China: the finish line

Some people say that going abroad is a lesson for life and it will teach you how to get through life on your own. You will get to know your weaknesses and strengths and figure out how to be comfortable with yourself.

Coming to China didn’t teach me any of this.

The thing is, the only time I felt alone during this whole semester was the first evening when I got here and didn’t know how to use internet, where to get food, or how to manage to fall asleep in a really hard and uncomfortable bed. When I got up the next day to figure out administrative stuff, I met Soyeon. And then I met Robert. And then Karianne and Jing and all the other amazing people.

And I truly believe I was extremely lucky to meet them all, because they all taught me so much about life and helped me to keep my life balanced in an environment that was so different from everything I was used to.

I met people who are so similar and at the same time so different from me. People who left behind their lives to come to live in one of the most interesting countries in the world. People who are adventurous, spontaneous and are still looking for something exciting, something new.

I spoke to people who even at their young age have traveled more than most people do in their whole lifetime. I met people who were so motivating that they made me work harder and dream bigger. They taught me to be braver, more spontaneous and how to manage to keep my life balanced in a strange new country.

I honestly didn’t expect to get so close to these people in only such a short amount of time, but I did. I really do believe I found friends for life and even though I cannot knock on their doors anymore at any moment, I believe they will always be there for me.

My Chinese experience was amazing and even though I now feel even more that I don’t know enough about China, I have a way better sense of their thinking and their culture. I had conversations about the Chinese culture, politics and it made me see everything from a totally new perspective.

Thank you China, Beijing and Tsinghua University for treating me so well!

And moreover, thank you mom and dad for always being so supportive of me and helping me to reach my dreams! And big a big thanks to my sister and my friends and relatives for always being there for me, even when I’m thousands of kilometers away.

It feels good to be back home!

I will miss you all! 

And to all of my readers, I promise to write more about my latest trips soon and add lots of pictures!

What did I learn this year?

With the year coming to its end it’s pretty usual to start thinking about what did you accomplish this year. What will you most remember about these 365 days? Is it the trips you took, the accomplishments you made, people you met or just these small moments that at the time didn’t seem to matter that much?

What I appreciate the most about this year, is how much I learned about myself and about life. Yes, I am still kind of confused about what is going to happen in the future and what exactly do I want to do with my life, but I feel like I’ve come so much further and am so much closer to achieving the things I have so far only dreamed about.

For one thing, I finally took the leap and came to China.  I’ve been talking about coming here for years and everyone said that one day I will do it, but at one point in my life I wasn’t really sure if it’s one of those dreams that is better off to keep it as what it is – a dream – or should I actually turn it into reality.

It turns out that it wasn’t just a dream. It was something that needed to be done, because honestly I feel like every day in here has been a blessing. Yeah, there are days when I feel like I really want to go home and hug my family and friends, but at the same time I feel like I'm surrounded by everything so exciting. Yes, it was tough making myself overcome the fear of the unknown, but I am sincerely proud of myself for doing it.

But in the last few months I’ve been thinking about the meaning of the concept „home“. Is it the place where you were born, where you spent most of your life, the place where you feel the most like yourself of the place where there are people you love?

And I have realized that when you travel around, the concept gets really hazy. Of course, my home will always be with my family at the place where I grow up, but during these past few years I have added several other places to the „List of places I can call home“: Tartu, Tallinn, Morgantown, Beijing.

I’ve discovered that it's the people that make it feel like home. It is the people that you care about and who care about you. So yeah, my real home will always be with my family, but I feel like I also have „families“ all over the world now.

And I haven’t really decided yet if it’s a good thing or not because no matter where you are you will always miss this other family and this other home that you left behind.

But honestly, the year 2015 has given me so much – I’ve had the chance to spend time with my family and friends, I’ve gotten new work experiences, met new people who I’ve grown so attached to, seen the world, traveled, and most of all, enjoyed every single day of this year!

Emme-issi, ma tulen varsti koju, ärge muretsege! :)

And here is my year in pictures. 

Studying in Tsinghua University - a dream come true?

I’ve lived in Beijing for almost two months now and there’s one thing that I am 100% certain – I live in one of the coolest campuses and study in one of the best universities in the world.

Home, Building number 6

Course registration and my final selection

My first days and weeks in Tsinghua were a mess. I cannot even count the times I wanted to hit my head against the wall because of all the paperwork I had to do or because of the stress that the online course registration caused. By the end of the second school week I was already ready to give up because the course registration was about to end and I still didn’t have enough credits.

