Initially approached with the intention of helping produce a
series of short films, the two days we spent with the Nankai University
students quickly became a series of visits to tourist sites around Tianjin. As
well, it was a chance to make some new, incredibly sweet friends.
Being collected at the inhumane hour of 7am, we set off to
Nankai University. Unbeknownst to us, the campus they had in mind was over an
hour away from our hotel- not the one just around the corner from our
university. Arriving at the university, we were taken into a small shop, and
told to buy whatever we wanted- breakfast, drinks, snacks. Grabbing a drink, a
teacher met me at the checkout and swiped a card and a beep rang out. He smiled
at me, and ushered me out of the shop. Little did I know that this marked the
start of two days having everything paid for by the university faculty, and
never having to lift a finger. Piled onto buses, handed food and water and
having photos taken with students from the university- surely, they have us all
mistaken for somebody a lot more important…
Our camera man, however, suggested otherwise. For the two
days we spent with Nankai, we were assigned a camera man who accompanied us
everywhere we went. Looking through the library? Don’t worry; the camera man is
catching you looking through that book. Looking at the knick knacks in the
cultural street? Camera man is right in there capturing forever just how much
you looked to be enjoying yourself at that exact moment.
Although we began at the university in the filming rooms,
the teachers very quickly realised that our qualifications of photography
students hardly qualified us to be working a video camera. With this new found
knowledge, they were determined to still show us a good time, and morphed into
tour guides for our remaining time there. Visiting a number of tourist sites,
we spent the time talking with the students and getting to know our city
better.
