Our emigration: how China surprised the Russian woman

Anna Kuzina fell in love with Chinese as a child, and later won a global competition to study it and moved to Beijing. Anna told "Daily Billboard" about working as a model in China, a person fenshui, a month without a soul after childbirth and the ability of local residents to combine Chinese traditions and western experience.

Photo: instagram twins_in_china

About love of language and moving

Since childhood, I have studied several languages: English, Finnish and German. Dad contributed to this - he really wanted me to go to study in another country. When I was in the sixth grade, a student from Moscow State University came to our class hour. He spoke very insightfully about China, and then wrote several hieroglyphs on the board. It struck me outright. I asked him to write to me on the sheet the hieroglyphs of "thank you" and "I love you." I keep this note to this day.

Then dad took me on weakly. He said that the study of European languages ​​is still nonsense, everyone can succeed in this, but not everyone can learn Chinese. Papa's words and stories about the prospects of China, which he told me, led to the fact that I entered the Eastern Faculty of St. Petersburg State University.

From the first days, teachers began to instill in us a love for China, but at the same time they set a very high bar - to learn to speak Chinese at the level of native speakers. In the second year I went to China for an internship and learned a year at Beijing Language University. Then I realized that I could no longer live without this country. I did not want to go home, there was even an idea to leave the university, but my parents dissuaded me.

I returned and began to look for possible ways to move, and at the end of the third year I had a chance to return. Then, in 2005, the World Chinese Contest was held - the largest among foreigners. I won the qualifying round in Russia, and they sent me to China. I was incredibly happy to just come back here, but in the end I became the world champion in Chinese. My dream came true: the winner was given a grant to study at any educational institution. I chose Peking University, studied for a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy for three years, and then I found work in Beijing in this area.

Photo: instagram twins_in_china

About the career of an actress and meeting with her husband

Two weeks after my first visit to China, an agent approached me on the street and offered to play in the crowd - the Chinese love to attract foreigners to participate in the shooting. Then I repeatedly played in episodic film roles, I even had tapes preserved. And I also starred in many advertisements for clothing and slimming products. After the language contest, as the winner, they began to invite me to different TV shows. Recently, I have been called in TV programs too, but already as a person who understands the culture of China and international relations.

My husband is Russian, we met at work in Beijing. I was taken to his former workplace. Mostly men work in the company, and when he found out that a new employee had appeared, he came to meet under the pretext that he had forgotten some things. We started to communicate a lot, and then fell in love with each other. It turned out that we both have many relatives in Ryazan, and we often joked that we had to travel several thousand kilometers to meet. My husband also knows Chinese, sometimes we even talk to him for fun. And he fully shares my love for this country and the desire to live here, which I am very pleased about.

In China, we are not always, for example, we have lived here for three years, then for two years in Russia. This is due to the specifics of the work. Our company believes that a person should not stay in one place, in one country. According to management, such movements help employees better understand the affairs and relations of the two countries.

Photo: instagram twins_in_china

About Chinese traditions and attitudes towards Putin

For an unprepared person, cultural shock in China is inevitable. First, most of the locals, even in megacities, do not know English, and it is almost impossible to exchange a couple of clarifying phrases with them. In addition, the Chinese are very loud. They never speak in a whisper, so in a restaurant and in shopping centers you get the feeling that you are in a hive. The Chinese are very calm about some of the natural urges of the body: when they eat, they often chomp, smack and belch. The older generation spits a lot on the ground, but in big cities, especially in educated circles, this is rare.

However, the Chinese are very polite and in every situation they try to save face. They never refuse directly, so as not to inconvenience a person. It is important to learn to recognize. For example, if you are told: “We will think about it” or “We will see it later” - this is a form of polite refusal.

The Chinese are very spontaneous and curious people. If on the street someone swears or sells something unusual, they stop, create a crowd and begin to discuss what is happening. And when the locals see a nice foreigner or European children, they simply fall apart in compliments and praise. People here generally love to smile and do not feel sorry for kind words for others.

In China, people just love to get together. There is a whole culture of dealing with colleagues or friends at a table in a restaurant. Corporate - an important part of the workflow. They decided to drink to the bottom with everybody present, so after corporate events everyone is usually very drunk. Some companies practice joint trips abroad for several days: to Thailand, Japan, and Korea. And the Chinese love to arrange evening dances right on the street. In any weather, a tape recorder can be brought out here and start jumping, dancing a waltz or doing exercises. Especially active in this pensioners.

