It was early February and I had practiced packing my suitcase and decided exactly what to take and what to leave. I had an excel document outlining what I had spent my money on, I had my passport and visa ready to go and it was even packed in my bumbag with a bit of yuan. I had photocopied and scanned all my documents to USB, left an emergency folder of information for my parents and I was just about to leave my internship in two weeks.
But I had been watching closely on the statistics around a thing they called corona virus and I was becoming more and more anxious. I wanted someone to tell me not to go so that it wasn’t my decision to ruin a year’s worth of planning, a years plan and a scholarship. Mum and Dad still wouldn’t tell me what to do, then one morning I got into work and jumped on to look at the stats only to see that a 28 year old with no pre-existing medical conditions known of had died. As a 22 year old with a medical condition, that scared the shit out of me. That is when I decided to cancel my trip but the issue was, the Australian Government did not update their travel advice yet.
I began contacting my airline, the hotels I booked and my travel insurance for refunds. Thankfully, I got just about all my money back. I emailed my university and thankfully I could defer my placement to September. I told my boss that I cancelled my plans and thankfully she really liked my work so my contract got extended for a couple more months.
Between then and now little did I know that this virus would spread to all the corners of the world and reek havoc, even in Australia. So now its May and I am now unemployed but lucky for me I am very good at saving money and I have parents that are willing to let me live with them for three months.
I was feeling very lost for a little while there but now I have re-grouped and instead of dwelling on the fact that my plans were on hold I started thinking about what achievements I could make between now and then instead of wasting my time.
I set a few goals for myself:
- Study my butt off and get back into the swing of writing Chinese
- Go get my HSK 3 and achieve a score above 95% (something I should have done a while ago)
- Study for the HSK 4 and my goal that I have set right now without knowing where my level is really at is to achieve 85% plus so hopefully I will grab a High Distinction.
- Revise the books I completed three years ago while in Shanghai as I assume they will be using the same books. I will need to really concentrate on all the grammar points they cover off.
(my English grammar is not spectacular either!) - I want to do all of this to guarantee that I will be placed in an intermediate level class when I take the placement tests in SH.
- Complete one of my marketing classes between June and September. Fingers crossed exams don’t interfere with flights.
- Get a part-time internship at one of the wineries that export to China nearby so that I can still have professional experience while studying. (I have landed an interview at one of them!)
This is how my brain needs to deal with uncertainty (post-melt-down because my brain thinks that is necessary), I make lists. Lots of them! I need an entire new plan and I need to set new goals because otherwise I would feel totally lost and like I am achieving nothing. I think that this will actually benefit me in the long run because now I have time to study up and make sure I can make the most of being in China. If my goals are achieved, I will finish my Chinese proficiency level at the highest level of intermediate going onto advance. After that, who knows what will happen after July 2021!
I might stay in China even longer for study or work! I haven’t thought that far ahead which can be a little nerve wracking at times for me but the investment I am making for my education should stand out on a resume right? Surely, I can land a job in marketing or sustainability following my China en-devours. I dare say the world is going to change drastically in the next ten years towards a more sustainable future as I form the foundations of my professional career. I’m excited!
Travel Adventures & Cultural Encounters 