A journey's beginning

I sit down to write this first all-Chinese post accompanied by a cup of finest Yunnan joe



and a crisp and delicious Royal Gala from New Zealand. Both sourced from the local, eco-friendly Walmart (you need to bring your own bags or pay for reusable ones). The China I arrived in is certainly not the China I lived in for 4 months 20 years ago! What's more, the coffee is actually pretty good and both the apples and coffee are cheaper than what you would pay in Paris!

The flight was tiring but uneventful, I didn't end up getting any sleep because it left on time at 13h00, and got in to Xi'an at about 23h30 Paris time, 05h30 Beijing. I had about 5 hours to waste before my flight to Kunming so did what one always does in such situations, sit bored out of one's wits trying not fall asleep! I arrived a little before 13h00 in Kunming and the bags arrived quickly and in perfect shape. I was met by a uni-organised driver and after lugging two of my bags up three flights of stairs, we set off. The driver spoke considerably less English than I speak Chinese, which meant we didn't have much of a conversation over the two or so hours it took to get to Yuxi. His questions were fairly standard - "Where are you from?", "Do you like basketball?", "Do you like Chinese women?" - typical taxi talk! I suppose the only mildly concerning thing during the whole journey was when the driver, for some inexplicable reason, decided that he needed to put some water in car's cooling system. The (modern Toyota) car wasn't his, and he asked a couple of guys at the gas station we stopped at where he needed to put it. Together they decided on one of the three available holes... But after getting a cup or so in he immediately became concerned because what was in there was obviously not straight water. He hurriedly got the owner (a friend) on a video chat to make sure he hadn't just put water somewhere he shouldn't... It was, in fact, the cooling system, and had some special water-based coolant mixed in. I was half hoping for something weird and strange to happen but that's all I got! :-).

Upon arriving we were met by Mr Lu from the admin office and two Thai students who had been tasked with getting me set up in my new flat in the foreign students residence and the other absolute necessities - a SIM card and a meal card. As I had a 23kg suitcase and a 23kg backpack and my flat is on the 6th floor with no lift, I did the lugging. At one point Mr Lu tried taking the suitcase but quickly accepted that I take it back after going up half a floor :-). While being on the 6th floor with no lift is a little tedious, it means I have no one above me (the building is 6 floors high), I have a great view, and I guess I will have fewer mosquitos.

After dropping off my bags it was off to get a SIM card, my meal card and check in at the Overseas Students office. I managed to convince the Thai students to let me test out my meal card - I had only had a (horrible to boot!) egg and ham muffin on the plane from Xi'an and was starving! One delicious, spicy pork noodle soup later, we were off to the admin office. I got my programme till the end of June when classes officially finish, my textbooks and some general info about how the summer was going to proceed. Classes start for me on Monday from 14h30 to 16h30, then Tues-Sat from 09h to 11h. In July and August I'll get a second programme, probably with a different teacher, as it's officially "holidays" for the uni during those months. I have to pay for the summer months (tuition and flat) as soon as convenient (so next week), which basically means I need to set up a bank account ASAP to transfer money.

I came across a Canadian couple sitting outside the admin office and we exchanged the usual pleasantries. Apparently there are a couple of Americans also studying here but that is about it for Westerners studying Chinese here. The bulk of the foreigners are apparently from Thailand. There is, of course, the obligatory Kiwi English teacher, Daniel, but making his acquaintance can wait!

I was tired but if I've learnt a valuable lesson from changing timezones, it's that you really need to force yourself to get back into the new daily rhythm from day one. So I set about emptying my bags and finding a home for all 56kgs of my worldly possessions. Having a 50m2-odd flat for two and a half suitcases meant I didn't have much trouble quickly finding a spot for everything. Then I ventured out for a quick nosy around the campus and then back home to have some instant noodles, a shower and finally some SLEEP!

Home sweet home







It's actually quite practical, and after a couple of attempts I'm getting the hang of it ;).



View from my kitchen window



View from my balcony




On Saturday I tried unsuccessfully to set up a Chinese bank account, and had a bit of an explore as I was shunted from bank to bank trying to find one that would open an account for me. The Bank of China is apparently the easiest to set up for a foreigner, but many of the branches are closed on a Saturday, or at least closed on this particular Saturday! I almost got to open an account at one of the central China Construction Bank branches but the very friendly teller (with excellent English) told me I would have to come back on Monday as he required his supervisor's signature to open an account for a foreigner! I didn't really need a bank account RIGHT NOW so eventually accepted that fate was telling me I should wait until Monday :-). I did stumble across the Walmart the Thai students had told me about though and got in my first load of shopping.

The rest of the time has been spent exploring the campus, and basically fluffing around.







I also made another trip to the Walmart to get the rest of the essentials (washing detergent, a decent frypan, an electric jug,...). I will definitely try and get out into the markets when my Chinese gets better but it is a lot less stressful when there are prices on everything, the prices aren't exorbitant, and you've got absolutely everything under one roof. I must confess I wasn't expecting Yuxi to be as developed as it is. Apparently it had only 300,000 residents back in 2010 but from my wanderings I would say there is probably double that now. I'm definitely happy to be here, and am looking forward to a stress-free year learning Chinese and exploring the region's many wonders!

On the way to Walmart