Mission Impossible: Packing
你们好! Nǐmenhǎo! Hello everyone!
In just over one week, I will be flying out to Tianjin, China, where I will be spending a year studying Mandarin Chinese at university. Having participated in the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s School (CISS) immersion course in the summer of 2017, I have had a small taster of what life in China is like. I’m really looking forward to spending the next year in China with other scholars from Scotland and all over the world, although I think it’ll be quite a change from rural Scotland where I have grown up, as Tianjin is a city of almost 15 million people – that’s three times the size of Scotland!
These last few weeks before I go have been spent ticking things off my to-do list, which seems to be forever getting longer rather than shorter. Although I’ve done lots of things like visiting the visa centre and getting my currency, I have not yet tackled perhaps the most important thing on my to-do list: packing.
With a luggage allowance of (only) 23kg to last me an entire year, I’ll have to be selective about what I take. That means I’ll have to leave my bed behind, which I am incredibly reluctant to do. The climate in Tianjin (in the north of China) is fairly variable, with temperatures ranging from -10 to 30 degrees Celsius. With that in mind, I’ll have to pack some fluffy jumpers but some t-shirts too.
Here are some other things I’ll need:
Before I get on the plane (飞机fēijī), I’ll need to show my passport (护照hùzhào). I’ll also take my phone (手机shǒujī) so that I can keep in contact with my family and send them lots of photos (照片zhàopiàn) of the city! I will also take some small traditional Scottish gifts like keyrings and Irn Bru (unfortunately I don’t think there is a translation for that one yet though).
My next update will be when I’ve arrived in China, so goodbye (再见zàijiàn) until then!
Harriet