Interesting Things that I’ve Learnt About China while in China

August 29, 2008

Shanghai is about as modern as it is underdeveloped

If you average out the country and city standards of living then the average standard of living is quite low

Roads are filled with cars, busses, trucks, bikes, bicycles, scooters and people none of the people on the road care about anyone else

Street vendors sell those zany looking watermelons, yes, those ones…

…No I haven’t tried one

A lot of basic words such as keyi and yisi have a heaps of alternative deffinitions

People usually emphasize the ‘wei’ when they answer the phone – ‘weeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’

They’ll say it a few times as well and dribble their confirmative speech

People have dogs and cats as pets…

…And they look very clean and cute

Everyone stares at you, most try to not make it look obvious but fail…

…Others just stare blankly

People are quick to assume that you’re an idiot if you mess up one sentence and just as hasty to assume you are a genius if you get it right

The birds here don’t sound as pleasant as they do in Australia

In Australia you can arrive as a foreigner and people can assume that you might be a local, in China this would never happen and they’d never want it to happen…

…I’m sure they’ll come around

You can’t exchange Australian money at the bank

People in houses with smashed windows and tin sheds also have computers

There is an ashtray in my room

Smoking is also allowed in Internet cafes

Almost everyone that I say hello to and ask how they are never answers the question

My taxi driver knows the word ‘peasant’ and was quick to point one out to me as we were driving – I think he thought it was funny

I’ll probably have more of these in the future

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First Three Days: China

It’s been a rough slog settling in over here and will undoubtedly prove to be more so as my list of responsibilities amount, but here I am – finally in Shanghai and living on campus. This is my account of the first three days, please excuse all spelling and grammatical errors. I use a free text editor (Open Office Writer) and it has a terrible spell-checker plus I am just as bad if not worse than the software. Feel free to skim and look at the photos.

To Melbourne

My plane over to Melbourne (in which from there I would fly to ShangHai) left at 6am in the morning, meaning that I had to get-the-worm at about 2:30am and leave with the family shortly after. On arriving at the airport Qantas staff were noticably absent from their counters and arguably late to the job (by means of ‘you should check-in an hour and a half before you fly’). They slowed hurried (they had about as much haste as you could for 4am) and after some long-winded aisle preparation they were finally ready to sevre the line of people who’d just been watching them twitch the ailse poles for the last 20 minutes. I checked in and moved on through pretty quickly. Once w got to the gate there wasn’t much of a wait until departure, so I said my goodbyes to the family and boarded the plane.

I’m not too fond of travelling by plane. 11hr flights like the one from Melbourne to Shanghai push onto tedium very quickly. Particularly with generic food and stewards that scurry past you fast enough to wake you up in the back draft. My last trip to China was with Malaysia Airlines and while Malaysia is a beautiful place (mandarin is the second most widely used language over there I believe) the airline is doesn’t live up to the country’s name.

With this said, the early morning flight to Melbourne was actually kinda pleasant. I was the only person in my aisle – on my side. The view was lovely and even though the flight was only about an hour long they still had the decency to serve up breakfast which was lovely (mandarin, Sultana Bran etc.).

In Melbourne

The plane arrived on time at Melbourne airport, still quite early in the morning (7:50am Melbourne time). I made my way to the International Terminal which wasnt too difficult to find. General impressions of the airport – about 10 years dated in look and feel but still a very large, jammed packed airport, staff aren’t very friendly, is this a Victorian thing? Maybe I will reserve my judgement.

On my way over I ran into a Chinese guy who was having trouble asking for directions so I helped him out (as you do being an enthusiastic Chinese student). Turns out that we were both going to the same city, same district. He also sat behind me on the flight over from. He is a mechanic, 35, his wife had been studying Nursing at Flinders University. He wanted to return home to see his daughter in Shanghai.

