his hands. One finger pointed to Egypt at the northern end of the African continent, and another finger pointed to Russia on the Eurasian continent, sliding towards China, and finally, the two fingertips converged in Baoding, Hebei. "These three places just form a triangle. Without China, Mizu and I would be like the two ends of a straight line, perhaps never meeting, let alone having our little family."
Mizu and Milan are both foreign teachers at Hebei University. They came to Hebei University as international students in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and formed a family in 2015. They have since stayed on to teach at the university.
Although their hometowns are far away in Egypt and Russia, they now regard Hebei and Baoding as the first hometown of their little family. What is their life like in Hebei? During their time in Hebei, what changes are they witnessing in the land beneath their feet?
Love for Chinese Culture Led to Our Romance
Reporter: Before the interview, we have heard about the love story of you. You two are not only a legendary couple admired by students at Hebei University, but your life in Hebei has also attracted attention from media such as China Daily.
Mizu: Our encounter is a very miraculous fate. I am Egyptian, and Milan is Russian. Before we met at Hebei University, neither of us would have thought that we would meet our lifelong companion in China, in Hebei. We owe our meeting to our love and longing for China. If it weren't for the yearning for China and the love for Chinese culture, I wouldn't have come to study for a master's degree in Chinese international education at Hebei University in 2013, and Milan wouldn't have come to study abroad at Hebei University for a year in 2014. There wouldn't have been our story.
Reporter: How did you start to get in touch with Chinese culture?
Milan: We both started to get in touch with Chinese culture in very coincidental and random ways.
For me, in 2010, I took my son, Milong, to a free language training class in Russia. At first, it was my son attending classes, and I waited outside the classroom. Unexpectedly, one day, a friend saw me and said, "There's one spot left in the Chinese class. Why don't you come and have a listen?" In the eyes of Russians, China is a particularly magical country, and Chinese is also difficult to learn. My first reaction at that time was that I definitely couldn't master it. But under the insistence of this friend, I reluctantly signed up and thus accidentally came into contact with Chinese.
Reporter: Was Mizu's first contact with Chinese also so "accidental"?
Mizu: My story is even more unexpected (laughs). In 2006, after taking the college entrance examination in Egypt, I missed the admission to the English department of the Faculty of Humanities at Suez Canal University by only 0.5 points.
At that time, Suez Canal University established the Chinese department for the first time, with relatively lower scores. The dean of the Faculty of Humanities suggested that I study Chinese, but I refused. Unexpectedly, when I talked to my father about it at home, he immediately asked me with a serious face, "Why didn't you apply?" He said, "Look how fast China's economy is developing now, and look at how many things around us are made in China."
My father told me to go and register first, saying, "If you have a fate with Chinese, you will learn it." As a result, the next day, I went to register for the Chinese department and was smoothly admitted.
Reporter: Although it started very "accidentally," hearing you speak fluent Chinese, I believe you quickly found the joy of learning Chinese.
Mizu: Yes, in my sophomore year of college, we had a national Chinese song competition. I sang Chinese People of Andy Lau, and surprisingly won second prize. I especially love Chinese poetry, and my favorite poet is Li Bai. Because I learned Chinese well, the teachers all recognized me. After I graduated, in 2013, I received a call from a teacher at the Confucius Institute at Suez Canal University, saying there was an opportunity to apply for a scholarship to study in China. Finally, my wish to come to Hebei came true.
Reporter: Can you tell me your story with the Chinese language, Milan?
Milan: I enrolled in a two-month crash course in Chinese at a language training center. At that time, I was already 33 years old and could speak Russian, Ukrainian, English, and German. Although the Chinese class taught only the most basic greetings like "hello" and "thank you," I fell in love with Chinese “at the first sight” if you will.
In Chinese, "Ni Hao" not only means greeting but also compliments the other person for being kind. In Russian, the word for "hello" has its root in "health," and greeting also means "I wish you good health." I felt that Chinese and Russian have many similarities, with deeper meanings embedded.
After the two-month crash course, I started buying books to self-study. Later, I found a local university student majoring in Chinese online and paid to learn from her and practice pronunciation.
Later, I participated in a national Chinese essay competition. The top 50 students could receive a scholarship from the Chinese government and study in China for a year. At that time, the title of my essay was
Chinese Education is the Future, and I unexpectedly got this opportunity and was arranged to study at Hebei University.
Reporter: When you both came to Baoding, did the miraculous fate finally happen?
Mizu: On the first day I saw her, I thought, "I must marry her." So, I found opportunities to see her every day. But in the face of my affection, she told me, "We can't. There are big differences in culture, age, and experience. I'm older than you, and I have a child. We are not suitable." However, I was determined. No matter what she had experienced in the past, I wanted to give her happiness. I knew she loved me too, and that was enough.
