Chapter 399 Arrived in Europe (revised)
During the training period, Geng Changqing and Ye Wenbin came to see Su Mo.
The two encouraged Su Mo and revealed some of the country's recent plans, asking Su Mo to take advantage of the opportunity to go abroad and seize some opportunities.
Su Mo listened carefully. Although some things were earlier than historically, the general direction remained unchanged. When she returned from her overseas studies, the country would reform and open up.
At that time, China would usher in decades of turbulent development. It would be a good era for a hundred flowers to bloom.
When leaving, Geng Changqing gave Su Mo an envelope with 1,000 marks in it.
Marks have a face value of 100 yuan, and 10 of them are packed in a thin envelope. Su Mo didn't notice it for a while. When she saw what was inside and wanted to return it, the two had already walked away.
If she hadn't read the diary, Su Mo would not have felt so heavy about accepting it. Now, she feels so guilty. I always feel like a scumbag, but I have to pretend that I know nothing.
God, please give me a perfect aunt in every way to accept Uncle Geng. Uncle Geng is such a good person, he should be arranged to have a happy marriage.
On September 4, more than 70 people who were going to study in Western Europe boarded a plane from Beijing to Paris.
【On September 19, 1966, Air France opened the Paris-Athens-Cairo-Karachi-Phnom Penh-Shanghai route, which was the first flight between China and a Western country. On September 7, 1973, Air France's Paris-Beijing route was officially opened.
On November 13, 1980, direct flights from China to the UK were opened; on January 7, 1981, direct flights from China to the United States were opened; in 1979, direct flights from China to Germany were opened.】
After more than ten hours of flight, the group arrived in Paris, and the counselor of the Chinese Embassy in France came to the airport to meet them.
There are very few styles of clothes in China, just a few kinds. The international students received clothing allowances, and they bought almost the same things, all of which were a suit, a Zhongshan suit, a woolen coat, and the colors were all black.
Therefore, when more than seventy people came out, wearing clothes of similar colors and styles, it was very strange in the eyes of the fashionable French, and attracted many people's sidelong glances.
If it weren't for the different aura, they would have thought that the Italian Mafia was coming to Paris to cause trouble. They
had just arrived in a new environment, and the living conditions here were obviously much better than in China. There were cars everywhere on the road, and all kinds of shops could be seen everywhere in the airport. The clothes people wore were also brightly colored, and the styles were something they had never seen before.
Even though they had received training before going abroad, many students still felt cramped.
Looking at the somewhat panicked compatriots sitting on the bus, Su Mo sighed inwardly.
They were all the best in the country, and it was their first time to be sent there, so the country was very cautious. Most of the people they chose had good family backgrounds and were used to seeing good things in the country.
If they were like this, you can imagine what others would feel.
National self-confidence is really an important thing. It took several decades for later countries to allow their people to stand up straight when facing Western developed countries.
The group rested in Paris for a day before leaving for their respective destinations. The
28 people going to Germany flew from Paris to Bonn, the capital of West Germany, the next afternoon. They will be divided into batches and trained for the second time there.
The 10 exchange students majoring in German began to go to their respective exchange schools the day after arriving in Bonn. The remaining 18 international students need to attend a language school in Bonn for 3 months to ensure that they can understand the teacher's lectures after they go to school.
Su Mo, Pei Minghui and a female comrade named Qiao Huaqing were assigned to the University of Munich together.
Comrade Qiao Huaqing is a student at the Beijing Language Institute, also majoring in German. Like Pei Minghui, he has many relatives working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The University of Munich was founded in 1472 and is one of the most prestigious comprehensive universities in Germany. It is also Mr. Felix's alma mater.
He happened to have something to go back for, so he took Su Mo and the other three with him, and the other seven were taken by the embassy staff.
Gu Wangting had to stay in Bonn to arrange for the 18 international students to attend the language school. Before the 10 exchange students left, each received 200 marks of living expenses from Gu Wangting.
During this period, the average salary of West German workers was about 1,000 marks. These 200 marks are really not much, just enough for them to eat three meals a day, and the cheapest ones.
