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Summer Elnowno

Nearly a month in

By Marriott Tianjin China Program

It has been nearly a month since we first arrived here in China. I feel as if this month has been so long but I know these 4 months will fly by and I will be asking myself where did time go?

I have done so much in these past weeks. I’ve gotten a bank account, made dumplings for the first time, and best of all, I finally saw snow for the very first time!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have no idea how many years I prayed that there would be snow in Miami for Christmas, I just wanted to see it for one second. I got something even better, I saw the first snow of the year in Tianjin. I wanted to stay outside all night just to see the little snowflakes fall, it was so beautiful.

Shortly after that classes started and I started to fall into a routine. Although I have been to China before there are still some things that shock me still. For example the “squatty potty,” I still can not seem to use these with ease. Luckily there are “regular” toilets as well. What really shocked me though was the facial recognition systems China has in place.

In order to get toilet paper at one restroom, we had to show our face into the camera and it generates a piece of paper for us (which would not have been enough for me). That was not the only surprising thing I observed either. On my way here I noticed there was actually a lot of foreigners on the flight. Compared to last time when I only saw maybe 0-1 foreigner on my flight. It seems a lot more people are going to China now more than ever before. One observation that did remain the same was the fashion. This time I made sure my airport fashion was not lacking as opposed to last time I felt deeply ashamed of my attire as I took notice of everyone else with their put together looks.

Considering my topic is fashion for this semester I have been taking note of the fashion trends that I am seeing. For the most part, I notice that long tutu dresses are in and jackets with sayings or words also appear to be worn quite regularly.

A Shining New Year

By Marriott Tianjin China Program

It is officially 2020 and in less than 2 days I will be starting the year off in another country, China!

I remember in 2016 I told my friends I wanted to go to China. I even went up to a Chinese student while I was at the University of Miami and said “I love China” in my cringy mandarin. Surprisingly, he did not run away and actually seemed happy and asked where in China I wanted to go. I said Beijing and in 2018 Beijing is the first place I landed. It feels so weird seeing things I once thought about come to reality. I always wanted to go on a plane and ended up going on not only one but 6 all in a span of a month to go halfway across the world to China. This time I will be making that journey again, thankfully not as many flights, and for much longer than before.

As the days quickly go by I start to feel a roller-coaster of emotions. I know I will have to readjust and get used to the fact that I will be oceans away from my home, my comfort zone. Despite having been to China before, I realized I still hold some misconceptions about China which I hope to get rid of after spending a whole semester there. I just have to let people’s opinions about China stay their opinions and not my own.

When I first told one of my friends I wanted to go to China in 2016 her mom told me “Why go there, it is dirty and full of pollution.” At times I also ask myself this question, but not because I hold the same thoughts but because I would have never thought I would be going there. Now I am blessed to have the opportunity to go again and hopefully this semester I find out what my purpose for going is.

Happy New Year and see you all in Tianjin!!! Also, I found some good videos about Tianjin and food, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYz04048c3c&t=11s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjVkbvowNkA (What it’s like to be a vegan in China), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vwSwrMAyvw

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