Our love grew amidst my persistence and her hesitation. But the union of two people is also the union of two families, so we each returned to our countries to seek our parents' approval. I am the youngest child in the family. Initially, my parents were very worried when they heard about our situation, but I told them I was ready. They saw my seriousness and agreed to my decision and gave us their blessings. When Milan talked to her mother, her mother asked her, "Does he love you?" Milan nodded. Her mother asked again, "Are you happy?" Milan said, "It's like a dream." Her mother said, "That's enough. He is your true prince."
We officially registered our marriage in Shijiazhuang in November 2015. We couldn't help but marvel at our miraculous fate because of our yearning for China and our love for Chinese culture. I came, she came, we met, fell in love, and settled our home here.
Bridging China with the World
Reporter: While reviewing the information, I saw that at the beginning of 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic broke out in Wuhan, you both firmly stated that you wanted to stay in China.
Mizu: That's right. At that time, my family was very worried and asked me how it compared to the SARS outbreak in 2003. I said it might be more serious. They insisted on us returning home. But we believed that China was so powerful that it would surely overcome the epidemic quickly. During that special winter vacation, we stayed in China, stayed at Hebei University, and did our own things, studying Chinese, writing papers, preparing lessons, teaching online, and so on.
Reporter: Do you plan to live in Hebei for a long time in the future?
Mizu: This is our second hometown, and also the "first hometown" of our little family. In the years of living in China, we have gained a deep understanding of life and people here.
The people here are very kind. When Milan first came here, she was unfamiliar with the place and didn't speak Chinese well. But on the way from Beijing to Baoding, there were people helping her all the way. At that time, she already felt like home here. When I first came to China, I didn't have thick clothes, and my shoe size was big, size 48. I'm also tall and I couldn't find suitable clothes in the mall. My classmates suggested that I buy from Taobao, so they helped me register an account and taught me step by step how to shop online. Now I'm also an "online shopping expert."
Moreover, the economic development level here is high, and we are eager to live here. Now this dream is gradually becoming a reality. After Milan's one-year exchange study ended in 2015, she was fortunate enough to apply for a scholarship to continue her Ph.D. studies at Hebei University. After graduating with a Ph.D. in 2019, she was employed by Hebei University as a foreign teacher, teaching Russian. Last year, I was also hired by Hebei University as a foreign teacher, teaching language training courses related to Arabic. After Milan's son, Milong, graduated from high school, he also applied for the "Silk Road" Chinese government scholarship from Hebei University. Now he is a junior student in the Journalism Department of Hebei University.
Reporter: I noticed that Milan's doctoral thesis is titled
Research on the Image of China in the Mainstream News Website TASS.RU, was this the direction set by your supervisor or your own focus?
Milan: This was the topic I proposed to my teacher, and the teacher thought it was excellent. As an ordinary person, my intuitive feeling is that Sino-Russian relations are very good. When I go back to Russia on vacation, my family, friends, and neighbors all grab me and ask, "What is China like? Is it really as good as reported?" Because of this, I wanted to study how the Russian media perceives China.
Reporter: What conclusions did this research draw?
Milan: The time span of this research is from 2012 to 2019. I collected 13,940 news reports related to China during this period from TASS. It was because of the importance of this topic that TASS specially opened a green channel, allowing me to pay to access so many reports. Through the research, I found that the reports related to China by TASS were all very positive or neutral.
During my Ph.D. studies, I also published two papers in a highly influential Russian journal on the study of Sino-Russian friendly relations, both written in Russian.
My research and my life fully confirm the friendly relations between China and Russia. Because I am in China, when I tell Russians how Chinese people view Russia, they don't think I'm lying. And because I'm not in Russia, when analyzing how Russian media portrays China, Chinese people don't think my analysis is biased.
Not only me, Mizu is also conducting research on "The Dissemination of Chinese Literature in Egypt." We came to China benefiting from the friendly relations between China and Russia and Egypt. We hope to become a "bridge" ourselves, letting the two friendly countries know that each other's media propaganda also views the other positively.
Reporter: We understand that the faculty and students of the college have highly praised your teaching work, saying that you are very serious about your courses. It was also mentioned that Milan helps to guide some students' graduation theses and does some translation work, among other things.
Mizu: We feel that our work is very important. When students study with us, they are not only learning knowledge but also getting to know our countries through us. In the future, students from our International College will also be active in various fields of international exchanges. We hope to lead our students to build more "bridges" connecting the world through our work.
Therefore, if a student asks a question in class, we don't allow ourselves to give a perfunctory explanation because what the teacher casually says may affect more than one person. If we didn't have a good answer at the time, we would tell them, "I will give you a good answer next class." If a student says, "Teacher, I really like your lectures," then we feel it's worth it. What makes us happy is that our students get married and invite us to their weddings.
Reporter: Over these years, you and Milan have interacted with many Chinese students and students from Hebei. What is the biggest impression they have given you in your interactions?