The problem was that some of the courses I really wanted to take turned out to  be in Chinese, and by that I mean I was the only Western person in the class (or one of the two only ones). Like imagine yourself going to the class called English News Reporting  and it turns out that oops the professor is actually giving his lectures in Chinese and all of his slides are in Chinese. Or you go to this public speaking class and look around and everyone is Chinese and no one even understands English.

Luckily the third school week turned out to be a game changer. By the beginning of my October holidays I actually had all of my courses figured out and the stress was almost gone. This means that I am now left with 11 credits (16,5 ECTS) and five masters courses. And the best part is that I actually like all of them.

-           The Principles of Area Studies (it’s actually more of a Chinese political economy course)

-           Ancient Chinese Thinking of Foreign Policy

-           News Writing and Multi-media Reporting

-           Overview of International Energy and Environmental Governance

-           Chinese

Two of the courses are taught by American and three by Chinese professors and I can honestly say that they are the best among the best. For example, my ancient Chinese thinking professor Yan Xuetong was named as one of the Top 100 public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy in 2008.

Studying in Tsinghua is not easy

Studying under the best professors in a top university also means that you need to work twice as hard to get good grades (or to pass the class). For each class you have to finish a massive amount of readings plus hand in home assignments. Compared to the European system where you just go to lectures and pass the final exam it is definitely more difficult, but it is also a lot more effective.

But life is actually a lot easier for the foreign students. The Chinese undergraduate students take at least twice as many credits as I and study three times harder because even though they have already gotten into Tsinghua University, which only accepts 1% of the students, they also have to stand out among the best.  If you want to get into the graduate programs or want to study abroad you must have a killer GPA.

But if you thought it would get easier when you get into a graduate program you are mistaken. My roommate is on her second year of masters and she leaves home before 9AM and returns after 11PM. Most of her days, weekends and even holidays are spent in the lab. The general requirement for her is to spend 40 hours a week in the lab, but since they also have additional homework and projects, the days are a lot longer.

An example of how Chinese people can really sleep everywhere

Outside school activities and the Tsinghua campus

I've always believed that in order to keep yourself healthy, you need to find a balance between physical and mental exercise. Luckily the students in Tsinghua university think like me and therefore there are about a few hundred different student associations here.

Since I am in China, which already seems a bit weird for a lot of people, I decided to do something different this semester and join organizations that I would probably never think about joining back home. Therefore I auditioned for the traditional Chinese dance team and the musical club and got accepted to the latter. Unfortunately I won't be able to do the whole musical since I'll be back in Estonia by then, but I can perform in a show where we will be doing a few numbers from Chicago, Burlesque and some other musicals. Life is an adventure!

But overall, the campus in here is amazing. We have tens of canteens, restaurants, supermarkets, stadiums, parks, a fruit and vegetable market, a gym, swimming hall, concert hall, movie theater, etc. The campus is seven square kilometers and it accommodates about 40 000 students (yes, the campus is bigger than my hometown). The huge amount of students isn't usually a problem, but it is pretty obvious during the breaks between classes when the roads are packed with people on their bikes. Since no one really cares about the rules here, it all looks pretty chaotic (to be honest I am still afraid of dying every time I ride my bike).

But other than the fact that the traffic is crazy, everything is pretty great. Okay, actually there are so many things that are not normal at all and things I could never get used to, but this is what I like about living here. I love that it is not easy - it is a challenge, but at the same time it is so exciting!

The concert hall

One of our libraries

Final note: USNews recently published an article about the top engineering universities in the world and Tsinghua University was number 1 (followed by MIT and Berkeley).
TopUniversities has ranked Tsinghua as the 25th best university in the world.

Tsinghua University campus at night

Yours truly,

Kai 

The streets of China

Walking around in places I've never been and seeing the locals living their everyday lives - this is my favorite part of travelling. 

Especially in China, where nothing is really 'normal' when you look at it from a Western perspective.  You see old people meeting on the streets for some card games, dance lessons, chess or jenga, you see people sleeping on couches or chairs they have put outside of their houses, people selling food that is so unsanitary you might get a food poisoning by just looking at it, children peeing into trash cans, and people who really seem to need the money they get from selling their farm products, but who at the same time own the newest iPhone6. 

Yes, there are so many things in China that are not  normal, but this is what I like about this country. I feel like every day is an adventure and I'm pretty sure I could never get bored here!

Yours truly,

Kai

Overcoming the fear of the unknown

„Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.“

W. Clement Stone

Fear – we often feel it at times when we don’t really expect it and for reasons that we don’t even want to admit to ourselves. Because how can I be scared of something that I have been wanting for years?

