The first few days
1st Night
After an hour or two of rest in the airplane, I still felt tired. My arms and legs were sore to the touch, and it was getting irritating to walk and carry the luggage around. But I realized as soon as I woke up, that all this flying and waiting is about to end. Finally! Not long after I woke up, the stewardess announced that we were about to land, and when the lights were off, bedazzling scenery of city lights showered the windows. The closer we got to landing, the more spectacular it was. And we flew so close to the roofs of houses/apartments, that I thought we were going to hit -_-“ I wonder just how loud the noise of airplanes can get for the people who live there. Must be pretty damn deafening!
We were practically rushing as soon as we disembarked. We met up with our aunt, uncle and their daughter (We call her Ai Ai, and she’s the most adorable child I’ve seen!) They helped us settle down in a small place nearby our uncle’s working place, which was – luckily – temporary. But it was quite cozy in a way, though the entrance was filled with advertisement cards for prostitutes >.> First thing I did was to check whether wireless networks were available. And it was not =/ I guess I shouldn’t have expected more from a place like this.
2nd day
Today, we went to the Xiamen University to check my enrolment status, and I couldn’t help but notice the monstrosity of the place. The buildings themselves are scattered throughout what seemed to be 20km square of land. To get a better impression, imagine 3 football fields, 20+ basketball courts, a gymnast’s training area, and a great park with a large lake in the middle of it. And that’s only a small portion of what i've covered so far! Winding roads, broad & tall buildings, steep stairs… And oh, there are convenient stores, banks of 3 kinds, and many restaurants. All within the campus area. I have never witnessed such a wonder; everything is just a step away. What let me down, however, is that we didn’t manage to get a place in the campus. Neither of us knew where we were headed next to live in; our aunt is the one helping us settle our accommodations. Now we’re staying in a hotel (claiming that it’s a 3 star – I’ll give it a 1), where we’ll stay for 2 nights. The university is within walking distance, which we did try. It took 9 minutes+ to walk from the entrance to the BOTTOM of the steps, which we weren’t keen on clambering. Walking from the hotel to the entrance took approximately another 6 minutes+… making the whole journey 20+ minutes. Then came the fact that where we will be staying later is further away from the university than the hotel……
I’ll be needing a bicycle! x)
3rd day
Woke up really late today (about 8ish) because I slept late too (almost 2).
Sighs
Life hasn’t exactly been great. I haven’t been able to understand much of the things people are saying, but I think I’ve improved slightly. My sister and I decided to take another walk around the university, but taking a different gate this time. There are 2 gates, as far as I know. This gate is nearer to the hotel, but further away from the destination x) so it’s not necessarily better. We covered more grounds than we did yesterday, with the intention of sightseeing as well. They have a large semi-stadium, where I assume they hold annual sports competition or something. We felt adventurous, and strayed away from the main path and onto the side paths. The university seriously feels like a labyrinth, and I suspect I covered barely a tenth so far. And they say Xiamen isn’t too large of a city……..
I found out that Xiamen University is actually placed 5th on the list of attractions (derived from Yahoo! Travel) and I can imagine why.
We rested, ate KFC (horrible, compared to McD! And they're only a few steps away from one another >.>) and continued in the evening. Tried finding a map of the whole city, and failed. Discovered another part of Xiamen University (Xiamen University of Technology, which I doubt is connected to the main side), as well as a wet market! Cheapness galore! Although we decided not to shop until we learn how to haggle prices :P Huhu. We found a supermarket as well, which turned out to be quite near to where we are staying. Restocked water & juice, bought Lays (Diet plan not working out – Things are simply too cheap!), and was tempted to get a basketball. But I didn’t. We went back to the hotel, with the thought of relief that we’re finally moving out of the hotel the very next day.
Turned out that we’re moving out a day after tomorrow. Bummer! -_-“
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