Mizu: The students at Hebei University study very diligently. Whether in the old campus or the new campus, we can hardly find a seat every time we go to the library; the students are all seriously studying there. Moreover, every time I talk to students about their initial aspirations for choosing their majors, I can strongly feel that they didn't choose their majors randomly. They decided on their majors based on in-depth communication with their parents, combined with their interests, career plans, and social responsibilities.
I also feel that Chinese students' willingness to engage in international exchanges is becoming stronger. Milong's major is journalism. Because he particularly likes art, he was later allowed to audit related courses at the School of Arts. Unexpectedly, he quickly made friends there. A classmate who studies traditional Chinese painting even introduced him to two sculptors and traditional Chinese painting teachers outside of school.
It is said that youth represents the future of a country. From Chinese youth and Hebei youth, I feel their down-to-earth attitude and their confidence and composure in conducting international exchanges.
We Are Witnessing An Increasingly Open Hebei
Reporter: Having studied and worked in Hebei for eight or nine years, have you felt any changes in Hebei?
Milan: The changes are significant. We have visited Xiong'an New Area, where we were amazed by the unmanned supermarkets and autonomous driving experiences.
When I entered an unmanned supermarket, I grabbed some items, and when I was about to leave, the items were already displayed on my phone, ready for payment with just a scan.
I also experienced autonomous driving there. I knew China's technology development was fast, but I didn't expect it to be so advanced already.
Of course, we are most familiar with Baoding. Previously, the buses in Baoding were narrow with plastic seats. Now, they have been replaced by new energy buses, which not only have soft seats but also electronic display signs inside the carriages, greatly improving the comfort of riding. Mizu really likes the bicycle lanes in Baoding because there are no separate bicycle lanes in Egypt. In recent years, the planning of bicycle lanes in Baoding has been getting better and better. We even bought an electric bicycle specifically. If we can't catch the bus from the old campus to the new campus for class, we ride the electric bicycle, which feels great.
The cityscape of Baoding is also undergoing significant changes. Previously, we could tour the entire urban area of Baoding on our electric bicycles in one or two hours. Now, sometimes we haven't reached our destination, and the battery runs out. Before, when Mizu and I went to the nearby supermarket, we always had to pass through a city village, but in recent years, we have seen those flat houses turn into tall buildings.
These feelings are subtle. Without living here for a long time, one wouldn't have such strong feelings. Now, we feel like Baoding locals, experiencing Baoding becoming a more comfortable and livable city.
Reporter: Baoding's cuisine is quite representative in Hebei. Having lived in Baoding for so long, have you gotten used to Baoding dishes?
Milan: We like hotpot, barbecue, and our favorite dish is Kung Pao Chicken. Now we even try to cook this dish ourselves. In addition, Mizu and I particularly like crayfish. Although crayfish is also found in our hometown, it's not prepared in the same way as in China. It's so delicious. The first time we tried it, the two of us ate several kilograms in one go.
Milong's taste is even more aligned with Baoding. He especially likes Baoding's donkey meat buns and enjoys noodles, mushrooms, and sesame sauce. Now, when it comes to cooking, he can cook noodles, stir-fry vegetables, or mix them with sesame sauce like a local.
Reporter: You came to Hebei as international students, and now your work also involves international student education. Do you have any personal feelings about the changes in Hebei's international student education in recent years?
Mizu: I came to China in 2013 when China proposed the "Belt and Road" initiative. In my nine years in Hebei, I have witnessed the rapid development of international student education in Hebei.
Previously, I heard teachers in the college mention that before 2010, the school's international students came from only eight or nine countries. However, by 2016, we had recruited over 450 international students from more than 70 countries worldwide. In recent years, we have clearly felt the importance attached by Hebei Province to international student work. Milan and I have participated in many national and provincial-level competitions for international students.
Both at the national and provincial levels, more and more policies have been introduced to encourage international students to come to Hebei and stay in Hebei.
We have benefited from these good policies, which gave us the opportunity to study and work at Hebei University, and Milong also had the opportunity to come to Hebei University. Our family had the opportunity to reunite.
Reporter: Through the perspective of international student education, you have seen a Hebei that is becoming more and more open.
Mizu: Exactly. When I first came to Baoding, people on the streets seemed always surprised to see me. Now, when I walk on the street, I still feel like a "star," but people are no longer surprised; instead, they greet me naturally.
I feel that people's willingness and interest in cross-cultural exchanges are becoming stronger. In 2018, Baoding No. 1 High School even invited Milan and me to give lectures on Egyptian and Russian cultures. Every semester, teachers from our school's School of Literature invite me to give a lecture on Egyptian culture.
What makes us even happier is that there are more and more job opportunities for foreigners in Hebei now. Once we visited Yingli Group and Great Wall Motor, both of which welcomed us to intern at the company. They also invited us to work at the company, and if we return to our home countries, we can also start companies and cooperate with them in business.
Hebei is becoming more and more open. This is the biggest feeling I have had living in Hebei for nine years.