This is exactly what I felt before leaving the one and only place that I can actually call home. To be honest, I have never been so scared in my life and I have no idea why I felt like this. But when I saw my sweet little Estonia from the plane and when I set my foot in China for the first time in six years, it all hit me. For the next 5 months I will be living in a city with more than 20 million people and among the 20 million I don’t really know anyone. My family and friends will be thousands of kilometers away and from now on it’s just me.

But you would be surprised to know how quickly this feeling went away. Okay, the first day was honestly pretty bad because after waiting in the passport check line for 2 hours, sitting in traffic jams for almost 3 hours and getting lost in the campus, I finally made it to my dormitory, where there was no internet and no roommate waiting for me.

My first reaction was to just throw myself on my bed, which actually looked pretty comfortable at first, but lets just say I could not have been more wrong. I literally could not breathe because well my bed is actually a wooden plate which is covered with a 3cm mattress and therefore the fall was pretty painful.

Luckily my survival instincts started working after staying in my dorm room for about 10 minutes (the last meal I had was on the plane about 8 hours ago) and therefore I just knocked on my neighbors doors to find someone who could help me to find food and access internet. My mission was successful and from that point on everything started going upwards. Even though there are times when I feel like I want to scream because of all this bureaucracy I have had to handle, there are so many people here who are dealing with the same kinds of issues and there is nothing that a glass of wine with nice people couldn’t solve.

But overall it seems that I have managed to fill out most of the paperwork and solve all of the issues related to registration, visas, bank accounts, internet etc. Therefore I am now the proud owner of a Chinese SIM-card, bank account, meal card, Student ID and other cool things.

My first meal in one of the cafeterias. Price: less than 1 euro

One of the cafeterias in the campus. Note: you will actually never see none of the cafeterias this empty. The place was actually closed (all the places are closed between 13.30-16.30), but we pretended not to understand the angry Chinese women who were screaming at us (actually most of the time we didn't have to pretend since we actually did not understand most of it). 

This is my new home: Building no. 6, Asian Youth Center. As far as I know, it is the newest and best-looking dormitory in the whole campus. Not to mention the fact that we have the coolest people living here. 

I should also point out that I also managed to purchase my first bicycle ever (30 euros for a new bike didn’t seem like a bad deal). Everyone who knows my experiences with bikes understands how badly this sounds because lets just say that if there is a tree or a lamp post somewhere on the street, you can be sure that I will probably crash into it. So far I have actually been quite successful, but riding a bike in Beijing still seems like this big scary roller coaster to me (describing the traffic rules in Beijing would probably need a separate post).By the end of this semester I should be able to ride with a bike on the streets (where there are no rules and traffic lights don't really matter) while holding an umbrella in one and a mobile in other hand.

Although I actually have so many stories to tell it doesn't feel right to fit all this information into one blog post. Therefore I promise that next time I will tell you more about China, Tsinghua University and my adventures in this amazing city. I can just tell you that I am pretty sure that coming here was one of the best choices I have ever done and I could not be happier! Everything in here is so different and so interesting and every day I learn something new.

The Beijing Olympic Park and The Water Cube at night. 

The Bird's Nest

But until then, be safe, travel and enjoy life (because I know I will).

Yours truly,

Kai 

Spring break & Miami

Kuna kevadvaheajale järgnenud nädalad on sisaldanud suurtes kogustes kodutöid, teste ja eksameid, siis jõuab see postitus teieni alles nüüd.

Mingil määral pole ma veel siiani suutnud sellest Spring Break meeleolust välja tulla, sest see kogu nädal oli lihtsalt nii äge. Ma armusin Miamisse ning kuigi mitte miski ei läinud selle nädala jooksul plaanitult, oli see nädal kohe kindlasti üks põnevamaid minu elus.

Vaheaeg algas aga tegelikult hoopis Pittsburghis, kus veetsime Kanamiga kaks päeva. Minu ebaõnnestumised said alguse juba enne Pittsburghi jõudmist. Nimelt suutsin internetist bussipiletit ostes teha "pisikese" vea ning osta pileti 3. juuliks mitte 7. märtsiks (miks nad ei võiks õppida kuupäeva õiget pidi kirjutama?!). Õnneks sain lõpuks bussijuhiga kokkuleppele ning sain siiski Pittsburghi.
Ajapuuduse tõttu on Pittsburghi (ja Washingtoni) pildid veel täitsa sorteerimata ja seega näete neid kunagi hiljem.
Pühapäeva öösel suundusime aga edasi Washingtoni. Kuna suutsime piletite ostmise jätta viimasele minutile, olid kõik normaalsel ajal väljuvad reisid välja müüdud ning pidime öö veetma bussis. Hommikul kell 4 jõudsime Washington DC-sse, kus me oma väsimusest ja külmast ilmast hoolimata veidi linna uudistasime. Aega oli aga vähe ning juba kell 3 pidi väljuma meie lennuk Miamisse.
Päris nii see aga ei läinud, sest meie lendu lükati umbes-täpselt 3 korda edasi. Paar tundi hiljem saime lõpuks lennukisse, kus sain isegi kerged 2 tundi magada.

Maandudes ootas meid aga juba uus üllatus. Nimelt selgus, et oleme täiesti öömajata, sest meie host hüppas alt ära. Kuigi ma olen alati veidi couchsurfingut peljanud, otsustasime seekord minna riskile ning otsida esimeseks kaheks ööks öömaja just selle lehekülje kaudu. Meie host Ben tundus täitsa normaalne inimene, aga seda vaid nii kaua, kuni kaks meie reisikaaslast Gizem ja Dogan tema ukse taha läksid. Põhimõtteliselt viskas Ben nad välja, sest tema sõnul ei öelnud mina sõnagi, et üks neljast inimesest on meessoost (kontrollisin enda mailboxi ning olen talle selge sõnaga öelnud, et minuga on koos 2 tüdrukut ja 1 poiss). Tema aga enda korterisse võõrast meest ei võta ning meie võime endale uue öömaja otsida.
Nii me siis jõudsimegi Kanamiga Miamisse: väsinuna, näljastena ning ilma öömajata. Õnneks tuli meile lennujaama järgi tuttav Morgantownist, kes viis meid sportautoga (?) enda luksushotelli (?), kus saime rahulikult mõelda, kust me endale hotelli leiame ning nautida head sööki (room service?). Õhtul kell 11 leidsime endale lõpuks täitsa toreda hotelli ning saime kokku ka Gizemi ja Doganiga.

Kui esimesed kaks ööd veetsime North Beachil hotellis, siis järgmiseks kolmeks ööks oli meil broneeritud toad South Beachil Bikini Hostelis. Hotell oli otse loomulikult mugavam ja privaatsem (ilus rand ja basseinid), kuid samas oli  hosteli asukoht kordades mugavam. Lisaks oli hostelis palju toredaid inimesi ning vaba aja veetmise võimalusi.

Täitsa lõpp, kui soe ja mõnus seal oli :)

Vaade rõdult

Kaks sammu hotellist oli just selline rand

Esiplaanil minu toakaaslane Kanami ning taga Türgi tüdruk Gizem, kes minuga alati õhtutel pidudel viitsis käia. 

Ülidselt saime oma 5 päeva jooksul nautida Miamit, lebotada rannas, uudistada linna, käia laevakruiisil ning viimasel päeval jõudsime lõpuks ka Everglades'i loodusparki. Tegelikult pidime veetma kaks päeva ka Orlandos ning meil oli isegi hotell broneeritud, kuid kuna car rental firma tegi meile tünga, siis jäi meil sinna minemata. Seejuures oli mul eriti kahju minu toakaaslasest, kes tahtis Miamisse tulla ainult selle pärast, et Orlandos Disneyworldi minna.
Ilmad olid peaaegu ideaalsed: kahel esimesel päeval oli sooja umbes 30 kraadi ning viimastel päevadel 25. Päike paistis, pilvi nägime vaid viimasel päeval ning sedagi vaid mõneks tunniks.

Millest ei saa Miami puhul aga üle ega ümber, on peod. Seda kõike on lihtsalt nii raske kirjeldada. Kohe kindlasti on Miami üks parimaid linnasid, kus pidutseda. Kui lugesin kunagi Elina blogipostitust Miami kohta, tundus see kõik nii ebareaalne ja äge ja just täpselt nii see ongi. Tüdrukute jaoks on sealne elu ikka eriti ilus. Klubides ja restoranides on promootorid, kes sinuga tihtipeale juttu teevad ning kutsuvad sind "kõige ägedamatele" pidudele. Nad võimaldavad sulle tasuta sissepääsu VIP rivist, tasuta joogid jne. Muidugi mõtled selle peale, et kus on konks; mida nad sult vastu ootavad? Vastus on: mitte midagi. Ükski promootor ei käitunud meiega kuidagi lugupidamatult ning enamus aega tundsid nad lihtsalt muret, kas meil on ikka kõik korras, kas meil on lõbus ja kas meil on veel mingeid soove.
Meeste jaoks elu aga nii ilus pole. Meiega oli koos ka üks Türgi kutt, kes jäi lausa kahel korral klubi ukse taha. Mehi aitavad klubisse sisse enamasti vaid suur rahakott või head tutvused.
Üldiselt käisimegi pidudel Türgi tüdruku Gizemiga, sest minu toakaaslane oli tõbine ning ainus kutt seltskonnas veetis enamus aega klubi uste taga. Aga tõsiselt huvitav nädal oli: käisime ägedates klubides, kohtusime huvitavate inimestega, jõime Lebron James'i manageri ja New York Knicks'i mängijaga tekiilat. Meid kutsuti Denver Nuggetsi mängija hostitud peole ning käisime ägedal hotellipeol.
Pidutsemist oli ausalt öeldes palju, kuid samas ei raisanud me hommikuti aega magamisele ja ärkasime üsnagi varakult, et süüa midagi head hommikusöögiks ning seejärel linna uudistada.

