Written by (作者): Eline Moerland
Photos by (图片来源): Veronika Khasanova
I can not even begin to imagine that it has been over a year now since I was sitting behind my computer in the Netherlands, searching for Masters degrees in Australia. Yes, Australia. I was desperate to go down under, meet some kangaroos and study at one of the country’s many universities. Well, it turns out it is a pretty expensive place to go.
At the time, I was about to give up my plans of studying abroad, far away from Europe. But then the internet shed light on this British university in Ningbo, China. Well, at least it suited the criteria of being ‘far far’ away, but that was virtually all I knew about this mysterious city. As I had no reason not to apply, I figured that I might as well give it a shot and started writing my personal statement. A few days later, I walked down the road and put a little envelope in the mailbox, hoping that it would reach its far away destination.
Having completely forgotten about my spontaneous decision to send out my application, I suddenly received an e-mail from the University of Nottingham, Ningbo Campus. “We are glad to inform you that you have been accepted to the Masters degree of International Management”. I can’t recall how long I stared speechless at the screen, reading the sentence over and over again. From the corner of the office, my colleague walked up to me and asked, “Eline, are you alright? You look a bit pale.”
Now, here I am, sitting on my bed in Ningbo, no longer noticing how hard the bed actually is. It feels like I stepped onto a long rollercoaster ride: it gets you all dizzy and nervous but at the same time you are feeling alive and excited. My experience in China can hardly be described on paper, but I will do my best to give you an impression of what it is like to study in Ningbo.
As part of my careful preparation, I looked up Ningbo on the internet, since no one around had ever heard of this place. Wikipedia informed me that it is a mid-sized Chinese city, meaning it is the home of eight times the population living in Amsterdam. And still growing, fast. Every time you blink, a new building climbs its way up to the sky. It is only in China that they manage to build a 57-story skyscraper in just nineteen days.
In my opinion, the beauty of Ningbo is that it represents China as a rapidly developing and modern country, but at the same time gives you a taste of the traditional Chinese culture. You can go shopping at H&M and Zara in Tianyi Square and only a few blocks away you may spot a Chinese local growing some herbs in the garden of their fragile little house, which is now surrounded by newly built highways. Ningbo looks completely different from the way it did a few years ago, and it will look completely different again in just a few months from today.
Then, there are the people. Although I have been here for quite a while, I still am a long way away from completely understanding the Chinese people and their unique culture. When you enter a Chinese library, half of the students are literally asleep on their desk. When you enter the gym, you barely see anyone in a sports outfit. Instead, you see them running around in their jeans or skirts, if you are lucky you might even spot someone working the treadmill on their heels. When you enter a room in KTV (Chinese karaoke hall), you will see the Chinese transform into loopy rock stars as soon as they get hold of a microphone.
Despite the fact that their behavior seems a bit ‘different’ to me at times, it has to be said that they are always willing to offer a helping hand and eager to get to know foreigners. Every time I got lost in Ningbo, people found a way to send me in the right direction by simply drawing a map or letting me follow them. All the nights that we hit the bar street of Lao Waitan (the Old Bund), we met locals who wanted to buy us drinks, add us on WeChat and //ganbei// (bottoms up) several drinks with us. Although the language barrier renders any deep conversation, they will make sure that you wake up the next morning properly hungover and with a thousand ‘selfies’ of you and your new Chinese friends on your phone.
So many unexpected things happened to me since I arrived in China. Just a few months ago a stranger approached me on the street and asked me whether I wanted to do some modeling for advertisements. As I am only 5 ft 6 and certainly not the skinny type, this kind of took me by surprise. But before I knew it, I was starring in commercials on YouTube and found a picture of myself promoting a product on EBay.
Some things can and will only happen to you in Ningbo. There is simply only one way of truly finding out what Ningbo has in store for you: get your self on a plane and take a deep dive into the city of endless possibilities. You will meet so many new people, all of whom have an interesting story to share and have different perspectives on things than you. And it is worth talking to every single one of them. Ningbo has helped me to break out of my little bubble and explore a bit more of this beautiful world we live in. One thing I have learned is that it is true what they say; life only begins at the end of your comfort zone. So make sure you don’t get stuck in that.