Together our two-man team looked at some of the stores in the airport (there are plenty of them, all very nice) and then moved to Terminal 2. The line through was pretty long (lot’s of Chinese people) so it didn’t give us much time on the otherside to board the plane.

Once we got through we rushed forward with haste until we came across a screen with all the outgoing flights displayed along with gate number and status. Our flight status was ‘relax’. Being an airport newbie I asked a nearby Melbourner what this meant, he said that it meant that the plane was not ready to go, perhaps because they were still preparing it for take off.

My friend and I (his last name is the same as mine, but is a different character meaning ginger) found a place to sit and waited for the displays to change. We waited for at least an hour and still had heard no word of change. It was a few minutes over the hour that we heard a rollcall for us and about 7 other people over the PA, dumbfounded by why they hadn’t put it on the board already we ran downstairs to the gate – this was the first time that they had told us which gate we were boarding from. I also noticed a girl running downstairs as well.

We got there in good time, they checked our tickets and then had to reset them as the machine wasn’t working. From there we hopped on the bus and travelled across the tarmac to the plane. On the way I began conversation with the person sitting next to me and the young girl who was rushing downstairs before. The women sitting next to me ocassionally works over in China, had been over a couple of times before, was very relieved that it was her last trip over there since she didn’t like the country. The girl standing up was from New Zeland but had lived in Melbourne her whole life, spent the last 2 years doing high school in Beijing (supposively her parents live in China) and was going to Fudan University (one of Shanghai’s most prestigious Universities) to study Mandarin. Both of them seemed very displeased about the delay and cited their last experiences to China with Qantas as further examples of repeated delays.

I finally got on the plane, sat next to a man sleeping. Sat there for a while waiting for the plane to depart. The stewards and stewardess handed out arrival cards for us to fill in for when we got to Shanghai. On the back of the card it had poorly translated the word to describe us; the people arriving in the country – calling us ‘aliens’. I showed the guy across from me, he noted how they used the word ‘inn’ – I don’t think he got my joke.

With nothing better to do, I whipped out some paper and notes, and began refreshing my character writing. The man next to me (across the aisle; no sense of humour) started conversation. Turns out he is a nice guy afterall, runs a construction business in Shanghai and is moving the family over. Like me, he studied Chinese language and shared a lot of the same uncertainties as I do now. I asked him some questions about the pollution and such.

Eventually the guy sitting next to me (BTW, got an aisle seat again) woke up. I told him that I got him some water, he grumbled back to sleep. Later on he woke up and asked if the water was his (I don’t think he cared to listen the first time). We later began conversion. He teaches 5 year olds english in WuXi an hour out of Shanghai, seems to have no teaching experience or passion for the job. Seemed like a bit of a hard arse too and was a little domineering at times. He says that all the food is safe (noted in intestines of animals) and that I have nothing to worry about. I’m not so sure. He was also adamant about tutoring and says that I’d be an idiot if I didn’t take it up, furthermore I’d be rude if I rejected the money they offer for it. He slept for most of the trip, despite claiming to be surprised by it – I wish I had his karma. In the end he turned out to be pretty friendly. I later quizzed him about Victorians, I guess I will post that up later.

Shanghai Airport

We had finally got to Shanghai, an hour and a half late (7:40PM). I managed to find my Chinese friend again and he helped me through. Together we collected our bags. The airport (that’s the Pudong airport) is huge but was very empty. The humid weather also began to seep into the complex making things a little less comfortable.

We reached the arrivals area and saw a bunch of Chinese people, some in uniform, all holding up signs. Some of them were for universities, others for taxi services and hotels. I said goodbye to my friend – I got his number, he wants to go out and have fun sometime – and started looking for my University. A few minutes went past and I couldn’t find them, so I did anothr loop of the area, again no luck. As I was walking around a young girl came to me and ask “want a ride” – they teach them well. I said no and asked if she had seen anyone from my University, she said no and that she’d look out for me.

