Wudaokou Watch: "Chinese? You Need to Conquer Their Hearts"
In this Wudaokou Watch column, we'll profile a different Beijing-based student from abroad each week to hear about their life in China's capital.
What is your name and where do you come from?
My name is Nicole Liu and I'm a Brazilian citizen.
When and why did you come to Beijing?
I arrived this February, and since then I've been studying Chinese at BLCU.
How is life in Beijing different from your home country?
Comparing with my life in Brazil, it is completely different! Living here is my first experience living alone, so I needed to grow up pretty fast and to care about some stuff that my mom used to take care for me, like "What am I going to eat tonight?" "Omg, I need to do laundry before the weekend!" "How can I open this bottle?" etc. Personal safety is different too, since I arrived here I've never been afraid to walk alone, even when it's dark. I can ride and leave my bike everywhere, the subway is also convenient, actually public transportation here is amazing! When I was in Brazil I would drive a car, so before I came here I thought I would miss it, but no way, I'm much happier taking the subway, riding my bike, and walking a lot.
What are the biggest challenges for you here?
The biggest challenge is to communicate and to ask for information. Brazilians are so warm, they will always try to help you, even if they don't speak or understand your mother language; Chinese can be warm as well, but you need to conquer their hearts, once you do it, it's pretty easy to interact with them.
What are your three favorite hangouts here?
Modernista is my favorite bar in town. I think the entire environment is very interesting and each day they have something different: salsa class, live bands, jazz, drink & draw. Guloudajie is one of my favorite neighborhoods here in Beijing. My second hangout is Pyro Pizza, it's in Wudaokou so it's very convenient to go there, and the third place is a bar called Nina, an Italian bar with Italian food and Aperol Spritz. I love Italian food and Aperol Spritz, I recommend Aperol Spritz from there!
What do you do when you are feeling homesick?
On WeChat, we have a Brazilian group with 500 Brazilians here in Beijing, so every time I need some specific information about Brazilian products, I just ask there and someone will help me. There are a lot of international markets here in Wudaokou and in Sanlitun, so it's not so difficult to feel "at home".
What do you love most about Beijing?
The fact that Chinese people really don't care about anything. If they want to go out wearing pajamas, they will do it; if they want to go to the market wearing a fancy dress its ok too; if they want to go out wearing whatever, nobody will care about it and, in my opinion, this is so cool: you can be whoever you want without judgments from others.
What are your most memorable Beijing experiences?
The World Cup! I'm from Brazil, known as the football country, so before I came here I thought it would be a little bit sad to be far from my country and my friends. Surprisingly, it was an amazing time, I watched most of the matches at Pyro with my friends, choosing a country to support together. I met people from all over the world!
How has life in China impact you generally?
Life here has had a positive impact on me. China is growing so fast and by living here I can understand more about it and at the same time, I'm feeling part of this dragon. China has taught me how to survive anywhere and be open-minded about other cultures and habits.
What are your future plans after the completion of your course here?
My course is going to finish in January of next year, so I'll go back to Brazil. I have some plans for 2019 and to come back to Asia is one of them.
Are you a student in Beijing? Let us profile you and your unique experiences here. Drop us a line at editor@thebeijinger.com and we’ll get back to you to schedule an interview.
Photos courtesy of Nicole Liu
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