Settling in & campus life (Zachary)

你好！I’m Zach and my first month in Tianjin has been amazing! After surviving the longest flight delay I’ve ever experienced in my life, we landed in 北京 (Beijing) and made the 2 hour bus ride to 天津 (Tianjin). We all spent our first night getting necessities for our dorms and stressfully trying to learn how to order dinner from the canteen. No classes for the first week meant taking some time to get familiar with the campus and some of the nearby areas in the city! My roommates and I went to the SEVEN floor Heping Lu shopping centre.

Everyone is very welcoming here and I’ve already made a couple Chinese friends. One of my new friends treated my roommates and I to dinner at a Xinjiang-cuisine restaurant and it was by far the best food I’ve had since arriving. We then took a walk through the city by the river district and saw how the city literally glowed during the night.

Also please forgive the very visible food stains on my grey t-shirt, I still haven’t quite mastered chopsticks yet!

We originally planned to travel over the October week break, but only half of us have had our passports back from immigration, so all we can do is hope and we can update you all in the next blog!

One of the most difficult things about settling in has been the massive time zone difference between here and back home. A lot of time I’d have spent talking to my girlfriend, my friends, and family is time I now have to fill in with studies and new hobbies. There are ways to incorporate these back into your routine, it only requires a bit of effort. I spend every morning waking up at 5am to call my girlfriend before she goes to bed and then we call again in the evenings here - along with a catchup with my family - and those calls are definitely the highlight of my days and makes me feel right back at home, and not 8130 km away.

All in all, settling in hasn’t been too hard and you get used to it after a while. The most important piece of advice I’d give to any future scholars reading this is to keep yourself busy. There’s so much to do here and if you try and do everything you can, you’ll settle right in. 再见！ 

Settling in & campus life (Hannah)

你们好！ 我叫王春花, or Hannah. Even though it has only been a month, I already have many stories and updates to share. Our journey started off in “excitement” as our direct flight to Beijing was delayed by 7.5 hours. The cheers of joy when our gate was finally released was comparable to those of winning the lottery. We played lots of games, did many laps of the airport and sat in Wetherspoons for hours. I slept very well when we were on the plane and only got to watch Kung Fu Panda 4 before passing out. Once we arrived in China, we were greeted by our new teacher, 王老师（Teacher Wang). I knew that the population of Tianjin was over triple that of Scotland, but when we finally entered the stunning city of Tianjin, it hit me just how large it was, and I couldn't yet imagine calling it my home for the next year.

The first couple of days were spent just trying to navigate the university campus, which was a challenge. The language barrier was very apparent, but every awkward or difficult language exchange could be laughed off as all of the Chinese people I’ve interacted with are eager to help and understanding of the language barrier. I occasionally craved a taste of home and found more comfort than I want to admit in a cheese and ham toastie from Tous les Jours.

This photo was taken at TJNU’s very lavish freshmen opening ceremony which we were lucky to be able to attend. The show consisted of many dance preformances, comedy sketches and showcases from various departments from around the school.

The first time I tried to use Didi, a very commonly used uber equivilent, we ended up going to the opposite side of Tianjin city than were meant to and spent a day walking around an area that was compeletly unknown to us. That day, I had some of the best pork broth noodles I’ve ever had in a small local resturant.

As a group we became very familiar with the large and lively night market just outside of the university’s west gate. It was a great place to sit down as a big group after class, order food from one of the many stalls and just chat.

My advice for the first month is to try to arrange a schedule with your loved ones back home for when you’re going to catch up. It’s very hard to move away from home but it’s also very hard for the people you’re leaving, so I think it’s definitely easier for both parties if you can share your fun stories and the people at home are getting reassurance that you are having a great time <3

This month has been filled with many firsts and I know I have many more to come so I'm excited to keep everyone at home up to date. Bye bye!

Settling in & campus life (Erin)

After our first month living in Tianjin, I’ve hit a new record! It’s officially the longest I’ve ever gone away from home, but I am slowly but surely starting to adjust to life in China.

As someone who barely knew the basics in mandarin when I arrived, the language barrier when speaking to locals has been the hardest part of settling in. Thanks to the fast paced teaching at TNU, my mandarin levels are starting to improve.