Settling in & Campus Life (English)
大家好！Halo a h-uile duine! Hola a todos!
Our plane out from Dùn Èideann/Edinburgh was 7 and a half hours delayed but it actually meant we experienced no jetlag because the entire journey time including the time sat in the airport was 22 hours which is practically a full day. The plane itself was massive and wasn't nearly as bad as we’d feared. When we landed after 11 or so hours in 北京/Beijing, we were taken on a coach to 天津师范大学/Tianjin Normal University. Turns out it's not called Normal because it's next to the Strange Uni (sadly) but because in China a 'Normal Uni' is what they call a teaching college, so its primary focus is on training teachers. There are actually three unis all in a row here: TJ Polytechnic Uni, TJ Normal Uni and TJ Uni of Technology. Besides the 18 scholars, there are about 180 foreign students here, mostly from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kenya. We all live in the same block of buildings and the quad in the middle has such a nice atmosphere in the evenings with folk chilling and playing badminton.
The most difficult thing has been the lack or lateness of communication from the Uni about pretty much anything. Lots of things have happened from medical exams and Saturday classes to Mid-autumn Festival celebrations and slightly intimidating “Welcome ceremonies”, and for all these things we've got the details no more than a day in advance, sometimes we didn't even know these things existed until the day before. One of the International dorm blocks where most of the scholars stay had their water cut off for 4 hours and were told about it 7 minutes before they turned the taps off.
Although on the plus side, we met new people from Bangor Uni in Wales, who live on our floor in building, and added many Chinese people on WeChat. Interestingly, whenever we get added by any Chinese people on WeChat, they often end up patching us, but it is a great way to get to know people. We have been taken out by quite a few very generous Chinese folk who’ve been happy to show us the highlights of the city. Kima’s Mandarin teacher in Larbert’s former student took them out to the ‘Music Street’ by the Tianjin Conservatoire to buy a fiddle so we can hold ceilidhs.
The university campus is absolutely massive, with 4 different canteens, a library, a nature reserve, a small stadium with a running track, and most importantly a KFC! We are in different classes but we both have classes split between a building within the international dorms, so we can practically roll out of bed into class, and another building a decent bit further away. The closer building also has a wacky coffee machine that you can play games on while you wait for the coffee to brew.
We had to get our medical examinations a week ago which was quite an uncomfortable experience and took a full morning. We all found out that we didn’t have the plague or leprosy so you can all be put at ease, but we are still waiting on our residence permits coming back with our passports.
再见！！！
柯娜和梅基马
Niamh and Kima
