Kunming first impressions

I am now in Kunming for 2 months doing an intensive Mandarin course in an attempt to get at least conversationally fluent before I leave. People have asked me why I chose to come to Kunming to learn Mandarin (as Bernard said, it's kind of like going to Texas to learn English), but Kunming is in Yunnan province, which borders Burma (or Myanmar), Vietnam, and Laos, plus the province itself has some natural Chinese beauty spots in Lijiang and Shangri-la, I thought it would also be a good base to do some travelling. Kunming is also blessed with eternally spring-like weather - I had thought of going to Harbin or Dalian, where the accent is supposedly more accurate, but they are about -10C right now!!

I am staying with a lovely host family during my stay here, in the hope that I will get to practice a lot more than if I was staying in the university dormitory. The apartment I am staying in is really very nice, in the north part of Kunming, set in the middle of a modern, middle-class housing estate. I have a cosy room all to myself:

I also have a private bathroom, which I probably shouldn't go to after a few drinks...:

I have a lovely new mum and new sister who I am living with. My new mum is a retired primary school teacher, and my new sister, Yang, is currently studying for her Masters in Chinese ethnic minorities as well as training to be a high school teacher. She is about a month younger than me, it's lovely having a sister my age :) Here she is in the kitchen making her breakfast:

The apartment itself is really spacious, with 3 bedrooms, and a lovely open lounge:

The lounge opens up to the dining room which is actually on the balcony:

Overall, I am loving it, although it is a little cold at the moment. Average temperature around this time of year is 10-15C during the day, but it does get pretty cold at night, about 2-3C. It doesn't help that there is no heating in most apartments here.

Luckily, I have something to cuddle up to when I get cold! This is 毛頭 (literally translated as Fluff Head), who is my new dog!!! I am quite excited about having a dog. He is very very well behaved, and likes to look at himself in the mirror, which confuses him:

I am starting my Mandarin lessons proper tomorrow at Yunnan University, apparently the most prestigious university in the province (although I am also told that all universities in Yunnan are amongst the best in the country - arf!). Here is where I shall be having lessons with all the other guilos:

Obviously, the most important thing to be reporting on is the food - and I'm glad to report I am ecstatic at the quality so far. One of the best things about living with a host family is that I get to eat normal home-cooked meals rather than having to eat out all the time. This was my breakfast this morning, glutinous rice steeped in soy milk. As my mum will know, this is exactly the kind of stuff I love to eat, but will never be able to make back home, such a good start to the day:

The food options around the university are also pretty excellent. Given the number of international students at Yunnan Uni, there is a whole street of foreign-inspired restaurants right next door, but there are also tons of local eateries around. Yesterday, Fei Fei, one of my tutors, took me to have Beijing dumplings, at Y3 (about 30p) a portion! Today, I had a 酸辣粉 which set me back a grand sum of Y6!

The pricing of things here are a bit crazy - as you can imagine, anything slightly foreign is hiked up (I am currently sitting in a very Western coffee shop to take advantage of their free wireless, but a coffee here will set you back Y20, or about 3 bowls of noodles!). I am determined to stay away from white people whilst I am here though, which is probably help both my wallet and my waistline :)