Finally we have arrived, as the Captain called it… ‘Soggy Shaghai’!
Despite actually being in China, it still feels like a dream.
A lady called Tong Tong was waiting for us. She is a teacher at the college, specialising in fashion technology and pattern cutting. She is our contact and ‘go-to’ whilst here.
We piled into the mini bus and departed for the next leg of our journey, the three-mile drive to our university accommodation in Ningbo.
I was struck with the surroundings. It is completely and utterly different here. The landscape we came across on the journey was so vast, flat and bleak due to the white out effect of the smog. The overwhelming amount of space was strange (despite not much being visible through the haze) and there were many groups of large apartment blocks that seemed to have been just plonked there… like a game of monopoly… not a natural evolution of space like in the U.K. China is just too huge to contemplate.
I spoke to Tong Tong and got learning what was in store for us and a few Chinese words. Some fell asleep, so missed the crossing of the super long bridge, which took nearly half an hour to cross! The Hangzhou Bay Bridge is actually the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world! It is so long, to prevent drivers getting bored, and as an indication of where they are on it, has stages painted the colours of the rainbow. (For some more information on the bridge click here
We were taken to lunch by Tong Tong, as a welcoming gesture (although didn’t think to practice my chopstick skills before I left as there isn’t a knife or fork in sight!), before going to the phone shop so we all had a Chinese phone. Here they have a short and long number. The short number is a internal one that is free between other short numbers. This meant we were able to contact each other easily, as well as being able to be connected to the university staff. Useful.
Finally we arrived at the college campus where we were to be staying. We dragged our cases up to the 4th floor where our apartment was and were pleasantly surprised. The place was very spacious; we have our own rooms (one with an ensuite), two balconies, kitchen, another bathroom, living and dining area.
We were then informed it was time to meet the ‘Boss’ Jasmine. She is the person who organizes this program and is the head of the fashion college and international side of things. We must have looked a state as at that point we had been travelling for over 24 hours. I had had about 2 hours sleep on the plane and was feeling a bit worse for wear. She informed us of the companies we were going to, and how and when we would get there. The Intrex ladies (Beth and Rimsha) have a long journey in the morning. Our journey to Kashion is complicated and the first day, we will have a lift there. That’s a relief as we need to get our bearings.
This is the first night here and I am finding it tough. We have had a long and exhausting day and have been introduced to so many new and alien things. I can really feel the immense distance from home and the combination is playing on my emotions. Now off to bed, I’m sure I will feel brighter tomorrow.
Mollie Gabriel 