RMIT University. Young Australian Ambassadors Delegation (YAAD) 2014 Weekly Report Week 5 ended Andrew Donald

Transcription

1 RMIT University Young Australian Ambassadors Delegation (YAAD) 2014 Weekly Report Week 5 ended Andrew Donald WEEK 5 ENDED PAGE!1

2 YAAD2014 Week 5 Report Week ended 国庆节 October 1st - National Day October 1st is China s National Day holiday, 国庆节 guóqìng jié, the start of one of the two golden week vacations in China. So we all had a break from classes, and our group scattered in different directions. This is Maddie trying to choose her bicycle. Maddy, Kim and Baz bought lovely new bikes each for between RMB , approximately $A70-110, in preparation for their planned ride to Beijing. The bikes were for sale in a large mall, with one whole floor devoted to small businesses selling pedal- and electricpowered bicycles. This trip was very much a shared cultural experience that illustrated many interesting things about China: the taxi ride (taxis are plentiful and very cheap, RMB15, $A3 shared amongst four); the mall (large, massively built of concrete, somewhat dark and cavernous, with lots of vacant space); the cluster of related businesses (small shops lined up next to each other, very similar products, intensely competitive); bargaining for purchases (eventual purchase prices here were perhaps 75% of initial stated price, with extra goodies included); very WEEK 5 ENDED PAGE!2

3 friendly, personal attention (especially when foreigners are seen to take the trouble to speak Chinese and appreciate customs). So Kim, Maddie and Baz undertook a day-long ride to Beijing. It was a gruelling but very interesting ride, with some minor breakdowns, repairs and back-tracking to rescue lost items. When they arrived at their planned accommodation in Beijing late in the evening, they found that some hadn t brought passports with them, and so they couldn t check in. Some quick work arranged alternative accommodation with Kim s grandparents, who live in Beijing. Lesson: if you travel anywhere, especially to Beijing during a national festival, take your passports. Passports are essential for identification on longdistance travel and for accommodation in any hostel or hotel. The rest of us stayed in Tianjin. We have lots of homework and study to do, so that is always a major focus. There s lots of places to explore, movies to see, people to meet, amazing foods to sample. The area around our university hotel in Tianjin is the old main campus for our host university, 天津师范 大学 Tianjin Normal University. The university has an amazing new campus at 大学城 Daxuecheng University Town, about 5 stations away by subway. WEEK 5 ENDED PAGE!3

4 This is 大学城站 Daxuecheng Station: The old campus is gradually being redeveloped into high-rise apartments and a mall. This is a view of the construction next door: WEEK 5 ENDED PAGE!4

5 This is the view from my university bedroom window: The new campus is very large, and we visit there each week for cultural activities like English Corner and for sometimes for tutoring and study. The library is very large and impressive. Everything seems to be built on a massive scale, with soaring atriums and vast courtyards. As with many other things in China, universities tend to cluster around each other, and share infrastructure. You can see this both with the old campus and the new. Lots of other universities are close by. Partly because of the construction, and partly because my university hotel is full of foreigners who want to speak English, I have found another place to stay some of the time, and to study, in addition to my room at university. It is a rooftop hostel run by a beautiful extended family who at my request largely do not speak English with me. There is a grandmother, several uncles and aunts, the 老板 lǎobǎn boss or owner, his wife and various nephews and nieces. They are incredibly hospitable and caring. I have lots of built-in help with homework, but have to be careful with pronunciations, as the older members of the family have strong accents. Staying with them makes me feel part of a busy, noisy, loving, competitive, chaotic family. I adore it and it is one of the high points of my stay in China so far. WEEK 5 ENDED PAGE!5

6 The hostel is about 2km from university, and I ride or walk back and forth. It occupies a two storey unit perched on top of a 10 storey older building next to Tianjin s famous Water Gardens. Here is the view from my room there, looking out over the Gardens: My host family gave me a welcoming dinner: WEEK 5 ENDED PAGE!6