Bulletin No. 2, 2013

16 Chinese University Bulletin No. 2, 2013 Ms. Annikki Arponen Ms. Annikki Arponen, Consul General of Finland in Hong Kong and Macau, compiler of the first Chinese- Finish dictionary, and Finish translator of the Dao De Jing , was a research student at CUHK in 1978–79. Your life has been about bringing the East to the West and the West to the East. Is the cross-fertilization of cultures something you’ve always felt strongly about? I have alway s been intere s ted in foreign languages. Maybe it was father who implanted the interest in me. He was a construction worker and did not know any foreign languages. But when I was little, he used to tune our radio set to some foreign broadcasting stations. Although none of us understood what was said on the programme, my father used to point out that by knowing foreign languages the whole world is open to you. You were a student at Peking University from 1974 to 1976 and in 1978, and you came to the Chinese University after that. Why? I had majored in French and Russian at the University of Helsinki before I went to study Chinese in Beijing on a scholarship. In 1978 I was compiling the first Chinese-Finnish dictionary at Peking University and needed tutoring and further studies in Chinese language to finish my research on vocabulary. CUHK was offering scholarships through its Asian Studies programme. I applied and got it. What was your experience at the Chinese University and in Hong Kong like? Before coming to CUHK I had visited Hong Kong once in 1975. Hong Kong impressed me already that time. I arrived at CUHK by train from Beijing. The trip took me 36 hours and I had to change trains twice, first in Guangzhou and at the border. I was the only European participant on the Asian Studies Programme. Other expats were Asian or American. The brand new library was a heaven for me. I could spend hours just reading there. But I sneaked downtown as often as I could. It was one hour’s trip by train or by bus. I made a couple of local and expat friends during that time. Teachers and fellow students were interested in hearing about my experience in China. I was the only one who had ever crossed the border. I was staying in the Graduate Student Hostel where I had a room of my own and shared a living room and pantry with local female students. They used to tell me how they were ashamed that I was speaking Mandarin better than they did. Has your experience helped to shape your subsequent career and outlook on life, and if so, how? When working and living in mainland China it was very useful to have experienced another kind of Chinese culture in Hong Kong. It helped me to understand some Chinese features and characteristics and compare them with Finnish culture. I felt it was easier to assist my fellow citizens to get into Chinese culture.