Karlsson, a Swedish teacher at Beijing Union University (BUU), has lived in China for over 15 years. The seeds (种子) of his China journey were sown when he joined in a program for East Asian studies at Lund University in Sweden in 1997. Back then, cellphones and the Internet hadn't yet come into wide use. Learning Chinese meant using textbooks, heavy dictionaries and audio tapes. He would read the dictionary carefully for hours to understand a one-page Chinese article.
"In those days, it was a real challenge," he said.
In 2006, with a high score in the official Chinese language test, he won a scholarship for a five-week summer program at Beijing Language and Culture University.
After finishing the study program, Karlsson was offered a Beijing-based job as a market researcher. In 2008, the year Beijing succeeded in hosting the Summer Olympic Games, he got married. In the next year, he started to teach business at BUU.
Life in Beijing has been a wonderful adventure (异乎寻常的经历), especially as a witness to the great achievements China has made. It has offered him many chances for personal growth. Today, thanks to high-speed broadband and 5G, he can connect with students at BUU's partner universities in Russia, Montenegro or Mexico while riding on the Beijing subway.
"When you open your eyes to these great projects, it is impossible not to want to be part of them or at least support them somehow," he said.
Although he was busy on teaching days, Karlsson applied for a full-time scholarship at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. In 2022, at 44 years old, he got his Ph.D. in economics. "I am quite interested in blockchain technology, and I know that China is quickly becoming the leader in blockchain applications outside the cryptocurrency space. So, I always write my articles in this area," he said.
"There is always time to follow your dreams unless you decide to give up," he said. "Taking on seemingly impossible challenges and also helping those around you are what makes life worth living."
