Thanrada Sri-Angkura: my story of studying in China

How time flies. So far, I have been studying in China for nearly three years. I still remember how I felt on the first day when I arrived in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province. I was very unaccustomed to the weather, Sichuan dialect, and food. Fortunately, I could speak a little Chinese at the time, so I soon made many friends. Although I was a foreigner, I didn't feel excluded. The tolerance and enthusiasm of the Chinese classmates and teachers made me gradually adapt to and love the campus life here, and gave me a sense of belonging.

In the first year of studying in China, I studied Chinese at the College of International Education. It is a very interesting experience to learn and communicate with friends from all over the world. The SWUFE International Student Family has students from more than 100 countries. Although everyone comes from different countries and has different cultures, we have become partners on the journey of studying in China. The multicultural exchanges and collisions have broadened my horizons and given me many good friends from different countries.

I really like to participate in various cultural activities at the university because they all open a window on Chinese culture. We learned to make Zongzi with uncles and aunts in the local community; we played Chinese chess and sang pop songs with Chinese schoolmates; we experienced Chinese calligraphy and tea culture with our teachers. At the same time, I participated in many volunteer activities as well. I worked as a volunteer teacher and introduced Thai culture to students at Chengdu Paotongshu Primary School; I attended the Sino-Thai Entrepreneur Exchange Conference, the Belt and Road Li Bai Cultural Festival in Jiangyou City, the Sino-Thai product matchmaking conference, and some other social activities, serving as a volunteer translator many times. I was trying to give back to Chinese society through actions. During the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2019, our international students in SWUFE celebrated by singing and sent out blessings to our second hometown!

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 disrupted our peaceful and normal life and brought tremendous changes to our studies and life. When I saw the pandemic outbreak in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. I recalled that in 2019, our professor took us to Wuhan for investigation. Wuhan is a very beautiful city, with completely different scenery and food from Chengdu. I hope I will have a chance in the future to visit Wuhan again, to see the cherry blossoms and eat hot dry noodles.

During the pandemic, our international students, even when out of China, did not forget their daily studies. SWUFE quickly organized our classes from offline to online and started the new semester as scheduled. Although online classes were very different from the regular classes, and we all faced many difficulties and challenges, all learning plans proceeded as usual with the assistance of teachers and professors.

My master's thesis is about to be completed. I am going to graduate soon this year. I am very reluctant to leave China, but I believe my story in China is not yet over. The friendly relations between China and Thailand have a long history. I will definitely continue to give full play to my strengths and contribute to the development of China-Thailand friendly relations.