Photo: instagram twins_in_china

If the Chinese hear that you are from Russia, they have a number of associations: “Oh, Putin! He's cool, just handsome! ”,“ Big Brother - Soviet Union ”and“ Russia is as cold as you survive there? ”. All Chinese consider Russian girls very beautiful and fearless, because in the cold we can wear kapron tights. Everyone remembers the dolls, Russian bread and vodka. Chinese people imagine the Russian people to be impatient and they think that we love to chop off the shoulder. And they are sure that everyone in Russia constantly sings Katyusha and Moscow Nights.

China is a traditional country. But with their traditions, the locals act very wisely. Their main life principle is the golden mean, the harmonious combination of the West and China. If they see that they have succeeded more in some matter in another country, they take this experience and combine it with their achievements, not considering it to be something shameful.

For example, Chinese medicine. In China, all hospitals are divided into two types: standard and traditional Chinese medicine. But if you come to a regular hospital, the doctor will prescribe you a complex: Western methods of treatment, and some Chinese herbs, powders in capsules.

About face fiction and beauty standards

The Chinese honestly admit that they are committed to European standards of beauty. But all this is superimposed on their beliefs. For example, the forehead must necessarily be convex - rich, as the Chinese say. The stronger he stands out, the better will be the fate of a person and his financial condition. The eyes should be big and with a European double eyelid, because monoveco is ugly. The ideal is a face in the form of watermelon seeds - a sharp chin and expressive cheekbones. The Chinese simply adore white skin, and here they really appreciate big earlobes - this is a sign of great happiness for the owner.

The Chinese like to contact the Feng Shui masters to correct their fate or financial situation. For example, they prick Botox in the forehead, but not so much from wrinkles, but in order to make the forehead glisten and attract wealth. On the advice of the master of Feng Shui women change the shape of the eyebrows to the one that should attract her husband. In addition, the Chinese make moles in the right places or reduce them. For example, you will not meet moles under the eyes - it is believed that they spoil the fate of the child.

Now at the peak of fashion very thick long eyebrows. Girls draw them almost to the temple or do such microblading, tattooing or plastic eyebrows. It is very fashionable to make the breast, especially at the expense of its own fat - this is called lipofilling. Slimness, long legs, straight long hair are important criteria for beauty. And despite the fact that Chinese women already have straight hair, they make keratin straightening so that the hair is pulled like a string. And women constantly wear very catchy false eyelashes.

If we talk about the beauty of men, then, as expressed by the Chinese themselves, in the fashion of "fresh meat". These are very young boys, in which there is not a drop of brutality. To be honest, at first glance you won’t tell what sex they are. Girls just go crazy with guys with a gentle appearance, and among young people it is a standard of beauty.

Photo: instagram twins_in_china

About family values ​​and a month without a soul

Earlier in China, they wanted to have a son more, because the boy stayed in the family and helped his parents, and the girl was called “spilled water”. But in recent years, more and more Chinese want a daughter, because when the time comes for marriage, the bride’s parents demand that the groom have an apartment, a car, and sometimes they ask for a certain amount of money for their daughter and even force her to rewrite her apartment. Divorce property was not considered property married. It’s rare for a man in 25 – 30 to be so secure, so these huge costs are borne by the parents. It is much easier if a girl is born in the family, which you can simply marry and calm down. The official marriage age in China is 20 for women and 22 for men. But for many it is too early. As in the West, it is now customary in China to work and build a career, so they marry here more often after 27 years. In addition, the Chinese are getting married to have children immediately after the wedding. And if young people do not have plans for early childbearing, then there is no sense in playing a wedding.

For future mothers here are very kind. As soon as a girl becomes pregnant, she becomes the center of the world for the whole family. And the smaller the city, the more felt the participation of relatives. For example, in a village, all relatives can go to a clinic with a woman. Of course, there are many superstitions about pregnancy. Some believe that a woman during this period can not drink tea, otherwise the child will have dark skin. And it is also very common to wear aprons from a special fabric (sometimes they look like tunics), which supposedly interfere with radiation from a photocopier, a computer, or a telephone. Many young people are sure that there is no benefit from them, and pregnant women themselves do not want to wear them, but they do it for the sake of calmness of the older generation. In China, it is generally accepted to obey their elders in everything, to show them their respect. “Sons of reverence” is an important tradition that is passed down from generation to generation.

