One month has gone by...

Well, one month has come and gone, and I have to say that it has gone much better than I had initially expected. I remember arriving at the campus on the first day, in the cab, struggling to stay awake and not knowing what to tell the driver when he asked us where we wanted to be dropped off- because the campus was so vast and whatever we cast our eyes on, it all looked the same. Now the campus is still immense, but the distance between the dorm and the library, or the canteen doesn't seem quite as far anymore. Routine is slowly settling in, and so are the stupid little habits such as going down to my friend's dorm to bring her our evening Kinder chocolate treat, bought at the local Japanese supermarket. That place has become my mecca for imported foreign food.

I am pleasantly surprised and actually quite ecstatic at how well I have adapted here. Touch wood- it has only been a month. But in spite of the complete disappearance of what is called privacy, the interesting experience provided by our dear squat toilets, the occasional cockroach visiting us in our room, and the fact that the campus is extremely isolated, I really love it here.

I feel that I am finally getting what I came here for- not just learning Chinese, but the human experience. I have made fantastic friends, and have had enough heart warming encounters to last me for a while.

When I think about what I want to achieve this year, I realize that I want to go back to France leaving true Chinese friends behind, not mere acquaintances. One of the achievements I am most proud of from my year in America, is that the friendship and family bonds I created are still there today, 4 years later.

I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing one aspect of Chinese life when I went to visit Bernice in Guangzhou, her parents were lovely and I had a great time walking around the city, walking through markets full of chicken testicles and bouncing toads.

I also had a fantastic time last weekend, when my closest friend here, Alice, invited me to her father's birthday celebration. it was completely different from what I had experienced with Bernice, and just as memorable. Her family was absolutely lovely, and needless to say I was very touched to have been invited to a family gathering. While I was there, I realized that those kinds of meetings were the main reason why I wanted to go to China, hidden behind the language learning goal. Helping Alice's mother cut out Mickey Mouse designs (that will later end up on a T shirt somewhere in Thailand or Malaysia), eating watermelon, cutting the birthday cake, and sharing moments of every day family life with them were so many seemingly mundane moments, that take on a completely different meaning here. Both times, I was so touched by how happy they were I was there with them- the feeling was definitely mutual. 

Alice, her parents and brother…

Alice and her brother in the « village inside the city » in which they live. It is a very popular area of Guangzhou, where many immigrants from various provinces move to in order to rent cheap accomodation.

Alice and her family invited me to spend the Chinese Spring festival with them in February, which i am most excited about- even if that means I will only get to go home for two weeks instead of three, unless I can figure something out with my ticket. They also invited me to go to a traditional family wedding... and Alice and I are working hard to go travel together during the winter vacation. This is much more than I had hoped for when I came here, and I hope it keeps on going that way...

Now some pictures to finish this article:

Inside a bus…These have to be the most uncomfortable resting places for the human backside. If you observe the seats and try to imagine the constant swerving of the bus due to the utter insanity of Chinese drivers, you will most likely also feel yourself slide back and forth without any chance to stay put, like on any other normal bus seat. I always feel like I am on a horizontal slide, nearly falling off everytime the bus drives around a corner.


The gorgeous coastline in Zhuhai, on the way to the city centre…


Alice and me…


And in keeping with the Chinese way of life, a traditional « purikura » session!

The food at the restaurant…Food, glorious food, always the food…


That's it for now...