But the country has tried its best to give it. After all, 200 marks is equivalent to 400 yuan in RMB. In China, 400 yuan a month is a treatment that only the top leaders can get.
The embassy staff had already communicated with the University of Munich about this exchange. When the few people arrived at the school, there was a special person to receive them.
The University of Munich also put in a lot of effort and specially arranged for Chinese people in Germany to receive them. One man and one woman, the man's name is Song Pingzhi, and the woman's name is Ye Zhiyu. Both are junior students at the University of Munich.
The two took the three people to their residence.
School has not started yet, so the school first arranged a three-bedroom apartment for them, and after school starts, they will be arranged into student dormitories.
"You can have a rest today. Tomorrow, Zhiyu and I will come to show you the situation in the school. There are also two students from the school who are going to China as exchange students. In two days, we will arrange for you to communicate with them about the situation in China." Song Pingzhi said.
Then he handed Pei Minghui a folded paper, "This is the phone number of Zhiyu and I's residence. If you have anything, call us and we will come immediately."
"We will take our leave first and will not disturb you to rest." After that, the two of them left politely.
After the two of them left, Qiao Huaqing breathed a sigh of relief and sat tiredly on the sofa in the living room.
Although she had been mentally prepared, she was really overwhelmed by the rush and new shocks in the past few days. If she hadn't kept a breath in her heart, reminding herself not to lose face for the country, she would have fallen down.
Su Mo saw that Qiao Huaqing was not in good condition, and asked worriedly: "Huaqing, are you okay?"
Qiao Huaqing waved his hand, "I'm fine, just a little tired, let me rest first. You two choose the room first, and I will take the remaining one."
Pei Minghui looked at the three rooms, and very gentlemanly chose the smallest one with poor lighting, leaving the other two with better lighting for the two ladies.
Seeing Pei Minghui had already gone into the room to pack his luggage, Su Mo randomly chose a room and went in to take out the clothes she brought and put them away. When she came out after packing, she saw Qiao Huaqing still lying on the sofa, so she went over to pull her up and helped her pack her luggage.
Qiao Huaqing was admitted this year, and she was only 19 years old this year. She was the youngest among the 28 people, so Su Mo took better care of her.
A child of this age, living in such an era, would definitely be terrified when going abroad for the first time.
"Sister Su, aren't you nervous?"
Su Mo shook her head. "No, I worked in the Foreign Trade Center before. I met many foreign businessmen here during the exhibition, and I have some understanding of this place."
"I envy you so much. I've only heard about it from my grandfather. This is the first time I've been away from home so far, and I'm not quite used to it. I didn't know until I came out. Once I came out, I realized that our country is so different from here..." Qiao Huaqing spoke more and more quietly.
There are high-rise buildings everywhere here, and small cars, which are very rare in China, are everywhere here. The streets are full of well-dressed people... She found that she felt like a country bumpkin coming to the city.
"It's okay. If there's a gap, we'll catch up. You have to believe in the country. We Chinese are the most hardworking and the most able to endure hardships. One day, we will catch up with them and even surpass them."
Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west. In a few decades, the prosperity of our country is unimaginable here.
"The country is sending us out now to let us learn from the advanced places of others. When we have learned these, we will return to serve the country. As long as there are batches of ambitious people leading the way, the country will definitely get better and better..."
Su Mo played the role of a warm-hearted elder sister, doing ideological work to prevent the little girl from being confused by the prosperity of capitalism.
After listening to what she said, Qiao Huaqing nodded seriously, "Sister Su, you are right, we must face the problem. Our country is indeed lagging behind others at present, but as long as we work hard to catch up, we will catch up one day."
"Don't worry, Sister Su, I, Qiao Huaqing, will definitely be there to help you along the way."
Seeing that the little girl was in high spirits, Su Mo said no more. After helping her pack her things, she went back to her room and took a nap.
She was also very tired from the jet lag these days.
In the evening, the dormitory phone rang. Pei Minghui answered it and knocked on Su Mo's door soon. He said that it was Mr. Felix who called and asked them to get ready. He would come over and take them out for dinner.
