Vera Lo Coco is 25, comes from Nuoro and spent six months in Tianjin on the Dragon programme. She came home with an HSK4 certificate, one more family and the wish to walk alongside those leaving now: she is one of the Nice Ambassadors.
Who Vera is
“I’m Vera, I’m 25 and last year I completed a master’s degree in interpreting and translation in English, Spanish and Chinese. Languages have always been my passion, because they let me connect with people from all over the world and discover cultures in a more authentic way. I love travelling and new experiences, and I chose this adventure in China to consolidate my Chinese and find out whether this country was for me.”
Why she left
“I wanted to improve my Chinese and live an authentic experience.” Her expectations were two: “to grow my language skills a lot, and to understand whether China was a place for me”.
Her experience in China
In China I lived with a lovely family who made me feel part of it from day one. Day after day I learned to communicate with them, I adapted to their rhythms and made their habits my own. It was an enriching experience, full of ups and downs, and I do not regret a single second of it.
Living with the host family was “not always easy, but culturally fascinating”. The memory she holds dearest is a tiny one that says everything: “when my host family bought packs of pasta and a jar of pesto for me and asked me to cook for everyone”.
The best moment and the hardest part
The best moment: “passing the HSK4 Chinese certification was one of the most rewarding things”. The hardest part: “at first the language barrier looked like an insurmountable wall, but with stubbornness and a real wish to fit in I got past it”.
How it changed her
“It certainly made me more adaptable, and it showed me I can handle even the hardest situations.”
Why she would recommend Nice Exchange: “leaving with an organisation behind you is a guarantee. The weekly follow-up calls are a gem of this programme. On top of the moderate cost and the services included, of course.”
Quick questions
🍜 Favourite Chinese dish
饺子 🥟
🏙️ The place that stayed with her
Xi’an
🎯 The most important thing she brings home
A new family
😊 One word for the experience
Enlightening ✨
🈶 A Chinese word
缘分
❤️ Best memory
The trip to Shanghai with another exchange student
缘分 means “a bond that was meant to be”: “my host dad often used it to describe my arrival in their home. Meeting and becoming a family was in our destiny.”
How it went, in her words
Vera is a Nice Ambassador
“Being an Ambassador means being the point of reference that someone living such an intense experience often needs.” What she wants to pass on is “the will to go beyond your own limits and to put yourself out there, always”.
She can help you with: preparing to leave, life with the host family, studying Chinese, daily life, Chinese culture, cultural adaptation and dealing with the organisation.
The advice she always gives: “choose the family carefully, don’t settle after the first interview just because you want to leave as soon as possible. The family is what makes the difference, and it matters that you click.”
Vera is a Nice Ambassador: if you apply with her personal code you get 5% off the programme fee.
Her codeVERA10
