A wonderful experience talking on BBC Radio Shropshire

I never expected one day I can sit in the studio of BBC Radio Shropshire and talk with one of their presenters face to face.  In all my life I never imaged my voice being heard by people through the radio.  It all started from an article which I posted on a website Chineseonlinejournalismblog.com.

About a couple of weeks ago, my friend Rosemary, who is doing her master degree in Birmingham City University, asked me to do her a favour by writing articles for her blog. Later I did as she said by posting an article subjected with “My English Neighbour” on the website.   After that I nearly forgot it and never had a chance to review the website again. I was so surprised when Rosemary called me one day and telling me there was some comments left behind my article. I didn’t expect any comments or feedbacks since I posted the article as I know this website is not as popular as many others in the whole Internet. It’s just a university students’ project. Who would pay attention to it?

I switched on my computer as soon as I heard the news and found the comments, just as Rosemary had told me earlier excitedly. Some people from BBC Radio Shropshire left a comment and hoped to talk to me about my experience moving to Telford. That’s what I mentioned in the article. They thought that’s a nice story and their listeners may love to hear it. What an amazing thing!

Later I received the Email that saying the same thing. So I left my number and waited for some one to contact me. Just a couple of hours later, I got the call.  I was invited to go to the studio to tell my stories to the audience. How exciting it is. It’s my honour to do it. But I also felt nervous in the first place. What if I make mistakes when I talk? What if I could not understand the presenter? They usually speak very quickly as far as I know.

That night by the time my husband came home, I still couldn’t believe this is true. Did I really agree to talk on the radio? How could I be so brave? When I told my husband, he was happy for me and encouraged me to do it. I was glad to have his support.

So the next day we (me, my husband and my little boy) came to the venue of BBC Radio Shropshire. It’s the first time we have been to such a place. It was a Wednesday, cold and raining. But I was too nervous to pay attention to any other things except the forthcoming talk on the radio. What would it like? Will it be a success or a failure? Everything is unknown. May God help me, I prayed in my heart.

After we arrived, Mr. Walton, the producer, welcomed us warmly and brought some drink to help me settle down before I go into the studio. When I waited there I could see though the window presenter Jim Hawkins was inside hosting a radio show.  After a while I heard him announcing the program that I was going to join. I told my husband I couldn’t flee now as he has announced. We both laughed with this joke.

I felt much more relaxed when I finally went into the studio. Presenter Jim Hawkins is very good at this and we talked about my life from China to Birmingham many years ago and then from Birmingham to Telford. We also talked about the blog which I posted my article in there. The whole conversation was thus carried on in a pleasant atmosphere that I almost forgot I was talking in the studio with a presenter. After all it was the first time for me to go into a studio, especially in the world wide famous BBC radio studio. What a wonderful experience! I would never forget.

Thanks to the producer Les Walton and the presenter Jim Hawkins for giving me the opportunity to talk about my life in such a special way. Also thanks my friend Rosemary for providing such a wonderful platform for me to post articles there.

And thanks God for helping me doing the job successfully.

Tags: BBC Radio Chinese