The first time the reporter saw Tereza, she was drawing cartoon figures with clothes and accessories, with black and red sign pens in hand. "This is my secret weapon," she said. "Believe it or not, this is more useful than printed vocabulary cards."

As one of the three teachers from Czech Republic working in the Foreign Languages College of Zhejiang Wanli University, Tereza assumed most teaching tasks of the "Special Czech Class". Having worked for more than a year in the college, she had her first batch of graduates last summer vacation. “I am their teacher and they are also my teacher. In the class, I teach them Czech. After class, they teach me Chinese grammar, Ningbo dialect and Internet slang.”

These years, as China-Czech (Ningbo) International Industrial Cooperation Park was launched in Ningbo, the demand of enterprises for Czech talents has become increasingly urgent.

In 2017, the Czech Language & Culture Center of Zhejiang Wanli University was officially established. Meanwhile, the “Special Czech Class” was officially opened to cultivate Czech talents for enterprises of Ningbo based on orders.

“I really admire my students who have insisted on learning Czech for one year in their spare time. I have the responsibility to make the strange language interesting to them,” Tereza waved the cartoon card in her hand and said, “It all depends on this.”

“After I finish the drawings, I would cut them down and take them to the classroom. With them, my students can introduce clothes, describe colors, comment on the matching, and even complain about my drawing skills in Czech. Isn’t it cool?”

Last summer vacation when Tereza returned to her hometown, she took back to her family a table flag embroidered with birds and flowers, a folding fan painted with green bamboo, and a purple sand tea set. To Tereza, these things embody classical Chinese culture.

“In the eyes of Czech people, China is no longer the country represented merely by Confucius and tea. But I still like the traditional culture.” In her spare time, she liked visiting Nantang Old Street and Tianyi Pavilion. She liked resting on the railing and watched the lights of the city turned on as night came.

“Sometimes I feel I have become an authentic Ningbo local. Without any translation software, I can communicate with a taxi driver who speaks Ningbo dialect with my broken Chinese and gesture,” Tereza said one day when she was sightseeing in Moon Lake Park, she was asked by passers-by for directions for three times in only a few hours. “It feels amazing. It seems...I have become part of the city.”

“Have I absorbed the elements of Ningbo after I stayed here for long? Or have I begun to act like a Ningbo local?” Tereza said.

“What elements of Ningbo have you absorbed?” The reporter asked Tereza.

“Perhaps confidence and enthusiasm? And daring to explore the world even without much to rely on,” She blinked as if praising herself...

In recent years, owing to the opportunities brought by China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo, the friendly and mutually-beneficial cooperation keeps growing. Last year, the import and export amount of Ningbo and Czech reached USD 349 million, a year-on-year growth of 33.6%, including an export amount of USD 289 million, a year-on-year growth of 29.1%, and an import amount of USD 60 million, a year-on-year growth of 60.3%. In January 2018, China-Czech (Ningbo) International Industrial Cooperation Park was officially established, which laid a solid foundation for both sides to further cooperation and exchanges.

(Executive Editor: Yongliu He)