Peking University, September 8, 2017: This autumn, PKU welcomed more than 1,500 international students. During the orientation on September 1-2, volunteers warmly welcomed the freshmen with detailed explanation and helpful guidance. The volunteers, mostly international students at PKU themselves as well, wished to pass passion and warmth to new friends from all over the world.
Volunteers working at the site of orientation
Mendoo is an African student from Cameroon. After completing a one-year Chinese study at School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, he passed the postgraduate entrance examination successfully, and became a member of School of International Studies in 2016. He has signed up as an orientation volunteer for two consecutive years.
Mendoo
“Volunteering brings me happiness. Communication, or even just exchanging a few words with freshmen from all around the world makes me excited,” Mendoo considers volunteering as a chance to get in touch with new friends, “many will come across each other later on campus.”
Based on his own experience, Mendoo gave some advice to the new international students. He suggested that the newcomers keep in touch with the international student association of their own country, as well as some seniors. “They’ll help you a lot in both study and living, and will provide useful information as well.” Meanwhile, Mendoo attached importance to communicating with Chinese students. “Newcomers may find it hard to integrate into the surroundings due to the language barrier, but after contacting Chinese students through various means, such as language partner programs, you’ll find that it’s not so difficult.” What impressed him deeply during his stay in China was that although Chinese people seemed shy and conservative, they were enthusiastic and kind in nature.
Speaking of his own experience of studying abroad, Mendoo noted that as Sino-African relationship became closer, people were paying more attention to China. During his exchange in Germany when he was an undergraduate student, he noticed that many reports about China in the western media might be partial and subjective. Therefore, the idea of deepening his understanding of China came to his mind. After studying Chinese at a Confucius Institute in Cameroon, he was admitted into PKU, and finally made his way to China. Moreover, he mentioned that with the number of students increasing and its influence growing, Confucius Institutes were becoming more and more popular in Central Africa.
Mendoo has developed an affection for PKU during two years’ study. “It is indeed an attractive place for many of the best students; and for me, there’s still plenty of time to discover and experience a lot of things.”
Written by: Zhou Yijing
Edited by: Xu Penghang
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