I kept circling the area, went a little further down, right out into the “meeting point’ but still I had no luck. So I went back and scanned the area again. Damn. The young girl I mentioned before approached me again and we talked a bit, she could speak good english which was a relief. I approached a counter and was greeted by a few of the men behind it, they seem a little too enthused to want to help a lost westerner. I talked to them and they weren’t much help, suggested hotel accomodation which was…good.

On the young girl’s advice I decided to head down to the other terminal – two terminals, both linked with a central part, maglev train in the middle. All of the flights were from other areas of Asia so I assumed hat they weren’t that stupid to wait for me there and return to do another circle.

This was all pretty heart-breaking I must say. Lost in a huge, empty airport without a lifeline. On my return I did another look around, more passengers were coming in and a TV crew had now arrived to film the arrivals, there was also a group of people taking photos with a banner. Some prestigious University I imagine.

Oh, I almost forgot I used the young girl’s phone to call my friend Xi in Anhui (few hrs out of Shanghai) who really couldn’t be much of a help, he tried calling the university but they were expectedly unavailable.

What I noticed on my circulations was that the desk that I went to before was for a bunch of hotels close to the airport and the people behind them were sales people. I decided that there would be no point in me getting a taxi to the University so I approach the friendly gentlemen behind the counter. I think because they work at the airport and not on the streets that they were actually pretty genuine and this was probably my best option. I asked them where I could get the cheapest accomodation near the airport and they found me a place for 218 yuan a night (about $35-40). The price was a little steep but that was expected considering that it probably had a solid rating (turns out was three stars).

They also told me that a bus at the airport can take me to the hotel. Sure, no prob. Then the man came out from behind the counter and escorted me to the bus. Supposively it was leaving very soon so he hastily rushed ahead, faster than I could wheel my stroller and luggage around. We soon got outside and walked right to the outskirts of the parking area to find the bus there. I got on and off we went.

At Hotel

I hopped in and sat next to a short Chinese lady with blotchy skin. The tour bus (that should probably held in quote marks) was an old van with the interiors removed and junk wedged in the crevices, no seat belts either.

We took off and bounced down to an area under major construction, remote in appearance and not dissimilar to my assumption of a country area.

At this point I was feeling very relieved and shared my relief with the lady next to me. We got into some spirited discussion, I shared my tale of woe and she told me her background (flying to Italy, was born in Shanghai). The bus came to a halt and we stepped out of the vehicle and into the pool of humidity.

The hotel actually seemed quite good (relative to expectations), not dissimiliar to a hotel that I stayed at in Xi’an 2 years ago. The other passangers from the bus sat down and arranged their deposit. I was expectedly served last, they took down my passport details, wrote down a reciept and gave me my key card. I had to ask which floor it was on and overall had a little difficulty communicating with the lady on the other side of the desk.

I found my room on the second floor – it was marked the third with the ground floor being level two. After some key card quibbles I got into my room and took and look around, all of the lights, the exhaust fan and TV turned on as well. It was quite tidy room and rested my mind on what I thoght would be an inflated westerner’s price (I asked for “best friend’s price” so it had better be good).

I had to return to the lobby twice, the first time to ask how to make a regular outgoing phone call (too difficult/improbable to call home), the second time was to buy water, I also chatted with the lady, explaining what happened. She shared some sympathy. I returned to my room, showered, put the air con on and planned what I would do the following day. I went to bed at about 12am.

Day Two

I woke at 6am, with my energy seemingly quenched (it’s hard to tell when you are in such a situation). I thought over my plans again, rested for a while and then decided to get up at 7:30am. I showered, packed my bags and at 9:00am called my contact. At first she had a little difficulty understanding what I was saying (wei, wei, wei! – although I am starting to notice that this is how they normally answer the phone) but it only took a moment to give her the facts and realize what happened. She advised that I ought to catch a taxi to the University (I was planing on doing that anyways). They did actually come to get me (will explain later) and she also wanted me to pay a call out fee for them…little rough.

