The China Diaries: So What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

So there's this word in Chinese that's pronounced "zao gao" (糟糕and although its translation is something along the lines of "too bad" or "how terrible", most people use it as the Chinese equivalent of "shit" - as in "shit, how did I end up committing to a year-long stay in a foreign country?"


I've said the word "zao gao" in my head a lot these last few days. Don't get me wrong, the last half week has been equal parts exciting and terrifying (in a good way); my room is great, the university (Zhejiang University, Yuquan Campus) is the size of  suburb and Hangzhou has really exceeded all my expectations. It's clean, it's scenic and yet, super convenient and urbanised. I walked into a cafe the other day and thought I'd magically transported myself back to Newtown or something.  (The coffee did cost like $7 though so that was a bit of a bummer. I knew China was a tea society but deep down I'd clearly been harboring hope that it was otherwise). I'm also really excited to start class and start trying out my mangled and broken Mandarin on other foreign students.

Welcome to ma crib. This is the cleanest you're ever going to see it. 


However, nothing has been easy. NOTHING. I've had troubles getting the simplest task done (e.g. asking reception about the uni's postal address) because of the darn language barrier. To be fair, I probably have no one to blame for that but myself - I knew I should've done a bit of revision before I came but me, being the lazy arse that I am, obviously didn't.

So the theme of this blog post is going to be "Zao Gao!" or in English, "All the Different Ways Cynthia Has Failed in China Within the First Week".


1. The struggle of looking Chinese but not being able to speak the language (well) - aka Cynthia the Banana

This is probably as frustrating for them as it is for me. I mean, a Chinese girl in China? WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE DOESN'T SPEAK CHINESE LOL?

But I actually can't. And so this results in firstly, confusion on everyone's part and then frustration which eventually turns to anger. The reception lady at this international dormitory hates me because I can't communicate with her. She barked at me the other day when I was trying to figure out the wi-fi situation and it was probably not something nice. (I wouldn't know for sure though because guess what - I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HER).

I mean, I am trying and if I come across something I don't know, I take note of it for future reference. But if it's not in my vocabulary, it's not in my vocabulary. With the written language, I can try to translate it on my phone but with spoken, it's obviously not as easy.

So I've had trouble with ordering at restaurants, figuring out the rules and processes for my dorms (including laundry, wifi, electricity, etc.), going to places, asking for directions, living, surviving, getting basic shit done, etc.

Funny story but today in my Chinese placement test, the examiner asked me to write down my Chinese name and so I did and handed the paper back to her. She took one look at it, gave an exasperated sigh, grabbed a pen and then corrected the characters for me.

So yeah, apparently I can't even write my name correctly. I am obviously off to a great start.

2. The universe does not want me to get a sim card

We first tried at the little phone shop across from our dorms. The place looked a little bit shifty and the lady said that our cards wouldn't be activated until Monday, so we left. We then took a walk around Hangzhou looking for other phone shops, went into a hotel where we asked for directions and were told that actually yes, if we got sims, they probably wouldn't work until Monday.

Alright cool. As a foreigner with limited Chinese who's just arrived in a giant unfamiliar city, why would you even need a working sim, right?

So around comes Monday and our next attempt brings us to Hangzhou's fancy shopping district. After taking a taxi there, we were told that the closest phone shop was a 20-30 minute walk away. We were also told that there would be no point getting sims on that day because it was the last day of the billing period and we would just be wasting our time.

On Tuesday, we think, "fuck it, let's just go to phone shop on our campus (even though it's not with the provider we'd like) and try to set SOMETHING up". We get there and the lady at the counter goes "My computer is broken today so I can't give you sim cards. Come back another day".

I'm sure that at this point, there's a certain humour to be found in the situation but to be honest, I really just wanted to punch the universe in the face.

Anyway we eventually got sim cards at a shop south of our university and it's all sorted now but man, was that an experience I do not want to repeat.

3. Getting through the Great Firewall

...is not an easy task, let me tell you. Let's just say that even if you've got a VPN (I went with ExpressVPN), it may not be entirely reliable. Even now, I'm unable to use it on my phone in conjunction with my university's wi-fi.

So if I've Facebook messaged you several times in the last few days with something along the lines of "TESTING. ARE YOU GETTING THIS MESSAGE??", my apologies. And if I haven't, then clearly my VPN is not doing its job.

4. To spend or not to spend??

You know you're a poor university student when you spend three hours sitting in the dark because you've only got a set amount of electricity per month and you're not willing to spend more on anything extra.

Okay yes, I do have the money and I'm not exactly struggling but hey, every yuan counts and if I had to choose between spending money on food or spending money on electricity, I'm not too proud to admit I'd go with the former. There's also the minor fact that I will not be working for the ENTIRE year so it's not like my funds will be replenished somehow.

In saying that, food and living expenses are relatively cheap in China. My rent is only about $326 AUD/month. That is ridiculously low by Sydney standards. However, clothes, phone plans and coffee and hella expensive. And considering I only packed like five outfits, this may prove to be a problem. How long do you think I can get away with wearing the same jumper before everyone notices?

******

In conclusion, China is cool and I'm having fun. In saying that, if I can get through this month without ending up homeless, lost or penniless, I believe I would be quite satisfied.

1 comment:

  1. Number 4! It's a hard habit to break, once you're used to prioritising your money!

    ReplyDelete

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