Peacefulness is Home to Me. By Ali Adat
My name is Ali. I was born in 1993 and was raised in Yemen in a small city called Aden. I am fluent in 5 languages, namely Arabic, English, Chinese, Swahili and Hindi-Urdu.
Since the war started in my country I could not stay because it was too dangerous and it was too hard to survive with continuous economic decline and inability to get a stable job and stay safe.
My family decided to move to Tanzania, where my journey to China started. I started learning Chinese when I was 22, because there were a lot of Chinese people doing business and they have a strong relationship with the local community. I remember when I started, for me the Chinese characters looked like pictographs or pictures and in order to solve these mysterious puzzles, we need a key and this key is pinyin so we have to learn pinyin in order to understand the real meaning behind the characters.
My professor, Mr. Zhang (张灵聪) who was guiding me throughout the journey and responsible for my Psychology Major.
It took me almost 4 years to pass HSK 4 as I was learning by myself and working at the same time. Thanks to the Chinese embassy in Tanzania who approved my student visa, I could start my major in Minnan Normal University, and this is how my China story began. Last year, I graduated successfully from 闽南师范大学 Minnan Normal University and got my bachelor’s degree in Educational Psychology.
Internship program in Zhangzhou 5th middle school
In these 4 years I made unforgettable memories in the university with my classmates, teachers and friends and learned a lot about the Chinese culture, customs and traditions. The teachers were friendly and helped me during my studies. It was very hard for me to understand everything but I worked as hard as I could and passed all the subjects required in order to get my bachelor’s degree.
My classmates. Friendly, helpful and very smart.
5 years passed already, every time I hear the firework and fire crackers in CNY, I tell myself these sounds are not gunshots or bombs. These sounds do not represent terror, fear or bloodshed. These are sounds of happiness joy and mercy.
I learned a beautiful Chinese poem by Li Bai, which says: 此心安处是吾乡,只生欢喜不生愁 “ci xin an chu shi wu xiang, zhi sheng huan xi bu sheng chou”. This poem means wherever there is tranquility and feeling of safety, that place is called home. The feelings of joy and happiness are everywhere with no feelings of anxiety or sadness. I can totally relate to this poem because since I came to China, I felt that I was born again. China has given me this feeling of safety, security and stability.
Sometimes I tell myself every language I speak represents a unique personality, character and a soul. So, one body can have multiple souls with all these mixed languages, it makes me feel like I don’t have a specific hometown or country. I cannot even answer a simple question which is ‘’ where are you from?’’. As a result of that, I have become a part of this international community. Not only China is my hometown, but also the whole globe has become my home.
Every step I take is a new lesson to me. Every time I meet a new friend, he or she comforts my emotional injuries and makes me feel more human. Now, I hope I could just support those who are in need in the community and pursue my happy Chinese dream and achieve more in the future.
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