第一章：初中国了

The first time Marco saw the Chinese characters for 'Welcome to Beijing,' the plane had just landed.

He sat by the window, watching the runway outside, the distant lights, and the slowly moving cars, his heart beating fast. He had studied Chinese for two years in Italy and watched many videos about China. But now, he had really arrived in China.

He opened his phone and sent a message to his mother: 'I've arrived.' After thinking, he sent it again in Chinese: 'I have arrived in China!' After sending it, he looked at it for a long time, feeling that these five characters were especially important.

When he walked out of the airport, Marco immediately saw the teacher who was there to pick him up. The teacher held a piece of paper with his name on it: Marco Rossi.

'Marco?' the teacher asked. 'It's me. Hello, teacher.' Marco said immediately. The teacher smiled. 'Hello, my surname is Chen. You can call me Teacher Chen from now on. Welcome to China.' Marco understood this sentence. He breathed a sigh of relief. The first Chinese exchange was very successful.

But the success lasted only three seconds. Teacher Chen turned to the driver and said a long stream of words. Marco only understood 'school,' 'dormitory,' and 'today.' The driver also said a long string of words and even laughed twice. Marco looked at them, keeping a polite smile on his face, but his heart began to tighten. He had studied Chinese. But they spoke too fast.

Teacher Chen turned back and asked him, 'Are you tired? Would you like some water?' The teacher spoke very slowly, and this time he understood again. 'I'm not tired, thank you, teacher,' Marco said. Actually, he was a little tired and a little thirsty. But he wanted to act like someone who could live on his own.

The car drove onto the airport highway. The road outside was wide, with many cars. Marco saw rows of tall buildings, Chinese advertisements by the road, and many signs with characters he half recognized and half didn't.

'Beijing is very big, right?' Teacher Chen asked. 'Very big,' Marco said. 'Much bigger than my city.' 'Have you been to China before?' 'No. This is the first time.' 'Your Chinese is very good.' Hearing the teacher's praise, Marco was excited; he got the teacher's affirmation.

Then the teacher said in English, 'Our school is in the west, a bit far from the airport. Today, first go to the dormitory to rest, and prepare your daily necessities. Tomorrow morning, go to the classroom to meet your classmates.' 'Okay, teacher.' Marco heard 'meet classmates tomorrow,' and his heart became happy. He was going to meet his Chinese classmates.

An hour later, the car stopped at the school gate. There was a security booth at the gate, with a security uncle sitting inside. Teacher Chen asked Marco to take out his passport. 'Passport?' Marco repeated. 'Yes, passport.

You need to register to enter the school.' Teacher Chen pointed to the notebook on the security booth's table. 'Registration means writing down your name, ID number, and the time you came to the school. This way, the school knows who has entered.' Teacher Chen switched fluently between Chinese and English, as if he knew in advance what Marco wouldn't understand.

Marco nodded. He handed over his passport. The security uncle looked at him, then at the passport, and said with a smile, 'From Italy?' He understood this sentence. 'Yes, I'm Italian,' Marco said. The security uncle said, 'Your Chinese is not bad.' Marco became happy again. 'Thank you! A little.' The security uncle returned his passport and pointed inside the school. 'Go on in. Welcome, welcome.'

The school was bigger than Marco had imagined. After entering the gate, there was a very wide road. Trees lined both sides, and a few students in school uniforms rode by on bicycles. They chatted while riding. Marco tried hard to listen to their Chinese, but he couldn't catch a single complete sentence.

Teacher Chen led him to a building. 'This is the dormitory building,' Teacher Chen said. 'You'll live here. Two people per room. Your roommate's name is Lin Hao; he'll be back tonight.'

'Roommate.' Marco repeated the word in his mind. He had learned 'friend' and 'classmate,' but the word 'roommate' was still new to him. Teacher Chen explained, 'A roommate is someone who lives in the same dormitory room. You'll live together, and you can help each other if there are problems.' Marco nodded.

He hoped Lin Hao was easy to get along with. More importantly, he hoped Lin Hao didn't speak too fast.

He stood at the dormitory entrance, seeing a table inside the glass door and an aunt who was looking at her phone. Teacher Chen said, 'Come on, let's go in first.' Marco pulled his suitcase and took a deep breath. From now on, he had not only arrived in China. He was going to live here.