“Hello, how are you?” Yiyi greeted the waitress in English, and was ushered into the Children’s Buffet zone, where snacks and sweets, and a photo taken with the waitress made her very happy.

The waitress is Korema, a 19-year-old Nepali girl studying at Zhejiang Business College in Hangzhou, who was doing her intern program in a hotel restaurant in Hangzhou.

Korema is one of many young students from overseas studying at Zhejiang Business College. The dynamic city life driven and colored by more and more international elements in Hangzhou has drawn in a large number of foreign students who have found a lifestyle of their own in a city they call home.

Throughout my chat with Korema, the big-eyed, long-haired girl in casual wear tried her best to speak Chinese, with a shy smile on her rosy cheeks. “It is a clean city,” the girl from Katmandu, the capital city of Nepal, summarized her “Hangzhou impressions”. Her first year in Hangzhou was a joyful experience of making new friends, going to hotpot restaurants, enjoying Sichuan midnight snacks, and exploring the city’s iconic sights.

“The spicy food such as Sichuan ma la tang (spicy hotpot) reminds me of the food culture back in Nepal, and I have made a lot of friends in ma la tang eateries.”

“Life in Hangzhou is pretty easy for me. I can sort out things by using English at supermarkets and even ma la tang restaurants, and the process of payment takes only a click on the phone to finish, thanks to the magic of Alipay. So far, I haven’t got a chance to use the RMB banknotes I got ready before I came to China.”

The colorful Chinese culture also fascinates the girl, who released her passion in traditional Chinese culture at the 2019 Eastern China Taiji Competition held in Jiande, a satellite city about 100 kilometers southwest of Hangzhou, in November of 2019 and won a second prize.

Korema is one of the students taking part in a bi-lingual program specially designed by the China-Nepal Business Department of Zhejiang Business College for Nepali applicants. Unveiled in October of 2017, the new program has drawn a total of 214 students from Nepal, the most outstanding of which joined star-rated hotels in Hangzhou for their internship.

“At the beginning it was hurry-scurry with everything, but things turned out smooth. What I need to do is to keep an eye on those who may need help, and most of those who do would try communicating in English, which makes my routines a lot easier. And I always have to get ready for the more curious who would ask where I am from and how old I am.”

“My colleagues call me the mascot of the hotel, because taking photos with guests seems to have become part of my daily routines,” the girl shared jokingly.

“They say you can qualify for any hotel job in anywhere in the world if you can survive the hotel business in China,” the girl added, with a confident smile. For now, she will soon have to make decisions about plans after her Hangzhou program. “It is highly likely that I will stay with Hangzhou to further my study, but maybe I will consider studying in the UK so that I can spend more time with my mother and brothers.”

Li Zhe and Madan Pokhrel, both from Nepal and doing their internship as doormen at hotels in Hangzhou, remind one of the doorman in The Grand Budapest Hotel, a movie that recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars.

“The role of the doorman of a hotel is very important because he is the image of the hotel’s service,” said Li Zhe, whose self-taught Chinese has brought him a lot of thumbs-up from colleagues and guests.

Lisa, a Nepali girl who works in the food and beverage department of the same hotel, recently got a thank-you letter from a guest for his lost-and-found mobile phone.

One of the students joining the international programs of the business college is 27-year-old Xie Yucheng, whose family moved to Iceland from their hometown in Nanxun, Huzhou, when he was ten. His plan is to introduce the Chinese food culture and culinary skills to Icelanders after he finishes his dim sum study in Hangzhou.

According to Li Xin, deputy dean of the Tourism and Culinary Department of the school, Hangzhou has become a hot destination for many overseas Chinese with entrepreneurial ambitions in Chinese restaurant business.

        他们中文说得不错，支付宝和外卖App用得很溜。这群外国学生在这里找到了属于自己的生活方式，并把杭州当作了他们的第二故乡。

        “Hello，how are you？”杭州小朋友依依和酒店里的一位外国小姐姐打了招呼，在她的指引下去儿童自助取餐区拿小点心、软糖，还一起合影拍了照。

        这位外国小姐姐是酒店的服务生，名叫可瑞玛，今年19岁，来自尼泊尔，目前在杭州求学，在酒店做餐饮服务，是她实践课程的一部分。

        随着杭州日新月异的快速发展步伐，国际化的杭州不仅吸引了国内外的游客，还有无数外籍学生。他们中文说得不错，支付宝和外卖APP用得很溜。这群学生在这里找到了属于自己的生活方式，并把杭州当作了他们的第二故乡。

