Destiny
About Me — Mulan S
Why am I the way now, but not the way others are？The decision I made when I was 17 affected my whole life
Looking back, every step of my life journey was related to one thing, the German language.
I was born in China. My parents worked in a local branch of the Academy of Sciences. They believed that a degree in science and technology would open many doors. They’ve always wanted to make me one of them, but I let them down. My grades in science were not good enough to go to college; and I was interested more in language, culture, and literature. Against their wish, I chose German as a Major at college.
Since then, my fate was connected with this language tightly.
I fell in love with a nice man when I worked as a German translator at a Chinese national company. He was an engineer in the development department. We both were supposed never to know each other. But we happened to participate in the same project that needed more German translators than expected. Coincidentally he has also learned German in university besides his major.
Therefore, he was sent to the project for an emergency. There was he, then we met.
Without learning German, I wouldn’t have worked as a German translator. I might have met another man. Magically, the German language intervened in one of my big life events. But it just started.
We might have lived in China for the rest of our life if we didn’t make a decision. This decision has changed our life completely.
One year after getting married, we went to Germany to study. My husband continued to deal with his original major- Mechanical Engineering, while I started a brand-new one, Economics.
Germany was the first foreign country I have ever been to. Everything was new to me.
When an Iranian student said “Hallo” (English: hello) to me on the floor of the student dorm on the first day I arrived, I was startled. Over time I got used to greeting other students in the building in the same way too.
The system of German universities is completely different from that of China. First, I was confused by how to select courses, then I found that by sitting in a corner far away from the podium in the auditorium, I was basically blind and deaf. To get a seat in the first row, I even fell into conflict with a German student.
But in general, I had a great time in Germany, and the week before Christmas was my favorite. The air was mixed with the smell of baked potato cakes and cinnamon. A Christmas tree decorated with lights was placed in front of the building by the facility manager of the student dorm. In the evening, we strolled through the Christmas market in the city, we drank a hot mulled wine, not only our body, but our hearts also got warm then.
After graduation, I started working as an accountant in a German company. One year later, our son was born, I gave up my job. Two years passed; my husband was offered a position as technical manager for the branch in Japan of his company. When the autumn in 2004 began, we moved from Germany to Tokyo and settled down in a small city called Kunitachi (国立）.
Once again, my life journey was changed through the German language. And just in Japan, I started writing.
The Japanese People are famous for their workaholics. They work as long as possible. My husband adapted to the custom soon. At that time, our son was about two years old. He was too young to go to a kindergarten. So, we both spent a lot of time by ourselves.
My husband bought me a bike. Whenever I had time, I put my son on it and rode everywhere. We went to the grocery store for fresh vegetables, to the train station to see the trains moving. But our favorite place was the small park in our living area.
We met many Japanese mothers and kids there. Soon our son found children his age and they played together. It was a bit difficult for me to talk to other Japanese mothers. We had to communicate with hands and feet. Fortunately, the Japanese “Kanji” is very much the same as the Chinese. We could understand each other partly by writing down characters.
Japan is the neighbor of China, but what we knew about this country originated from history books or movies. When we were living there, it felt familiar and kind, in the streets and alleys you can see Chinese-like characters as road and shop signs, or as street names. On the other hand, Japan was very west oriented in many ways.
This mixed style stimulated my enthusiasm and gave me a new point of view to observe this country. It even ignited my desire to express my discovering and thoughts about Japan.
I opened a blog in Chinese. Every day in the evening, after I finished housework and put my son into bed, I sat in front of the computer. Thoughts flashed into my mind. They were scrambling to rush out so that words just flowed to and danced on my keyboard.
As a beginner, my posts were diaries. It was about things that impressed me or aroused my curiosity or empathy, for instance, a journey to Tokyo by train, having a bowl of ramen in a tiny restaurant, the elder man who sold baked sweet potato on the side street. Out of the many things, the attitude of the Japanese people toward earthquakes has impressed me the most. They were so calm by encountering the frequently occurring earthquakes.
Later on, our son grew up and went to kindergarten. He met many new friends. One of the kids invited us to celebrate his birthday on Yokota base where his father as a polite served the American army. I and the other invited Japanese mothers got very excited by visiting the mysterious U.S. Air Force Base.
I wrote down all those stories, in this way, I connected to the outside world and engaged with other Chinese people worldwide. It was fun.
Time flew by, another two years passed. In 2007, my husband was sent to the branch of his company in China. We left Japan. My “career” as a writer came to an abrupt end.
When I was offered a position as a German teacher in the year we came back to China, I believed that German was my best of luck.
But since then, I didn’t write anymore, until 2020.
At the beginning of the year 2020, the crazy spinning world was suddenly stopped as if an unknown power pressed the pause button.
I was trapped at home and happened to involve in an intense argument on the internet. Both sides published articles for a fierce debate, which ended up being a war of words.
I left the debate, but my write journey restarted inadvertently. Last summer I came to Canada, I decided to write in English.
The magical power of German has influenced my life path in the following ways:
1. My first career as a German translator
2. My first marriage
3. Study in Germany
4. My second career as an accountant at a German company
5. My third career as a German teacher
Maybe you noticed in point 2, I mentioned my first marriage. Well, after the up and down of our relationship, I became single a few years ago.
Is the magical power still effective?
I didn’t think so, till a German guy walked into my life.
Sometimes I asked myself, how would my life be if I chose another language of study?
One thing is true, your decision lays out your life path. But which one is better? A random decision or a thoughtful one?
I think, there are parts of our life determined by destiny, but there are parts in our control too. It depends on how do you make your decisions.
Anyway, this decision I made when I was 17 has a powerful influence on my life journey.
Many thanks to @Vishnus for his great commitments and inspiring me to write this piece.
Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate it if you leave comments.
