【推荐2】As a child, Darrin, who was born and raised in Cameroon, was fascinated by Chinese martial arts. He dreamed about learning the discipline and visiting China one day.

In 2016, Darrin, who was a university student majoring in material science in Cameroon, started to learn Chinese at the Confucius Institute(孔子学院). Aside from martial arts, he got to know about the country through photos and videos. After a year of learning Chinese, Darin arrived in Kaifeng, as a language student at Henan University.

“When I saw the kung fu masters practice, it was like a dream come true. I was told that martial arts is more than the powerful movements. Like self-defense, it is about a way of life, which is full of Chinese philosophy,” says Darrin.

Since 2017, Darrin has entered many martial arts competitions, especially for tai chi, and won a number of awards. He says that tai chi helps him become strong and healthy, stay in good shape and develop excellent concentration, “Tai chi helps me gain my balance, physically and mentally,” says. “It changed me.”

Besides tai chi, Darrin also learned to perform Yuju Opera, which is known for its melodic singing, amazing martial arts movements and stories. In 2017, Darrin watched a Yuju Opera performance, Hua Mulan, for the first time after arriving in Kaifeng. “The story is full of drama. The singing of the performers and the live band were full of energy,” recalls Darrin, who later studied Yuju Opera with artist Li Shujian, “Since Yuju Opera is performed in the Henan dialect, he had to learn the dialect first. He learned and practiced very hard,” says Li.

In 2019, Dari performed Yuju Opera on the popular TV show, Li Yuan Chun, produced and broadcast by Henan TV. Under his Chinese name, Liu Banjing, Darrin won second place in one of the TV shows. Darrin notes that Kaifeng was formerly known as Bianjing in ancient China.

“I have made lots of rinds here and I am considering living and working in China after graduation,” says Darrin.

【推荐3】That summer, I went to a small and rather remote village of Manitoba’s as a substitute for a sick teacher. It was a very poor village with a few humble wooden houses. There was nothing but the spruce around me. Could I leave a deep impression on the children in just a month? Is a month really worth the effort? I was really doubtful about these two questions.

Maybe the children had the same ideas, because I had never seen so depressing, sad, and even bitter facial expressions. I had little experience in teaching, and my age was like that of those children.

Most of them had thin eyes, dark skin, and shiny black hair, which indicated they were mixed blood children of French and Indian.

At nine o’ clock, the classroom was already as hot as a stove. I didn’t know where I should start. Then I called from a list of names, expecting the response. They stood up, and gave me the reply. However, when Yolanda was called, there was no response …Still no response …About 15 seconds later, a voice came from the back of the classroom with the buzzing of flies. “She’s dead. She died last night.”

The tone of the child’ s voice was astonishing but plain, and perhaps nothing could be more painful than to narrate in that tone. “Ah!” I cried out, not knowing what to say. The children and I looked at each other for a long time and we were silent. I understood that what I had seen from the children’s eyes and faces, which I had thought was the expression of indifference, turned out to be a great pain.

“Since Yolanda was your classmate, would you like to see her at four o’ clock after school?” There was a smile on the children’s serious little faces. It was a smile, though formal and sad.

After four o'clock, I saw that many children were waiting for me at the school gate. There were more than 20 children in total. Some of them walked in front to guide me. The others held me tightly, which almost made me unable to walk. Five or six younger children took my hand and gently led me forward, just like leading a blind guy. I unconsciously remembered those names, and they are still fresh in my memory, including Yolanda.