你好

你好！

Welcome to my little corner of the internet! I will be writing this blog for the duration of my year abroad in Qingdao- mostly to remind myself when I am sat on the 5th floor of the library in Edinburgh next year that I was indeed in China and it wasn't all just a dream!

So a bit of background: I am at the Ocean University of China, 中国海洋大学, in 青岛市，山东省，中国。 That is, Green Island City, East of the Mountains Province, the Middle Kingdom. It is a very nice city although I am only just starting to find my way around. I'm living quite close to the beach which is very nice- although you have to watch where you put your feet... There are also some pretty mountains nearby which I shall explore eventually. A previous attempt failed because I melted into one big puddle in the heat and humidity. The weather is a bit rubbish at the moment as we have the last of the monsoon dribbling on us although today there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Just the smog.

I have been spending the past few days trying to sort all the paperwork out. Chinese beaurocracy is an awesome thing to behold. It took 5 different forms and a photocopy of my passport to just get hold of a sim card! While I'm not quite a fully legal resident yet I have great hopes of getting a permit next Friday-although it wouldn't surprise me if I had another round of form filling after that!

Am now heading off to find dinner. Might get 包子 (baozi)-which are a kind of dumpling. They taste nice but if I'm being honest one can have too many 包子 in one's life...

xxx

P.s. the name means "Hello, a cup of Earl Grey tea please". It's what I say at Starbucks. See how I'm immersing myself in Chinese culture!