What's Up Beijing?

This past weekend, it was the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. This is a Chinese holiday so we all had Friday off of work. We were hoping to see some races in Beijing, but the nearest race was a two hour trip from the city. We were able to watch some of the races on the TV in our hostel.  We started off the morning early to get on a 7am speed train which would get us there in 5 hours. We almost missed the train, but got to the station with 15 minutes to spare. Traveling with guys who go with the flow has REALLY tested my patience because like arriving places early. We arrived in Beijing around noon and got a taxi to our hostel, our hostel which I had no idea what it would be like, but it ended up being okay to stay in for at least two nights. The life of a college student !

We spent our afternoon touring the Forbidden City. What a remarkable place, it was so big and open, All the walls pretty much looked the same but once we entered the "gate of heavenly purity" it was a garden like and green area. After we got through all that commotion filled with massive amounts of tourists, we stopped for a snack for an hour. I don't know what is was about Beijing, but most of the taxi drivers refused to take us in ther car unless we paid them an upfront fixed fee rather than using the meter so it took us a long while to find taxis that would bring us to our destination with a normal meter.

Tyler Me and Joe in the Forbidden City

After our feet were rested up, we went and checked out the always busy Tian'an Men Square. We arrived just in time to see the changing of the guards by the big flag pole. So many people crowded around to watch it, then we became famous and all the Chinese people wanted to take pictures of Michael because he is Jamaican. Many people out and about would stop and ask our group to take a picture with them. It was quite funny and brought me back to Rome where they would also snap pictures of us.

busy Tian' an Men Square

Saturday morning was our adventure to see and climb the Great Wall. We took the subway to the train station and finally got tickets after standing in two lines. We were waiting for our train to depart and all the passengers were just packed in the line anticipating to get on the train, there were tons of open seats to just sit and wait it. All the sudden the gate opened and they all just sprinted to the train! We were trying to figure out why, and we found an answer when we got to the train and found out there was no more seats and we would be standing/sitting on the ground for a good hour and a half. haha, we laughed about it and that is when we met two men from Bangledesh. One guys name was Jahved and the other Jahangir. These guys ended up spending the whole afternoon with us and man do we ever live in a small world. When we told them we were from Minnesota, he said that he studied at Mankato State University in 1994. I was shocked not only that he has been to MN, but he lived in my hometown out of all places in the United States to go.

Michael, Tyler Jahved and Me (Jahangir was too tired from climbing for the picture :)!

The great wall was mindblowing. It was built so so long ago and here it is still standing today. It was pretty foggy outside because it was raining but I think that made the views and the experience even better. We sure got a workout in with all the steep hills and never ending steps. After we got back tot he entrance, we picked up some souviners tand headed back to the train station so we wouldn't have to stand again! Fail, even though we were in line, we got on the train car and it was full so we were standing again for a good hour and a half in the aisle, not even the open train car. Even with our best efforts, we couldn't beat the sneaky and quick tactics of chinese trains.  The trip to the wall was the highlight of my Beijing weekend experience.

The Wall of the Walls

The fog really added to the environment

Saturday night we hit up the expat street of bars and got a good meal and enjoyed some live music. After that we headed back to our hostel and met some other travelers and talked until we were tired.

Sunday I woke up and read a book in the hostel hang out waiting for the guys to wake up. We had a couple hours before we needed to get back on a train home so we walked through the rain because no taxi would pick us up, and finally found one that would take us. I was ready to get back home to Shanghai just ask Tyler (a.k.a. Positive Pete). The only train tickets back were business class so after standing on trains on Saturday, we enjoyed comfy seats for the way home.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for work updates, company dinners and massages!

Suzhou Adventures!

Hello all! Here are a couple highlights of last weekend and work this week.

Preparing the tea to drink!

Traditional Tea Tasting- On our way to the Yu Gardens Saturday, Me and Joe made a change of plans and attended a traditional tea festival. I learned alot about chinese tea customs, lucky numbers and what teas are good for certain people. The young girl presenting the teas would have a laugh attack every time that I looked at her because she couldn't speak any english (hmm laugh attacks remind me of someone I know who can't control her laughter in public settings!) it was really funny and Jo and I started laughing too. The water was heated at just the right temperature for each different tea and we used different cups and tea pots for each different kind.