I got a call at 9:30am reminding me about the return charter that was booked (oh yeah, I booked that too) and headed out to organise my payment. The lady going to Italy caught the same bus and together we returned to the hotel. The lady told the driver that I was heading for the University (I should note that the Uni is about an hour from the airport). Once we arrived the driver asked me some questions which I again I struggled to understand but eventually answered. He put me in the hands of someone working at the airport (wore the couchier(?) uniform) who escorted me downstairs to the taxi rank. Once again too much haste to keep up.

We got outside and he pointed in the direction of the taxi rank and walked off. I waited under a sign with an arrow that pointed to the taxi rank (no taxis there though). After looking around I decided to walk around and see if I could find a spare taxi. I didn’t have to walk far though as I was called over by a flock of hungry taxi drivers who’d obviusly noticed the weighty rucksack on my back and foreign apperance.

I walked over to them and they lauded me with the small amounts of english praise that they had. They asked me where I was heading (switching to Chinese now), I answered and downfall of praise became heavier (over an hour of driving = big fare). Some guy handed me a leaflet and I jumped in.

Taxi

Having noted the Chinese that I spoke before, the driver started talking to me while he was driving. I told him a few things about myself and jousted back with some of my own questions. He showed off the little bit of english that he had by trying to grab my attention with “hello hello!”.

When I ran out of conversation starters, I decided that I ought to look at this pamphlet that was still in my hand. It stated the going rates to get to the popular places in the city and how the fare was calculated. Having rarely been in the back seat of a taxi, I asked him how much did he think the fare would cost, he then pointed to a meter infront of me which had already hit 20 yuan ($3). As we were going along the meter was increasing uncomfortably quickly, so I checked my wallet to see if I would be able to pay for the fare. I had 260 yuan and didn’t think that I would be able to so I asked him what my options were and if I could pay with my card. He concluded that we’d stop at the Pudong (ShangHai CBD) and I could get some money out.

It wasn’t too long before we got there (tidbit:the sky had a hint of blue in it as well, mostly “colourless” in appearance, I think it was like that because the sun was so bright). We stopped infront of a fancy hotel with a “Agricultural Bank of China” to the side. I headed inside, hoping that my card would work and unsure what would happen. I asked a lady sitting down and she directed me to a man in a police uniform behind me (these guys are in almost every major store, have SCSS badges), he answered my question by pointing to the ATMs. They were all free so I jumped on and was surprised at how easy it was to use, within 30 seconds I had my precious yuan and returned before my driver could get two puffs of his cigerette.

On the way he continued his confusing Chinese banter with phrases like “Puxi is good, Pudong is good” (that’s either side of the river that divides Shanghai and runs through the CBD).He told me where we were every few minutes and in the end we reached the University in half the time I thought it would take. He parked out by the front gate, I paid 186 yuan for the trip which was about a third of the price that I assumed it would build up to (although still too much, no wonder taxi drivers are always so happy).

USST

I got to the gates and asked the security guard where the foreign school office was, he pointed straight ahead. I walked for a few metres and he yelled back when I veered to the right.

I asked for directions a couple of times along the way, most students had a rough idea of where it was. I stumbled into a group of about 5 students exiting a building and asked them for help. They were extremely hospitable even though they didn’t even know that there was an exchange student office. I showed a copy of my acceptance letter and they called the office and asked for diretions. Together we walked to a small building and they knocked on the door for me.

My email leazon answered. She appeared to be very young, mayber even younger than I (20).She welcomed me in with a soft voice and gave me some water. Her last name is Hua. She introduced me another man and together we went to a restraunt on campus to eat. The man (considerably older looking) did a lot of the talking along the way, all in Chinese and very fast. I couldn’t catch exactly what he was trying to say and like almost everyone over here, he showed no remorse or chance of slowing down so I nodded and asked him to repeat a few times.

