Nanjing 2018-2019, Blog Post 4
November in the United States is a special month; it is a month of being thankful, rejoicing with family, and being glad you survived almost another year. For me, however, November was one of the hardest months being abroad. Perhaps it was the hazardous pollution that reached into the 200’s (where anything above 100 is technically unsafe), or maybe it was still a matter of an adaptation period. After all, it is only Americans that celebrate Thanksgiving, so being around non-Americans celebrating different holidays abroad was quite weird at first.
Nevertheless, I experienced my first bout of homesickness in November. As midterms were to be held in the beginning of November, I began studying pretty hard. I wanted to make sure my grades were good because although they didn’t transfer to my university in the US for the following year, they were the purpose of my study period in China and the pure validity for many people that my time abroad was worthy. Maybe others did not know that this year would be about finding my identity, my beliefs, and my comforts, but these grades sure were important.
Also, it didn’t help that I got sick during midterm week. Surely, it was not anything more than a minor cold, but it sent me into a mentality of missing EVERYTHING. I missed my cats, my dad, my friends from high school, driving a car, all the cheesy comfort foods, and almost anything that comes to mind with the American lifestyle. I just wanted my old lifestyle back, with another clear sense of purpose I felt in high school, which was to maintain good grades to get into a prestigious university. My year abroad did not actually have a main goal other than improving my Chinese, and I struggled with those goals all of the first semester.
So while I missed home and began actually reaching out to friends and family from home, my friends at Nanjing Normal became even closer. I formed a friend group with my roommate Giulia, the previously mentioned half-German, half-Chinese girl named Emily, and another German girl Josi. We all ate dinner every night together, and although it was a good time, we did eat a lot later than I was used to. It took some adjustment to have to comply with other people’s wants and needs, and although it may have resulted in some unhealthy choices, I did need that situation of being made uncomfortable and the change from the expectation of usual instant gratification to make myself more able to accept change.
Of course during the duration of this month, other than academics and a social life, I did keep busy with activities. I attended a fun track meet in Xianlin, went to Yangzhou (another city in JiangSu Province located near Nanjing) with a big group of friends, and visited touristy sites throughout the city. In the photo collage below are pictures of all the mentioned events I participated in. I also bought my heavy winter jacket in preparation for the freezing, polluted Nanjing and brought my roommate to my mom’s about an hour from Nanjing Normal University for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Overall, November was a weird month. I became content with the good friends I had made, completely immersed in the foreigner culture at school, and happy with my regular schedule (except dinner was too late). I did also enjoy my adventures around in Nanjing and first experience on a Chinese train in five years when we headed to Yangzhou. Yet, I still was searching for my ultimate purpose abroad and the true calling.