Settling in & Campus Life (Bronwyn)
大家好
This month I’m going to be talking about campus life and what it’s been like to settle in here. First of all, the weather here is so different from Scotland! If you look up the climate in 天津 it’s pretty obvious, but it’s a different thing to live through it. Currently, we’ve been treating days where the temperatures hit low 20’s as being cold. Most days are warm and fairly humid, which has been something to get used to.
The campus is really big and its quite different to the way students live in the UK. At the university, there is a curfew of 11pm, its an enclosed campus so all of the school buildings and accommodation are fairly close. There are four canteens on campus, and food is really cheap (My breakfast usually costs 30p) so it isn’t an issue that there aren’t cooking facilities in the accommodation. One issue with the canteens is that, since I don’t eat meat, it can be difficult to find food without meat. Luckily I have a friend who has shown me different places across campus with vegetarian options.
The first two weeks here were both slow and hectic. We had a lot of time to explore the campus but also sat our placement tests for which class we would be put into. Classes have been very fun, all of the classes are taught in mandarin with clarification for certain words being given in English. Our classes start at 8:30 and usually finish at 12:05, meaning we have a lot of time in the afternoon to study, hang out, or explore the city. Places such as the library （图书馆, the canteen （食堂, and the music hall (音乐厅) are usually quite busy so it can be quite hard to find somewhere to sit (especially in the library). Its easy to tell if these places will be busy as you can see all of the bikes parked outside.
The opening ceremony was very impressive, it was mainly performances ranging from traditional drums to pop music. One of the best acts that was part of the welcoming ceremony was a section of the performance which acted as a fashion show, it was very different from anything you’d see in Scotland. Lots of students showed up.
One weekend, we went out to explore the nearby shopping centre. It had 8 floors and you take the subway directly into the centre. Two floors were mainly dedicated to food, while the rest of the floors ranged from technology to clothes. Outside campus, there is a night market nearby. At the night market you can buy food, jewellery, and various other accessories. One evening, we went and painted pottery at one of the streets near the night market which was quite fun and very cheap.
The main thing I’m missing from Scotland is the tap water, it has been hard to get used to having to buy bottled water. I’ve been really enjoying Tianjin so far, and I’m sure that I’ll enjoy it even more as I get used to living and studying here.