It was the beginning of July, after midnight and I went to
sleep after doing some of the postponed, leftover homework, which was essential
to submit to get my last subject done. I
remember I finally started doing it because I refused my friend’s invitation to
have some beers and I promised her to punish myself for turning her down. It
was one of the nights when you lay in your bed and start thinking instead of
closing your eyes. We were supposed to enrol in the next year’s courses in a
few days. I already knew it’s only going to be more difficult. It wasn’t the
first time I was flirting with the idea of doing something different. What if I
don’t even want to continue in my study programme? Wouldn’t it be nice to study
abroad? Why should I wait another year to go to China with some kind of
uncertainty where I’ll end up?
The morning after I immediately wrote an e-mail to our coordinator if I’m still eligible to get a last minute scholarship to Guizhou University in Guiyang, which is located in the area I was the most interested in – south-west of China. People, mostly students after the second year of study, usually apply for scholarships by the end of October and it’s a lottery. This way, I managed to get my application approved in a day, to a place where I wanted to be. It was really a last minute call and since then a lot of necessary documents started piling up. I even almost got my visa application refused because I had to apply for a different type than I was supposed to have due to some problems caused by the Chinese side. However, everything is fine, it’s almost 2 a.m. and I’m sitting in a cold, almost Hilton-like Chinese dormitory and writing this blogpost. It’s already been a month since I arrived to China and I’m going to share some of my first impressions and thoughts with you.
1) Organized chaos
This was my second real thought after like an hour in China,
when we arrived to Chongqing. The first one was if I wasn’t travelling with my
classmate, I’d have probably spent my first day being a beggar on the airport,
because the one and only ATM in the arrivals hall didn’t accept my Mastercard
and all I had was like 450 CZK. So we got into the taxi and, during the way to
our hotel, I quickly realized that at least half of the
Czech drivers wouldn’t last long in this traffic. All you hear is tooting and
all you see are cars zigzagging from one lane to another, which still sounds a
bit optimistic, because the lanes don’t even matter during traffic jams. But I
guess the traffic situation would collapse if it weren’t for all those agile
drivers. I’ve only seen one minor carcrash so far. Crossing the road is also an
adventurous thing, no one really cares a lot about traffic lights for
pedestrians.
2)
I don’t understand Chinese (or is it still
Chinese?)
I was pretty sure my Chinese level is far from being able to
hold a serious conversation. This is why almost everyone leaves the country
after the second year or later. But I was actually looking forward to this.
Almost no one speaks English and you’re really forced to use Chinese. I was
able to express myself but the „replies comprehension meter“ was almost always
down to zero. We were told to get out of the restaurant the second day in China
when we were trying to order a hot pot (火锅), which is Chongqing’s
must-have. I guess they were trying to tell us to mark the type of hot pot and
the additional ingredients on a paper, because from the experience of having a
few hot pots and 干锅 (which is basically a hot pot in which the ingredients
are already cooked and broth is added later), I probably told the lady to bring
us two different types of hot pots even though I didn’t mean to. By the way,
feel free to use google images with these Chinese characters, it’s hard to imagine
this completely different cuisine. Writing a form to open a Chinese account was
also funny. I had to throw away 4 forms before I got it right.
It’s getting better since the school started but still
nothing fancy going on. I can somehow understand putonghua, which is standard
Chinese, but when an old lady starts speaking to me in the local dialect (which
is far from the standard Chinese), I can only stay there, witlessly smiling.
What is worse, 2 of my 4 teachers also don’t bother to use proper putonghua so those 2
hours classes with them are still not so okay. It is said that even Chinese
from other regions can’t sometimes understand each other. Later on, I’ll get back to
the school stuff.
3)
The prices
It’s not as cheap as you might be thinking. Sure, it’s still
cheaper than in my country if I don’t take into account the imported western
stuff, which is really expensive, but overall, I expected the cost of living to
be lower. If you go to a „dirty“, cheap restaurant, you can get a lunch for like 10-15 RMB ($1.7 – 2.5), but I am really talking about the cheapest restaurants
out there. Nevertheless, the food still tastes great, you just have to expect
not the cleaniest environment. Liquers could be really cheap if you're used to
drinking vodkas in discount, but it tastes awful (as if those vodkas didn’t). If you're into this stuff then it's a paradise for you! I haven't seen any blind person yet, so it could either kill you or it's okay to drink. But it's definitely cheap to buy a decent bottle in here.
