我在大学里的生活(my life in university)

　　everyone, every high school student is looking forward to life in university. it seems that if you get into university, whichever one it is, you will surely lead a free and exciting life. i was one among this "everyone". but after i stepped onto the grounds of peking university, i began to realize that the atmosphere here is far from "throwing the damned homework behind!", on the contrary, competition is so fierce that one has to work as hard as in high school.

　　that was what my life was like as a freshman. but things began to change after a year. i felt that now i should have a different life, not the same one as in high school. life depends on one's own choices, so i decided to do something besides studying.

　　therefore, last term, i applied for a volunteer job in the museum. the capital museum was short of guides for a special exhibition in which hundreds of wonderful items from british museums would be on show. they needed english speaking guides, and as i am an english major, and i am a nearly fluent speaker. so it was not difficult for me to get "employed"… after several weeks' preparation, that is. 43 pages of scripts in both chinese and english to memorize, i went to work. you can hardly imagine my nervousness when i faced the inquiring visitors. some of them were so hard to please that i almost felt humiliated. however, you know, you cannot always be your parents' baby, you cannot always be your teachers' favorite, and you will have to serve others in the future. what i can do is to perfect myself and leave no room for reproach. i am quite proud of this job even now.

　　this term i was confronted with a dramatic change because i made a new friend. well, you may laugh, what's the big deal about a new friend? how can he or she change my life dramatically? maybe it is because she tips the balance of my life, or rather, she brings something brand new into my life. she is a german girl.

　　we met each other through a "mutual-help" program. my original intent was to improve my oral english, hers to learn chinese--both very practical and instrumental purposes. it sounds funny that i should find a non-native speaker for an english language partner. and i felt this way myself since my english speaking ability goes like a parabola: at first i could speak english more fluently, and then i found i had acquired a slight german accent. what a thing! however, as compensation, we both have made good new friends. i don't know how we managed to become so close, but i remember we didn't try too hard (she often says that we are "fated"). i sometimes think there's an unbridgeable gap between any two cultures. that may be true. but it shouldn't be a serious obstacle for two peoples to be true and good friends. we talk just as we talk with our respective native girl friends. we tell each other a lot of interesting things. so we are often shocked by the one another's experience and then burst into laughter. how cultures differ! what is common in germany cannot help but be extraordinary in china, and vice versa.

　　i also met lots of other german students through my friend. they were mostly friendly and talkative, and enthusiastic about chinese culture, which satisfies me and makes me and a little bit proud. what they ask about chinese language and culture often leaves me contemplative. never had i thought about such questions before. nor have i realized that chinese is so fantastic, and difficult to learn! we really should be happy that we were born chinese so that we don't need to learn languages from outside.

　　of course there are times when my friend and i have a difference in opinions. we perge especially with regard to life-style. generally chinese students spend more time studying, while german (or western) students spend less. the former stay in the library, while the latter are drinking and having fun in clubs. the former think that they should work hard in order to win a place in a competitive society, while the latter think that they should have a rest after some intense work and enjoy life. i am a relatively traditional chinese person, which means i favor the former attitude; but my friend is doubtlessly leading the latter life. anyway, we won't impose our own opinions on the other because we know that china and germany are two totally different societies. interestingly, one of the german boys once said, "we can expect that china will become the superpower in the world while germany will decay after some time. why? because you are studying when we are drinking!" it is just a joke and he apparently has no intent to work harder in order to save germany from this supposed "decadence".