Lan

It seems like a few of you were unsure whether Lan is a Chinese or Indonesian. Hehe... Lan is authentically Chinese. He was born in Ji Lin, but grew up in Beijing. His parents were born and grew up in Beijing. However, they met in Ji Lin. They were both sent to Ji Lin during the revolution, away and separated from both of their parents. In Ji Lin, they were to work in the field. That's how they met. They returned to Beijing after the revolution was over with little chubby Lan.

He spent all his life in Beijing until the day he came to Liverpool to study Master degree. That's how I met him :) We were class-mates.
He cannot speak Indonesian and there is a big chance that he never will. He does not handle learning language well, even English is a big effort for him to learn :) But he has to, because he is living in Liverpool AND because that's the language we use to communicate currently. I have to say it's a lot of effort and, very often, we misunderstand each other and then argue and then fight... but it's a process we have to go through, I suppose.

I am learning Chinese because our future plan includes living in Beijing when we finish our studies. Otherwise, I might never learn. On top of that, I'd love to be able to communicate with his parents independently (not having Lan to translate back and forward). So, I am obliged to learn :) So, I am taking lots of effort to learn one of the most difficult languages in the world.

I hope that clears things up. It's not my first time to meet people who think Lan is Indonesian (especially when we go home to Bali). And it's not his first time to meet people who think I am Chinese EVERYWHERE! Hehehe...