In October 2018, Ndiky and Onanga came to Dongyang for the first time. They were accepted into a four-year program at Zhejiang Guangsha Vocational and Technicial University of Construction (GSCACT). During their first year, they took preparatory Chinese language classes, focusing on both the language and culture.

2018年10月，杜志远和童小东第一次来到东阳，他们将在浙江广厦建设职业技术大学学习4年。第1年是汉语预科，主要学习汉语和中国文化。

"The school arranged language partners to guide us around campus, help us adapt to the new environment and embark on our new college life," said Ndiky, whose language partner, Du Weiwei, is from Shanghai and graduated last year.

“学校特地给我们安排了‘语伴’，带我们熟悉校园环境，尽快融入这里，开始全新的学习生活。” 杜志远说，他的“语伴”杜伟伟是上海人，去年已毕业。 

Du Weiwei gave Ndiky his Chinese name - 杜志远 (Du Zhiyuan, where "Du" is the family name, "Zhiyuan" means "aim far and high").

杜志远这个中文名字就是杜伟伟取的。

The story of Onanga's Chinese name is even funnier. "My language partner's name is Tong Mengfan. Xiaodong (小东, "Little East") was the name his mother wanted to give him, but his father chose Mengfan instead. So Mengfan decided to give me the name Xiaodong," Onanga explained.

童小东这个中文名字的来历更有意思。“我的‘语伴’叫童孟帆。‘小东’本来是他妈给他取的名字，但他爸最终选了‘孟帆’这个名字。现在，童孟帆就把‘小东’这个名字给了我。”

"We often celebrate the holidays not only of our own country, but also of China." Chinese festivals are rich in traditional customs, and teachers at GSCACT often celebrate together with students.

“我们经常过节，不仅过自己国家的节日，也过中国节。” 特别是中国的传统节日，有各种习俗。老师会带他们一起体验，童小东觉得很新奇，也很好玩。

These festivals were not celebrated in vain; "I can now make dumplings, tangyuan, and zongzi, and I have tried making mooncakes (yuebing)," said Onanga. During this process, he also learned a bit more about traditional Chinese culture.

这么多节日可不是白过的，他自豪地说：“我现在会包饺子、包汤圆、包粽子，还试过做月饼。” 在这个过程中，他对中国传统文化也多了几分了解。

On the recommendation of their teacher, the two men also read Journey to the Westand fell in love with it. Onanga said his favorite is the Monkey King, "I think he is so powerful and brave." Ndiky said he prefers Zhu Bajie and talked about him enthusiastically.

在老师的推荐下，他们还爱上了《西游记》。童小东最喜欢孙悟空，“我觉得他特别厉害，又很勇敢。” 杜志远则喜欢憨憨的猪八戒，一说起猪八戒就乐不可支。

Before coming to China, Onanga and Ndiky already knew that China was home to many beautiful places, so in addition to studying, they also enjoy traveling and local customs.

在来中国之前，他们就知道中国有很多美丽的地方。现在，除了学习，他们也会出去逛逛，领略各地的风土人情。

The two are also very interested in martial arts, being lovers of the film series IP Manand fans of Jackie Chan. They also admire a number of historical and contemporary Chinese figures, such as Confucius and Jack Ma.

他们对中国武术非常感兴趣，看过电影《叶问》，喜欢功夫巨星成龙。此外，他们也佩服孔子、马云这些不同领域的名人。

Woodcarving major/专业学习

The main reason Ndiky and Onanga came to GSCACT is to learn about woodcarving.

杜志远和童小东来到浙江广厦建设职业技术大学，主要就是为了学习木雕艺术。

In 2018, the President of the Republic of Congo personally signed an agreement on an international student project, sending 21 students to study woodcarving in China. 

2018年，刚果（布）总统亲自签署该留学生项目，派出21名学生组成第一批木雕艺术专业学习团。

Not long after starting the program, teachers brought the students to Dongyang Woodcarving Town and the Chinese Woodcarving Museum. During these visits, students learned to appreciate the expertise of local artists and studied the history and development of woodcarving in Dongyang.

入学不久，老师带着他们参观了东阳木雕小镇、中国木雕博物馆，欣赏大师的作品，了解东阳乃至中国木雕行业的发展。

The room in which they learned about woodcarving is known as "Lu Ban's Workshop."The students were already familiar with Lu Ban, a Chinese structural engineer, inventor, and carpenter during the Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-256 BC), because they had heard of the Burr Puzzle (鲁班锁, or Lu Ban's Lock), and they were able to recreate it with the help of their teachers.

他们学木雕的教室叫“鲁班工坊”。说起鲁班，他们并不陌生，他们玩过鲁班锁，并在老师的指导下做过鲁班锁，感觉真的很神奇。

Ndiky and Onanga are not only attending classes, but also thinking about their future plans. After graduating, Ndiky would like to return home and be involved in furniture, as the Congo boasts an abundance of lumber resources. He hopes he will be able to make use of the woodcarving techniques he is learning in Dongyang.

在学习专业课程的同时，杜志远和童小东也在考虑以后要做什么工作，走什么样的路。杜志远说，他毕业回国后，可以从事家具行业，因为他们国家木材品种和资源很丰富，他在东阳学到的木雕技术可以派上用场。

"It doesn't really matter where we go after this. Dongyang will always be with us." For both Ndiky and Onanga, studying and living in Dongyang has been an invaluable experience and has created new opportunities for their futures.

“不管以后去哪里，我们都不会忘记东阳。” 对杜志远和童小东来说，在东阳的学习经历很宝贵，也为他们的人生提供了一个新方向。

(By Yao Yanxia, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Kendra Fiddler)

本文为节选