We got to a small but loud restaruant. They two of them ordered the food and the man asked me what beer I wanted to drink. I told him that I’d never tried any Chinese beer so he ordered what he liked; QingDao.

We talked some more and then the dishes were served. As expected there was more food than room to fill in our stomach. One dish was a spicy Sichuan (earthquake) dish which I had tried before at my friend’s hot pot. There was another dish of green beans, another with fish (didn’t eat), another with crumbed beef with union and a final one with battered pork twigs. Noodles were my main dish.

The meal wasn’t too bad and actually quite good. I am beginning to get use to eating a whole bunch of unfamiliar food that ressembles something from home. The man poured me plenty of refills for the beer (he actually ordered two large bottles of the stuff). On the way back to the office, the female supervisor explained to me somethings in English. She explained how they went to the airport and waited for an hour and a half and then asked if I was actually on the 6pm plane, the airport said no (fasly citing Air China). She also explained that my accomodation will be on the campus we were currently at and that I would be studying 20km in XuHui district. Now, get this, even though XuHui is only 20km away, it will supposively take me an hour commute (bus and then train) to get there. Hmmmmm….

She explained that they could help me find an apartment closer if I wanted or just live at my previously booked location. The cost of an apartment at the school would be 400 yuan a day which is very expensive considering that I now pay about 66 yuan a day.

After more talk we saw the other guy off and together went to organise my legal residence. Then she showed me where I would be living. On the way we walked through an area of derilict houses and buildings. I’m not really sure what to compare it to, I will upload photos sometime. I can’t help but think about the setting of Resident Evil 5 (video game) as a comparison but hmmm…I’m not sure. Think houses stain with the marks of overhanging air conditioniers, some rooves made with metal sheeting and a makeshift road (with speed humps!).

Anyways as we were walking through we stopped midway and went into one of the buildings. This was where I was going to live. Inside was a lady with…hmmm….not very nice teeth. I didn’t think that I had enough for the one months rent but it was okay as my female accomplice (Hua) said that we’d get some more later on.

We went up stairs to see the room. The inside of the building is full of peeling paint, dirty floors, external piping and not very brightly lit. My room is actually pleasant and obeys the “as long as my place is okay then I am fine”/”not in my backyard” attitude of the Chinese people. The floorboards look new as well. Unfortunately most of the wiring is external, I need to turn the light on by pulling a string and there are a couple of standout bug splats on the walls. Still it is okay.

The bathroom which I share with the person living next to my room is perhaps less favourable. There are tiles but also plaster touch up jobs over the pipes with weave their domiance of the tight quarters. It’s rough. Hopefully I’ll have picture up to show a clearer message. I guess the one benefit is that the shower is detachable comes of and I love those types of shower heads! ^_^

The area connEcting all of these rooms is much the same, unfortunately. Lots of peeling, rust and decay, lovely.

The female suprvisor (the young one sorry, her last name is Hua) told me was these living conditions are below standard and that she figured that I’d be unhappy with them. She also said that she’d come to meet me later to help organise my phone, money and shopping.

I was left to sleep for a while but instead sorted my things into drawers and rested for an hour at the end. Hua then met me and together we walked out of the Uni to the nearby shopping area. It is surprising how lax the Chinese people are on traffic and walking all over the road. I mean I know this already from my last visit but seriously they just walk as they please. I saw two guys standing in the middle of the road conversing and hugging.

I should also point out that I haven’t really noticed the pollution much, probably because it is in the clearer part of the year. Breathing is much the same, maybe a little more difficult but then again I am concerntrating on it more.

