ByMayamikoMwapasa
MayamikoMwapasa(right)andTiyamikeBandacuteachother鈥檚hairinBeijingCOURTESYPHOTOWhenIfirstarrivedattheBeijingInternationalAirport-thatwasin2014whenIwasinvitedtoattendaseminarinWuhan-myfirstreactionwaswow!IamfromLilongwe,thecapitalofMalawi,andattheLilongweInternationalAirport,wehaveonlyabouttwotothreeplanesflyingaday.InBeijing,onthecontrary,youhaveaplanetakingoffeverythreeminutes!
Theinfrastructureandthetransportareamazing.Ilovethewaythetransportissocoordinatedandorganized.Youknowabuswilltakeyouexactlywhereitsaysandwhen.InMalawi,thebusesarerunbyprivateoperatorsandyouhavetoqueueupforhours.Thenwhenyourbusfinallyarrives,it鈥檚sojam-packedthatyoumaynotbeabletogetontoit.
IlikethewaytheChineseshowrespecttoeldersonbusesandthesubway,gettinguptooffertheirseats.That鈥檚somethingwehaveinMalawitooandIrealizethatinsomewayswearethesame.
Afterthe2014conference,IcametoChinaagaininSeptember2015onaChineseGovernmentscholarshiptodomyMaster鈥檚ininternationalrelationsattheChinaForeignAffairsUniversityinBeijing.IthasbeenoneofthebestopportunitiesformebecauseIamintheforeignserviceandweworkintheinternationalcooperationdivisionwherewedealwithChinamatters.WearebeingtaughtChineselawalongwithinternationallawandthere鈥檚aweeklyChineselanguageclass.SoIhaveanexposuretoChinaandChineseculture.
ThescholarshipnotonlypaysformyaccommodationandstudiesinChinabutalsoincludesastipend.Studentslikeuscanactuallysavesomemoneyfromthestipendandsendithome.Itisreallyawin-wincooperationandwestudents,whohavereceivedthescholarship,wouldliketoworktomakethiscooperationgrow.
Iamasked,haveIencounteredanyracisminChina?Well,onedaywhenwewerelookingforasupermarket,weweredirectedtoalocalmarketwherethestallownerwasfastasleep.Whenherneighborswokeheruponourbehalf,shelookedatus,letoffavolleyofangry-soundingwordswhichwecouldnotunderstand,andthenwentbacktosleepagain.WewereverysurprisedbecausetheChinesehavebeenverywelcomingandkind.
Oneday,afriendandIweretrudgingbacktoourcampusfromamarket,ladenwithalotofthings.ThenwemetoneofourChineseprofessorsbicyclingfromtheoppositedirection.Tooursurprise,shestopped,insistedonhelpingusandputourheavywaterbottlesinherbicyclecarrier.InMalawi,thereisalotofdistancebetweenstudentsandprofessors.Professorsareheldinawedesteemandarenoteasilyaccessible.Ican鈥檛thinkofjustwalkingintoaprofessor鈥檚room.Buthereyoucanandtheyarealwaysreadytohelpyou.
Also,there鈥檚aclubinthetouristyareaofSanlitunwheretheyhavepreferentialtreatmentforus.IamtoldtheclubisfrequentedbytherichChinesewholiketomeetforeigners.Wheneverwegothere,thecoverchargeiswaivedforusandwedon鈥檛havetopayforthedrinksaswell.WearetreatedlikeVIPs.
MyChinamemoirwouldnotbecompletewithoutmyhairstory.WearequiteformalinMalawiandasgovernmentemployees,mustlookconservativelywell-groomedwhenwegotowork.ButinBeijing,wecanletourhairdown.BothmyfriendTiyamikeBandaandIwerelosinghairbythehandfulinBeijingduetothepollution;sowecuteachother鈥檚hair.Icuthersreallyshort,likeaboy鈥檚,somethingshecan鈥檛evenimaginedoingbackhome.ButnooneknowsusorcaresinBeijingandwecangooutasweplease.
Asforme,Ibraidmyhairusinghairextensions.SowhenIcametoBeijingpreparedtostayforawholeyear,Ibroughtlotsofhairextensionsfromhome.WhenIranoutofthem,IbeggedmyparentsinMalawitomailmesomemoreandtheydid.ThensomeoneintroducedustoTaobao,theChineseonlineshoppingplatform,andIrealizedallthoseextensionsaremadeinChinaandareactuallyfarcheaperinChinathanwhattheycostbackhome!CA