Zifei Qian: a Chinese Student’s Perspective on French Culture

Zifei Qian: a Chinese Student’s Perspective on French Culture

Zifei Qian is often asked, “Why did you decide to leave China to pursue a computer science degree in Paris?” She now has her answer down to one sentence: “The world is big and alive–by being more than just a tourist, living in another country allows you to truly experience a new life, to learn a new language, and to know about a different culture.” Like most of the expats here on Our Paris Stories, Zifei thrives on the excitement of learning new things, both inside and outside the classroom.

She has dealt with plenty of challenges learning the French language–in exchange for losing a bit of her English–but still finds a way to make Paris feel like home, satisfying what she adorably refers to as her “Chinese stomach” with the abundance of Asian restaurants in the 13th arrondissement (read on for her favorites!)

What is your Paris story?

Bonjour! This is Zifei, a Chinese girl and graduate student from one of the French engineering schools who has spent the last 2 years in Paris studying, travelling, and discovering.
I came to France to continue my studies after having obtained my Bachelor’s Degree in China. I’m always being asked, “Why would a student of computer science choose France for her studies?” Well, I won’t say that France was always my dream country and actually I almost knew nothing about France when I made the decision. There is a partnership between the engineering schools of ParisTech and some Chinese universities and I happened to find the program one day before the application deadline. In fact, at that moment I was also preparing for the master’s program of Tokyo University in Japan (my Japanese language studies had even started 2 months earlier). But as I understood more about the engineering education in France, I found out that it was a more suitable choice for me than going to Japan.
My Paris story began when I received my admission letter. It was followed by a 6-month intensive French language course–we had to reach the A2 level in order to get the student visa. I arrived at Paris on the 14th of July 2015, the French national day (that’s also why I remember the date so clearly).
So, my ending up here was actually quite a coincidence–a nearly random choice of mine. However, two years have passed so far, and I’ve never regretted this random decision for one moment. Paris is beautiful; I love this city.
 

Tell us about this spot you chose.

Parc Monsouris is situated right next to Cité Universitaire, a 15-minute walk from my school and my dormitory. During the first two months of my arrival in Paris, I had to cross the park everyday to take the RER B to Cachan for my French language class. Now every time I recall the time of my brand new life just starting with plenty of curiosity, Parc Montsouris is for sure the very first place that jumps into my mind.
After my French class finished, I would still come back from time to time to take a walk with my friends or jog. It is a wonderful park full of trees, lake, birds, ducks, and the joy of picnickers chatting and playing games with friends, one of the important reasons why I love Paris. Paris makes me realise the goodness of a park–there are sooo many green places to go to spend some time with friends or family, which I didn’t have much chance to discover back in China because the place I lived was surrounded by cement and bricks.
 

What do you like most about living abroad?

Why I chose to live abroad can be described in one sentence: the world is big and alive–by being more than just a tourist, living in another country allows you to truly experience a new life, to learn a new language, to know about a different culture. I just love the feeling of learning new things. Is there anything more exciting than that?
As for living in Paris, the first thing I like is that everything is just slowed down in Paris. People are faced with less stress and get more time to enjoy life itself and think about themselves. I’m now less anxious with my life than my days back in China busy competing everyday with others, where people are supposed to follow some invisible common criteria to “be good”. I like the sunny afternoon spent quietly in my room, listening to the music of an accordion played by an old man out on the street, watching the trees trembling with the breeze.
Of course, one cannot ignore the countless art expositions and museums–you never get bored during vacation and you can always find somewhere special to visit in Paris or in Europe, which plays an important role in preventing me from being a nerdy programmer. 🙂
In my case as a young student, living abroad has also made me stronger and more independent. You are in a strange environment where you’re unfamiliar with almost everything: the rules, the language, the streets and shops… and then you have to conquer the difficulties all by yourself. Getting through all of this, I found myself more considerate with others and with myself. I’ve become me more reasonable and more calm. This is exactly what I appreciate about living abroad.
 

What challenges do you face as an expat?

