In the middle of the Middle Kingdom

10 days from now I will be sitting on a plane. Again. I have been to China for almost 9 months now. Looking back, it doesn’t feel that long. Back then, when I made the decision to go to a completely different part of the world and challenge myself with one of the most difficult languages on earth. Well, it was both different and challenging for sure.
First of all the biggest issue is the language; if you are unable to use language to communicate it’s obviously tricky. Well, everyone who has been to a foreign country knows the struggle, you eventually get used to it. Learning Chinese is a bit more of a struggle than Spanish though. I have spent 9 months here while continously attending Chinese classes and I am OK with my Chinese. I am able to talk pretty fluenty, although not on every topic. I get what people are talking about, even though I am far from understanding every word. Reading and writing are the parts I struggle with most. I find the Chinese language quite interesting and it often makes use of logical concepts but their characters require lots and lots of practice and I have been a little lazy for that. But I am quite satisfied with my improvement over 9 months.
Apart from the language, then there are still the cultural differences. And China certainly has many aspects that Americans and Europeans are not used to and that extend beyond social etiquette differences. You might be too hungry to notice during your first week, because you havent figured out how to hold the two big toothpicks next to your plate in order to put food in your mouth. If the hunger is not keeping you up you all night you might want to take a nap on the floor, it’s about as comfortable as the bed. Because their mattresses feel like they are stuffed with wood pellets anyway, the only comfort you’d miss on the floor is the sandsack of a pillow you get to sleep on. I am not sure if it’s actually sand but that’s what it sounds and feels like. As one would say, it’s not an easy start, but pull yourself together, lift your sore back, ignore your growling stomach and get set to start your Chinese classes, things are going to get better!
I am staying in Baotou, a city in the north of China. The winters are cold and dry here, the summers are very hot. Baotou is a rather ordinary Chinese city, sometimes a little boring, however, not as crowded as the big cities though. People love taking pictures of foreigners here, which I could sort of understand because there are hardly any non-Chinese people here. It wasn’t until I had gone to Beijing that I realized it’s not a small city thing, they like to do that everywhere. So if you come to China, prepare to feel famous!
I have a great host family here in Baotou. They have been very welcoming and helpful all the time. But family here works different than I was used to. I grew up with 4 siblings and my parents took care of us. Here, me included, we are 5 adults taking care of 2 children and that’s not including the grandparents who are often strongly involved in childcare in China. Due to this constellation, children are often very overprotected and not independent. As soon as children start school, their whole focus is on academic education, which often causes a lack of simple behavioral means and personal interests. I don’t want to make this about the Chinese school system, I just want to point out that the educational system here works significantly different and it’s something to be aware of. Growing up I always believed that Chinese children are super disciplined, robot-like. Well, was I wrong! They are as crazy as we were as kids.
Now, I know better. I have seen the 3 main cities of China. I’ve lived in Baotou for nine months. Throughout my stay I have learned many things, as has my host family. I showed them Christmas and Easter for the first time in their life, I cooked them food they had never eaten before, I told them things about my country and what it’s like. And as I taught them, they taught me. They showed me holidays I had never heard of, they gave me food I had never tried or even seen before, they taught me what China is like. Of course, we also taught our languages to each other. My little Chinese friend (4 years) is making especially great progress, but it’s even better to see how his mother is filled with joy every time he says something new in English.
I want to be honest here, China is not my favorite country, there are certain things that I don’t like here. But there is a beauty in this country that is well worth experiencing. I certainly do not regret coming here. I want to point out for future visitors though that it is not an easy place to adapt to, especially in the long term. The one thing I do want to recommend, is to keep a really open mind here, you need it to properly get along with this country and to leave space to fall in love with it.

PS: For people who plan on staying in Beijing or Shanghai, some of my experiences might not apply, since these cities are far more international than the city I stayed in.