Life in Tianjin and the St Andrews Ball

I can’t believe another month has gone by in China. Before arriving in China previous scholars would always say that the year flies by and before you know it, you're home. I honestly can’t reiterate that enough, I can’t believe it is December in a few days.

This month I have realised how much living in China has made me grow up. Not only do you have to do all your own washing and make sure you eat enough fruit & vegetables but also make important decisions. At this point in our classes we must focus as exams are in a month or so and those determine our classes for next semester and what potential qualifications we could achieve. Studying isn’t as big a task as it might seem if you consistently work a little bit each day on improving your Mandarin.  Before coming to China I had an unconditional offer to study at the London School of Fashion. Being here now, I can now say my mind is more open and I’m determined to pursue my Chinese along with my degree.

There’s plenty of things to do around Tianjin. On a Tuesday some of us only have one class in the morning so we took it upon ourselves to make a trip to Ancient Culture Street. Ancient Culture Street is a tourist attraction on the west bank of the Hai river with lots of souvenirs and street food. I would describe it as the ‘Chinatown’ of Tianjin. Chinese food is so delicious but sometimes it’s better not to ask what you’re eating when tasting it.

For the past few years I have been dying my hair frequently so was anxious about making a trip to the hairdressers here in China. After searching around, I managed to find a place which looked very nice. The workers wore suits and looked well-polished. None of which spoke English. We spoke as much Chinese as we could to describe what we wanted but also pointed to pictures on our phones and hoped for the best.  They put mini plastic bags over our ears, which was unusual and gave us a cup of tea. I was extremely impressed with the result. Success.

Being here you make many friends but I believe it is really important to make Chinese friends in particular. They are very kind and extremely helpful in answering all your questions about life in China and improving your Chinese. One night I went to the Tianjin Eye with some of my Chinese friends and it was so nice to just walk around feeling content living in such a unique place. I also went to the cinema with my language partner and she gave me the honour of giving her an English name. We sat after the movie having coffee talking about popular Chinese music and where to visit around the country. Thankfully the movie was in English with Chinese subtitles. The ticket cost around £2.70; much cheaper than the cinema back home.

Although the internet isn’t always good here, sometimes we are able to watch Netflix. One of my favourite seasons is Orange is the New Black. One night we went to see Ruby Rose, an actress in the Netflix season, DJ here in the city. It was such a fun night and reminds you that China isn’t completely distant from the western way of life back home.

If this month couldn’t get any busier, last weekend we had the opportunity to go to the St Andrews Ball in Beijing. We travelled in groups via the bullet train. The bullet train was so modern and a completely different experience to the train in Jinan. It only took approximately 25 minutes. The event was held at the China World Hotel which was beautiful and organised so well. We participated in traditional Scottish dancing, met very interesting people with interesting stories about living in China and had delicious Scottish food.  It was a bubble of Scotland in the middle of China.

I’m looking forward to what December has to offer in China and how Christmas will be without our families. Until next time.