shanghai sceneries.

Old women in Xinchang.

Three weeks of life in China left. At this point, homesickness lunges at you around every corner - it hits you upside the head in a bus, sitting in class, going to bed. Frustration towards some Chinese ways and behaviors flares occasionally and Finland seems like the only place where things are done right. There is also a sense of being lucky - lucky to be born in a country where you are taken care of no matter what. A country where, admittedly, work does not make you rich, but there is a certain standard to doing things. And I miss rye bread. And good coffee.

But what about what is China? The China I had in mind before the exchange is a different kind of China than the China I know now. There is more new than old in many places. The Chinese are much more laid back than I expected. They are also mostly very friendly and despite of an obvious language barrier, even a little Chinese goes a long way. And they will try their best to make everything work for you. On the other hand, a Westerner equals a Rich Person which can give a student on a student budget some grief on occasion. The nature is beautiful in so many places and even man-made designs will put you in awe. But the traffic, people spitting and coughing everywhere, things getting done slowly or in a difficult way...little details like that are the things that will drive you mad sometimes. But there are also little things that make you happy: Kewpie roasted sesame dressing, jian bing (and other street kitchen fare), beautiful parks, animal figures made of grass blades, nice silk, pretty tea pots, hutongs, people dancing in parks, fresh fruit at a fraction of the cost in Finland...

All in all, China is a big and wonderful, yet occasionally frustrating, country with a lot of (nice) people. And I am sure I will end up visiting China again - but next time I may want to experience the more Finn-friendly population densities of Western China.

A restaurant in Xinchang.

Xinchang is another ancient water town in Shanghai.

Century Park.

People can rent different kinds of bicycles at Century Park.

Century Park.

Some poppies at Century Park.

Chinese bakeries have all kinds of sweet treats as well as sandwiches and salty danishes. The long bread halves with parsley are garlic bread sticks - delicious!