Ni Hao, Guten Tag

From the east to the west, from “Ni Hao你好” to “Guten Tag”, I had dreamed about this new chapter of my life in Germany for three years. Back to the day when I first stepped on the European continent as an exchange student in Paris, it was 2019, the year before the pandemic. Now, three years later, though the world is still trapped in the pandemic, I feel fortunate to make this trip to Germany, over 10,000 km away from my home in China.

“because he had no place he could stay in without getting tired of it and because there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars…”

Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Always on the Road

I am a 23-year-old Chinese girl, a fan of movies, Britpop, photography and animals, and a girl who loves smiling 🙂 My Chinese name shares a similar pronunciation with the word “promise” in Chinese, while my friends prefer to call me “Nuo Nuo” or “Rice”.

I lived in a small city, Deqing, in the northern part of Zhejiang province, but I am proud to witness its ceaseless pace of internationalization. The first United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress was held there, and soon the first United Nations Geospatial Knowledge and Innovation Center will be established. For the tourist attraction, I strongly recommend you to make a trip to the mountain Moganshan, where you can enjoy its beauty encircled by captivating nature and historic villas in all seasons.

For my bachelor and master, I moved from Nanjing to Hangzhou, from one historical city to another. Both of them are frequenters in the work of numerous Chinese painters and poets, and maybe that is why I am always so obsessed with nature and culture.

I studied Civil Aviation and English in my undergraduate years and now turn to International Organization and International Communication for my master’s studies. But these schooldays are not just all about studies, but more about memories with my friends across the cities. I also miss a lot the days before the pandemic when I could meet international students worldwide, who drove me to see the world by myself.

Back to Germany

Back to my first impression of Germany in December 2019, days before Christmas, it was full of happiness and joy. For me, the exchange student experience in Paris is just like “a moveable feast”, but Germany can allow me to experience a pretty different way of living in Europe. So when choosing exchange programs, I decided to let Germany be my next journey, a new chance to touch exotic cultures, meet new friends and worlds, and learn a much more difficult language, German.

To the Future

For the days in Germany, I plan to balance my studies and my travels in Europe. Besides the courses I take at LMU, I expect to finish my master’s thesis and find an internship in Europe. During the holidays, I wish to realize my traveling dreams to Northern Europe this time. For example, see the northern lights in Finland or explore the glaciers of Iceland.

One of my supervisors once said to me that “every choice in our lives is like a dot”. These dots may seem irrelevant at this moment, but they will connect with each other and form a line one day, shaping who we are. I firmly believe that my choice to Germany will leave me with priceless treasures for my whole life, encouraging me to unfold more possibilities.