Without any doubt, the language and the cultural difference!
Despite the intensive French course (20h per week) I took during the six months before my departure to France, on my first day in Paris, I could hardly understand a single word when talking with the staff of my school’s dormitory. Luckily, the school still offered us international students two months of French class before the semester began. However, the beginning is always hard and what was even more frustrating is that my English got destroyed by learning French. Come on, it was more than 10 years of hard work for a Chinese to learn English and it got ruined in less than 10 months T^T. During the first four months, I found myself extremely clumsy because I could neither speak a fluent sentence in French nor in English and of course I could not expect people to speak Chinese with me other than my Chinese companions.
One can improve his/her language skills by working hard. However, the cultural difference is an even bigger monster. Although more and more Chinese people are exposed and accept western cultures nowadays, I’m still the typical Chinese person to whom college parties only occur in American TV series. Chinese songs fill up my playlist. For most of the Hollywood movies, I only know their Chinese translation name. Being a little bit shy, in school I was afraid of talking with other French students, which then prevents me from really getting integrated into French life.

Because I wasn’t able to meet native French speakers, I practiced hard in my school’s French language courses. Visiting new places also allows me to gradually discover the French culture. Things get better as time goes by. Now, though still not totally at ease, I’m much more confident than I was two years ago because I speak better French. I’m still a Chinese girl but am no longer intimidated by western cultures. I’m happy about that.

Zifei and her boyfriend


How do you meet people in Paris?
Personally, I don’t intentionally meet people. I make friends with my classmates and the BDE (bureau des élèves) of my school organises parties at lease twice a week. Additionally, other Chinese students coming to France from the same program stay in contact with each other. I also met my colleagues at Microsoft during an internship, where I got to know Melissa and ourparisstories. 🙂
I also participated in a trip to Rouen and Etretat organised by YEP (Youth Events in Paris) once. I think it is a good way to travel and meet people at the same time. They usually have short trips (~1-2 days usually on weekends) and provide really nice guides both in French and in English.

Where is your favorite place to eat or grab a drink here in Paris?

Most of my frequently visited restaurants are those near my home. It is hard to say which is my favorite since my preferences change over time. Whenever my boyfriend and I don’t feel like cooking, we’ll just pick one and spend some time there. They are almost all Asian restaurants: mostly Chinese, sometimes Thai or Vietnamese. Luckily, I’m living in the 13th.

During weekends, it won’t be restricted to the 13th of course. But I have a Chinese stomach so even though I have no idea which place is my favorite, one thing I can confirm is that it would be a Chinese restaurant and VERY likely somewhere that serves spicy hotpot. 🙂

Some of my frequently visited restaurants: Butte aux Thai, Carnet de Route, Fondue Le Festin (hotpot), la table du Ramen (actually this is Chinese noodles instead of Japanese Ramen), and Sanukiya.

Some bars for drinks: The Frog & British Library near Bibliothèque François Mitterand–there’s the MK2 cinema nearby!

What advice would you give to others wanting to move abroad?
Be open!
My answer to this question would be tied tightly with the challenges I described previously. This is important advice for Asian or especially Chinese students. In my school, Asian students, to be more specific, Chinese and Vietnamese (myself included actually), are more often grouped together and don’t communicate much with French students due to language difficulties or cultural differences.
At the beginning, I too was always afraid of talking with my French fellow students. I didn’t know what to talk about due to the cultural differences I mentioned before, or even how to express things due to the language barrier. Then gradually, I tried to start little by little by forming sentences to share some little interesting things with my French classmates, just like what I do with my Chinese friends! Well, it is true that it’s hard or sometimes it even hurts when you don’t understand each other and you have to repeat again and again or ask others to slow down. However, it is also these difficult occasions that make you grow up. Meeting strangers is actually not that scary if you make the first courageous step. 🙂
Spend a little bit more time learning the language, knowing the culture, and be more brave to take the first step. Everything will be really different.

How can people continue following your story?

My Instagram account is zifei.q.