Hua and I also went to the phone shop and tried to organise a new number, calling home and a sim card. Unfortunately there were no numbers available at the time and they said to return in an hours time. On the way back Hua pointed out the near by ‘LuaHua’ supermarket (where I buy my water). The most important thing on my mind was to contact my family so I asked about the nearest internet cafe (these are very popular in China and also act as the gateway to MMO games hence mainy of them are orientated on this theme). She said that there was one about 10 minutes away so we started walking until I spotted once about 10 paces from us and we went there instead. Hua questioned the price for me and then left me to it. The place was actually pretty modern, the décor is partly squiggles and lines, partly ‘gamerZ’. The computers do have USB ports (OMG yes!), the screens are solid widescreen displays and the OS is Windows XP with some quick launch thing that covers the whole screen (has a variety of links to popular software like World of Warcraft and QQ).

I should also note that suppsoively the University has no computers for students to use. This makes little sense given that the english name for this university is University of Shanghai, Science and Technology. The better and more accurate translation in my opinion is ShangHai Engineering University.

I was there for a little over an hour and returned to the phone store at the time they said to return to find that it was closed. Lovely. From there I just returned home, organised somethings and went to bed. I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry and just tucked into some of the Australian food that Mum had packed me. Even then I still didn’t eat much. At that time I tried to continued writing up this piece (I must have starte in the break earlier) but grew tired of it after a few paragraphs and dozed off shortly thereafter – about 8:20pm).

Day Three

Much like the day before I woke up at around 6:00am, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering that I will probably need to wake up then to get ready for a school day. I also heard the person from the room next door begin to shower and get ready. Once again I closed my eyes and just pondered until about 7:30am over what I would do for the day. From there I just slowly began to write another to do list for the day, I might have also jumped on the laptop, I’m not too sure.

I then got ready to return to the phone store and buy some toilet paper. I needed the toilet paper since none was provided.

I went to the phone store and was directed in the right position by the guy that looked like a cop. I then explained my case and showed them the details written down from last time, after fussing about which one of them would have to deal with the westerner they asked for my passport and then we got going. They filled out a bunch of forms, pointing out some of the english documentation and then had me sign some forms. They also asked that I read the 2 page terms and conditions but it was all in small Chinese print so I just signed my life away to the telco.

I’m pleased to say that I can actually call anywhere around the world (ie. home) without needing additional phone cards (they are optional and there was no prepaid credit deals). I just add a few extensions to the number and it works. The reception too is incredible. I have enough trouble using my phone to call someone in Australia 20km away and yet from China to Australia it is perfect. I blame Optus.

I also bought the dunny paper in a huge pack of 12, it was the smallest pack they had. With the pack of toilet paper under my arm I headed back to my room, from there I did my business and went to meet Hua to get the phone working. Turns out that you don’t even need to unlock it which is awesome.

I also asked her a pile of questions (like where can I eat and wash my clothes). I also found out that she is 35 years old, shes also the daughter of 7 children – not sure which one is more unbelievable. From there I walked around to the University canteen. There are seemingly two of them both in the same building on different floors. I think that is like a school canteen, the other like a restaurant. I went to the top floor, noticed that I needed to grab a lunch tray and proceeded towards the big glass wall that divided the food and food servers from myself.

I firstly asked them how I pay for the meal (student card and/or cash, I got the student card from Hua) and then chose my dishes in which they served onto small plates. I chose something that resembles “beef and blackbean” and some dish with green capsicums and tofu (I love capsicums). A bowl of rice and some flem soup (not sure what it is) completed the 7.5 yuan meal ($1.30). I then sat down and got tucked in, the food was really nice.

While I was eating I gave my friend Xi (over in AnHui) a call to let him know that all was well. I couldn’t talk to the family (since they were all hot at home) so I figured that I ought to talk to somebody. I’m not sure who picked up his phone but it was some women who spoke very loudly into the microphone. I told her who I was and she then passed me over. Xi and I chatted for a good while and then concluded as I noticed that the canteen was beginning to close. By the time I got through 2/3 of my meal I was the only one left along with another staff member cleaning tables. I asked just prior if they were closing and they said in a little bit, so I decided to forfeit the remaining third before I got a negative reputation among the staff (and I don’t want that to happen since I plan on going there for meals each day).

