"I never thought I would learn a new language besides English and Japanese. Mastering Mandarin over the past three years has been my greatest achievement." — MIKA

Taking to Weibo on May 18th,  MIKA shared an update about his visit to Huangguoshu Waterfall, where he even assisted a local lady in purchasing tickets, showcasing his growing confidence in Mandarin proficiency.

Releasing his debut solo album, embarking on solo tours, learning Mandarin, and exploring various cities across China... From Hawaii to Tokyo and then to Beijing, MIKA's "drifting life" has never ceased. Now, China is a base for him to embrace a broader world.

Greatest achievement: From zero Mandarin proficiency to seamless communication

MIKA's journey in China began three years ago. At the age of 16, he left his hometown, Hawaiian, to Tokyo for formal music training. Little did he anticipate visiting China, but fate had other plans. "I really wanted to join Produce Camp 2021 (Chuang 2021) because I hadn't participated in such a talent show before. I thought it was a great opportunity. So, I came to China," he revealed.

Making his debut on the Chinese talent show stage with his iconic "kiwi" hairstyle, emotional English ballads, and zero Mandarin proficiency,  MIKA quickly captured public attention. Reflecting on his linguistic journey, he expressed, "I never thought I would learn a new language besides English and Japanese. Mastering Mandarin over the past three years has been my greatest achievement."

From a struggling beginner to a fluent communicator,  MIKA credits his progress in Mandarin to daily interactions: "During 'Produce Camp 2021,' I couldn't speak Mandarin at all. Since debuting as part of INTO1, I have been speaking Mandarin every day, chatting with friends every day. I think this is the most important learning approach."

Greatest wish: Touring more cities in China

From Hawaii to Tokyo and then to Beijing, from English to Chinese,  MIKA has been constantly "drifting" among different environments. Inspired by this, last year,  MIKA participated in the entire process of album production and released his debut solo album "Bleached".

"Over the past three years, I've been covering a lot of Chinese slow-beat songs and listening to such songs. I think it's already influenced my songwriting process. Sometimes the melodies I create embody the style of Chinese songs I like,"  MIKA said, expressing his desire to integrate Chinese elements into his music in the future.

As a cross-cultural creator, he admits that he still needs to work hard to overcome language barriers in his creation process. After releasing his solo album, in December last year,  MIKA embarked on a nationwide solo tour from Guangzhou. Talking about his next goals, he said, "To tour more cities in China, especially those I haven't been to before."

Tastes developed in China: Enjoying mahjong and loving tomato egg stir-fry

In his spare time,  MIKA enjoys exploring the world. On his social media account, he launched a series of vlogs themed around urban exploration, with his footprints covering places like Macao, New York, Milan, Suzhou, and Chengdu. In Chengdu, he fulfilled his wish to play mahjong.

"I really enjoy learning such games. When I was a member of INTO1, I learned gomoku (five in a row) from my friend Lin Mo,"  MIKA  recalled the process of getting to know mahjong. "I think learning Chinese games is very interesting. During a shoot, my colleagues shared with me what everyone does during the Chinese New Year. They taught me to play mahjong, and I find it very fun. I often play Sichuan mahjong, but I think I can play mahjong from other regions too."

Among the Chinese cities he has visited,  MIKA mentioned Guangzhou. For MIKA, this is similar to Hawaii and has a lot of delicious food. When it comes to Chinese cuisine he has tried,  MIKA seems undecided: "My favorite Chinese dish is tomato egg stir-fry. Before visiting China, I had never eaten tomato egg stir-fry. After coming to China, I discovered the delicious dish."

爱上打麻将的美日混血艺人米卡：在中国最大的收获是学习中文

“之前我没想到除了英文和日语，我会学习新的语言。这三年学习中文，是我最大的收获。”—米卡

“我今天去了黄果树大瀑布，还教了一个阿姨怎么买票，没想到我的中文这么好。”5月18日，美日混血艺人米卡在微博上更新了这样一条动态，字里行间透露出他对中文水平的自信。

发行首张个人专辑、开启个人巡演、学中文、游历中国不同的城市……从夏威夷到东京再到北京，米卡的“漂流人生”从未止步，现在正以中国为基点拥抱更广阔的世界。

如果要用一首歌来总结在中国发展的这三年，米卡选择了自己的歌——《那一刻我觉得这世上不会有比我更喜欢你的人了》。“现在我在中国生活，我感觉挺开心的，希望我可以在中国留下来工作。”

