ByNuruAli
COURTESYPHOTOIliveinMombasa,asmalltropicalislandontheIndianOceanandoneofKenya鈥檚primetouristdestinations,butmysecondhomewillalwaysbeTianjin,amunicipalityclosetoBeijing.ThoughIhavelivedinseveralChinesecitieslikethecapitalBeijing,ShenzheninGuangdongProvince,andalittle-knowncityinJiangsuProvince,itwasTianjinwhereIstayedandstudiedforoneyearatthestartofmysix-yearstintinChina.MyfatherisachemicalengineerandI,beingtheeldestofsixsiblings,wantedtofollowinhisfootsteps.WedecidedChinawasthebestoptiontostudychemicalengineeringbecauseofthetechnologicaladvancementsithasmade.However,toenrollintheBeijingUniversityofChemicalTechnology,IneededtoknowChinesesincethatwasthemediumofinstruction.
Eachyear,theChineseGovernmentoffersscholarshipstoabout100KenyanstostudytheChineselanguageandcultureinschoolsinChina.Iappliedforoneandgotit.Soin2008IcametoTianjinUniversitytostudyChineseforayearanditwasthemostwonderfulexperience.TianjinisverydifferentfromBeijing.Thoughabigcity,itstillhasthefeelofacozyvillageandtheuniversity,foundedin1895,isaccustomedtohostingalotofforeignstudents.Itmadeforeignerslikeus,whoarrivedtherewithoutanyknowledgeofChinese,feelathomestraightaway.Istayedintheuniversityhostelforforeignstudentsandmetotherstudentswhocamefromallovertheworld-Russians,Indians,peersfromotherAfricancountries-andwegottolearnalotfromoneanother.
Theclasseswereveryinteresting,thankstoourprofessors,especiallythecalligraphyteacher.Tall,thinandbeautiful,shewouldexplainthehistorybehindeachcharacterandmakethecoursefascinating.Andtheteachersweresoaccessible.Onthefirstday,Irememberthemwritingtheirnamesontheblackboard,howtoaddressthemandthentheirphonenumbers,emailIDsandWeChatIDsaswell,justincaseweneededtocontactthemoutsideclass.Andifwehadanydifficultieswithourlessonsandwenttoseethemafterclass,theywerealwayshappytoexplainthingstousagain.
Itwasashocktodiscoverthatsometimeswewouldhaveclassesontheweekendaswell.InKenya,theweekendisforrelaxation,spendingtimewithyourfamily,butherewewereexpectedtowork.Anditwasnotjustus,theprofessorswhotooktheclasseshadnightclassestooontheweekend,soitwasalotofworkforthem.Thatexperiencehasstoodmeingoodstead,asyouwillfind.
Duringtheendofmychemicalengineeringcourse,IinternedwiththeSingaporeanagribusinessgroupWilmarInternational,whichhasbranchesworldwide.AfterIfinishedmyinternship,IworkedfortheminJiangsuandShenzhenandthen,in2014,theyaskedmetogotoMombasa.IagreedwithalacritybecausethoughIloveChinaandwouldliketovisitagain,homeishome.IwouldliketothinkthatIknowabitoftheChineseculturenow,whichisdifferent,andcanbeabridgebetweenitandothercultures.AlotofChinesetouristsarecomingtoKenyathesedaysandmanyofthemdon鈥檛speakEnglish.Sopeoplelikeus,whohavestudiedinChina,canmaketheirstayinKenyaeasier.TherewasthisChineseacquaintancewhowantedtosetupabusinessinKenya,exportingmeattoAsia.HecametoKenyaandstartedmeetingpeopletodiscusspartnershipopportunities.Therewasaclashofculturesandbothsidesbegancomplainingtome.
TheChinesesaidhewantedameetingonSundayandwhentheKenyanrefused,thoughtthemanwasplainlazy.TheKenyan,ontheotherhand,toldmehehadothercommitmentsandcouldn鈥檛besimplyatthebeckandcalloftheChinese.SoIhadtobethemediatorandtheTianjinexperienceofgoingtoclassonSundayshelped.ItoldtheChinese,鈥淟ook,thisisKenya,herepeoplegotochurchonSundays.Soyouneedtobemoreprofessionalandplanthingsinadvance.鈥滱ndItoldtheKenyan,鈥淐almdown,thismanisnottryingtoexploityou.It鈥檚thenormalworkschedule[forbusinesspeople]inChina.鈥漇othemainproblemwastheculturaldifferenceandoncetheyunderstoodit,theywerereadytoaccommodateeachother.CA