Let's go to China

On Thursday, 17.8.2017 at 20:15, my nearly ten-hour flight to Beijing starts. After a beautiful and at the same time sad farewell to my loved ones, I board the Air China plane and have a window seat next to an older Chinese couple. The flight was pleasant and I was able to sleep a lot.

In Beijing, I had a layover of ten hours. However, the passport control directly after arrival took almost three hours and I had initially considered maybe seeing a bit of Beijing, but I had no internet, no plan, and unfortunately, no one could understand me either, as I felt like the only English-speaking person there and certainly the only person with blonde hair.

So I got something to eat and an adapter to charge my phone (after having to go through security twice to exchange money because they didn't accept cards). Unfortunately, I experienced the people there as quite unfriendly. At security, you were frisked and searched completely (even if you didn't set off the alarm) and they took apart my pencil case and other bags, and threw the small items in front of me, muttering to themselves if I didn't pack everything back up quickly enough.

With so much time alone, I suddenly became aware of what a little adventure lies ahead of me, and after the farewell in Frankfurt and the first leg of the journey, I was already very exhausted and felt sad, alone, and uncertain. But I could close my eyes for a bit and continue reading my book, and when it was finally time to board the next plane, I regained my excitement and couldn't wait to land in Dalian and meet my friends.

Shortly before boarding, the gate was changed twice, and unfortunately, it was only announced in Chinese over the loudspeakers, so despite the long wait, I had a bit of stress finding the right gate to catch my flight. But everything worked out fine :)

In the plane, I was able to prepare myself a bit for what awaited me in the coming weeks. I sat in the penultimate row and had to walk through the entire plane to my seat, and I was simply the only non-Chinese person and was looked at by everyone as if I had three heads.

The flight only lasted about two hours, so we arrived in Dalian very quickly, and when we landed, it was already 23:00 on 18.8.17.

My friends were at the airport to pick me up, but unfortunately, we hadn't planned properly and no one had internet, so we couldn't reach each other. So I took a taxi with Johnny (the Chinese like to have English names), someone from the university who takes care of the exchange students, to the hostel because he thought the others would be there. We drove to a somewhat run-down area with tall buildings and broken streets, strange smells, and even at night, it felt like thirty degrees. The hostel was a bit hidden; you had to walk down a small, broken street, and there were several people living in small garages in the lower floors of the buildings. So my friends were at the airport and I was at the hostel, and the hostel owner couldn't let me into my room because he couldn't find the key. So I waited downstairs for them and was taken in by some nice hostel residents and even met a German who can speak Chinese.

Laura, Richy, Giulia, and Julian came back to the hostel a short time later, and then we were finally all together and could go to our rooms. The girls shared a room, and the guys shared one.

The rooms were small, with three beds, a table, and an unnecessary large tube television, and fortunately, a private bathroom with a proper toilet (which is not a given here). Our three suitcases just fit, and we always had to play Tetris to get to our things, and if you wanted to take a shower, you had to remove everything from the small bathroom beforehand, as the bathroom was practically the shower, and everything was completely wet afterwards. But we had a fun time there. We were out and about all day anyway, so we basically only slept there.

In the morning, we always walked to a small supermarket around the corner and got fruit, cookies, and something like large milk rolls for breakfast. The baker in the supermarket was a sweet-smiling old Chinese man who always brightened our day. Here, you pay for fruits, baked goods, and meat directly at the stands in the supermarket, and then pay for the other things at the cash register on your way out.

There are some very crazy and also very disgusting things to buy here, such as black, rotten eggs and packaged chicken feet. It is also very common for people to sleep at work. We are often stared at; some people openly gawk, others smile curiously, and a few even take photos or videos.

During the days we were at the hostel, we used the time to get to know Dalian a bit. The very modern subway takes you comfortably anywhere, and taking a taxi is also very cheap. We went to very large shopping malls that light up brightly in the evening and sell and grill groceries such as seafood and unidentifiable things. It's also true that people here burp a lot and especially spit on the street (I still can't get used to it), but they find it rude/disgusting if you blow your nose at the table. When we go out to eat, we have to go to restaurants with pictures on the menu because we unfortunately don't speak Chinese and the Chinese don't speak English. So we just point at what we want and hope that it's what we think it is. By the way, eating dog is actually frowned upon here and luckily not normal. You can get it in a few restaurants, but it's only normal in a few regions of China and more of a Korean eating habit.

We also went to the beach :) The beach was very crowded, and most people had tents to protect themselves from the sun. The women wear bathing outfits or full body suits. We even saw a woman with an orange stocking mask in the water. We already stood out there simply because we're Europeans, but it was even worse in bikinis. One person even waited for us to come out of the water to film us. So it's a bit crazy, I'm glad I'm not a celebrity in real life :D.

Dalian is truly a big city. There are wealthier areas with many banks and modern high-rise buildings, but also run-down places and, of course, super super many people. This is one of the most important ports in China, and we wanted to see it, but unfortunately, we couldn't get to the water, so we went back to the hostel and ate noodles in a small, inconspicuous restaurant with super nice owners and delicious food (eating noodles with chopsticks is a real challenge), stir-fried noodles, and on another day, dumplings there. The food isn't great yet, but we're getting better at choosing the right dishes.

After my fourth day here, we met up with Sam. He is responsible for the students here and together with us and a real estate agent, we looked for an apartment. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one for five people, and having five rooms on one floor was also not possible. But now, we have a three-person flat where I live with Giulia and Julian, and a two-person flat where Richy and Laura live. The two of them live on the 20th floor with a great view of the city in a huge house that reminded me of a hotel.

We live on the 13th floor in a residential area that is a 10-minute walk from the others. The apartment is super spacious, I think 97 square meters. We have three rooms, a bathroom, and an open kitchen that leads into the living room. And above the living room, there's even a gallery! Everything is very modern and much better than I expected :) I feel very comfortable. My room is bigger in Mainz, but I pay almost €90 less - so really good! The three of us moved with all our stuff in a taxi, and the ride was really funny and adventurous, but that's actually always how it is here. I don't think there are any traffic rules, and a zebra crossing is not a safe reason to cross the street. It's all a bit based on feeling, and whoever honks the loudest or gives in last, so not as orderly as in organized Germany, but definitely a fun experience.

Yesterday, we went to Ikea (an Ikea that looks completely normal, with only Chinese people and where you can buy chopsticks) and bought mattresses. They were then brought to our apartment by taxi, and we made the beds and I bought some fairy lights and a few candles to make it cozy, and then I slept really well :).

Today, we went to the university to register and choose our courses. I enrolled in 10 courses and will decide which ones to keep and which ones not to continue with, depending on what is recognized in Mainz.

We also met the other German exchange students and went out to eat together after all the paperwork. Tonight, the other flatmates are throwing a housewarming party, and we will join later.

So those are my first impressions. I feel like I can hardly put all of this into words. It's only been a week, and I've already experienced so much here. But if I have the time and desire, I will report here from time to time about how it is :)

In summary, I can say that alone, I probably would have wanted to fly back home several times already because you feel a bit like an alien and wouldn't be able to talk to anyone, but in a group, it's super cool, and I feel very comfortable and excited about everything that is yet to come.