Finnish Winter Paralympian Marty calls himself "Old Beijing" and attracts attention because of his fluency


　　in Chinese

　　March 6th is the second day of the Beijing Winter Paralympics, and the third day that Finnish athlete Marty Serainen came to Zhangjiakou. He participated in the men's snowboard slalom chase at the Genting Ski Park for the UL level qualification. Competition competition, only ranked 18th.

Although the results were not very good, it did not affect his mood. He said in fluent Mandarin: "I think I have skated very well, and I am quite satisfied."

　　opener

　　"My name is Liu Di, I'm an old Beijing"

　　At the Genting bus stop, when Marty came over with his snowboard, enthusiastic volunteers immediately asked him which stop he was going to in English.

Marty replied in Chinese that she wanted to go back to the Winter Paralympic Village.

Looking at the blond Marty in front of him, the volunteer couldn't help showing a surprised expression, "Can you speak Chinese?"

　　Since coming to the Zhangjiakou competition area, Marty has encountered such a scene countless times.

At first, he would explain seriously, but now he generally says with a smile: "Because I'm an old Beijing."

　　In fact, Marty is a pure Finn, but because of his father's work and other reasons since childhood, they moved frequently and came to Beijing three times.

Marty, 37, has lived in China for more than 20 years.

　　When communicating in Chinese, Marty prefers to be called by his Chinese name—Liu Di, and his opening remarks are often: "Hello, my name is Liu Di." Marty explained that this name was given to him by his grandfather, "I After my parents divorced, my father's future wife, my current mother's surname was Liu, so my grandfather gave me this name." According to Chinese surname usage habits, Marty also gave her daughter a Chinese name: Liu Xuan.

　　Because he studied at an international school in Beijing and Beijing Language and Culture University, Marty can write well in Chinese characters, "Of course I can write my name." He picked up the pen and wrote "Liu Di" on the paper. "I can write simple things, and I can look up a dictionary if it's difficult. However, I'm not good at learning ancient Chinese, and I took the exam twice." He smiled embarrassedly.

　　pyrotechnic gas

　　"Roadside stall" must eat lamb skewers

　　After staying for a long time, Marty has the opportunity to visit many places in China, such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and other places, leaving his footprints.

But when it comes to the most familiar city, Marty chose Beijing without hesitation.

As a child, he lived in Guangming Apartment and Guomao Apartment in Chaoyang District.

After studying at Beijing Language and Culture University, he lived in Wudaokou, and later, in Shunyi.

　　Although he has now moved back to Finland, these experiences have left a deep imprint on Marty, such as his love of Chinese food.

　　Marty's two favorite Chinese songs are "Reading Chairman Mao's Book" and "Friend's Wine", which are also his favorite songs.

When he was still living in Beijing, every time foreign friends came to play and said they wanted to experience Chinese entertainment, Marty would often bring them to KTV and sing a song.

　　Marty has rarely sung "Friend's Wine" since he quit drinking, and the song he heard on the street was gradually removed from his playlist.

　　In addition to listening to music, Marty also found one of his favorite Chinese food on the street - mutton skewers.

Self-proclaimed "Old Beijing", he doesn't like Beijing's specialty roast duck so much. In contrast, he prefers "roadside stalls", "Mutton kebabs are a must, and I think everything you can eat on the road is delicious. , like Mala Tang and Baked Mantou are very good.”

　　This time, Marty was very happy to return to China because of the competition. He enjoyed the Chinese food in the Winter Paralympic Village.

He said that when he chatted with Chinese people, he felt like he was coming home.

Since moving back to Finland, Marty has not spoken Chinese for a long time. He is afraid that his Mandarin level will decline, but after the communication in the past few days and the comments of people around him, he feels that the worry is a little unnecessary.

　　Others praised him for speaking better than many Chinese people, which made Marty a little proud. He smiled and said, "I don't dare to say that. I'm still not satisfied. I have to study hard and improve every day."

　　kung fu fan

　　Obsessed with Chinese Kung Fu and participated in many competitions

　　In this year's Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, in addition to the men's UL level snowboarding competition, Marty will also participate in the men's slope slalom UL level competition.

The so-called UL stands for athletes with upper limb disabilities.

　　Marty's physical disability was not born, but was due to an accidental traffic accident.

In 2002, Marty was riding a motorcycle up a mountain road when he collided with a truck while turning because of a blind spot, causing severe damage to the nerve in his left arm.

Later, although his arm was saved, he was almost completely unconscious in his left arm.

After living like this for 10 years, in 2013, Marty chose to undergo amputation in Beijing.

　　Physical disability has not affected Marty's love for sports. He has liked skateboarding and taekwondo since he was a child, and he still maintains the habit of sports.

Living in China for a long time has made him fall in love with Chinese Kung Fu. He has practiced Tai Chi, Changquan, and nunchaku well. He even participated in martial arts competitions many times.

　　By chance, Marty learned about snowboarding competitions involving disabled people, and he felt that his physical condition could also try it.

In 2016, Marty took his snowboard to the Netherlands to compete in the competition, which was the first time he set foot on the snow field after amputation.

"After the game, I found out that this sport is much more difficult than I thought, but I felt I could do it, but I just had to practice a little more, so I kept sticking to it."

　　With little financial support from the Finnish government, Marty had to work and earn money while training.

He has also undertaken the coaching work of two clubs, teaching skiing, taekwondo, parkour, etc.

Under such circumstances, there was very little training time left for Marty.

If the training time was longer, perhaps the results would have been better, he said.

"But I think the most important thing is not how high my level is and what awards I can win, but the confidence and happiness that sports bring me."