Picky eaters! Possibly not very open-minded..? I understand that going to a completely foreign country is not easy but doesn't it require at least some sort of effort and flexibility? I suppose I was surprised by the amount of people who went straight for home comforts instead of trying new things (eg. Pizza Hut & Starbucks..). But who's judging. Definitely me.
"I'm a vegetarian.
-Oh, well China has vegetarian food so you sh-
-I don't like rice or noodles though. And the vegetables here aren't safe.
-Ah.. What do you like?
-Potatoes. "
Apart from the few that make me wonder why they wanted to visit China in the first place, everybody else is lovely. The Chinese students especially have been so welcoming. We each have been assigned a 'buddy' whose job is to assist us in any thing we might need (buying tickets, phones, any queries etc).
I'll be meeting mine tomorrow. :)
Jinan
Honestly, it isn't a pretty city. Blocky, grey, polluted. I might have been spoilt by taken the U.K's and French cities historical buildings for granted. When night falls however everything changes. I've always preferred cities at night time and in China this is no different. Something about the way the glow of the lights softly reflects off the road surface and buildings. The air feels calmer as well.
Shandong University itself is located in a nice campus full of trees and little green spaces in between the buildings.
Food
Wow. What I thought was Chinese food was not Chnese food. I laugh now at my naiveness. Wrong, oh so so wrong. How could I have possibly thought the food I get from my local takeaway was Chinese food? Not an overly sweet and oily affair but rather a firework of flavours that dance on my tongue.
The price of things here makes it easy to eat out for every single meal which helps with the enjoyment of the food, not that it needs any helping.
I sadly didn't bring my camera with me for dinner tonight but I had the most amazing aubergine dish. The aubergines had been grilled and were perfectly caramelised without being burnt and served with coriander seeds which just worked so well together!
I have a feeling my three weeks here are going to be pretty tasty ~~
China.. it's a strange place that I can't quite put into a box.
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