Zamzam

Our adventure began in Edinburgh. The plane took off at 12:00 PM, everyone safely in their seats. I was very tired so I decided to take a nap. I woke up when it was time to eat dinner, but I had a hard time picking what to eat since I don't eat the meat they served and nearly every dish had some kind of meat, so I decided to eat dessert. My very lovely neighbour was kind enough to speak with the flight attendant about it because they only spoke chinese, and the dessert was very 好吃 (tasty)! After I ate I got to know more about my neighbour and I really enjoyed learning about their story. After a while I took another nap, and when I woke up again it was time for breakfast! I had an amazing meal, then I watched Sonic the Hedgehog 3 before going back to sleep. When I woke up again the plane was landing. My feet could finally feel the ground again after a long 10 hour flight ✈️

The moment we stepped out of Beijing Capital International Airport, the humid summer air of Northern China made us feel like we were in a sauna. After the long flight from Edinburgh and a two hour bus drive we finally arrived at our new home for the next year: Tianjin Normal University

Niamh

During our first five days here we were very busy exploring the massive campus, which has lots of shops including 7/11, KFC, and our favourite, Wumart!!!! Wumart has nothing but our loyalty.
We also had our proficiency exam to sort us into classes and a 14 hour trip to the bank (where some people fell asleep *cough* Morgan *cough cough*).
(A note from yours truly - I actually slept on the bus to it, I went to the mall: bought a snorlax pillow and ate a very questionable KPro NOT sleep the entire time. 😭 Proof below:)

We all had the opportunity to watch the opening ceremony of an international Mandarin Competition hosted next door to our dorms, where we got to see some traditional dancing and a breakdancing robot!

Classes started 6 days after we arrived, this meant we could finally get to know the other 国际学生 (international students)! There are students from all over the world including Thailand, Armenia, Vietnam, Kenya, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Ivory Coast and Russia. We have class every morning from 8:30-12:30 and we have afternoons and weekends off to study, do homework and stuff our faces with bao buns.
We have quickly found ways to fill any free time (after we have finished all our homework of course!). We have been exploring the night market right next to campus that has lots of delicious food and wee stalls. We’ve had a couple of movie nights cramming as many people as possible onto one sofa. We have also been playing lots of badminton and have discovered that Zamzam gets very competitive!
The language barrier has been difficult to get used to but we are all learning quickly and are getting better and better at talking to locals and ordering food at the canteen!

(The view from my dorm window ❤️)

Morgan

Others in my group made the questionable choice of allowing me to talk about the opening ceremony after I used the excuse of 📷camera angles 📷so here we are. It is quite odd experiencing a concert to open a school year but I guess the Chinese like their music and cool lighting. For your viewing pleasure, here is the very beginning of the ceremony.

It was mainly just Chinese pop and other random musical performances before a long instruction video to Tianjin Normal University. While doing this, we waved glowsticks for about an hour and a half and for some reason made a decent sized pile at the end of the concert.

Here’s one random thing I did at the weekend to get used to Tianjin: I became the first scholar (this year; I doubt all the other years, that would be overblowing it way too much) to go to the local football stadium and see what the differences are compared to Scotland. Specifically the TEDA football stadium in the Binhai New Area which is my favourite area of China. I watched Tianjin Jinmen Tiger ( 天津津门虎 ) play and win 1-0 against Henan FC ( 河南 ). There appeared to be 2 different fan groups (‘ultras’ would be a strong word) on opposite sides of the stadium supporting the same team which I found surprising. They had their own colour schemes that, from what I can gather, reflected the time periods of the club since I know it was once under a different name and stadium which reflected the names of a group’s kit. There is probably some conflict going on in the fan base but researching niche fan culture over a team from Tianjin gets difficult and I doubt many people want to read me go too in depth about it.

I’ll report more of my findings next month, this might become a saga, maybe a few February away-days to really dig deep here. In the meantime, enjoy this clip.

Gromit

Gromit’s Campus Travels: