Steve's sandbox

Tag: friends

  • John Daniel: 月报二，八月：语言课程快结束了 Language school is almost over, August 2024

    再次你好！谢谢您看我第二个月的月报！我很激动跟你分享最近一个月所有的经历。

    在7月底，我必须与几个好朋友说再见。他们只是语言课程7月份的学生。我们收取成绩凭证后（见下图），我们直接开始安排一个小小的庆祝晚会来彼此告别。

    Hello again and thank you for reading my second monthly report! I am excited to share with you what has happened over the last month.

    At the end of July I had to say goodbye to a few friends who were only staying for the July section of the language course. After we received our certificates (pictured below), we got straight to organising a little celebratory evening to say farewell.

    收取我们第一个月的成绩凭证
    Collecting our first months’s certificates

    应为Aurelie是一半法国一半中国的人，而且在上海长大了，所以她有很多当地朋友，让我们在在一起度过了周五晚上。要是你在想为什么这些人并不看起来像经典中国那样，原因是他们几乎都是一半法国人！他们都在上海法租界区的一个学校读书了。

    Because Aurelie is half french, half chinese, and grew up in Shanghai, she has a lot of local friends and we spent Friday night with them. If you are wondering why most of these lovely people do not look typical Chinese, it is because nearly all of them are half french! They all went to french school in the french concession area of Shanghai.

    与当地朋友们出去玩儿
    Hanging out with local friends

    我们现在在语言课程八月份期中，因此我们最近进行完我们期中演讲。我选择的话题就是抽烟遭害健康的事实。真个话题挺难让感性却的，为的是大家当然已经知道抽烟对身体健康有害。 为了让他更有趣起见，我在我的社交型抽烟的习惯集中注意力，然后为什么有些人容易地上瘾，却其他人连跑步一会儿也非抽一支烟不可。 比如说，我参考了一位优秀的中国马拉松跑者。他50岁以上，一辈子都接连不断地抽烟，甚至马拉松中不断抽烟，却还是在3个小时30分钟以内跑完了 — 这比我最近3个小时39分钟跑完的马拉松快了！

    Now we are halfway through the August section of the language school and we have just finished giving our mid-term presentations. The topic I selected was smoking and how it harms your health. This is quite a difficult topic to make interesting because we obviously all know that it damages your health. So to make it fun, I focused on my bad habit of being a social smoker and the reasons why some people become easily addicted and yet some people cannot go for a run without having a cigarette mid-way through! For example, I referenced that amazing Chinese marathon runner. He was over 50 years old, chain-smoked his entire life, even chain smoked during the marathon, and still managed to complete it in under 3hours 30 minutes – this is faster than my most recent marathon time of 3 hours 39!

    八月分的期中报告
    August term’s mid-course presentation

    在另一个晚上，我跟我的韩国朋友一起去了酒吧。始终，我们想了为什么比平常跟吸引注目，然后我们才意识到那天是七夕节日，人们有可能以为我们在约会！好像很多在中国很多人不仅对外国人感到很好奇，而且尤其是对跨种族情侣。在网络上，这个是个很火讨论的话题。 不过，一段时间后，你习惯人们的盯着。

    On a different evening, I went with my Korean friend to a Korean bar. The whole time we were wondering why we were getting more stares than usual, and then we realised it was Chinese Valentine’s Day and people probably thought we were on a date! It seems many people in China not only are curious about foreigners, but especially interracial couples. On the Chinese internet, this is a hot topic. After a while, however, you do get used to all the people staring at you.

    七夕节日在韩国酒吧
    Celebrating Chinese Valentine’s Day at a Korean bar

    跟几个语言学院和硕士课程的朋友们，我们一起成立了一个跑步组。我们每个周二周四的晚上在江湾体育场见面。这个跑组就是友好的而不是竞争的。有好多不同国籍的成员，再加来自我的硕士的中国同学在逐渐增加! 我估计，当语言课程结束时，我只会在硕士学习，几乎整个跑组都会中国人的！

    With a few language school friends and a few friends from my masters degree, I have set up a running club that meets at Jiangwan Stadium on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Its a very friendly and not at all competitive. There is a mixture of nationalities, and the amount of Chinese classmates from my masters is growing! I expect when the language school finishes and I am only studying for my masters, almost all of the participants will be Chinese!

     

    我们跑步组在江湾体育场的门口
    Our running group at the gate of Jiangwan statdium

    周一周五我都去邯郸南校区的游泳池。是个真正50米游泳池。虽然是户外的，我们在上海，所以空气和池水都非常热。在中国人们都以救生员的责任为非常重要。在欧洲的50米游泳池你一般会看到一两个救生员，在中国总是有六到八个救生员！那个平均就是一个游泳者一个救生员！一开始我觉得这有点过头了，不过我然后发觉这些救生员本身并不看起来像常常游泳的人，所以可能是合适的。在一条泳道平常只有一个人, 不过我进去游泳道一条游泳道有时候会忙起来。不管我旁边的游泳道是不是空的，有些人还是选择在我的游泳道运动，甚至我在换泳道时也跟着我。。。。。。一些这个小区的人对外国人好奇得那样做。

    On Mondays and Fridays I go to Handan Southern Campus swimming pool. It is a proper 50m swimming pool. Although it is outside, we are in Shanghai, so the air and water are really warm. People in China take their lifeguarding responsibilities very seriously, whereas in Europe you might expect to see two lifeguards for a 50m pool, here in China there are between 6 and 8 lifeguards at all times! That is 1 lifeguard per 1 swimming on average. At the beginning I thought it was quite over the top, but then I realised the lifeguards themselves don’t really look like they swim very often, so perhaps it is necessary. Usually, there is about 1 person per swimming lane, although when I enter the pool it seems that one lane becomes very busy as even when lanes besides mine are empty, some people will still choose to swim in my lane follow me when I change names… that is how fascinated with foreigners some people in this neighbourhood are.

    邯郸南校区50公尺的游泳池
    Handan southern campus’s 50m swimming pool

    总体上说，这个月过得不错。我对下个月的月报很兴奋，那个时候我会给你分享我对金融硕士的第一些个印象。在那之前，我还有很多行至工作要做。祝你这个月过得顺利！

    All in all, it has been a good month. I am excited for next month’s report, when I will tell you about my first impressions of my Finance Masters. Until then, I have a lot of admin to do regarding residency. Have a great month!

  • Living in St Petersburg – with Russian people: Mercedes, June 2017

    Doesn’t St Petersburg remind you of Venice? With its many canals and beautiful buildings, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re in the European capital.

    Жить в Петербурге – с русскими людьми.

    Для моего последующего отчета я хотела бы рассказать вам о том, с кем я живу здесь в Петербурге в моем общежитие.
В моей квартире я живу с иностранными студентами, но большинство из них – из русскоязычных стран. Например, я живу с Аллой и Мадиной. 
Алла из Приднестровья и Мадина из Таджикистана. Они лучшие друзья, которые помогли мне все эти пять месяцев. С ними я всегда смеюсь, потому что они просто очень смешные девушки! Мне очень нравится болтать с ними, когда я возвращаюсь из университета, мы можем разговаривать с ними вечно. Конечно, это иногда трудно говорить, потому что я не свободно владею русским языком и они не свободно говорят по-английски. И так, мы нашли лучшее решение говорить « по-рунглийски » – это на русском и английском одновременно. Я считаю, что я улучила свой русский язык, так как я много болтать с Аллой и Мадиной. И сейчас мы с ними очень хорошие друзья. 
Алла изучает политологию. а Мадина изучает юриспруденцию. Они очень умные девушки и они много учатся. Мы говорим на разные темы: об учёбе, жизни, политике, религии, и о наших целях и мечтах. Конечно, мы не совсем согласны друг с другом, но мне нравится дружить с разными людьми из разных культур, потому что это помогает мне лучше понять наш мир. 
Я буду очень скучать по моим любимым соседям и я думаю, что я буду плакать до того, как я уеду. Я надеюсь, что мы увидимся еще раз в будущем. Я так благодарна и рада, что встретила двух отличных девушек. Я хочу вернуться скоро в Петербург, чтобы увидеть Аллу и Мадину и увидеть больше этого великого города. Алла и Мадина, спасибо большое за вашу доброту и ваши смешные моменты, которые я никогда не забуду!

    A full moon from the rooftop of Loft Etazhi Project. I recommend this place. It has everything, from clothes shops, to street food, and cocktails!

    English:

    For my final report, I’d like to talk about who I live with here in St Petersburg in my student halls.
In my flat, I live with international students, but most of them are from Russian speaking countries. For example, I live with Alla and Madina who are from Transnistria and Tajikistan respectively. They are the best of friends, and they have really helped me with everything I could ask for here over the last five months. I’m always laughing when I’m with them, simply because they’re just hilarious girls! I live to chitchat with them when I come home from university, and we always seem to talk for hours. Of course it’s sometimes difficult to communicate with one another, because I’m not fluent in Russian (yet!) and they aren’t fluent in English. And so, we have stumbled upon an easier way to speak and that is in « Runglish » – which is just Russian and English at the same time. I feel like I’ve improved my Russian, and that’s thanks to chatting away with Alla and Madina. Now we’re really good friends.

    Kazan Cathedral in the sun!

    Alla studies political science and Madina studies law. They’re incredibly intelligent and they study alot. We talk about all kinds of things: our studies, lives, politics, religion, our hopes and dreams for the future. Of course, we dont always agree with each other, but I like making friends with different people from different cultures, because that way I can better appreciate the world around me.
 I’m really going to miss my lovely neighbours and I think that I’ll cry before i leave. I hope that we’ll see each other again in the future. I’m so grateful and happy to have met two great girls! I want to come back to St Petersburg soon, to see Alla and Madina and to see more of this great city. Alla and Madina, thank you so much for your kindness and your funny moments with I’ll never ever forget!

  • Amy Clark, Montpellier, France – November 2014

    Amy Clark – La Plagne, Geneva, Nov 2014

    Cet mois a été plus tranquille pour moi, je n’ai fais pas beaucoup des choses outre que le travail. Le temps a commencé a changé comme c’est novembre maintenant et il a plu beaucoup récemment, ce qui est toujours un dommage. Je vais être honnête et dire que ils me manquent ma famille, mon fiancé, mes copains et en général être chez moi en Angleterre, c’est très difficile à vivre dans un autre pays et être des milliers miles de la. Je sais que cette occasion pouvoir vivre et travailler à l’étranger est incroyable et j’ai bien profité d’apprendre la langue ici et voir nouvelles choses, mais je suis impatient pour finir le travail et passer deux semaines en Angleterre pour les vacances noëls, avant revenir pour les derniers deux mois de mon stagiaire en France.

    Cependant, je voudrais parler du week-end dernier que j’ai passé en Genève. Mon copain a juste commencé un stage dans La Plagne, travailler dans une station de ski ce qui est situé a proximité, donc trois de mes amis et moi ont passés le week-end découvrir la belle ville de Genève. J’ai pris le train qui duré environ 4 heures mais le temps passé assez vite et je suis arrivée fin de vendredi soir. Nous avons fait beaucoup des choses ; nous avons visités le Lac Léman et le Jet d’Eau, nous avons fait un petit tour de la ville en train et nous sommes allées aux bars et restaurants traditionnels différents pendant les deux jours.  C’était assez cher, donc ce est une bonne chose que nous n’y sommes allés que pour le week-end, mais c’est une très jolie ville et nous avons bien profités.

    Plusieurs choses cet mois a me fait réaliser que mes compétences français ont améliorés; par exemple, j’ai encore plus confiance quand je parle aux clients au travail, je suis beaucoup plus vite quand j’écrire des emails en français et aussi j’ai eu a traiter des choses importantes en français, tels que appeler ma banque, ce qui a bien passé. En général je me sens que tout est devenir plus facile chaque semaine et j’espère que quand je revienne à l’université il sera perceptible par mes professeurs.

    Amy Clark – Nov14

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION

    This month has been much quieter for me; I haven’t done much apart from go to work. The weather has started to change as were in November now and it’s rained a lot recently which is always a shame. I am going to be honest and say that I miss my family, friends and fiancé and generally being at home. It’s really hard to live thousands of miles away. I know that this opportunity to be able to live and work abroad is amazing and I have really enjoyed learning the language here and seeing new things, but I’m looking forward to spending two weeks at home for Christmas before coming back for my last two months of my work placement in France.

    However, I would like to talk about last weekend that I spent in Geneva. My friends had just started a placement in La Plagne, working in a ski resort, which is, situated close by, so three of my friends and me spent the weekend discovering the beautiful city of Geneva.  I went by train, which took around 4 hours but time passed quite quickly and I arrived Friday in the late evening. We did lots of things; for example, we visited ‘Lac Leman’ and the ‘Jet d’Eau’, we went on a little tour of the city by train and we went to different traditional bars and restaurants during the 2 days there.  It was quite expensive so it’s a good thing that we only spent the weekend there, but it’s a really lovely city and we enjoyed it a lot.

    Several things this month have made me realise that my French skills have improved; for example I have even more confidence when talking to clients at work, I am much faster when writing emails in French, and also I have had to deal with important things in French such as calling my bank, which went well. In general I feel that everything is becoming easier each month and I hope that when I go back to university it will be noticeable by my teachers.

    Amy Clark – Nov14

  • Imogen Page-Jarrett, Beijing, China – November 2014

    Bike ride with friends, Beijing – Imogen Nov14

    北京2014主办了APEC峰会，这个消息一发表就突然点燃了首都人民的热情。据报道，这届峰会是中国自2008年奥运会以来最大的国际盛事。因此，预备阶段忙忙碌碌，首都都要准备外国宾客的到来。其中最重大的措施是安排一周的公众假期，暂停所有的工业、车辆并其他污染性的物质。假期之间不赔钱的人觉得幸运的是APEC是没想到的旅游机会。那一周目的地是减少北京雾霾，为了峰会创造一片蓝天。因此，新的网络词汇以出现了，就叫“APEC蓝”，引申义为形容事物短暂易逝，不真实的美好，中国年轻人常用。“他对你没有感兴趣，这就是APEC蓝”这个词汇几周前在微信（中国最流行即时通信的APP）上出现了。

    桂林与阳朔都坐落于中国南方广西省的漓江地区。桂林这个市名意思由于桂林一直都有很多桂花树，所以桂林市的市名是因为这里种植了很多的桂花树。这个地区可算是顶级的旅游景点之一，以喀斯特地貌的山地、壮丽的美景、水稻栽培而闻名。俗话说：“桂林山水甲于天下”。我们乘船游览漓江，过去乘客乘竹筏，现在乘电动的小艇。绕过一个拐弯处时，二十元背面的桂林山水在我们的眼前出现，漓江水里映出了背面的森林覆盖的山。

    此天我们骑自行车进入了乡村，陪我们是刚认识的新朋友，昨天晚上我们一起吃过了阳朔著名的啤酒鱼。我们骑了12公里的乡村小路，穿过水牛、稻田、农村里玩耍的孩子，多雾的山顶。相比之下，农村的生活很缓慢，偶尔能听到女人带水牛去河边喝水的声音，或者骑车的游客互相叫喊。

    Imogen Page-Jarrett – river cruise Guangxi Province (Nov 2014)

    我们下一站是国家公园龙脊梯田。一层层从山脚盘绕到山顶，层层叠叠，高低错落。其线条行云流水。春来，水满田畴；夏至，佳禾吐翠；金秋，稻穗沉甸；隆冬，雪兆丰年。梯田自650年就存在。据说是因为山脉恰似神龙之脊背而得名。穿过梯田爬到我们要住的农村很累人。住宅都是用木做的、像别墅似的楼，住民包括瑶族和其他种地的小民族。太阳金光照亮了风景。

    在我们20个小时回到北京火车的小上铺躺着，我们想念我们遇到的当地小吃、著名的景点，本地小民族‘新朋友。在中国旅游一周，肯定会游得远。

     

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION

    When Beijing was granted the 2014 APEC meeting, there was a sudden fervour in the capital. The event has been named China’s most prestigious international event since the Beijing Olympics. Accordingly, in the run up the whole city was made busy preparing for the arrival of foreign guests. One of the most drastic of these was granting the entire capital a public holiday, calling all industry, business, traffic and other polluting elements to a sudden halt. Happily for those of us not losing money during this period however, APEC granted us an unexpected opportunity to travel. The one week November holiday was in aid of reducing the Beijing smog and creating blue skies for the meeting. Thus a new internet term has appeared called “APEC blue”, used by China’s young teens to describe a beautiful thing, which is really only temporary and not genuine. “He’s not really into you, it’s just an APEC blue” appeared on Wechat (China’s most popular instant messaging app) a few weeks ago.

    Guilin and Yangshuo are situated on the Li River in Guangxi Province, South China. The name Guilin means “Forest of Sweet Osmanthus”, due to the large number of the fragrant trees growing in the city. The area is one of China’s top tourist destinations, famed for its karst topography of breathtaking mountains and rice growing culture. There is a saying which goes: “East or West, Guilin’s scenery is best”. We took the river cruise, which used to be on bamboo rafts, now powered by electric dingies in their form; as we turned a bend, the tableau which features on the twenty Yuan note appeared before our eyes; the breath of the Li river reflecting the sharp forested peaks backing it.

    The next day we set off into the countryside with our new Chinese friends who we had eaten famous Yangshuo beer-fish with the previous night. We traversed 12 kilometres of country roads, passing by water buffalo, rice paddies filled with ducks, rural villages with children playing in the streets and mist enveloped mountains. Village life compared with Beijing was lazy, interspersed with the sound of women taking the buffalo down to the river for water, or groups of bikers calling out to one another.

    Our next stop on from Yangshuo was the National Park of Longji, home of China’s rice terraces. The terraced fields are built up the mountain slopes winding upwards from the foot to the peak of the mountains. In spring the terraces are covered in water, summer green rice shoots, rice in fall and  ice in winter. They have been in existence for about 650 years. Longji means dragon’s backbone, owing to the back the terraces look like a dragon’s scales, and the mountain range looks like a dragon’s backbone. It was a tiring trek through up terraces up to the village we were staying in. The residences were all wooden chalet looking buildings, inhabited by large numbers of Yao and other minorities who farmed the land. The sun on the autumn terraces covered the landscape in a golden glow.

    Lying on the small top bunk of our 20 hour sleeper train home, we reminisced about the local delicacies, the renowned scenery, the local people and new friends we had found. A weeks travel in China can certainly get you far.

    Terraced fields Yangshuo, National Park of Longji – Imogen, November 2014

  • Making Myself At Home

    I visited the house of a friend this evening, and whilst I was there one or two other visits came and went. In an off-the-cuff way I commented that the house seemed to have quite a few visitors that evening. They looked at me strangely at first, afterwards explaining that tonight is unusually quiet, it is not uncommon for the family to have up to fifteen visitors in a single evening, an often many stay for the night. ‘Where do they sleep?’ I asked one girl, as I looked around at the tiny house. ‘Oh, they sleep in mine and my sister’s room, it’s reserved entirely for guests’. Without delving too much into the seemingly paradoxical nature of her statement, I began to reflect on how the definition of hospitality varies from culture to culture.  Even now I am learning new things every day!