我爱biangbiang面，我爱中国

文/罗纳德（Erik Ronald Omara）

我们乌干达有句俗话：“你想学到更多知识，那么，你得去图书馆！”同样，如果你想了解其他国家的文化，那么出国一定是你最好的选择！于是我决定来中国留学。

被方方正正的汉字“圈粉”

刚到中国，我就被这个美丽的国家吸引住了！中国文化有上下五千年的历史，要想深入了解它，就得从学习汉语汉字开始。因为作为来华留学生，汉语成为我们和中国人交流的桥梁。“汉字很早就在我心里扎了根，我很喜欢汉字。”说起我与汉字的缘分，那就不得不提到一个人——成龙。我可是成龙的超级“迷弟”，成龙主演的中国电影陪伴我度过了烂漫的孩童时代。在观影的过程中，我对电影里成龙书写的字产生了浓厚的兴趣，虽然我不明白字的意义，但却被方方正正的汉字“圈粉”了。从那时起，中国汉字便深深刻印在我的心底。

刚开始学汉字时我发现写汉字有点像画画，但是要从上往下，从左往右写。我觉得这个并不难，所以在写汉字作业时，我经常任意发挥，很快就能写完！结果我却受到老师严厉的批评。老师说，写汉字，就像一个人，站着要挺直，可是小罗写的字，不是胳膊短了，就是腿跨到一边去了，太不好看了！老师的话，让我无地自容！从此，我就注意观察老师写汉字，横短竖长怎么搭配，很快我就成了班里写字好的。

但我认为了解中国文化绝不仅是写好汉字。记得刚到中国那一年，我跟着中国朋友去他家过春节，走到门口，就看到门上贴着一个大大的字，我好像在哪儿见过，仔细看，觉得好像贴反了，我再歪着头一看，哦，这不就是幸福的“福”字嘛！ 一回头，对面门上也是这样反贴着。这时，朋友才告诉我，在中国过春节时，很多人家都倒贴“福”字， 就是要利用谐音“福倒了”，寓意幸福来到了！原来如此，汉字还可以这样利用，真有意思！

ERIK RONALD OMARA is from Uganda, the pearl of Africa. Currently studying a master degree of oil and gas well engineering at Xi'an Petroleum University. He graduated from Xi'an Petroleum University with a bachelor degree in petroleum engineering in July 2017. He has been in China for almost more than 6 years now. He possesses Chinese proficiency test level (HSK5). He consecutively received Chinese government scholarships, got outstanding graduate award in 2017, and became a member of the Xi'an Shiyou University Alumni Association.

In Uganda, we have a saying : “If You want to learn more, then you have to go to the library!” Similarly, if you want to learn about the cultures of other countries, then going abroad must be your best choice! So I decided to come and study in China.

Be “encircled” by the square Chinese characters

When I first arrived in China, I was attracted to this beautiful country with immense dimensional culture! Chinese culture has a long history of 5,000 years. I was told if you want to understand the Chinese culture in depth, you have to start with learning Chinese characters. Because as a foreign student here, Chinese language becomes a bridge for us to communicate with Chinese people. “Chinese characters had rooted in my heart very early. I like Chinese characters very much.” Speaking of my encounters with Chinese characters, I have to mention one person - Jackie Chan with whom that I can be associated as a super Jackie Chan’s “fan”, and always many Chinese films starring Jackie Chan accompanied me through out ally my childhood. In the process of watching movies, I got a strong interest in the Chinese characters or words written by Jackie Chan in the movies. Although I didn’t understand the meaning of those characters or words, I was already “encircled” by the square Chinese characters. Since then, Chinese characters have been deeply imprinted in my heart.

When I first started learning Chinese characters, I found that writing Chinese characters was a bit like“drawing”, but you have to write from left to right, from top to bottom. I didn’t think it was that difficult; so when I could write Chinese characters, I often took it easily carelessly and I would finish it so fast! As a result, I was severely criticized by the teacher. The teacher said that writing Chinese characters is like a person, standing straight, but the characters written by “me” often had short arms, or with legs crossed to the side, too ugly to read! The teacher’s words made me feel more encouraged! From then on, I followed, how the teacher wrote Chinese characters, how to match the strokes’ lengths and heights, and soon I became one of the best Chinese character writers in the class.

