"I would love to live in China - said no one ever"

Hi! This is my very first post.. I have been looking to this blank space fora couple of minutes. I must confess that I have no idea how to start this. Well, maybe I should start describing the achievement of one my biggest dreams: going to China. Let's get started.

I flied away to Hong Kong right after my Graduation Party. It was so sudden I didn't even got time to say goodbye to all of my friends. I went to Shenzhen University to study Mandarin, which I had been studying for the previous three years.

SZU Campus

My Listening, Grammar and Conversation classes' books, plus dictionaries. (Later I found out about PLECO - the greatest dictionary app, a requirement for survival in China)

I was living at the International Students dorm, and had an Indonesian roommate for the first semester and a French roommate for the second semester.

Harlina, my Indonesian roommate (in blue).

Living in the dorms was my first experience living alone , and it was fantastic. My plan was to master the language, find a job and be happy. But things didn't worked as smooth as I imagined, I ended up living in a expat bubble and I just figured out that one year was more than enough of China for me.

I enjoyed every moment, all the bizarre things about their culture, which I thought it wouldn't shock me that much since I am familiar with the Japanese culture and live in a cultural melting pot and all... But it did shock me. You have to be really open minded to put that all in. In overall it was a great experience. Their food was too oily and started to make me sick after a couple of months of daily ingestion of the University canteen food.

University's Canteen food

But man.. I miss those dumplings. They have 3 different types that I know: Jiaozi, Wantan and Dimsum. I am not sure about the second one but the last one is from Hong Kong.

Dim Sum - In Hong Kong

Oh yeah, one really cool thing about living in Shenzhen: Hong Kong is right away and you can escape from the China madness for awhile. Kinda.

Hong Kong - Avenue of Stars

And Macao too (funny fact: they have signs in Portuguese all over - due to had being an ex-Portuguese Colony).

Sign at Macao

Macao is fun. Is a blend of Portugal Colonial Architecture, Las Vegas Casinos and China.

Macao buildings

You can take a ferryboat and in one hour or so you are out! (the immigration is hell though).

Immigration line back in Shenzhen

Back to mainland China. Being an expat in Shenzhen is fun. I would never tell I would have had so much fun. Back in Brazil I barely go out. In Shenzhen it was party all the time. Every weekend I would be in Sea World or Coco Park. I know they sound like amusement parks, but they were bar/restaurant/club areas.

Sea World

I had friends in Sea World and it was closer, so I made it my preferred spot. And it was so cheap to go out compared to Brazil! And safe. I would go back alone at any time in the middle of the night and I never felt uneasy. I would go jogging on the campus on weekdays around 10, 11 at night. Never had a problem. I can't even imagine doing the same back at home.

I was going out so much I decided to get a part time job on weekends, so that would stop me from going out that much. I started working in a bar around Sea World. Ends up it didn't stop me at all. It only made it easier to meet up my friends after work. But at least I got some experience and extra cash. I actually really enjoyed working there.. It made me practice Chinese with the staff and meet and talk to many people. I would help them out organizing parties and managing Social Media. One pretty fun thing that I helped out was Halloween. I arranged the decoration and did the Staff costumes and makeup. It was more a hobby than work, and staff was like family.

With the money I got from part-time job, I decided to travel. At the end of my Chinese Language course, before heading back to Brazil, I went backpacking for almost two months. I passed by Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and India. It was the best thing I ever did with my life. I will write a post about it later.

To sum up, crazy/weird or not, that was my dream. I almost drop college in the second year to fulfill that dream. Fortunately, I didn't. Because when I came back, my ideas had changed so much that I would never be able to fit back in my little world. I have my diploma, my parents are all happy, I could do whatever I want to. I could go live in some beach in Thailand, I could go do some volunteer work in Africa, or... I could just pack it all up and come back home - which is what I did. For now. I am completely and utterly lost. I don't know where I am going, but I am gonna get there. Wait for it.

As J.R.R. Tolkien said, "Not all those who wander are lost" . ❧

#china #shenzhen #travel #dream #chinese