The place where we tried Chinese tea

Pudong Library- On Sunday Morning before we headed on a train to Suzhou, I got up early to go to an art exhibition with art displayed by my friends Sofina and Tina’s high school art professor. He is very well known and famous in Shanghai and all of his artwork was very interesting and pretty. He has many different styles but my favorite was the blended colors that make up one big picture. After we looked at all of the paintings, he gave me one of his books and signed his name and the date in Chinese in it for me. He was a very kind man and I am glad Tina and Sofina invited me. The Pudong Library is a pretty cool building, it has a very relaxing atmosphere and a lot of different architecture.

Me and the artist who signed a book for me

Me, Sofina, Tina and Mia at the Library

Suzhou- Sunday afternoon we got on a high speed train that took us to Suzhou, a water town close by Shanghai. Tina, Mia and Sofina also joined us for the trip. We arrived around 2:30 and got out right away to explore. We hit one of the many gardens there, there was a bunch of rock cave pathways to walk through and pagodas and lily pads and we walked around and took a lot of pictures. It was raining all day but we still had a lot of fun taking pictures in the gardens. After the gardens we hopped on bike taxi’s and the peddled us all the way to the big 8 story pagoda that we climbed to the top of to get a view (and some exercise). We climbed down and then walked around to find a place to eat supper. Tina, Mia and Sofina ordered all of the food and they did a good job. We were going to go to the river and hop on a boat for a quick ride, it was pouring rain and very hard to grab a taxi to take us there and we didn’t know what bust to hop on so we just walked and walked and walked some more asking dozens of Chinese people along the way  how to get back to the railroad station so we could get on a train home. What a task that was, we were pointed every single direction and walked. Even though it took forever, I was still able to see the town and the people more. It was nice to get back to the apartment and relax for a short time before I went to bed because I had to wake up for work in the morning. I really enjoyed exploring this small city and hope to get to at least two more in my time left here.

 The Pretty Gardens

Catching a bike ride to the pagoda in the rain! Notice our tourist hats :)

Posing with Buddha !

View at the top of the Pagoda!

This week at work I learned the 3pm daily stretch that they all get up and dance/stretch to, it is a pretty funny and awkward time at work. I just like to look at it as a very easy zumba dance. I go to the way back so none of them can see me guess which move comes next because the whole song is spoken in Chinese and I just mirror my co-workers actions. I am working on editing their website and have been working on marketing materials for the vendor conference I will be attending with them in MN on August 4^th sponsored by Northern Tools. This means my flight has been switched and I will be heading home four days earlier than planned so I can be at the conference with them. The preparation for the conference and actually attending it will be a great experience. I am learning so much and really dipping my toes in a lot of different areas of business. On Wednesday we celebrated my co-workers Derek’s birthday with cake in the afternoon.

Derek making a wish!

my co-workers watching derek open presents!

Food- When we are on the go or eating dinner late at night, something that is always good is street food, vendors kabob up tons of vegetables and meats on skewers and lay them out on a table. You pick up the ones you want and hand them over to be grilled over coals. It is the closest thing I am going to get to a barbaque until I get home. It is good stuff. I particulary enjoyed the grilled eggplant, mushrooms and beef. Another thing I tried today was a chinese hot pot. You sit at a table with a propane oven top built into it and order your food. They bring out a big pot of the food with liquid in it and your food boils in front of you and you order vegetables and meat off the menu of your choice to add in and cook. Its like a huge stew and all the flavors work together making a great dinner that is easy to share. We had a mushroom bowl and added lamb and alot of green vegetables tonight. I definatly want to go eat another hot pot in the near future. So tasty!

The finished product above and all the choices below!! Look at those fish!!

I leave on the train for Beijing at 7am this morning so I am excited togo see the old city and climb the great wall. I am sure there will be some good stories and experiences to share in my next entry after I return.

Keep checking back for more!!

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!

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