Well, I should first say hello to everybody who is now reading it.
You’ve probably clicked on my post in hope to read something interesting and worthy, not just another lousy post written by some talentless “author” who just hopes to make money and believes in overnight success.
Anyway, I don’t believe in these things, may be because to succeed in my life, I had to work a lot and go through a lot, or may be just because I’m being a realist… I’m quite sure that success comes when you earn it. That’s why I’m going to do my best at writing a readable, catching and an unhackneyed blog (almost a diary) about my student life abroad and not only (I might start working in 10 months right after my graduation).
I should repeat that I’m not here ONLY for money but mostly to keep memory of my young life and to not lose my writing skills which I once had when I was a teenager. Oh Gosh, you can’t even believe how much I wanted to become a writer, write a book about life who would make my name known for centuries. I mostly wrote poems at that time, but also some small novels about a girl or two best girlfriends going on adventures full of magic and speaking beasts and something of the sort. But most importantly, every day after finishing my homework, I would confess my secrets to my personal diary (yes, the ancestor of internet-blogs). To be honest, it’s one of the best things that exists in life, or in a girl’s life (guys seem to be more passionate about other things). Writing a diary is like writing history of your own life, it’s also like creating art, and it’s interesting to read too, like, after 10 years have passed.
Yeah, life passes, it is so ephemeral… but what you write is going to stay in history forever, and you will always be able to go back to that moment and live it once again. That is why I’ve decided to write.
My name’s Nargiza, I’m originally from a country called Kazakhstan, you’ve probably heard it from a movie called “Borat”… Now please don’t imagine me with a chicken in my suitcase on a subway train… Yes, I’m from there. And yes, if I could choose where to appear in this world, I would have chosen a fancier place, and a richer family and so on, but…. the fact is, it’s where I was born and I’m honestly happy about it. Anyways, I only lived in my home country until the age of 15, until my dear mother proposed me to go study in China. People’s Republic of China, seriously? Alone, at the age of 15? But I was craving for adventures that much that I obviously said yes. I also imagined vast landscapes of green tea plantations where I ride my bike in a setting sun, that helped, too.
This is where my adult life started. There, in the country of pandas, noodles and the nice Chinese people, I learned Chinese… With success, I must say. After only 12 months of language courses I passed the HSK (Chinese TOEFL) test with the level 5 out of the 6 existing, and this is how I had the opportunity to go to a Chinese college. My mom suggested me to go to a law school, she said I had all the skills required for a good lawyer: a talent for languages, for writing and… persistence. And I said yes again 😊 After four long years of studies in the best university in Shanghai, I finally graduated from its law school and got my bachelor degree in Laws. I’ve also almost become Chinese. The local culture, people, everything got mixed up in me, I felt like the Chinese were my brothers and sisters, and I still feel this way each time I meet them.
A new law came out: Foreign students, freshly graduated from Chinese universities had no right whatsoever to work in China during the following 2 years after their graduation.
That was harsh, but I didn’t get sad, I had an idea… To continue studying law, but in a different country this time.
France was my choice, because France means “the country of law” in Chinese (and not only for this reason). To study in a public French law school, one must speak French very, very well. That wasn’t a problem at all for someone who succeeded in graduating from a Chinese law school, what possible language can be more difficult than Chinese?
I spent the next year in a Paris-based language school which specialized in training foreigners to speak and write French. I had some wonderful professors, to be honest, each time I think about them I want to go back to their classes. We studied hard, but we laughed a lot, too, telling some high-level sarcastic jokes in French. We felt like some 19th century book characters.
After two semesters in that language school, I took a French language proficiency test called TCF, and obtained the highest possible level, C2. This was far more than enough to study in a French law school. I was then accepted by the best law school in France, Paris II Pantheon-Assas, that is located right in front of the Pantheon, a tomb for the heroes of the French nation. For one year, I studied the European Union law in that law school and successfully obtained a diploma in it. And here where I am now, still determined to go further in my law studies. The only thing is that now I want to obtain a full master’s degree in international business law and arbitration. After that, my studies will hopefully be done.
So, at the moment, as you would guess, I’m on my summer vacation, enjoying Paris and preparing for the future academic year. I also go to Sainte-Geneviève’s public library almost every single day and read textbooks in a quiet, calm atmosphere. In this blog, I want to share with you my daily adventures in Paris, in France or elsewhere I go (Europe is easy to travel, everything is so close). I will post many pictures too, because I know that if you wanted to read a plain text, you’d buy yourself a book (right?).
That was quite everything about me…
Thank you again for reading this and have a wonderful, unforgettable day…
Bisous (kisses) from Paris.