2 more weeks!!!

The big countdown has started. I'm leaving China in 2 weeks. I have been looking forward to going to America since I pretty much got to China, and I still am. Just the fact that I'm not coming back (to China) gives me mixed emotions.

I met really nice people lately; and just started to see how I've progressed with Chinese.

Oh, I will miss China :( I'm sure. But I also do want to go back. . .(home)

But now, my final exams start on Tuesday, end on Thursday (when the fun will start again)

So wish me luck :)

I miss everyone and I'll see you soon ;)

Suzhou Weekend Trip ;)

I still haven't written anything about my trip to Sanya. Maybe I'm lazy or maybe there are many more appealing things. It's not even like I can take a look at the photos from Sanya, simply because I didn't take that many. What I want to remember from there will stay in for a little while I think.

So this time I'll write about my trip to Suzhou. I basically just stepped off the train, put my computer on, downloaded photos, and now I will write about it.

Suzhou was absolutely amazing. I went there with my Chinese friend – Sophie, so it was a very nice Chinese experience. Sophie guided me to a special ancient street in Suzhou, where we were wandering on Friday evening, constantly clicking with our cameras, and opening our mouths as wide as possible express ''WOW'' in Chinese. So beautiful. The hostel staff was right, one should go there in the evening. I cannot say we were wandering aimlessly, we were searching for the breathtaking spots. It would be easy to suffocate that way, so we stopped in a little alley where houses were on the river. Simply wonderful.

One thing we might have had problems with is finding food. Every time we tried it took us about an hour. I think it's a catastrophe to put two indecisive girls together. Thankfully, it's survive-able if they can entertain each other while walking into the 15^th restaurant and deciding that 'it's not the one'.

So next day, today... We went to the Lion Forest Garden. It's not very big, but definitely takes a couple hours to walk it all. That place would be a heaven for climbers (and fishermen). You walk on man-made stone mountains, walking into the 'caves' and back up again. All around a lake.

There are absolutely huge fishes swimming there and fishing is prohibited. :D Well, even there we were taking photos of everything, whether moving or not.

It was all nice, so I will not write about how we almost missed the train, just to remember the beauty of Suzhou and nice company :)

China Experiences

People say that we experience new things every day. Being in China has supplied me with quite a few new experiences. I've experienced how people change by the new culture or in some cases how they remain the same. I have experienced many breathtaking scenes: the sea, the mountains, the cities; but also many sights that destroyed the picture I would like to have: the pushing crowds, the spitting women, the polluted sky. I have also experienced a whole new range of foods and smells. Some sweet ones that take you to heaven and some others that are best not to mention.

Being here has given me a lot perspective on life, on myself and on people around me (far or close, and sometimes the latter being much worse.)

Being far away from home caused many tears to drop and made my dear ones spent hours on-line consoling me. Right now I can't really say if it was worth it, but in perspective I think I have achieved a great lot. I still have little more than a month of what should be hard-work and interaction with the Chinese, to use my time in the very best way. I'm not sure how well I will accomplish that... I certainly want to wish good luck to myself.

Sometimes it's easier to do what you're supposed to, and in other circumstances it's impossible. I'd say that the environment that Nanjing University provided for us foreign students requites a lot of effort to fulfill oneself. I think the worst thing is that we're all put in a foreign student's building, where the only Chinese we meet are the 'fuwuyuan' (receptionists, guards, food sellers, servants etc.) There are extremely few Chinese students that we can meet on a regular basis. We are definitely not provided with many opportunities to befriend them. This is a harsh reality, where only the daring devils get a chance to understand this culture. Others are deprived of it. And to be totally honest, I think it's can be difficult to feel confident in a place that doesn't resemble home in any way.

Some of us are lucky. They get Chinese boyfriends/girlfriends; they go traveling, they find a hobby... and that way they get out of the foreign bubble. Others think that the ones dating a Chinese merely want language advantages; they travel in groups of foreigners or have foreign hobbies, such as drinking and smoking. I don't think I can be placed in any of those groups. I have tried to avoid contacts with foreigners but I haven't been very lucky in melting into the Chinese world. Maybe in the time that remains for me here, I'll adjust that slightly. Maybe I'll change my eye color to black and use the whitening cream for my tanned skin? ;)

Happy life

So today is much nicer than yesterday. While yesterday all our deer teachers (including the ''GUI'' Sheffield ones) basically told us that we are a bunch of lazy bastards that are all going to fail. And after the 4^th person says that you start feeling that it's not only failing uni they mean, but also failing life. I'm also angry that they open the running track at 4 pm so until then relieving any tension is basically impossible unless you're called Jin and you can jump from one building to another.

So while yesterday the whole freakin world was against me, and I cried myself to sleep... today is much much better. Our reading teacher decided to give us another chance, and I feel bad saying that I didn't like her. And even thought most people in our class only like to mind their own business, one person actually did stand up for me and it made me really happy :)

Then I received some nice consolation and I am having a happy life once again :)

❤ China ❤ Olympics ❤ Go Beijing ❤

Today I changed my msn status to:

❤ China ❤ Olympics ❤ Go Beijing ❤

The reason: I want to show a little irony here... Do as all young Chinese are doing. Except for... it wouldn't make much sense if I wrote as some of them: ''May our motherland grow greater and stronger''. The Olympics in China certainly makes the Chinese proud and I think it awakes feelings of nationalism. Especially, when other countries are trying so hard to pick on China. Lately an American journalist called Chinese people something I cannot translate to English (but it's nothing good), and their products imported junk. The common people are the ones who react to this type of anti-Chinese comments. They become more committed to their government and their nation. They see the West as an enemy. Now, is this supposed to be any good?

Protesters will not put pressure on China – they will offend them and cause a defensive reaction. Most of those people who protest do not know how harmful what they're doing is. What do they want to achieve? Do they want to stop what's happening in Tibet, or show that they have freedom of speech? I think the westerners think that they are the one who know, the ones who are better, the ones who should teach China. But China is not by any means a country which will let 'the people who have no idea what they're protesting about' to teach them.

So if some people really want to go to a protest, exert pressure on the government or something like that, common, better try to engage in other topics. By protesting and trying to intimidate China, the effect will be the opposite, better follow the Chinese custom and keep quiet about things that you have no influence over. And if you want your viewpoint to be heard, study some history, and write a book.

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After the week of rain, cold and rain the sun finally made it's way through the clouds of Nanjing City. Yesterday was a horrible day, but in the end something wonderful happened, which gives me power to keep going for one more week. I'm now only running on spare batteries, but in about a week I'm gonna load. My hope is up, and I'm waiting, anticipating and preparing...

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Yes, I'm preparing for one thing, but then the exams are coming up.. like... tomorrow, so I need to go and prepare for them before I prepare for anything else.