About half an hour later, Felix came over and took the three of them to a German restaurant on the street not far from the school.
Felix handed the menu to a few people and asked them to order what they wanted to eat.
After seeing it, Qiao Huaqing was a little dazed. Why are the dishes here so expensive? Any dish is eight or nine marks.
They only have 200 marks for living expenses per month, which means they can only spend six or seven marks a day. At this price, wouldn’t they only be able to eat one meal a day?
When she was released, her grandfather gave her a subsidy of 1,000 marks. She thought that with this subsidy, she would be very comfortable. Now it seems that if she didn’t have this subsidy, she would probably be hungry.
Felix saw Qiao Huaqing's expression, and the serious old man became more relaxed for a rare time. He said, "You can order whatever you want. This meal is my treat. Welcome to Germany."
Su Mo looked at the menu and then said, "Teacher, I'm new here and I don't know what's special here. Can you recommend one to me?"
Pei Minghui and Qiao Huaqing also quickly responded and asked Felix to help them order.
In the end, Felix ordered a bottle of apple wine, a butcher plate, a grilled shoulder blade, a steak, and a German grilled sausage, all with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes, very traditional German food.
Although the taste is a little different from that in China, it tastes very good, and the four of them had a full meal.
When checking out, the bill was 38 marks, plus a 2 mark tip, a total of 40 marks.
After dinner, Felix took a taxi back to his home, and the three of them returned to school by themselves.
On the way back, there were many shops, and the three of them went in for a look. The more they looked, the more worried Pei Minghui and Qiao Huaqing became.
Although they had noticed it when they were eating just now, they still felt a little lucky. Maybe the restaurant was more expensive? After all, the food in the state-owned hotels in China is not cheap either.
But now that they have looked all the way, that little bit of luck is gone. The prices here are much more expensive than in China.
According to the price, these 200 marks are just enough for food. If you want to buy other things, you have to be frugal.
Although my family gave me some money when I came out, I dare not spend it carelessly for a whole year. I have to plan every month.
The next day, Song Pingzhi and Ye Zhiyu showed up at the dormitory door on time at 8 o'clock and took the three of them to tour the school.
As a century-old prestigious school, the University of Munich has a very large campus and each building is very distinctive. Not only Pei Minghui and Qiao Huaqing, but also Su Mo was dazzled. Although she had traveled abroad with her parents in her previous life, this was her first time to visit a prestigious school.
The academic atmosphere here is also very strong. Even during holidays, there are still a large number of diligent students in the library, reading and studying. There are also many students in groups discussing problems all over the campus.
When it was almost time for lunch, Song Pingzhi and Ye Zhiyu introduced them to the cafeteria.
The University of Munich currently has a total of 4 cafeterias and 2 buffet restaurants.
There is nothing special about the cafeteria, except that the food is more expensive than in China. Other methods are similar to the cafeterias in China, but they don’t buy meal tickets here, but pay directly. After all, at this time, there was no such thing as meal cards that can deduct money by swiping cards.
There are currently no buffet restaurants in China. There are two restaurants, one is relatively affordable, 3 marks per person, and the other is relatively high-end, 8 marks per person. You can eat as much food as you want, but you can't waste it.
Pei Minghui and Qiao Huaqing's eyes lit up when they heard this.
They can have a 3 yuan buffet every day at noon, eat as much as possible, and save some money for dinner. Maybe they can even save some money to buy some school supplies.
At the request of the three people, they went to the cafeteria for a walk first.
The staple food here in Germany is bread and potatoes. These two are not too expensive. Most breads are 50 pfennigs each, and potatoes are about 20 pfennigs each. If they are chopped and processed, it is about 30 pfennigs per portion. Other meats and vegetables are relatively expensive. 【1 Mark = 100 Pfennigs】
Basically, if you eat a big meal, you may spend 3 to 5 Marks per meal. If you eat sparingly and only eat one piece of bread per meal, 50 Pfennigs will be enough.