Exciting or boring? Ordinary life of a full-time student in China
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.
14 Comments
thenakedlistener
Yours is kind of like much of the reaction I get from others when they hear I live in Hong Kong. Because many of them have seen pictures of skyscrapers, luxury brand stores and whatnot (and the fact that my job is in financial printing), they think I have a wheeling and dealing, jetsetting lifestyle here. Of course I do (during my sleep hours) – and then I wake up. I work 80 hours a week (at least) and all I see in my little miserable life are the interiors of offices or printing factories. Whatever little free time I have, I spend it either in bed or in the bathroom … some jetsetting lifestyle.
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Sara Jaaksola Reply:
May 10th, 2012 at 11:32 am
I’m sure there are expats living something like a jetset lifestyle here, but they’re not on a student budget like I am ;)
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Vyara Gylsen
It is interesting to hear about! I particularly like to hear about the Chinese learning, and you can do my articles on studying in China, different courses, different expectations from students, and more about yoru student life would be awesome :)
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Sara Jaaksola Reply:
May 10th, 2012 at 11:32 am
Great to hear that someone is interested in reading about studying :) I’m sure that I will continue writing about it as it’s a things I do full-time and so very big part of my life here.
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Stanley Ho
nice place for some street photography :-)
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Sara Jaaksola Reply:
May 10th, 2012 at 11:32 am
There are quite many small streets still left in Guangzhou. You just have to know where to look or just get lost :) There were also traditional Lingnan style residental building on the street too!
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Katja
Sulla on monta rautaa tulessa :)!
Tuli bloggailusta mieleen ne ikävät nettikirjoittelut susta. Onko asia edennyt? Hienoa, että et anna sellaisen pysäyttää verkon valloittamistasi!
Tänne kuuluu ihan hyvää, syksyllä gradua, mieti… hih.
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Sara Jaaksola Reply:
May 10th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Hei! Valitettavasti poliisilla taitaa olla vinopino vastaavia tapauksia, joten en tieda kauanko kestaa, etta paasevat omani kohdalle. Omasta mielestani tapaus on jo onneksi ehtinyt haihtua, enka ole edes enaa kaynyt kyseisella foorumilla. Taitaa olla parasta pysya poissa.
Huh, siella alkaa jo pian gradun kirjoittaminen :) Itsella menee viela ensi vuoteen ennen kuin alan kandia tehda, mutta olisi ihan hyva jo alkaa aihetta pohtia.
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Katja Reply:
May 10th, 2012 at 5:58 pm
Näinhän se on. Ikävää.
Joo, teen kanditutkielmaa ja syksyllä alkaa gradusemma. Se ja 20 op niin tutkinto on siinä! Aloitan pian oman alan työpätkän, jonka lisäsin Facebookiin.
Huomasin, että pienistäkin aihepohdintomuistiinpanoista oli kandissa suurta etua! Omia ideoita ei kannata vähätellä ja ehdottomasti kirjoita ne muistiin.
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Sara Jaaksola Reply:
May 10th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Huomasinkin jo Facebookista tuon tyoasian, tosi hieno juttu!
Ja kiitos vinkista, pitaakin hieman kirjoitella ylos mieleen tulevia aiheideoita ja muita, niin sitten kun kandin todella aloittaa, niin olisi jo jotain ajatuksia miten aloittaa.
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ordinary malaysian
I love that picture of the back alley!
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Sara Jaaksola Reply:
May 13th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Luckily there are still that kind of alleys left in Guangzhou.
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Ronnie
The third post I’m commenting on–I’m on a roll, and yes, your blog is really THAT interesting!
“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.”
–Amen to that! I’ve seen other scholarship students drop off from their courses because of their un-boring lifestyles.
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Sara Jaaksola Reply:
March 26th, 2014 at 12:30 pm
Thank you Ronnie :)
This is an old post, but I have to say my life is still like that! I work with a few projects, teach, spend time at home, see friends and thats it. I do hope to do more local traveling though!
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