Vahepalaks veidi söögipilte: 

Mida tasuks ehk veel mainida, on see, et Miami on jaotatud kaheks piirkonnaks: Miami downtown ja Miami beach. Enamus ajast veetsime me Miami beachil, kuid ühe päeva seiklesime ka downtownis ning käisime laevakruiisil. Nägime palju kõrghooneid ning kruiisil kümnete kuulsuste villasid ja privaatsaari. Miami piirkonnas omavad maja näiteks Jennifer Lopez, Julio Iglesias, Paulina Rubio, Will Smith, Shaquille O'Neall ja paljud muud kuulsused.

Miami downtown ja kruiis:

American Airlines Arenal toimuvad Miami Heat'i mängud. Meie kaks reisikaaslast käisid esimesel päeval nende mängu ka vaatamas, aga kuna minu lennuk jõudis Miamisse liiga hilja, jäin mina sellest kogemusest ilma. 

Viimasel päeval käisime Everglades'i looduspargis ning hiljem seiklesime South Beachil ja Ocean Drive'il. Kuna kõik olid kella 3ks juba täiesti omadega läbi ja läksid hotelli magama, jalutasin pärastlõunal üksinda täiesti tundmatutes kohtades. Tihtipeale hindam ma just neid hetki reisil, kui ma ei pea kuskile jooksma ja kellegi soovide järgi tegutsema, vaid saan lihtsalt rahulikult teha mida iganes hing ihkab. Käisin pisikestes huvitavates poodides, ekslesin pisikestel tänavatel, uudistasin erinevaid naabruskondi, käisin pargis ja tegin pilte.
Samas peab mainima, et päris üksinda ei soovitaks ma ühelgi naissoost inimesel vähegi pimedamal ajal jalutama minna, sest kuigi enamik inimesi on ütlemata sõbralikud ja tulevad sinuga jutustama niisama heast tahtest, on seal ka suurel hulgal creepereid. Sa võid kindel olla, et lühikese jalutuskäigu jooksul saad endale vähemalt paar sabarakku, kes sind kuidagi rahule ei taha jätta.

Et postitus veelgi pikemaks ei veniks, teen Everglades'i looduspargist hiljem teise postituse. Ma arvan, et see oli piisavalt äge koht, et väärib eraldi kirjeldamist.

Tagasiteest nii palju, et ma ei ole vist kunagi nii väsinud olnud. Ma ei jõudnud enne ärasõitu hetkegi magada; lennud olid eriti hüplikud; meil oli vahemaandumine Newarkis, kus meie lendu jällegi edasi lükati; me pidime ootama Washingtonis 12 tundi bussi ning stationis ei tohtinud magada; bussis ei suutnud ma samuti magama jääda ning lõpuks kui Morgantowni jõudsime, ei saanud me ühikasse sisse ja seega jäin magama tuttavate diivanil, kus ma unesegasena eesti keeles sonisin ning kedagi läbi une peksin. Pärastlõunal saime aga lõpuks siiski oma ühikatuppa, kus sain rahulikult oma asjad lahti pakkida ning ka korralikult magada, et siis järgmine päev uuesti kooli minna.

Lõpetuseks aga mõned mitte minu tehtud pildid:

Hotellipidu SLS hotellis

Näide Miami ööklubist (SET)

Ja need oleme meie: (vasakult) Kanami, mina, Gizem ja Dogan

Üritan lähiajal teha ka postituse üldisest elust ja olust. Rääkida veidi koolist, Morgantownist ja kõigest muust.

Juba 6 nädala pärast lendan tagasi Eestisse, seega varsti näeme!

Kai :)