Day 7 - Host school visits (Edinburgh Hub)

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Ni hao!



Today we have had the authentic Chinese experience: off campus, away from teachers and adopted by a bunch of Tianjin teenagers!



We set off early and drove to the best high school in the city, ‘Tianjin No. 1’, and met some of the students who were keen to practice their English on the Scots. They gave us an extensive tour of their incredible (but far too hot!) building and told us about school life in China. What shocked us the most was that they begin classes at 7:30 and end at 17:30, and then take part in extra-curricular clubs as well as completing mountains of challenging homework. It makes our high school experiences seem like a walk in the park!



Afterwards we were kindly treated to a delicious lunch at a wee café, and encouraged to taste ramen noodles and AMAZING fried buns filled with pork and vegetables. Later we visited a nature museum next to a beautiful lake, and then proceeded to the homes of our host families. What seemed like a somewhat grotty, overcrowded estate was like a Tardis on the inside, with lovely interiors. One of the Chinese students’ mothers fed us with watermelon, bananas and strange sweets, while complementing our ‘beauty’ and asking us about Edinburgh.



The teenagers then took us to a flashy shopping mall and bought us gifts, then took us shopping so we could spend our hard-earned yuan! We ate that night in a restaurant where we had the chance to order ourselves for the first time (previously dishes are just shared from a selection). Adventurous Neve tried Spicy Bullfrog while Owen disappointed by getting western-style chimi changas! Finally, we presented our wonderful hosts with typical Scottish presents, including lots of shortbread and whisky of course!



We pretty much collapsed in our beds as soon as we returned after such an exhausting day in the suffocating Tianjin heat!



‘Zai Jian’ for now!





Ruth MacGilp, Edinburgh Hub

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