A Typical Day
Because yes, China is full of sightseeing, but exams are approaching, so we have a lot to study and plenty of homework. My routine starts in the morning, I wake up at 7 AM because my classes begin at 8 AM. I get ready and then go to uni, which is 5 minutes from my home. Early in the morning, I always have Chinese class, my international relations courses are more often in the afternoon. I use my afternoons and evenings to hang out with friends, go out, study, or do sports.
This afternoon (for example), I went to play tennis for the first time with a friend. On campus, there’s an indoor court (in the basement) and an outdoor one. Since the weather was nice, we played outside. Some colleagues came to watch us and then left to play 毽子1. I remember when my mom used to play tennis in China, it was on the rooftop of a building. A basement court is less fancy!
Swimming
On Wednesdays and Fridays, I go swimming. It’s Olympic-sized pool (50 meters). I mentioned it before, but here it is! There’s something particular about the pools here. They’re divided into two sections. One part is off-limits to me for now because one needs a special permit to access it. That restricted area is 1.80 meters deep, considered “deep water”. The other section has water up to my waist. Most people in China don’t know how to swim and use the pool to learn, but there are no lessons. Generally, everyone just does breaststroke. Sometimes I’m the only one doing freestyle!
To access the other side of the pool, I need to take a test (for free) with the lifeguards. Then I’ll get a permit with my photo. I had already taken it in France for school trip safety when I was younger. You need to be able to swim 200 meters without stopping and hold your breath for 30 seconds underwater. I plan to take the test soon to access the whole pool, but it’s not a priority right now.
Girls’ Night
Last night, I invited some friends over for a “girls’ night.” We only had one repeat nationality (France, but since I hosted, maybe that doesn’t count). I made crepes and Indian chai. Everyone brought something from their own country, and we shared a really lovely moment together.
A Chinese friend who joined us noticed that we kept saying “Thank you for coming” and “Thank you for inviting us”. We say that a lot when hosting, but it’s very Western as a formula. She told me she had seen it in a series and learned it that way. I had never thought about it, but it came up a lot. I noticed it in our WeChat chats before and after the event, and multiple times while they were at my place, while giving so many hugs!
The cake was matcha and chocolate, I recommend, it is super nice!
Croissant ≠ Bread
One day during a Chinese class, we had a little aside where we talked about croissants… I have no idea how that conversation started, but for a long time, the French students in the class tried to explain that “no, croissants are not 面包3.” We ended up in a very funny situation where a colleague said (in three different languages): “不是不是，这是 fluffy 的 croissant”4.
At some point, a Pakistani classmate said, “I’ve never seen people get so emotional about bread,” and the teacher replied, “Me neither, I don’t understand what just happened!” The conversation lasted almost half the class. Honestly, it was ironic because just before that, the Italian student had been talking about eating pizza, meal times, and Italian eating habits. So I had told the teacher Italians are peculiar and very strict about their food…
Chinese Name
My roommate recently asked if he had an alias on my blog, and he was disappointed when I said no. He decided that I should start calling him by his Chinese name: 海承5. I thought you deserved to see his hand now that the official introductions are done. I took this photo while we were decorating our apartment. It’s almost finished—we just need a few more details. Mine is: 容慧6.
Chinese names can generally be chosen or given in three different ways:
Someone learning Chinese for a while might decide which characters to include in their name (considering both their individual and combined meanings).
Based on the origin of a name and finding a Chinese equivalent.
The third way, which I find the least interesting, is to mimic the sounds of a name using Chinese characters. For example, Jacqueline could become 小格林7.
What I did was a mix of the first and second methods, and I asked my mom’s input. The first character means “tolerance,” and the second means “intelligence.” I wanted a name that matched my personality, my Chinese zodiac sign (the Water Horse,I will deepen this topic later), and my goals in China: learning about a different culture and language.
Bye bye ~
And that’s it for this week’s post. I hope I’ve been able to show you a little more about what my life is like here, beyond all the sightseeing. On the video to the right, you can see a study session I did with a colleague this Sunday. She takes such care with her handwriting that her characters look printed. It’s motivating to work with dedicated and diligent people!
I also want to dedicate a little message to a very close friend who downloaded WeChat after reading my blog and sent me a message. Here are some excerpts with a few personal comments:
“Quand j’ai vu l’image du lit de princesse j’ai directement su que la chambre était faite pour toi et je t’ai bien imaginé entrain de sauter sur place.” (When I saw the picture of the princess bed, I immediately knew the room was made for you, and I could totally picture you jumping around)
> Yes, that’s exactly what happened. I was very (too?) excited to have a pink bed with windows. 海承 can confirm.
“FELICITATIONS pour le groupe B !!!!! ( imagine que je te lance des confettis)”. (CONGRATULATIONS on group B !!!!! (imagine I’m throwing confetti at you))
> I have to work hard to keep up, but I love learning with people who have been studying Chinese for years. Also, it’s the first time since… forever that I’m not the top of the class in a language course. That is a shock to me!
“je comprends tout a fait la fascination que tu peux avoir pour ce pays. Tu nous fait voyager avec toi !!!” (I totally understand your fascination with this country. You make us travel with you!!!)
> Yes, it’s important to me to share what I’m experiencing. Without social media it’s harder, but at the same time I can share more personal thoughts. I think China is worth being seen from other perspectives than Kung Fu Panda or the news!
- Pronounced “jiànzi”, it is the shuttlecock in English. Two or more players are in circle and kick it to try and avoid letting it touch the floor. It is a collaborative game, if the shuttlecock is down, everyone lost. ↩︎
- Pronounced “jīn tiānbù xuéxí ，míng tiānbiàn lājī”. I took a picture of the sticker in international law class? It says: today you don’t study, tomorrow you will turn into trash. ↩︎
- Pronounced “miànbāo”, means bread… ↩︎
- Pronounced “bùshì bùshì, zhèshì [fluffy] de [croissant]”, he tried to say “No no, croissant is a fluffy pastry”. ↩︎
- Pronounced “hǎichéng”, it represents the sea as a bearer. ↩︎
- Pronounced “rónghuì”. ↩︎
- Pronounced “xiǎo gélín”. ↩︎