Chinese marathon

I really wish I had written down all the anecdotes  we came across in those first few days.

First impressions: - Chinese drivers really are insane. It's not a myth. We found that out on our first night, as we held on to dear life while trying to cross the road to get something to eat.The fact that it took us about 15 minutes to have a few precious seconds nearly free of cars coming from both directions isn't even what startled me most. I am famous for my fear of bikes, and I can already tell you are thinking "oh well she sure chose the wrong country". But it really does seem like I am doomed when it comes to bikes. I nearly got run over as soon as I stepped out of the hotel, but for my defense it was pitch dark, and the bikes here don't have lights. So to me they are even more dangerous than cars at night. Not very comforting when you are being chased by bikes.

- People in Hong Kong speak surprisingly bad English. Maybe I expected too much, but 90% of the people I talked to didn't understand me at all, nor could they reply back. But I only spoke to 5 people, so maybe it is just another misconception.

Now back to the trip.

I didn't sleep at all in spite of being deadly tired. Jet lag I assume, but it couldnt have been a worst time to miss out on sleep. But as usual, when you count the hours you have left and stress over how much sleep you already missed out on, and hear your friend snore happily on the other bed, you end up doing anything but getting sleep.

When morning finally came, I apologized for waking my two friends up with one of my scary screams I often let out  after a nightmare and we got ready to go. I had another frustrating try at Chinese when the reception lady called our room to ask about the cab we had ordered. An amusing exchange of  mutual "sorry , I don't understand you" ensued, followed by roughly 10 "women xianzai lai le" (we are coming now).

We got a glimpse of the gorgeous Zhuhai coastline in the rising sun (how cheesy.), and finally reached the campus. I will  put up a whole bunch of pictures  of my room and the campus later on.

The taxi had no idea where to drop us off, and the campus being literally as big as Lyon's city centre didn't make things easier. After getting help from a passing Chinese girl, we were picked up by Ma Jin, who is our little helper here on campus. If it wasn't for her, we would have had a really hard time getting all our paperwork done since there is no office for international students here. (We are the only foreigners.) She took us to our dorms, I quickly met my roommates and off we were to Guangzhou to get our registration done. The bus ride took two hours and by that time I was so incredibly tired I was literally a sleepwalking Alice. The campus in Guangzhou is just as gorgeous as the one in Zhuhai, just in a different way. Beautiful, giant trees, a constant , overpowering locust chirping that makes you forget you are in China for a second and transports you into a far flung rainforest.

Once we were through the monotone registration process, we had our first canteen meal- rice and chinese cabbage. I was so tired I couldn't eat ;) I nearly fell asleep on my plate  of rice...

We then took the bus back and attended our orientation, and met our language partners. Mine is called Myriam, as far as I could tell she is a really nice girl...we tried to solve our schedule problems, which as of today still aren't solved- no one understands that English is as important as Chinese in our major, and that Japanese is only my third language. Meaning I only need 2 hours a week and not 8.

After that we had to fill our rooms, as nothing is included- not even a matress. So off we were to the campus supermarket, bought our matresses, bedding, mosquito net etc...The bed is basically a wooden plank above the desk, so we had to clean that as well as it was rather filthy...and then fiiiinaally, fiiiinally I could get to sleep.

The next day, we had a Chinese test which was pretty useless given that we will all have the same teacher, and be in the same class.. .We had a chance to admire the beautiful view of the campus from the school library, before being driven back to our dorms by the little golf buggy like mini buses that drive people around. You normally have to pay a small fee to use them, but we were with a teacher so got in free...small pleasures. They're incredibly useful given the size of the campus...

In the evening we had our welcome party, during which a couple of Chinese girls sang for us and *ahem* we were supposed to perform something as well. We improvised something and sung a song half of us had either never heard, or didn't know enough to look credible...But the Chinese students didn't care. We played charades (in Chinese. I thought describing the Great Depression or a blow fish while playing Cranium was bad, but miming Confucius or describing the rain falling in Chinese beat it all. )

The highlight of the evening was the balloon game. I knew that things would be different, sometimes very different in China but the balloon game has to be one of the strangest, yet funniest games I have ever played. It goes like this: Two people form a team and get a balloon they need to carry to the other side of the room as far as possible, without touching it with their hands or arms. Then when they get to the other side, they need to picup a peanut with chopsticks (I told you it was odd) and go back the same way. The winning team is the one with the most peanuts. I will try and upload the video I have and post it eventually.

On Sunday we did our medical examination, basically racing through a whole bunch of rooms, getting blood taken, an echography, ECG, etc. What struck me is how formal it is , but at the same time extremely superficial. The Chinese authorities weigh so much importance on all these tests to allow students to stay, but on the other side the quality of their hospital care is very poor, and he examination itself was some sort of a joke at times. The so called chest exam was over and done with in two short gropes, the nurse hardly touched my lymph nodes and I won't even tell you about the gynecology exam ;) It all seemed like a race to shush us from one point to another as fast as possible. We get the results on the 10th...

After the examination, we went to replenish at....Mc Donalds. Ma Jin originally wanted to take us to a Chinese fast food, but the others wanted a change- so Mc Donalds it was. I am still getting used to being stared at in restaurants or on the bus, as if I was some sort of rare circus animal. On Monday we didn't do very much, just bought whatever we had left to buy to do our laundry and get settled. My roommates decided to get a washing machine, but we also found out we had to pay excess water and electricity- and I am not sure how expensive it is. So this morning I handwashed my laundry, and...it was an experience. I am convinced I used 4 times as much water ad an average washing machine would because I have absolutely no technique. Which makes me think that I might as well use the machine.

Today I went to Jialefu (Carrefour- a major French supermarket chain for those who don't know) to get a phone, along with Nirusha and one of my Chinese friends, Christelle/Ai Zi. Needless to say we wouldn't have gotten far without her. The trip there was made in an overcrowded bus driven by another specimen of the Crazed Chinese Driver, slaloming between cars and trucks, passing them so closely I thought we would crash more than once. I also experienced my dirtiest squat toilet there, and hadn't thought of taking my own toilet paper- big mistake. The garbage bin next to the toilet was filled with all kinds of filthy human left overs, but I will spare you the details- I'm sure you are picturing them already anyway. ;) Christelle later invited us for dinner in her room. She cooked us a delicious boiled rice with vegetables....yum.

My next entry will be mostly pictures and a better description of what life is like around here.

And I hope I didn't bore you to death ;)