Hello Shanghai!

Where to start? Sorry this is a long one, but internet connection in the apartment have been a little shaky lately.

I am about a week and three days into my trip and I have experienced so much already. Instead of writing paragraphs about the past days, I am going  introduce you to my Shanghai welcoming and some things I have done that earn a photo.

Skyscrapers paint the sky everywhere you are

 

People- people are everywhere; my personal bubble has shrunken completely. My commute to work on the subway and company shuttle bus has contributed to my newfound tolerance of being surrounded  by people and crammed into a subway train car. Just yesterday, I was leaving the subway and the line to enter was backed up all the way to the street because one of the trains was off schedule. It was complete chaos! I now know what it feels like to be in the minority, so many people stare at me on my way to work on the subway  or out to eat dinner with my roommates because we are one of the only American around, I always get double takes when people enter the subway and have to sit or stand next to me. I guess when I return home, I will have to break my habit of zoning off and staring at people because it gets to be a little uncomfortable at times.

Food- I was a little concerned before I arrived about how much I would like or hate the food here. I am completely satisfied and have eaten so much good food since I have been here. There hasn’t been one thing that I have disliked so far that I couldn’t eat it. The only encounter was when I tried Tyler’s milk tea that had strange blueberries in it. I really enjoy all of the fresh vegetables and homemade noodles prepared before our eyes at the restaurant around the corner of our apartment. The dumplings here are very yummy. We have become regulars there. We have eaten dinner out every night so far because it is quick, easy, and cheap and there are no dishes to clean afterwards. We all get home from work around 6:30-7pm so we have a small amount of time left in our day. We eat dinner together and talk about our day at work and other crazy things that we have seen that day. I can get a filling and nutritious meal that costs around 12-14 RMD and that totals to 2-4 U.S. dollars. More money for shopping and other fun outings! After dinner we walk around, people watch and explore streets around our neighborhood. There is never a dull moment here.

Below: Crawfish, A ton of food with a steamer of catfish and noodles with vegetable and cucumbers

There are so many more food pics, but i would be here for hours uploading them :)

Work- I have a full week of work in and they have me working hard. I am currently helping them with their online marketing techniques along with getting their new Sportsman products ready for presentation and display to existing and potential customers. I am also working on an E-Commerce business proposal. Along with those tasks, I have been revising their catalogs, websites and assisting them with their English. Many of my co-workers speak English so there isn’t many barriers to communication. I am really good at translating what they called “Chinglish” : English spoken by Chinese. I just have to listen more intently and talk slower with easy words so they understand what I mean. Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful to me as I begin my internship. I am very grateful to have such caring and fun supervisors. Last week, they prepared a traditional Chinese dumpling meal for me and extended the lunch hour so the whole office could make and eat dumplings together. It was a fun afternoon and the dumplings were incredible. They made me eat so many, I was stuffed all day! I

 The dumplings on the left and me and my boss Vincent and Cloe on the right. It took me a while before I could actually fold the dumplings the right way. Vincent laughed at me :).

My Apartment and Roommates:  When I was thinking about what my apartment would be like before I got here, I thought I would have a room the size of an elevator and a half kitchen and living room combined. My expectations were blown out of the water. I am living in a nicer apartment than I have ever lived at home or in school.  There are three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a huge living room, a dining area and a nice big kitchen with big windows. The guys share one bathroom and my bedroom has its own bathroom right in it which is very nice and convenient. Tyler and Joe are a lot of fun and we have lots of stories to tell each other when we get home from work each day. They got here before me so they have been doing a good job of showing me where everything is and all the good places to eat dinner.

Company BBQ:  I made it just in time for the company’s 3 month get together which this time around was a Chinese BBQ an hour drive out of Shanghai at a grassy/lakelike getaway. Its as close to MN lakes and summer as I will get here. We sat around in the hot and humid weather playing cards, badminton and eating a ton of yummy food. Fruit, Chips, Homemade steamed noodles made by Vincent, grilled corn on the cob and potatoes and a huge amount of lamb, pork beef and chicken on kabobs. I even ate chicken heart! Everything was delicious and we ate so much! It was fun talking to Vincent, Laura and David about Chinese customs. One thing I will remember is that they have belief that there are hot and cold things that we put into our body. Neither one is bad, it is just that you have to balance the two out so you aren’t consuming or exerting too much of one of the other at one time. It was very interesting to hear about.

My coworker Laura's son  saying CHEESE!

The guys grillin the kabobs!

Ivan and Laura's Husband Catching the Local Fish

Chinese Friends: I have met three girls who I have hung out on the weekend with and a couple of nights during the weekday checking out different restaurants, clubs and hangout places in Shanghai. Their American names are Mia, Tina and Sofina. They are a lot of fun and I am excited to hang out with them more, it will be nice to hang out with some girls every once in a while since I am the only girl in the apartment J.

Tyler, Me, Sofina and Tina--a little blurry! I have more that of course I haven't uploaded

Well, I don’t have much time to get stuff done when I return home from work, but I will try to get another post up soon. Joe Rogers, the head of the Global Education Center at CSB/SJU is visiting China this week so we will be going out for some dinner s later in the week and seeing a couple of things. Time is already going so fast!

I enjoy reading e-mails, sometimes my internet at home doesn’t work, but I can check e-mails at work. Send me one my way and keep me updated!
mcweber@csbsju.edu