尼泊尔姑娘与麻辣烫

        跟可瑞玛见面时，她穿着白色的运动卫衣，黑色的运动裤，长长的及腰卷发，大眼睛深眼窝，说起中文来，面带羞涩，又时不时露出腼腆而甜美的微笑。

        可瑞玛已经在杭州待了近一年时间，她来自尼泊尔的首都加德满都。她对杭州的第一印象是干净。她喜欢和杭州的朋友们一起去吃火锅、海鲜和麻辣烫，得空便打打羽毛球，去过西湖、湘湖和城市阳台。

        可瑞玛喜欢吃麻辣烫，因为酸辣的口感比较重，更像他们尼泊尔的当地菜。在麻辣烫店里，她也认识了不少有趣的新朋友。

        可瑞玛常跟在尼泊尔的朋友提起，在杭州生活还是挺方便的。她住所周围的小超市、麻辣烫小店，老板都会用英文告诉她是多少钱，“fifteen，twenty”，然后她也熟练地像个当地人一样，拿起手机点开支付宝“扫一扫”付钱，就连来中国前兑换的人民币都没什么机会用。

        可瑞玛来自浙江商业职业技术学院的中尼商学院。浙江商业职业技术学院旅游烹饪学院副院长李鑫介绍，中尼商学院成立于2017年10月，实行的是中文和英文双语化教学，这也是“一带一路”倡议下，中国和沿线国家友好合作的缩影。截至目前，学院已经招收了214名尼泊尔学生。

        说到实践课程，可瑞玛说除了一开始比较手忙脚乱外，后面都比较顺畅，来找她帮忙的客人一般都会说几句英语，提出几个简单的需求外，还会带着好奇心关心她来自哪里、今年几岁等。她遭遇最多的是求合影，因此同事们称她为酒店里的“吉祥物”。

自学中文成为受欢迎的门童

        除了尼泊尔的女生，来自尼泊尔的男生在杭州也表现得很优秀，比如曾在杭州一家大酒店担任礼宾部门童的李哲。

        李哲是他的中文名。在杭州实习的时间里，他自学中文，一段时间下来，与客人的日常用语交流没什么问题，客人和同事对他的工作都给出了好评。

        李哲认为，就像那部屡获奖项的《布达佩斯大饭店》电影里演的那样，门童的岗位虽然看起来微不足道，但实际上是很重要的，既代表了酒店的形象，也直接体现了对客服务的标准。

        在杭州解放路一家酒店实践的门童Madan Pokhrel同样来自于尼泊尔，他中文名叫潘科，也是一名在校实习生。在杭州生活了一段时间的他，已经习惯了在寒风瑟瑟的冬天，面带微笑地站在酒店门口迎接着客人的到来。。

        酒店里还有几位跟他一样的同学，女生丽莎和男生达卡尔均在餐厅服务，他们会用简单的中文与客人交流：“请问您需要什么？”“这个我可以撤走了吗？”不久前，丽莎还捡到了客人落在餐厅的手机，因为拾金不昧，她收到了一封感谢信。

冰岛华裔学做荷花酥南瓜饼

        从国外专程来杭州学习的，还有今年27岁的华裔谢宇程。从小在浙江湖州南浔长大的他，10岁跟着家人移民去了冰岛。这次他特地来到杭州，就读于浙江商业职业技术学院，打算跟着师傅学做中国点心。

        作为一个长期生活在冰岛的人，谢宇程说刚来杭州的时候有两个感受，一是关于气温，“冰岛的冷是干冷，室内都有暖气，仍旧是穿短袖。杭州的冷则是湿冷，最冷的时候我穿上了羽绒服。”二是关于人气，“杭州真的感觉非常热闹，而冰岛冷清了些。”

        谢宇程说自己生活在有着“国际滨”之称的杭州滨江，学校为他安排了有针对性的个性化的学习课程。现在，他每天的学习任务从早安排到晚，非常充实。

        荷花酥、豆沙包、刺猬包、五寿桃包、白菜饺、汤圆、红糖麻糍、麻球、南瓜饼……这些中国点心，他很轻松地就报出了一箩筐，这也是他目前正在学习的。说完，他展示了一下手机里的照片，看得出都做得有模有样，成效不错。

        谢宇程对中国传统文化十分感兴趣，此前还曾去少林寺学罗汉拳。这次来杭州学习，是想回冰岛后做一些与中餐有关的事业，比如开一个中餐教学点，将博大精深的中餐文化在海外发扬光大。

        这也是浙江商业职业技术学院想做的事情。据学院旅游烹饪学院副院长李鑫介绍，现今中餐在国外非常受欢迎，有不少海外华人在海外已经拥有中餐厅，他们专门到杭州来学习，进修如何做好中餐。

        不知是杭州开放包容的国际化气息吸引了外籍学生，还是他们的到来为杭州更添了一份国际化都市感。总之，杭州和他们都在越变越好。