But the most important tradition associated with the birth of children is postnatal rest for 30 days. A woman should not do anything, just lie down and recover, while the mother-in-law or mother comes to work with the child and household chores. During this period, a woman can not go out, wash and even brush her teeth. Chinese medicine explains this by the fact that in the first month after birth, the woman's body is very weak, and if you catch a cold in this period, you can earn a chronic disease for life. In Beijing and other large cities where Western culture is strong, this is also often observed, but with large deviations. For example, a woman takes a bath once a week or waits for her mother-in-law to leave for business, while she herself quickly runs into the shower.

Not so long ago, special hotels for postpartum recreation appeared in China. They are made with the latest technology, and there is a qualified staff working there: special nannies who do massages, teach young mothers to wash a child, care for him and help him to get used to the appearance of a new person in life. Prices for such hotels start at one hundred thousand rubles.

Photo: instagram twins_in_china

On the education of bilingual children and the importance of the regime

At the end of 2015, the twins Zlata and Sonya were born. I gave birth in Moscow, at that time we were just working there. We returned to China when our daughters were one year old. Then, more than a year, my mother helped me bring up girls; she often came to Beijing and lived with us. Thanks to that, I could work in peace. With two and a half years, they are happy to go to a Chinese kindergarten with a state curriculum. For a long time, I thought that the girls did not speak Chinese until the teacher told me that in the kindergarten they communicated with other children without problems. It turned out that bilingual children unconsciously begin to speak one of the languages ​​depending on the medium of communication (at home - Russian, and in kindergarten - Chinese). Recently, girls choose to speak a shorter word from two languages. For example, “thank you” in Chinese is “cee”. The Chinese version is shorter, and they use it even among themselves.

I would really like to instill some values ​​of Chinese society in my daughters. For example, I admire the respect that is provided to parents in China. I asked the Chinese how they manage to instill such respect for their parents in children, and they explained to me that this is always a personal example. In addition, they talk a lot about this in schools.

And I also like that the regime is very much appreciated in China. It is important to teach him a child before high school. Teach him to get up early and go to bed early, first go about his business - and only then rest, value his time. If you succeeded in elementary school, then there will be no further problems.

Photo: instagram twins_in_china

About Chinese New Year

The Chinese do not celebrate the European New Year, they are waiting for their own. This year, it came on the night of February 16. During holidays, millions of people go to their home cities, because it is important to meet the New Year with their parents.

The traditions of China are transferred to the New Year's table: all food has some meaning. At seven or eight o'clock on the eve of New Year's Eve, the Chinese sit down to dinner. There are a lot of meat dishes on the table: in past centuries because of poverty, the Chinese rarely ate meat, since it has become a symbol of celebration and plenty. There is necessarily a fish, because in Chinese the word “fish” is consonant with the word “wealth”.

But the most traditional New Year's dish is Chinese dumplings. They are eaten at exactly midnight. It is believed that the dumplings are similar to silver bars, which bring wealth and prosperity. Families, in which it is not accepted to eat at twelve at night, get up at five or six in the morning to start the year with their portion of well-being. All dumplings on the New Year's table are molded by hand. In some families, they put a date (for a sweet and happy life in the new year) or a coin (for wealth). Our family celebrates Russian New Year, Christmas, and Chinese New Year. Usually on this day we go to a restaurant, although I can and love to cook Chinese dishes.

About friendship and feeling at home

All my friends are Chinese. Sometimes Russian friends come to visit, but this is rare. In China, as in Russia, it is customary to be friends with families. In general, the Chinese are good at making friends. For the sake of a true friend, they are ready to break into a cake, and close friends often call each other sisters or brothers. Foreigners who live in the country for a long time complain that they do not have relations with the Chinese. Here it is important to understand that the Chinese simply do not take them for their own. To overcome this barrier, you need to speak perfect Chinese. I love Chinese people for their positive, spontaneity and smileiness, I always lacked this in Russian people.

Most of all I miss Russia in the New Year, these days I want our Russian atmosphere around. I consider Beijing and Moscow to be my home. In general, the house for me is the place where my family is. Once a year I go to Moscow and get saturated with Russian energy, that's enough for me. When I am in Russia for a long time for work, I really miss Chinese and China itself. In Beijing, everything is very dear to me and truly mine.

I want both Chinese and Russian to be native to girls. Perhaps in the future we will live in some English-speaking country, so that it is easier for them to learn English. If this does not come true, we will bring it to the desired level in China. I see us as a very mobile international family. I would like to spend most of my life in China and Russia, but I am open to something new, and I really enjoy learning about the world.

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