Arriving in Tianjin

After a long flight from Edinburgh International Airport > Qatar > Beijing, we finally arrived in China after months of preparation and excitement. Sitting on two 10 hour flights with the other Scholars made it easy for us to quickly get to know one another and put us all at ease for the adventures we had ahead of us. When we arrived in Beijing we were welcomed by two Chinese students from the university who took us on a bus to our new home for the next year.

I am fortunate enough to have visited Tianjin Foreign Studies University last year as part of a trip organised by the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools so it felt exciting to see the campus again. The campus has been renovated in several parts and many of the facilities are much newer including the library, sports centre, garden, shop and canteen.

After a few days of settling in and getting to grips with the campus we started to explore the city. We visited Ancient Culture Street where we got a chance to taste some local street food and went to several shopping centres and restaurants.

We have also began studying at the university and although we have only been in the classes a couple of weeks, I have noticed how much my Chinese has already improved. Living in China makes it much easier to learn the language and be motivated to study as it can often be frustrating not being able to communicate with shop workers, read street signs or a menu in a restaurant. Being here also forces you to use what you know and is very rewarding when they understand what you are saying.

I am now beginning to feel like Tianjin is my new home and am looking forward to what China brings every day. We have made many friends from around the world including America, Korea and Morocco which makes me even more thankful for being here and meeting them.

We have one week off for Mid Autumn festival so some of us have booked to go to the near by province of Jinan to climb the mountains.

I am looking forward to the coming months.

*Note for language linking and global thinking exchange class in Scotland*

In honour of international day of languages this month I have elected a mascot who will travel around China during the year with me and will make several appearances showing what I’ve been up to. Meet Pablo the Panda!

Please read the following self-introduction sentences about Pablo and translate them. Once you are finished, why not try make some sentences about yourself and practice with the person sitting next to you!