With all of my work for the day accomplished I decided to continue writing this piece and did so for a couple of hours until my family in Australia would probably be at home. When the time was right I finally called through and was pleased. As I insequentially said a few paragraphs back the reception is brilliant except when it is quiet the service mutes the white noise from the other end, the same goes for when I talk; I hear no sound unless the person on the other end of the line interupts. I’ve come across this before with a customer I called at work a few years ago, it’s a little surreal actually.

From there not much has happened, I did a little bit of walking around the University and then returned to the canteen to buy what I bought before for tea (this time it was 2 yuan cheaper). Once again they closed pretty early (you can tell as the staff serve up their own food and start eating).

I returned home not too long ago and as soon as I put my gear down I heard the guy next door using the troof in the room connecting our rooms and the bathroom so I jumped out and said hello in Chinese. Turns out he isn’t Chinese though, he’s a Nigerian doing his master’s at the University. He seemed like a pretty care free kinda guy and I’m pleased to be in his company. He said that he’d been here a month and was learning Chinese so that he could then do the program to get his masters. He also mentioned that the guy that lived in my room before me was an Indian.

And that brings me to where I am now – that is; concluding this description of the past few days. It’s been a rough slog as I mentioned at the start and I’m sure the long-winded nature of this article paints the picture for you. I don’t think that I will need to write as much in future as the ground work is already covered.

Tommorow I will go back to the internet cafe and post this article along with some pictures I have taken. Hopefully I will be able to get the text files and pictures transferred as well as everything I need to keep my online affairs in order (RSS, emails, Opera USB?).

I will try and keep this blog updated with useful insight. If you would like to stay up to date then you can subscribe through RSS or Email feed (that is as soon as I update the blog you will receive an email or RSS message). Now I need to go back and edit this post.

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Head to the Grind Stone

April 20, 2008

Originally Written on the 13th April 2008

Another calamity week of organized chaos. I’d better start with my exchange updates as this has been the root of my stressfulness.

Firstly I cannot under take the teaching spoken english project, well I can but I just wouldn’t get the credit for it. On further investigation I discovered that for me to receive credit I would need to complete several excess courses which simply isn’t worth it. So scrap that.

This leaves me with either the fully paid scholarship or doing an exchange with an exchange partner with my home University in ShangHai. I have been applying for both with the hope that one of them will ensure an exchange. For the fully paid scholarship I just need to get all of my forms back to the Chinese embassy before the end of the month, this includes a complete physical report with X-rays, bloodtest etc. With such a limited time frame I may not be able to apply in time.

Last Monday I finally found out the outcome of the ShangHai exchange which is that they will still accept my late application (which I think is completely reasonable). I was incredibly surprised to discover that my home University has offered me a $5000 scholarship and a further $1000 travel grant. This as well as some more positive impressions from a little more extensive research has me leaning in favour of this option.

There is still a massive catch. Firstly I find out the result of the fully paid scholarship by the time I have committed myself to study in ShangHai. This is obviously highly problematic. Even though I get full fees paid (including tution, so yes, a free semester an then travel costs) I would rather not pull out of this other deal to ShangHai, especially when I have been provided with another scholarship.

So the way I am slicing it now is that traveling to ShangHai is the main goal and the fully paid scholarship is Plan B. This way is a much more secure way of thinking as I have already been accepted at this ShangHai University, I just need to get enrolled and I will be content.

God this is a painful situation to try and explain to everyone. I still don’t want to keep my hopes up until everything is finalized. So hopefully by the next time I report in I will know my fate.

I’m not really in the mood to write about anything else really. Thats not to say that there isn’t much to talk about rather I can’t be fussed writing it down. Its currently holidays and I have spent most of the first weekend trying to recoup my energy and clear out some work first up so that the rest of my time can be spent on relaxing.

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