但是，后来的一件事，更让我感到汉字的神奇！一天，我跟外国朋友去饭馆吃饭，朋友指着墙上的一幅画说，咱们今天就点这种饭尝尝吧，服务员告诉我们，这是陕西很有名的特色小吃： biangbiang 面， 我一听这个名字挺有意思， 就问服务员， biangbiang 面的汉字怎么写， 服务员笑着立马用陕西话说：“面好吃，字难写！”因为我自信自己写汉字很不错，所以马上就问服务员：“真的吗？让我试试。”服务员指着墙上另一幅画说：“你看，就是这个。”我一下惊呆了， 那幅画里有很多个汉字呀！在我以前学过的汉字里，从来没见过这么多字组合到一起，才是一个汉字，真是太奇妙了！

为此，我请教了我们学校优秀的汉语老师汪老师，她告诉我，这是陕西地方独有的汉字，是民间自己创造的一个字，在汉字中笔画最多，也最复杂，在字典里也是找不到的。更有趣的是，关于怎么写这个字，还流传着几种歌谣。听了老师的介绍，让我不胜感慨：一个字，就代表一种面食，更代表了当地的一种民俗，也体现出陕西人耿直、倔强的品格。可见，中国文化多么博大精深，中国汉字多么神奇！后来就学成写“biang”字的传统绕口令！

But I think that understanding Chinese culture is not just only about writing Chinese characters. I remember that when I first arrived in China, I moved with my Chinese friend to their house for the “Spring Festival”. When I reached the door, I saw a big Chinese character hanged on the door. I seemed to have seen it on doors of many Chinese homes. I looked at it carefully and felt it was like it was reversely printed and hanged. I looked at it again, then I asked my Chinese friend: Isn't this the character “福 (Fu) ” of Chinese words “幸福” which means “happiness”. When I turned back, the opposite door was also reversely hanged. At this time, my friend told me that during the Chinese New Year“ Spring Festival”, All Chinese families reversely hang the word “Fu”, that is, they want to use the homophonic “福倒了”, which literally translate to “福” meaning “Happiness” and “倒了” meaning “arrived” and then combining the two then it all becomes “Happiness has arrived”. The I realized that Chinese Characters turns out that it can also be used in this way, which is really very interesting!

However, one thing later that made me feel the magic of Chinese characters! One day, I went to the restaurant with my foreign friend. The friend pointed at a painting on menu on the wall and said, let's order this meal for today. The waiter told us that this is a famous snack in Sha’anxi: “Biangbiang Noodles” . I, Listening to this very interesting name. Then I asked the waiter, how do you write the Chinese characters of the “Biangbiang” Noodles, the waiter smiled and immediately said in Sha’anxi dialect: “面好吃，字难写” which loosely translates “The Noodles is delicious, but the character is very difficult to write!”. At that time, I nearly felt overly confident that I could write that Chinese characters of “ Biangbiang ” Noodles very well, so I immediately asked the waiter, “Really? Let me try.” The waiter pointed at another painting on the wall and said: “You see, it is this.” when I looked at it, I was deeply surprised, that the “ Biangbiang ” Noodles character has several complex Chinese characters that I had learned in my previous Chinese characters writing class, all combined together forming it. But I had never seen such so many characters combine together to form one word. To me, that was what made me feel Chinese characters are so wonderful and magical!

There after, I asked Mrs. Wang, a good Chinese teacher in our school; she told me that this is a unique Chinese character in Sha’anxi, a word created by the people themselves, with the most strokes and the most complicated in Chinese characters; in the dictionary, normally can't find it either. What's more interesting is that there are several songs about how to write this word. After listening to the teacher's introduction, I was overwhelmed that one complex character, can represent a kind of pasta, a more representative of a local folk custom, but also reflects the straightforward and stubborn character of Sha’anxi. Finally we can see how profound Chinese culture is and how amazing Chinese characters are! Later I learned how to use the traditional tongue twister to write the “Biang” character of “Biangbiang Noodles” !

