Week 1

Week 1: Personal

23/02/2012

Martin Luther King (1956) once said, ‘Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step’.  I had no idea what lay in store for my time away, but I knew I was meant to be going to China and I was excited to begin this new adventure.  After a long journey we finally arrived in Hong Kong.  I was surprised at how peaceful I felt.  There were hundreds of people everywhere and most of them where speaking a different language.  Normally this kind of situation at home would scare me but I think being with both Dan and Keith helped me feel safe and more at ease. 

  

Keith, Andrew, Dan, Danielle and myself at the Hong Kong skyline.

Danielle met us at our hotel with Andrew and Heather, (who are the two Stranmillis students studying in Hong Kong for the semester).  The next two days were spent shopping, eating and exploring Hong Kong with Andrew and Heather.  Having so much to do on these first few days really helped me overcome my jetlag and I didn’t miss my family or home as much as I had expected to.  

On Friday morning it was time to leave Hong Kong and make our way to China.  We were met at the train station by Jing, an international student who had studied in Northern Ireland last semester.  It was so reassuring to see her friendly face as soon as we arrived.  Straight away we got a glimpse of how crowded this city really is.  There where people everywhere and we saw one bus with people squashed right up against every single window.  After our dinner on the first night we saw a homeless old man sleeping right outside our university gates.  He was lying on the bare floor with absolutely nothing.  Seeing this really affected me.  It is not something which I see at home very often but when I saw this man it reminded me of how blessed I am to have a home and family back in Northern Ireland.  It has also made me think about ways in which we can possibly help those who are less fortunate than us whilst we are here in China.  Our first few days in Guangzhou (the city where our university is) where mostly spent exploring the area around South China Normal University (all of the students here call the university SCNU) and appreciating how beautiful our new university is.

 This is the stunning bridge on campus in SCNU.

I also had the chance to wash my own clothes, which embarrassingly I have to admit is a first for me – my Mum is way too good to me at home.  We have also been very brave and tried some traditional Chinese dishes.  This week we have eaten Chinese ‘hotpot’.  ‘Hotpot’ is basically a small hotplate in the centre of the table and you use it to cook a number of different meats and vegetables in a soup mixture.  Nearly every meal that you get in China comes with chopsticks, so we have had to learn quickly how to use them.

Danielle and I got to see the dorms for the Chinese students who live at SCNU. All I can say is that after seeing the size of the rooms that 6 students have to share, I will not complain again about the room that we have to share.

This is the inside of the building that the Chinese students live in.

This week hasn’t been without its challenges either.  It is very hard getting used to people stopping and staring at us in the middle of the street.  In many places we are the only white people there.  We have even been stopped by a mother asking us to pose with her child for a photograph.  The language barrier has also proved a challenge at times.  Before I came to China I thought that Mandarin was the only language that Chinese people spoke. I was so wrong.  Some girls we have met speak 4 different dialects of Chinese!! I actually do feel embarrassed that the only language I can speak is English.  I will definitely be making a huge effort in my Mandarin classes to learn as much as I can.  I have really enjoyed my first week here in China and I have woken up each morning and had to remind myself that I actually am living in China.  I feel very blessed to be here!!

XieXie – Thank you: This is one of the most helpful Chinese phrases we have learnt in our first week.