Cigarettes are really worth mentioning. You can find a pack
for 3 RMB and then it’s going up to even like over 100 RMB per pack. I was
really curious about this and it’s simply a sign of wealth, loyalty to your
hometown and attitude. The cheapest ones are local and then it’s just about the
design of the pack, where are they made or who likes/liked to smoke this kind of cigarettes.
Oh, this guy smokes 中南海, he must really like Mao. And that one smokes 娇子, he’s
probably from Sechuan! This pack costs 200 RMB, he must really have a ton of
money. And so on. I actually tried those for 3 RMB and liked it better than some
of the high-class ones, haha.
I haven't bought any new clothes yet, but if you're looking for something branded then you probably won't save anything. I was in a shopping center and nothing really seemed to be cheap. H&M was actually slightly more expensive. I finally got my scholarship today and I want to buy some shoes for running so I'll go and explore the local shops as well.
4)
Catching up with my classmates
I was somehow, according to a test, assigned to a class with
for example Laotians who are tought, back in Laos, Chinese like we learn English,
or with people who already have Bachelor’s degree and/or passed HSK 4 or 5,
which is B2/C1. So almost everyone is completely ahead of me. It could either
crush you or motivate you. I still didn’t get into the nerd mode, but I already
feel the progress.
On the other hand, there is also a problem with our books. I
actually expected to be the best in reading and the worst in conversation. As
you can guess, it’s the other way around, due to our books. If I’ll be able
to read and understand a new article in our reading textbook without any major
problem by the end of this semester, I’ll be really proud of myself. Even the
girl with HSK 5 admitted that it’s not easy and one Chinese guy, who took a
look, said that it rather looks like a textbook for a Chinese middle school. I
go really mad when I find out that some crazy 30 strokes character means the
same as something that could be written in like 8 strokes. Not mentioning all
those idioms all around and that weird writing style.
I really wonder what my Chinese will be like after these 2
semesters. Let’s make the stay here worth it!
5)
Parties beyond comparison
Guiyang is one of the provincial capital cities with the
least foreigners, which means that local people aren’t used to the world
outside of China. Not many people really know where the Czech Republic is so I
often end up saying that I’m from Europe. And what’s better than drinking with some
total stranger like he’s fallen from the space, right? Well, I’m exaggerating,
but you get the point. I always wanted to know what it’s like to be the hot girl
who gets all the attention and drinks. You have to act like an idiot sometimes
but it works perfectly. Let's start describing the clubs in here. They look
really good and have a great service. I was once invited to, I guess, VIP
section to a table with some guy in an army uniform, he later showed me photos
of some tanks and army vehicles. Well, whoever that was, it’s funny that
something like this is happening. Back to the service. There was staff who
didn’t even let you pour or open a beer. You got offered a cigarette? As soon as you
took it, someone from the staff already had a lighter in front of your face.
Chinese people really like to offer cigarettes, it’s a cultural habit. But you
don’t come to a club to smoke expensive cigarettes.
Our dormitory closes at midnight and is again opened around
6 a.m., so we have time to get drunk a little (or more) back in here and then go to the city
center. It’s already intense around midnight, it’s the best time to come and
we’re there until the club closes or unless you find someone who offers you a
place to sleep. Well, by someone, I mean girls. I always thought that Chinese
girls are rather shy but it’s the complete opposite. Me being white plays a big
role, but I'd never had expected someone, after like 3 minutes of dancing, telling me that she wanted to sleep with me :-D Here we go with the language barrier
part. Me being drunk, loud music and drunk people speaking in Chinese, nope,
the communication doesn’t work here. Which is cool, because club isn’t really a
place where I want to listen to someone’s life story. Using body language can be so much fun . I need to study (or party?) harder to
be able to argue with cockblockers, though.
The most common drink is whiskey mixed with ice tea. I don’t
know why, but it’s not bad and you’re drinking what you’ve been given. This and
beers. And everything is incredibly expensive, I would easily spend my whole
monthly scholarship during one night. If there’s anything I already know I’m
gonna miss, then it’s parties. Sorry my Czech friends, it’s incomparable.
I feel like this post is already long enough and I still have a lot to write about, you should be expecting a part 2 soon :)
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