An intro to life in China
life in china. it's good.
I realised last week that no-one back home knows what my life in China is like. I think my nan and grandad had visions of me starving, in some kind of a mut hut. So here's a quick intro to my life here in Beijing.
People
I've got a small group of really cool people here, a result of living and working with the same people every day. The guys and girls in the picture are some of the amazing people I"ve been around.
As I live with 9 people from 6 countries, I'm constantly being shocked, confused and amazed by their different behaviour, cultural backgrounds and personalities. I'm learning a lot, I'm having fun and every week my view of the world changes slightly. It's amazing.
Food
Chinese food is suprisingly good. Greasy, tasty, full of MSG (my mum will be shocked), it never looks quite like the picture, with lots of rice noodles and meat. Also the concept of vegetarians isnt understood here, almost everyone eats meat. Strangely enough, as it is so cheap to eat out in restaurants, we (and most others) eat out every day. Imagine how expensive that would be in the UK!
Travelling
I haven't travelled that much yet, but I've been to the Great Wall (wow), and I'm travelling to the mountains tomorrow, to Shanghai and Guangzhou (near Hong Kong) soon!
Language
Er.... my Chinese Mandarin skills are.... terrible. I haven't really been trying to learn, except picking up some basics and some restaurant chinese.
House
Our apartment is a top floor, 5 bedroom (we all share a room), which is much nicer than our rent suggests.It's a lovely apartment an looks quite impressive :) Its in north west Beijing, and we moved in while the whole apartment block while it was still being built, so it became much cheaper :) If you've ever lived with me before, then you'll know I'm very 'relaxed' about cleaning, and we haven't made any kind of house rules yet, so I'm wondering what I've been like to live with so far... I'll keep you updated.
Work
I'm working for AIESEC, coaching Chinese university students in this organisation. It is really challenging and (in parts) extremely difficult, but I'm learning a lot, thriving in the challenge and I feel that we're making a difference. China has a lot of problems: energy, environment, corporate irresponsibility, poverty, corruption etc.
We're trying to develop leadership in Chinese uni students, and also we're starting to connect them to China's problems. The concept of what we're doing is really inspiring, and every week I see little activities, conversations, tasks that show me that we are succeeding. this is a job i love.
Obviously we don't go hiking and drink beer in the office, but funnily enough I don't have pictures of us at work!
I realised last week that no-one back home knows what my life in China is like. I think my nan and grandad had visions of me starving, in some kind of a mut hut. So here's a quick intro to my life here in Beijing.
PeopleI've got a small group of really cool people here, a result of living and working with the same people every day. The guys and girls in the picture are some of the amazing people I"ve been around.
As I live with 9 people from 6 countries, I'm constantly being shocked, confused and amazed by their different behaviour, cultural backgrounds and personalities. I'm learning a lot, I'm having fun and every week my view of the world changes slightly. It's amazing.
Food
Chinese food is suprisingly good. Greasy, tasty, full of MSG (my mum will be shocked), it never looks quite like the picture, with lots of rice noodles and meat. Also the concept of vegetarians isnt understood here, almost everyone eats meat. Strangely enough, as it is so cheap to eat out in restaurants, we (and most others) eat out every day. Imagine how expensive that would be in the UK!
Travelling
I haven't travelled that much yet, but I've been to the Great Wall (wow), and I'm travelling to the mountains tomorrow, to Shanghai and Guangzhou (near Hong Kong) soon!
Language
Er.... my Chinese Mandarin skills are.... terrible. I haven't really been trying to learn, except picking up some basics and some restaurant chinese.
House
Our apartment is a top floor, 5 bedroom (we all share a room), which is much nicer than our rent suggests.It's a lovely apartment an looks quite impressive :) Its in north west Beijing, and we moved in while the whole apartment block while it was still being built, so it became much cheaper :) If you've ever lived with me before, then you'll know I'm very 'relaxed' about cleaning, and we haven't made any kind of house rules yet, so I'm wondering what I've been like to live with so far... I'll keep you updated.
WorkI'm working for AIESEC, coaching Chinese university students in this organisation. It is really challenging and (in parts) extremely difficult, but I'm learning a lot, thriving in the challenge and I feel that we're making a difference. China has a lot of problems: energy, environment, corporate irresponsibility, poverty, corruption etc.
We're trying to develop leadership in Chinese uni students, and also we're starting to connect them to China's problems. The concept of what we're doing is really inspiring, and every week I see little activities, conversations, tasks that show me that we are succeeding. this is a job i love.Obviously we don't go hiking and drink beer in the office, but funnily enough I don't have pictures of us at work!