[Vietnam] Trần Thị Thắm, Qingdao University
Dear China,
Hi!
Before meeting you, I had never thought I would become attached to you one day until August 2016, when I received the admission notice of Chinese major from Hanoi University, Vietnam. Since then, you have been in my life and my command of Chinese has been improved. This novel and interesting language helps me learn more about your history, culture and customs.
Therefore, I am more and more intimate with you. I would like to express my gratitude because a new chapter of my life is being written after encountering you.
Thank you for the good luck you have brought to me, which helps me discover my potential is infinite. In the past, I seemed to be an insulator of the good luck and never won the lottery or any games that need the luck. During the four years of college, I became confident and brave with your company.
My spoken Chinese became more and more fluent. Finally, I mustered up my courage to stand on the podium and gave a speech in Chinese to a big audience. I successfully got the first “first prize” in my life. After that, I keep challenging myself. I have tried to be a Chinese tourist guide and a Chinese-Vietnamese translator... It turns out that there are so many possibilities in me. The fact is that the harder I work, the closer I am to luck.
Thank you for your kindness and warmth. I couldn’t help being closer and closer to you. I finally got a chance to meet you in my senior year of college. It was a summer camp organized by the school. Although it was only 15 days, it was enough to convince me that the real you were as kind and wonderful as the one I had learned of.
In this short half a month, from Dalian to Beijing, we visited the Xinghai Square, Baiyun Yanshui Lotus Mountain, Tian’anmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Badaling Great Wall, the Summer Palace and so on. Your landscape was so beautiful that I was indulged in it. I was impressed by the rapid progress of your modernization. The people were kind and welcoming, which made me feel comfortable and warm.
It was this trip to Dalian and Beijing that urged me to make continuous efforts to meet you again. As an old Chinese saying goes, “If fated, men come together though a thousand li apart; if not, they miss each other though they meet face to face.” I deeply believe so. Though we are thousands of miles apart, you and I must be connected by fate. That is why I received the admission notice of the postgraduate course majoring in International Relations from Qingdao University.
Wasn’t this notice of admission flying to me across rivers and thousands of miles just a symbol of our destined connection? I feel happy, safe and powerful with the thinking that I will have you beside me in the upcoming three years.
However, we never expected that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 prevented us from meeting again. I have been waiting for nearly a year since the school term started. It was a very difficult year. Every day I asked around for the possibilities of going back to campus. Now, I am studying postgraduate courses online in my hometown. Although I have classes with Chinese students and communicate with teachers and classmates online, the feeling is not as good as being there.
Due to the “force majeure” of the pandemic, I have to hold back my expectations and longing, while trying to complete my academic tasks and improve my scientific research ability in the hope of seeing you again with a better look. In fact, I should thank you for giving me a special and unforgettable experience in my life. Unknowingly, I am witnessing history by being one of the first groups of postgraduate students enlisted online in China. The hard time can also inspire people to seek progress.
Now I am writing an opening report on the current situation of cooperation between China and Vietnam in non-traditional security fields. It is a challenge for me with Chinese as my original major, but I am confident of a good performance in my new major to make contributions to the further communication and cooperation between our two countries.
Finally, I hope that the pandemic will come to an end as soon as possible and people’s life can return to normal. Then the long-delayed official meeting between us can be realized. I really want to say “thank you” face to face. Thank you for making a girl, who was born in the countryside and never stepped out of a small village, broaden her horizon greatly, go out of the country and move forward into a larger world. Thank you for making me more confident, more determined and happier. Looking forward to seeing you.
Best wishes!
Sincerely yours, Tran Thi Sham
June, 2021
The story is from "My Beautiful Encounter with China" Essay Competition organized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges (CSCSE).
