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Croatian in love with Xiamen’s ‘jewel on the coast’ ambiance
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DAMIR First of Croatia came to China in the autumn of 2010. He went to Xiamen, Fujian Province, where he still quite enjoys the coastal life.
“I originally came to Xiamen to study Chinese and martial arts, but soon made friends with some Xiamen University staff. Instead of one year, I was offered to start a PhD here,” says the 31-year-old doctoral candidate in anthropology who will graduate next summer.
“Xiamen is a beautiful place, a clean and romantic jewel on the coast. People here are friendly and open, the food is rich and colorful, the opportunities are plentiful,” First says. “Besides teaching history of architecture, Western culture and modern design at a college in Zhangzhou, I also try to help local people out and cross the cultural gap between my Western ideas and Chinese reality.”
First says he likes learning languages “so I find it relatively easy to make friends and speak to locals.”
“Sometimes it can be hard to explain some matters to people here,” he adds. “In the end we always find a common language — using arms, legs, mobile phone dictionaries. It’s a part of an expat lifestyle, and those who try to avoid it are missing out on the fun.”
First says he hopes to open a travel agency to bring Chinese people to his home country of Croatia.
“I hope to show some of the people I have been living with for the past four years how different and interesting a trip to the unknown can be,” he says. “I love life in China and I hope to learn more of the language, the culture, the people.”
Here are excerpts of an essay First wrote recently about his life in China:
Construction is the soundtrack of China. Walking around in my neighborhood in the island city of Xiamen in southeastern China, I’m reminded of this constantly. No matter if it’s a weekend or weekday there’s always something being built everywhere at any given time. As the country morphs its skin to the tune of jackhammers, the people seemed unperturbed. People in China seem immune to noise.
......
If I’m waiting in line in a bank or a supermarket, people will try to push their way in front of me — but the reverse is also true. I can jump in front of people when I’m getting a taxi; I can cross the street anytime I want, because it’s just as dangerous on crosswalks as it is anywhere else.
......
Walking outside, I’m greeted by cries of “haogao” (so tall) by grinning passers-by. At 195cm it’s quite a thing here, and I hear it around 20 times a day on average. As a foreigner, anything the least bit out of the ordinary and you’ll have an audience in no time. Body weight exercises at the university? You could draw a crowd of 40 or 50 before 8am. Some people would consider all of this a critique of China. But this isn’t a list of bad habits — it’s just a list of what many people in China would think is quite normal. Cultural perspective is important.
......
A child comes up to hug me. “Hello, hello!” he says, his parents looking on without fear. I pat him on the head and tell his parents their kid is cute. It gets old, but it’s nice — they have yet to feel terrified of people who come near their kids like in the West. No fear of being reported to the police for being a pedophile.
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