In 2016, when I was a student of the English career, around the month of June, the University chose me to go to a seminar that was going to take place in the People’s Republic of China. They chose me because I had good grades in all the subjects. When they informed me of the trip, I almost said no but God enlightened my mind and God gave me courage and so I agreed to go. I say that God gave me courage because I had never traveled by plane before. We depart on a KLM flight from Tocumen airport in the capital city of Panama to Chipol airport in Amsterdam, Holland. The flight to Amsterdam represented around twelve hours, we were at the airport in Amsterdam for three hours, from there we changed planes, and they put us on an Air China plane. When we left Amsterdam to fly to China, it was also a flight of about twelve hours.

It was about 2 p.m. in the afternoon when the plane we were on arrived at the Beijing International Airport. A guide girl named Lidia was waiting for us at the airport. From there we boarded a small bus that took us to the outer parts of the city of Beijing. The guide Lidia took us to a place called MOFCOM, which means Ministry of Finance and Commerce. In the MOFCOM area there are several hotels that host seminarians from other countries, mostly from Africa. There is also a building that is the one they use to give the seminars. During every month of the year, seminary groups arrive from different countries from the five continents of the world. The topics taught there are mostly on trade and the objective is also to publicize the advantages that other countries can have to do business with the People’s Republic of China.

MOFCOM-Beijing

During the time that I was there, I stayed in one of the hotels in the area, with all expenses paid, which included plane, hotel, food. I was there for three weeks and it was an extraordinary experience, because I was able to interact with other people, other customs, other traditions and another culture very different from ours.

I spent a week in Beijing, participating in the seminars, the seminars were held in the morning, in the afternoon we visited different tourist places. During that week we went to visit the forbidden city, the next day we went to visit the Great Wall of China, where I felt very privileged to have the opportunity to get to know such an important place for the Chinese.

Great Wall of China

In the following week we traveled to the other province of China called Xian, on a three hours flight from Beijing, being in Xian, the Minister of Commerce of China invited us to a lunch and at the same time to talk about some important issues, we also visited Xian University of Technology. Three days later we flew to another province of China called Chongqing, being there we visited among other important places, the Chongqing Craft Market. Chongqing is where the largest of China’s automobile industry is located.

At the Craft Market – Chongqing, China

I was in Chongqing for four days, before returning to Beijing and preparing for the trip back to Panama. The day before the trip to Panama, there was the act of farewell and delivery of certificates. In total there were sixty hours of flight that I did in the whole trip. For me it was an unforgettable experience, I learned many positive and negative things, as it happens in all other countries. I will always be grateful to my friends who helped me raise some money for the trip since I had no money. I remember that I had to pay a hundred dollars for the passport and I did not have the money and it was two days before the trip and it was where one of my teachers approached me and said, Armando do not worry, I am going to give you the One hundred dollars to pay for the passport, it was something unusual. While there in China, one day I felt fear because I reacted in that I was far from my family, for some moment I thought I would not be able to return back to my country.

But thank God, I was able to go and come back safely to my country.

I thank God for that.