最大的收获：从中文零基础到无障碍交流

米卡和中国的故事，始于三年前。早在16岁时，他就告别了家乡夏威夷火奴鲁鲁，到日本东京接受系统的音乐培训。彼时的他从未想过自己会踏足中国，然而命运时有惊喜，“当时我很想去《创造营2021》，因为我没参加过这样的选秀节目，我觉得是一个很好的机会，也因此来到了中国。”

初次登上中国选秀舞台时，米卡以标志性的“猕猴桃”发型、深情的英文抒情歌表演和零基础的中文表达走入公众视野。三年过去，他的发型依旧，而中文水平大幅提升。“之前我没想到除了英文和日语，我会学习新的语言。这三年的中文学习，我觉得是我最大的收获。”

从初学乍练到无障碍交流，米卡将中文上的进步归功于日常的交流：“当我以INTO1的身份出道后，可以每天说中文，跟朋友们每天聊天，所以我感觉这是最大的、最重要的学习关键。”

《创造营2021》作为米卡与中国结缘的起点，揭开了他以男子团体INTO1出道的人生新篇章。去年团体终结了两年的限定期，宣告正式毕业，由此开启了他个人的音乐之旅。

逐渐成长的自信与他这三年来的演艺经历密不可分，也离不开中国粉丝的支持：“我觉得中国粉丝都很好，非常热情。我在舞台上的时候，是因为他们，我变得更自信，可以很开心地享受舞台。”

最大的愿望：希望能在更多城市巡演

从夏威夷到东京再到北京，从英文到中文，米卡一直在不同的环境中“漂流”，记忆可能会随着时间流逝“漂色”，但总会在某个时刻留存当下最深刻的感受。以此为灵感，去年，米卡推出了首张个人专辑《bleached漂》，并尝试参与专辑制作的全流程。

“这三年，我一直在翻唱很多中文慢歌，我感觉已经影响到了我写歌的过程。有时候我创作的旋律，有点像我喜欢的中文歌的风格。”米卡表示，未来他希望学习将中国元素融入音乐作品之中。

与此同时，作为跨文化的创作者，他坦言在创作中仍需努力克服语言关：“因为我的中文还没到最理想的程度，我还不能写中文歌词，目前比较难写中文歌，也是我现在遇到最大的问题。我希望可以慢慢地学习怎么用中文写歌词。”

继发行个人专辑后，去年12月，米卡自广州开启全国个人巡演。谈及接下来的目标时，他表示：“在中国更多的城市开巡演，尤其是我没去过的城市。如果可以在世界各地开巡演，那也很好。”

最中国的爱好：喜欢打麻将、爱吃番茄炒蛋

工作之余，米卡喜欢用脚步丈量世界。在社交平台账号上，他推出了以城市探索为主题的系列vlog，足迹遍布澳门、纽约、米兰、苏州、成都等地。其中，在成都，他完成了“搓麻将”的愿望。

“我很喜欢学习这样的游戏，我记得在INTO1的时候，我跟我的朋友林墨开始学习五子棋。”米卡笑着回忆起自己了解麻将的过程，“我觉得学中国的游戏很有趣。在一次拍摄中我的同事们教会了我打麻将，现在我觉得非常好玩，经常打四川麻将。”

在去过的中国城市中，米卡还提到了广州，因为这座城市给他的感觉和夏威夷很像，而且有很多美食。而论及最喜欢的中国美食，米卡显得难以抉择：“我最喜欢的中国美食还是番茄炒鸡蛋。因为在国外我没吃过，结果来中国之后发现有这么好吃的食物，所以到现在为止我最喜欢这道菜。”

和中国朋友们一起去旅游，是米卡的心愿之一。“我想去的第一个地方是三亚，我很想去玩，去冲浪、去冒险。除了三亚，我觉得可以去内蒙古和新疆，可以去爬山、赏山，我觉得也会很有趣。”

总策划｜孙爱群
统筹｜蒋铮 赵鹏
文案、台本｜曾潇 古司祺 付怡 戚美青 胡广欣
视频｜黎杰文 温泽广
海报｜李焕菲
翻译｜刘佳慧