Day 1 Monday: Explore, Meet, Eat, & Sleep
- Megan Cornelius
- Feb 28, 2017
- 3 min read
Wednesday | 6:30am
Monday was my first full day here in Weihai, China. I got up around 10am and decided to explore the campus. I checked out the library, cafeteria building, and shops next to the dorms. I ate lunch with Michelle and the rest of the Student Affairs faculty. After lunch, I was given a tour of the campus and introduced to many other faculty members and students. At the end of the work day, two students took me to the supermarket in the village and to dinner.
Library - The library is very big, but very empty. Not many students hang out in the library. Click on one of the photos below to get full view of all photos
Cafeteria - The cafeteria is slightly smaller than Gracie's Dining Hall at RIT NY. There are MANY food options and the food is exceptionally cheap. For 6 Chinese Yuan (RMB), you can get a plate of 2 entrees and rice. This is equivalent to less than 1 USD!! The food is really good. I expected to need a couple of weeks to adjust to the tastes, but surprisingly, the food is not extremely different than some of the food I have had in the US. Most dishes include rice or noodles and some kind of meat dish with vegetables. There are no sandwiches, wraps, or burgers like in the US. There are also no forks or knives, only chopsticks and soup spoons. Eating with chopsticks can be frustrating at times, but I enjoy practicing with them and I THINK I do pretty well!
Shops - Next to dorms there is a strip of various shops. There is a small food store, beauty shop, laundry service company, and more. These shops are only a two minute walk from the dorms. One of the shops is a tea and coffee store. I went into this store and unfortunately for me, the workers could not speak English; but, they were able to call a friend who could speak English and translate for us. I bought a milk tea with strawberry and banana. It was DELICIOUS!
Office - The Student Affairs office is actually 2 offices. I am in an office with 4 other people. I have my own desk and computer; however, we have yet to figure out how to change the computer's language from Chinese to English. Everyone that I work with is very nice and welcoming. They have given themselves English names which are much easier for me to remember than their Chinese names. Two of my coworkers can speak English very well: Michelle and Jennifer. Everyone tries their best to communicate in English to accommodate me and it is very much a group effort! I enjoy helping them improve their English.
Supermarket & Dinner - The two girls, Silver and Yummy, took me by taxi to the supermarket in the village. It is about 10 minutes away from campus. The village is very different from the RIT campus. It is small and the buildings are very old. The supermarket resembles a small Wal Mart. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the market, but I will remember to take some next time I am there!
After going to the supermarket, the girls took me to a restaurant where I ordered spicy noodles. We were able to watch how the noodle dishes were prepared. The noodles were really good, but a little too spicy for me.
This doll-like figure is actually a machine! It is difficult to see from the picture, but the noodle material is placed in front of the doll on a wooden platform. The doll's hand holds a knife-like tool which cuts the noodles. The noodles fall into the pot of boiling water, which is in front of the machine. After about 5 minutes or so, the cook takes the noodles out and adds the broth, meat, and spices.
JET LAG! - I had felt energetic all day, including during dinner; however, when Silver, Yummy, and I returned to the dorms, I suddenly got really really tired. I ended up passing out at 8pm!
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