The attack of the academic failure: Chinese young man marries beautiful 18 year-old Ukrainian girl.
12 years ago, Mei Aicai only scored 320 points on the Gaokao examination
[out of 750 points]. With this, he thought his academic career was
over, and suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do. At that
point, a friend dragged him along to go study abroad in Ukraine, and
even though he thought Ukraine was in Africa at the time and couldn’t
speak a single word of the language there, Mei Aicai still boarded the
flight to this strange new country, never imagining that once he went,
he would be there for 12 years…
Anxiety – he only knew one Russian phrase before leaving the country [going abroad]
For Mei Aicai, Ukraine was an unknown country, and initially thought this country was in Africa.
”Before I left the country, I went
to Shijiazhuang and learned Russian for a month, but ultimately only
learned “hello, I want water”. When I got on the plane, I was really
nervous, not knowing what would be waiting for me in an unknown
country,” Mei Aicai said.
Upon arriving in Ukraine, Mei
Aicai took a preparatory course at the local university, and because he
didn’t speak the language, he made a mockery of himself. “When I first
arrived, I saw black bread in the store. I thought it was made with
chocolate and bought a whole bunch, but when I took a bite, it was both
bitter and hard, like a rock. In the end, I had to throw it all away,”
Mei Aicai said.
Another time, Mei Aicai went to the
hair salon for a haircut and had a lot of trouble describing the
hairstyle he wanted to the barber. Eventually, he resorted to buying a
pair of scissors and used a mirror to cut his own hair. Russian words
are very long, and its grammar is even more complex, with many
Ukrainians themselves not even fully understanding it. Mei Aicai
couldn’t understand anything during class, as the professor had a deep
accent, and to him it all sounded like someone selling lamb skewers.
A lonely life – tomatoes scrambled with egg was a luxury for him
To outsiders, Mei Aicai must have
come from a rich household to be able to go abroad, but in reality his
parents were average working class people. He chose to go to Ukraine
because the cost of a university education was similar to China, and
moreover visas were also relatively easy to obtain.
Although his family was not
wealthy, Mei Aicai didn’t grow up in hardship either, but when he
arrived in Ukraine, the first problem he had to solve was how to feed
himself. During the winter in Ukraine, vegetables are very expensive,
the price tags all listed prices in kilograms, and no matter what Mei
Aicai looked at, he felt he couldn’t afford anything.
“Only after going out in the world
did I slowly understand my parents’ hardships. For the first two years,
the things I ate the most were potatoes and cabbage, as these two
things are the cheapest in Ukraine. Only during Chinese New Year was I
willing to buy two tomatoes. At the time, I thought tomato scrambled
with egg was a luxurious meal.”
Although it was hard, Mei Aicai
quickly became independent, and as someone who had never cooked before
at home, he gradually learned how to even cook a few specialties. Mei
Aicai said: “The first year abroad, what I felt most was loneliness and
helplessness, and everyday I wanted to go [back] home. At that time, I
did not have a phone or a computer, so I eagerly waited for the weekends
when I could go to the internet cafe to chat with my family”.
Adjusting – playing ping pong opened a new world for him
After graduating from his 1 year
preparatory course, Mei Aicai stupidly chose to attend the Karkov
Academy of Fine Arts, and he became the only student in the school who
didn’t know how to draw.
During the first semester at the
academy, he spent most of his time playing video games and skipping
class. Mei Aicai felt he didn’t have a goal in life, and wanted to make a
change. So, everyday he went to the gymnasium to play ping pong and, as
a result, he made many Ukrainian friends, and his Russian also
gradually improved.
Most importantly, Mei Aicai also
represented the academy and won 3rd place in the Karkov University
Student Competition, a first in the academy’s 100 year-old history.
After winning the prize, Mei Aicai’s life entered a new era. An athletic
teacher regarded him greatly, placed his picture in the school halls,
and more and more Ukrainian students and teachers came to him to play
ping pong.
Though ping pong, Mei Aicai even
found a girlfriend, and began to work hard at his major under her
encouragement. Over the next few years, Mei Aicai did well in his core
studies, his Russian greatly improved, and he consistently aced his
athletics.
Happiness – in both love and career
On the Autohome BBS, Mei Aicai’s
threads about his life in Ukraine have reached hundreds of thousands,
even millions of views. People all relished in discussing his beautiful
wife, and it was through his wife’s support that Mei Aicai started his
own business.
When Ukrainian women get married,
they take their husband’s name. Mei Aicai’s wife’s name is Mei Dasha and
she is still attending high school. According to Ukrainian law, women
can marry at the age of 17.
”She may be young but her views are
very mature. At school, she is a good student with excellent grades and
at home, she is a good wife, keeping our home neat and tidy, doing the
laundry and cooking.” Talking about his wife, Mei Aicai has nothing but
praise for her.
A happy home life left Mei Aicai
with less to worry about, so he had more time to devote to his business.
He quit his previous job as an animator and chose to start his own
business. Currently, he is running a company engaged in the
import/export of equipment and foodstuffs.
According to him, doing business in
Ukraine requires little entertainment and socializing, where even
taking a client out is unnecessary, so even now Mei Aicai does not drink
or smoke, but Ukrainians have high standards when it comes to quality
of work.
Because he is in the import/export
business, Mei Aicai spends a lot of time each day communicating with
people in China, but luckily he can stay at home and simply turn on his
computer to work.
”Some people think I am very
successful, but I feel my greatest happiness comes from my family. I
come home everyday on time to eat with my wife, and afterward we go for a
walk. I feel this kind of life is very happy, and next year we are
planning to have our first baby,” Mei Aicai said.
Note: The above article was based on posts he made on a forum over the span of several years and does not reflect up-to-date information.
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