我不敢相信已经过去一年了一年前的此时，我坐在荷兰家里的电脑前面，搜索着澳洲的硕士学位。对澳洲，我超级想去那里，看一看袋鼠，在其中一所大学读书，最后发现原来去那里这么贵。
那个时候，我几乎已经放弃了远离欧洲读书的计划。但是网络给我指了一条明路，中国宁波的英国大学，好吧，至少宁波已经算非常远离欧洲了，但那还是一个对我而言相当神秘的地方。既然我没有理由不申请，我觉得还是给自己一个机会然后开始写简历。几天后，我走到街上把信封装进了信箱，希望能到达那个遥远的地址。
在我几乎快忘了那个一时冲动的举动之后，我突然收到了宁波诺丁汉大学的信件，“我们很高兴地通知你，你已经被我校国际管理专业硕士学位录取”。我忘了当时盯着屏幕多久，坐在办公室的角落，一遍又一遍地读这一句话，连我的同事都走过来问我，“Eline你还好吗，你看起来很苍白。”
现在我来了，坐在我宁波家里的床上，几乎已经可以无视床有多硬。感觉像是踏上了一趟长的出奇的过山车，它让你感到晕眩感并紧张的要死，同时你前所未有地感到自己还活着。我在中国的经历很难用言语叙述，但我会尽力让你体会在宁波学习的感受。
作为我仔细准备的一部分，我在网上搜索了宁波，在之前我从未听说过这个城市。维基百科告诉我，这是一个中国二线城市，同时，宁波的人口是阿姆斯特丹的八倍，同时还在快速地增长。你每一次眨眼，一座新的大楼就开始往天上蹿，只有中国，才能做到在19天内建造一座57层的摩天大厦。
在我看来，宁波的美主要体现在，她代表了中国飞速发展和现代化的一面，但同时又不失传统的中国文化。你可以在天一广场逛H&M和Zara，同时，你又可以在几个街区之外看到本地人在自己老旧的小院里，种一些中式草药，周围是新建的高速公路。宁波与几年前相比大不一样，在几个月之后她又会和现在完全不同。
还有这里的宁波人。虽然我来这里已经有一段时间，我还远远不能够完全理解中国人和他们的文化。当你走进这里的图书馆，一大半的学生趴在桌子上睡觉。当你走进这里的健身房，你很少看见有人穿着运动装备，你看到的是穿着牛仔裤或者小短裙跑步的姑娘，再幸运点，你还能看到跑步机上的高跟鞋。当你走进ktv时，你就会看见拿上麦克风变身摇滚巨星的中国人。
虽然他们的行为在我看来特别奇怪，但他们还是特别愿意帮助和认识外国人。每次我在宁波迷路，人们总会为我指路，画地图啦或者自己带我过去。晚上我们去老外滩的酒吧时，总会遇见愿意买酒给我们的本地人，加我们微信，和我们干杯。虽然语言的障碍导致了无法深层交流，他们还是会保证你第二天早上伴着宿醉醒来，手机里有几千张自己和他们的自拍。来中国之后发生了好多我意料之外的事。几个月前，一个陌生人在路上问我愿不愿意当广告模特。因为我只有1.65米而且绝对不瘦，这太让我惊吓了。但是我后来发现，油管和易贝上都有我代言产品的广告。
有些事情有且仅能发生在宁波。唯一去发现宁波还有什么等待你发现的方法是：登上一班飞机深深探索这个充满无限可能的国度。你会遇到很多新的朋友，他们都有新奇的故事，不同的想法和你分享，很值得和他们每个人聊聊。宁波带我走出了自己的小区域，更好地认识了自己存在的美丽世界。有一件我学到的事，离开舒适区，生活才真正开始。赶紧地，别呆在自己的小世界里了。
Eline Moerland
is a 24-year-old Dutch student. After high school she went to Guatemala to work with children as a volunteer and learn Spanish. This first taste of travelling left her longing for more. When she came back home she started an international degree in Economics, which allowed her to study in Spain for six months. She finished her bachelor’s degree in the Netherlands and is currently doing research in Ningbo for her Master’s degree at UNNC.
埃利呢·摩尔兰是一个24岁的荷兰学生。高中毕业后她去危地马拉，作为志愿者教授当地孩子学习西班牙语。第一次旅行的经历让她渴望去更多的地方。当她回到家时她开始攻读国际经济学学位，这让她在西班牙学习了六个月。在荷兰她完成了学士学位，目前在宁波诺丁汉大学攻读硕士学位。