Exciting or boring? Ordinary life of a full-time student in China

Date: 2012.05.08 | Category: Expats, Life Abroad, Me, My Blog | Response: 12

Life in a foreign country and in a place like China might sound really exciting and exotic. When I go back to Finland I hear lots of wow’s after telling people where I live at the moment. Sometimes talking about my recent life happening sound like bragging because every sentence starts like “But in China they…” or “In Guangzhou I…”

But when chatting with people in Finland, it’s usually necessary to make clear which place I’m talking about. I’ve been living in China for more than two years now so I can’t really talk about much if I would ban the word China altogether. I’m not sure if other people think like this, but my friend who lives in Malta has similar thoughts too.

I recently got an email which said: “I guess I’m just hoping that since you seem to love the place, you’ll have some cool ideas for stuff to do/ places to visit.”

Unfortunately I have to break the news and tell you, my life is actually quite boring! Go to class, do homework, eat, sleep and watch Chinese TV dramas! I spend most of my free time at home, not exploring Guangzhou or bar hopping. I’m sure many expats have a far more interesting life in here than I do.

I really do like my own boring life here, but it might not be that interesting to hear about it. Or is it?

And finally I would like to introduce my new side project: How Can I Learn Chinese -blog! This new blog is about short introductions and reviews about Chinese learning resources, links, tips and apps. I hope you will find it helpful! I’ve already scheduled post per day for the following week.

Welcome back!

Date: 2012.04.12 | Category: Chinese Language, Mandarin Monday (中文博文), My Blog | Response: 21

Finally we are back to business! My blog had some technical problems these days and unfortunately at the same time my webhosting staff was at the Easter holiday. But now we are back and lets first review what have happened during this week.

I posted my Mandarin Monday video to Youtube:

You can also watch the same video on Youku!

I have painfully realized that my pronunciation and tones need a lot of work. I’ve got great help from more experiences language Chinese learners and already started experimenting with different methods to improve my spoken Chinese. I will write more about this in the future.

Las month I got a lovely award from talesfromhebei:

You can click the award and check out the amazing Tales From Hebei blog!

And finally I have a small poll for all of you. Recently I’ve been writing a lot about learning Chinese because that’s what I’m doing every day as it’s my major. But I would like to know if you would like to have more content about other topics. So please help me and click the topics you would like to read about:

My interview at China Travel Blog

Date: 2011.07.11 | Category: Me, My Blog | Response: 7

Aimee from chinatravel.net contacted me last week asked if I would like to make an interview with them to their China Travel Blog. Of course I said yes and now you can read it here:

Living & studying in Guangzhou: Finnish blogger Sara Jaaksola explains why life’s a dream in China

You should also check their blogroll and find some interesting blogs to read. And if you are planning to visit Guangzhou, don’t forget to read their guide to Guangzhou.

I’m Dying To Know Who You Are

Date: 2011.01.23 | Category: My Blog | Response: 19

Photo by Marco Bellucci

First I want to thank everyone for leaving comments, joining the discussion and sending emails. I would like to know little bit more about you and that’s why I created this poll. As you can see, you can choose multiple options so check all the boxes you think describes you. If you don’t belong to any group you can also write yourself who you are. And if you want to share more, like your life story, please share it in the comments.

Thank you!

What You Want To Ask From Me?

Date: 2010.10.06 | Category: Me, My Blog | Response: 12

I have been really happy because of the comments you have left to my blog. They keep me writing and help me come up with good ideas to blog about. But I want to hear even more from you so now you have the chance to ask me anything you want. I will answer to every question. But keep in mind that my mom is reading everything I write, so please keep it clean.

So what you want to know?