A Day In China- 一天在中国 Month 3

November kick-started with a whirlwind: our first set of exams. So for the first two weeks we were pretty much sticking to the campus and studying to prepare for midterms. The midterms count for 30% of our final grade so at this point it was kind of stressful to pull together everything we’ve learned in the last 10 weeks to get a decent pass. It’s not until now I’ve realised I’ve not exactly explained what I do when studying Chinese here…

On our 5th day in China we were given a proficiency exam to be placed into the classes we’d be studying with (although you can make your own decision on where you’d like to study) and after the first week everyone was settled to their classes. Having never had a Chinese teacher before I was placed into 初级三班 (Beginner Class 3), which works at a HSK 3/4 level and are taught entirely in Chinese. I think I only hear one or two words of English after a whole day of classes if I’m lucky. Unfortunately for Class 3 a typical day consists of an 8am class start (which means a 6.30am wakeup call for me), and we usually have two classes in the morning: 8-11.40am. The upside to that though is we always have our afternoons free unlike some classes which may have a class at 2pm.

In class 3 we have (unlike beginner 1 and 2) four separate classes: listening, speaking, intensive reading and extensive reading. Although all classes include a variety of speaking, listening and reading they all focus on different vocabulary and grammar rules. Due to being taught by different teachers as well we get to experience different accents and speech patterns of Chinese, for example our speaking teacher talks a lot faster and uses less of the Tianjin dialect in comparison to our intensive reading teacher. In every class we mainly learn through a variety of classroom conversation, interactive activities and (unfortunately) a lot of written homework and exercises to complete at home. One particular activity in intensive reading is what I’ve dubbed “Spot the Character” where the class is split into two teams and a member from each team has to go up the front of the class and as the teacher reads out the Chinese word smack the character picture on the board. Believe it or not it gets highly competitive with some sly cheating going on a lot of the time (18-24 year old’s are kids at heart). At first I was uneasy with going to class; I am the youngest in the class and many of the students are university graduates or have studied in China before so they were much more relaxed with the university life compared to myself. However as the weeks went on I now find the classroom environment a lot more comfortable. Not only do I really like the people in my class but because the level my Chinese has improved so I can now more easily socialise with non-English speakers and the classwork is getting easier. So it’s goodbye to panicking anxiety every morning before class, and hello to being able to quickly do my homework as I walk to class because I forgot to do it.

After class everyday we head to the canteen where we grab lunch. The canteen has a variety of Chinese food as well as western food like chips, spaghetti and chicken nuggets. My particular favourite for lunch is 煎饼 (“Jianbing”) which is a Tianjin street food, similar to a pancake with a variety of meat, peppers and a crispy wafer inside. To buy our lunch we use cards similar to “Young Scot” cards called Yikatongs. We upload money to the card so that we can use it in shops around campus and the canteen. Some people also pay using WeChat Pay (which is a lifesaver in China). A nice lunchtime routine that the Scottish scholars have developed is eating lunch in the hallway of Floor 7, because of different class-times and out of class activities it’s a great opportunity for everyone to get together to socialise.

The University also offers a variety of clubs and electives that students can participate in outside of classes. These are usually a good opportunity to practice your Chinese and socialise with other Chinese and international students. One club a few of the scholars and I attended was the Cooking Club where we made rice balls and sushi (10/10 recommend trying). A few other electives we’ve tried also include Kung Fu, Chinese History, Calligraphy and Chinese paintings. As well as clubs, the university campus also has a sports centre where we can try a variety of sports in our free-time: table-tennis and badminton are two of our favourites.

Another aspect to daily university life is (unfortunately) looking after the rooms and laundry. This is something many previous scholars mentioned as a difficulty, but due to quickly developing a routine and being quite independent before coming to China I have found the chores a relatively easy thing to adapt to. Around the campus there is a variety of supermarkets and shops where students can get cleaning and cooking supplies, as well as groceries and everything else you need in daily life. To save money a group of my friends and I have bought mops, cleaning supplies and laundry supplies together and every Sunday is room-cleaning and laundry day. A bad habit of mine is I am constantly sweeping and tidying up my side of the room (I wouldn’t say I’m a clean-freak, but if my room is a mess I can’t be in  it), but that means on Sundays it doesn’t take long for my roommate and I to sort our room out. The same can’t be said for the boys though… (sorry guys but your rooms are horrific).

A perk to studying at TFSU is the opportunities that it gives its international students. As well as trips to various places around Tianjin (including the Great Wall), we get opportunities to sign up for Chinese events. One especially prestigious event we attended was the Tianjin Municipal Government Celebration which was a celebration of the People’s Republic of China. The event was attended by the mayor of Tianjin, various government officials, Olympians, actors and (somehow we made it to this list) international guests. So the 7 scholars that attended this event along with 4 other international students were very glad to have been able to attend this event, which many Chinese people could only hope to attend.

“TRAVELLING THE WORLD”: Claire’s Brief Guide

Rule 7: Embrace every aspect of the life around you, don’t be stuck in your room 24/7.

Rule 8: And if you are stuck in your room… keep it clean.

Rule 9: Remember to do your homework… no matter how confident you’re getting with classes.

So aside from learning the language, university life has been interesting and it’s been surprisingly easy and comfortable to develop a routine here in China. Although it is important to remember to keep doing different things as some days have gotten slightly boring if we just go to class and come back to the rooms for the rest of the night. With only one month left until this semester ends, it's the “calm before the storm” as we’re about to get very busy with exams, Christmas and sadly saying goodbye to some of the people we’ve made friends with, as well as travelling and meeting all the new residents next semester at TFSU.

So exciting times ahead but for now it’s just another day of classes and studying. Hopefully my next update will have some exciting stories to tell…

But…

Til then, 再见

Claire 可兰