Hi, my name is Oliver and I’m in my third year studying Spanish and Mandarin at UoB! As the Mandarin Editor at The Linguist, I hope to share some of my experiences of learning about Chinese culture and language and working with other Mandarin speakers to help tell their stories.

I am really looking forward to doing some intensive Mandarin study at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Singapore in the second half of my year abroad. However, for the time being, I’m writing to you from the library of my university in Argentina. As much as people may say that it’s the Paris of South America and that it’s incredibly European, I think it’s still very different. I arrived here just under a month ago and have had to acclimate to many things during these four weeks. In this article, I hope to share some of these cultural shocks I’ve experienced so far.

Let’s start with the timing of events throughout the day. I think, the biggest shock to my system has been dinner. In England, when we’re eating dinner around 6:00 pm, it’s time for an Argentine merienda or afternoon snack. If someone invites you for cena, don’t expect to arrive at the restaurant until around 9:30/10:00 pm. Don’t worry if you plan on going out to a club after dinner, because you’ll have plenty of time to rest. It’s the norm to arrive at a bar at around 12:00 am for your previas, move onto the boliche no earlier than 1:00 am, and stay until 5:00 or 6:00 am. My sleep schedule has definitely taken a hit!

However, a constant throughout the day is maté, a hot drink made by pouring water over caffeinated herbs. But it’s so much more than that; instead, it’s seen as a social event where friends and family come together and share the drink with each other. It’s not uncommon to see students pass around one maté among 10 friends in the middle of a class or sitting in a big circle outside, drinking it at break times, sharing the charming bitter taste and germs with each other.

Another key difference I’ve seen is the transport system here. I’m a nerd for a good public transport system, and Buenos Aires focuses on the efficient and sprawling subte metro network and an incredibly confusing hodgepodge system of busses. With the buses, you really just have to get on and pray that it’ll be heading in the same direction that Google Maps says it will, and that it’ll stop where you need it to. Usually, it won’t.

I’ve also quickly learned that seeing the sights of Argentina won’t be as speedy as I thought. As much as I knew this was a massive country, I didn’t consider the 18-hour bus I’ll be taking next month to go to the Iguazú waterfalls in the north of the country or the 5-hour flight to ‘the world’s southernmost city’ Ushuaia. Its size is truly staggering.

So, there you have it! My take on adapting to Buenos Aires. It really is a unique place to study and live in, and I look forward to exploring everything Argentina has to offer. All that remains for me to say is that I hope everyone reading this has a great semester, and I’ll see you in the next issue on something a little more China-focused!

Oliver Hancock