The tongue twister helps me understand faster. Though it’s not the officially recognized English version, it could loosely be interpreted as:

“一点飞上天，黄河两头弯。八字大张口，言官朝上走。你一扭，我一扭，左一长，右一长，中间夹个马大王。心字底，月字旁，拴钩搭挂麻糖。推着车车走咸阳。”

收获知识，收获友谊

2012年，我从乌干达北方的里拉市来到中国。在五年多的时间里，我先后去了上海、南京、北京、苏州、无锡、天津、秦皇岛、西安、延安等城市。身处异国他乡，我不仅体验到中国历史文化的丰厚，还感受到了中国美食文化的独特魅力。特别是中国南北地区的气候差异以及食物差异，让我直呼中国的神奇。“我非常喜欢南方的食物和北方的天气，我很喜欢吃生煎包子和肉夹馍。”

2013 年，我来到西安石油大学就读石油工程专业本科。黝黑的皮肤、直爽的性格、幽默的话语、豁达的人生态度，使我在班上人气颇高。对于活泼好学的我来说，积极参加各种比赛是我生活的一大乐趣。在老师的建议下，我开始准备参加一些校内外活动，比如我们学校的“缘聚中国，激扬青春”留学生汉语朗读比赛，也交了很多中国朋友，这样能帮我提高汉语听说读写能力，而且还可以帮我一步一步学习中国人聊天儿的习惯。

在西安石油大学期间，我不仅收获了扎实的理论基础和实操技术，还收获了珍贵的友谊。谈到自己所学的专业，我深刻体会到师长们所说的“石工专业是一个如果你不天天学习就不会有好成绩的专业”的含义。每天除了努力学习就是刻苦学习，我永远都不会忘记为了背诵一些专业名词和一些岩石的名字特性，我的好兄弟铁军总会在课余时间循循善诱地帮我渡过难关。在每次考试前，铁军都会和我一起认真复习，督促我专心看书。铁军是我的良师益友，我永远会记得他对我的帮助。

将来硕士毕业后，我希望回到家乡从事石油行业。我会把在中国生活的点点滴滴牢记在心，特别是教我书法艺术的汪老师、在专业上给我大大帮助的铁军同学。我会记住这所有的一切。尽管从事石油行业很累很苦，但我绝不后悔！一天是石油人，一辈子都是石油人！我衷心感谢我所有的中国朋友们！向在中国遇到的每位外国人说，谢谢你们的友谊！

“A little fly to the sky, the Yellow River bends at both ends. The eight-Character opens big mouths, the yán character extends inside. You twist, I twist, you cháng, I also cháng, in the middle is a big horse. At the bottom is a heart character, one lateral is the moon, the other an hook Hanging up the sugar candy. Pushing the car going to Xianyang.”

Gain knowledge, gain friendship

Talking of my journey to China. In 2012, From the Ugandan northern City of Lira, I came to China. In these almost more than six years here, I have already traveled to Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Xi’an, Yan’an and other Chinese cities. Being in a foreign country, I have not only experienced the richness of Chinese history and culture, but also felt the unique charm of Chinese food culture. In particular, the climate differences and food differences in the north and south of China make me feel the “magic of China”. “I really like the food in the South and the weather in the north. I really like to eat the Chinese fried bun and the Chinese sandwich Rou Jia Mo; ròujiāmó in pinyin (肉夹馍) ”.

In 2013, I came to Xi’an Shiyou University to study undergraduate petroleum engineering. Dark-skinned, with straightforward character, humorous words, and open-minded attitudes made me very popular in the class. For me who is lively and eager to learn, actively participating in various competitions is a great pleasure in my life. At the teacher’s suggestion, I began to prepare for some on-campus and off-campus activities, such as our school’s “Gathering China, Inspiring Youth” Chinese Language Recitation Competition for International Students, and I also made many Chinese friends, which could not only help me to improve my ability of Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing but also help me learn the habit of chatting with Chinese people step by step.

In addition to food, during the period of my stay at Xi’an Shiyou University, I have not only gained a solid theoretical foundation and professional practical skills, but also gained precious friendship. When talking about the majors I’m studying, I deeply understand what the teachers said to me at the beginning that “the petroleum engineering profession is a profession that you will not have good results if you don’t study every day”. During Learning, in addition to studying and working hard every day. In case I would forget to recall some professional terms and some rock names and characteristics, my good dearest brother would, in his spare time always help me through the difficulties. Before each exam, my dear Chinese friend, Tie Jun would carefully review with me and urge me to concentrate on reading. Tie Jun is my mentor and friend, I will always remember his help to me.

In the future, I will graduate from the university and hope return to my home country to work in the oil industry. I will keep in mind the bits and pieces of life in China, especially Teacher Wang, who taught me the art of calligraphy and Tiejun who helped me a lot in studies. I will remember all of this. Although I know oil industry is a tiresome and hard job, I will never regret at all! Once an oil industry man, and always all life will be an oil man! I sincerely thank all my Chinese friends! Say to every foreigner I met in China, thank you for your friendship!