Week 2

Week 2: Cultural

01/03/2012

Guangzhou is a very busy place, with more people living here than the entire population of Northern Ireland.  Any one that we have met has been so welcoming and friendly.  We have been treated like celebrities.  I have been overwhelmed by how eager the students at SCNU are to spend time with us.  Between the four of us we have 24 buddies.  This means we have 6 buddies each. Buddies are local students who offer to look after the international students and make sure they settle into their new university and help them in whatever way they can.  I feel extremely guilty for not doing enough for the International students who have previously come to Stranmillis.  I intend to change this behaviour whenever I get home from China.

Zou and I having dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  She is one of my buddies.

The roads in Guangzhou are crazy.  Driving here is so different from Northern Ireland.  Cars do not have to stop at Zebra crossings and cyclists in Guangzhou seem to have full control of the road. So we have learnt to be very careful when crossing the roads.  The public transport in Guangzhou has been a challenge to get used to.  The underground metro is ridiculously crowded all of the time and it is always a tight squeeze to make it on to any train.  However this is the cheapest way to travel and we are all saving a lot of money compared to the prices of public transport in Northern Ireland. 

One cultural difference that has really impacted me is the healthy lifestyle that many Chinese people lead.  They exercise lots and have very healthy diets.  On our campus we have a large racetrack.  Danielle and I have tried to adapt to this healthy lifestyle and we have been making regular appearances at the racetrack.  It is absolutely beautiful at night and I love going here to be alone and reflect on my day.

My new best friend, the running track.

Our classes at university started this week.  The lecturers at SCNU are so helpful and they have all been so excited to meet us.  I am looking forward to more classes beginning over the next few days. 

I had an interesting conversation with my friend Jing this week who reminded me of the one child policy in China.  In the midst of exploring Guangzhou and enjoying my time here, I had forgotten that the Chinese people are still very much under control by the government. It was scary to hear that parents are denied their basic human right to decide how many children they will have. 

This week I noticed that the women in China use umbrellas whenever the sun is shining.  They also wear lots of clothing even if it is very hot.  Jing told us that this is because they are protecting their skin from the sun.  Chinese women believe they are more beautiful if they have white skin.  Even the supermarkets here sell skin whitening cream.  Danielle and I even got offered skin whitening cream in a mobile phone shop.

Chinese women and their umbrellas in the sunshine

We also got to meet Jim Nelson this week. (He is a former Stranmillis student who came out to China on the same international programme which we are on a few years ago).  It was really encouraging to see how he has settled into life in Guangzhou and he has got a permanent job as a Primary School teacher.  He gave us a map of interesting things to do and see while we are in China. It was great to spend a night with someone from Northern Ireland who has previously experienced everything that we are doing now.

We have also met a lot of other international students from Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia.  I am absolutely loving meeting new people and learning about their culture because in Bangor, where I am from in Northern Ireland, there are very few foreign people.  This weekend we are heading to Zou’s family house in Shenzhen for the weekend. I am really looking forward to getting away from the city life of Guangzhou and experience another part of China.

Wo Jiao Sophie – My name is Sophie.  I learnt this in my Chinese class this week.