|
Mustafa Efe Aydin (right), who works as a part-time volunteer at the Izmir Case Pavilion, poses for a photo with a visitor. Provided to China Daily |
A child's fluent Chinese has won over many visitors to the Izmir Case Pavilion, Li Xinzhu reports.
Expo 2010 Shanghai has brought a lot amazing surprises. Take the tale of a nine-year-old Turkish boy, who, in addition to his mother tongue and a little English, is able to speak Chinese just like a native.
"I have lived in China for six years," said the boy, Mustafa Efe Aydin, who moved to Beijing with his parents from Izmir, Turkey in 2004. His family moved to Shanghai a year ago after he had completed his second year of primary school.
"We moved for the Expo," said Efe, whose parents are working at the Expo Garden. Efe's father is the vice-director of Izmir Case Pavilion, while his mother works as a fortune teller at the Turkey Pavilion.
"I used to go to my mum's work place to help her with translation," said Efe, with a proud smile, "They (the visitors) love me and I soon became famous."
Efe is a kind of boy who loves to get along with people. As well as his role as a temporary interpreter, he sometimes stamps visitors' Expo passports, as well as acting as a guide to visitors at the Izmir Case Pavilion.
"I love my city, and I hope more people have better understanding of Izmir after visiting our pavilion," Efe said, who is effuse when talking about his hometown.
Besides the regular part-time work in the pavilion, he also spends lots of time walking around the Expo Garden, "I have visited more than 40 pavilions so far," Efe said. "And I love the Netherlands Pavilion the best because it was the first one I went to."
Just like any Chinese kid his age, Efe likes to watch Xi Yangyang and Hui Tailang (Jolly Sheep and Big Big Wolf), a popular television cartoon series, and to play Plants vs Zombies, the current hottest computer game - after he finishes his homework, of course.
He says that his family will be moving back to Turkey in two years, after he finishes primary school. "I have several best friends in Beijing and Shanghai, I think I will miss them so much after I leave," he said.
However, Efe also said he will definitely come back to China during the summer vacation "in order to keep practicing my Chinese and to meet my friends".
(China Daily 09/17/2010)
