Food and Company...Another week in China

Here are a few exciting things that happened to me this week and a couple of insights from living here and learning the culture

Work- work this week was great. I finished two projects that I have been working on throughout the week and got some other small tasks completed each day as well. I am really learning a lot and gaining a lot of hands on experience and knowledge. Every day after our company lunch we play table soccer or "fooseball". I am getting better each day. Going to be pro by the time I get back! On a side note from work, I am going to take you through a whole day of work and introduce you to my shuttle bus driver. I wake up and have to leave the apartment at 7:40 am to get on the subway. I go from Line 7 and transfer to Line 1. On line 1, I take the train all the way to the end terminal station and from there, I walk two blocks to the company shuttle bus.  The shuttle bus ride is about 15 to 20 minutes to my company’s building. There is always a lot of traffic in the area. Bikers, cab drivers and tons of buses everywhere crowding the streets and most of the lanes or signs do not have any official rules, hence my bus driver. Back home, we would get along just fine due to our “living on the edge” driving skills, but his constant honking of the horn literally every 5-10 seconds at sometimes nobody really annoys me and tests my patience. I will take a video and show you just how crazy he is. Good thing it’s a quick ride and sometime entertaining, but now after two weeks of it has become old. But embracing the ambiguity of China is something I have held onto during my time here. The only way you can visit or live here is if you do just that.

Ada, Grace, Sophie and Ivy in an intense game of table soccer after lunch

Chinese Hospitality- Coming from Minnesota and having that “Minnesota nice” in me, I am just so impressed about how hospitable Chinese are to their guests. Here you don’t go 50/50, you get treated by someone and trusting in your friendship/the relationship that you have creating, they know that you will pay them back in the future. With all the great people that I have met and are treating me so kindly, it will be a while before I can pay they back in full for their kindness but I am very appreciative of all the people I have met that truly want me to have a great experience. Some of the people are my boss’s Vincent and David, our SJU alum Michael Thomas, our landlord Janee and many others.

Food- This week was filled with wonderful food and dinners. I went out to eat with my friends Tina and Sofina on Thursday and they ordered a bunch of wonderful food for me to try. Lettuce with a peanut sauce, spicy beef, and purple sweet potato fried roll ups, and the strangest was bullfrog. I didn’t eat a lot of it but I tried a good portion. It was not bad and I could defiantly eat it again. After dinner, we went dancing for a while. I have really enjoyed their company and I am learning a lot about the modern day thought and way of life of the Chinese lifestyle.

 fish from the intern dinner at the traditional spicy restuarant

some good peanut sauce over a romaine lettuce

the bullfrog dish i ate with my chinese friends

Dinner overlooking the Bund- Wednesday night we had a special dinner overlooking the Bund at the Indigo hotel with Joe Rogers, the director of the Center for Global Education at CSB/SJU who was doing a China visit this summer. I really enjoyed the views, company and food. We were able to share with a group of people the work we have been doing and share our experiences so far. Dinner was good and the shiny bright lights flashing from the skyline made it a China moment to remember. I am thankful to have CSB/SJU here to support me on this experience. This was also the time I was in the People's Square/Bund area and it was incredible. SO many people, lights, stores, food. It was China in a nutshell. I want to get back there soon to snap some nice pictures with my Canon.

My first time in the People's Square Area                The view of the Bund  from our resturant at the hotel

Dinner at Traditional Spicy Restaurant- Friday night we had one more dinner with Joe Rogers and his crew. This time we had all of our bosses and supervisors come out to dinner with us along with some SJU alums and our landlord Janee.  It was a fun night of again food, conversations, building relationships and fun. It will be one of my favorite times spent here in Shanghai.

Me and my Boss Vincent at our CSB/SJU Intern Dinner

This blog continues to be long, but next up this week in a post I will talk about what I did on my free time this weekend. I had a traditional Chinese tea festival with some Chinese people, checked out an art exhibition at the Pudong Library and took a trip out of Shanghai on a high speed train to Suzhao on Sunday. Time for bed so I can start another week of work.  Happy Father’s Day back at home to the best dad ever and I’ll write again soon!