Trinity squad take on China

End of week 1 (May 26)

Well, the first week is done! And honestly, it flew by way too fast but it was definitely jam packed with many activities and sightseeing experiences. Needless to say, my feet are beat up with blisters and my legs are heavy and sore, but the pain was worth seeing all Shanghai has to offer. China not only exceeded my expectations, but it was completely different than what I expected. The crazy, busy streets, the constant honking and the mannerisms of people are what shocked me the most. China almost has this type of “do what we want” attitude and I absolutely love it. If you are crossing the street and don’t get out of the way quickly enough, that’s your fault. If you aren’t aggressive enough on the metro and miss your exit, that’s your fault. It doesn’t mean that Chinese people are being “rude” on purpose, it’s just how the culture is. I think that we (as Americans and Texans) are so used to this “southern hospitality” that exists by saying thank you, or holding doors, and if we don’t do that, then we come off as rude and stand-offish. But the thing is, if you take the time to talk to the Chinese, they are the sweetest, most genuine people you will ever meet, despite them almost running you over on their mopeds or pushing you on the subway.

Shanghai is literally a concrete jungle. If you think New York is huge, it’s not even close. There are buildings among buildings and they seem never ending. My favorite part so far was when Trinity University alumni, Brendan Kelly, took us out to a beautiful Japanese restaurant right on the Huang Pu River, where we had amounts of sushi, shrimp, beef and rice (so delicious) and chocolate cake for desert. Once we were finished, some of us decided to walk along the Bund before making the trek back to the hotel, and we really got to see Pu Dong all lit up. It was beautiful. It was like Vegas on steroids. All of the boats on the river were lit up, the Pearl Communication Tower was changing colors and it was almost breathtaking, that we forgot about how bad our legs and blisters hurt. I wish I could put it into words, but the city looked like a perfect postcard.
I never really pictured myself living in the city, but Shanghai is my one exception. I’m already falling in love and it’s only been a week! I can’t wait to see what lies ahead as we start our internships and continue to explore this beautiful place.

End of week 2 (May 31)

Although my classes may be over (I am part of the Trinity University program, coordinated by CRCC Asia), the work doesn’t stop. It is now June and we all jumped straight into our internships. But before I get there, week 2 of this adventure is done. Thinking back, it flew by (once again) but it was filled with a non-stop schedule of finishing up classes and many adventures. I think I learned more in these two weeks of class than I would have in a whole semester (Okay, I’m exaggerating) but seriously! I came to China knowing absolutely NOTHING about its history, culture and government and I feel like I gained so much from hearing all of the Chinese professors as well as Dr. Clark’s lectures. My favorite part of my university class was doing the debate on the very last day. We were given the topic of “USA vs. China” in the aspects of which government we believed was more well off than the other. Everyone took a side, picked a topic and the debate started. We had a range of different subjects that often got heated at times; like economic growth, the federalist and socialist systems, the legal defense systems, human rights, efficiency and quality of life.

I took USA’s side and talked about our legal defense system, and how the USA handles these situations in more fair ways than China. Some topics had more debating than others, but I learned so much more about China as well as about the United States. In some ways, China has figured it out much better than the US, and I think we can definitely learn from them as a country. But it gets even cooler – all of us are writing research papers about the topic we discussed in the debate (8-12 pages) and once we send them to Dr. Clark (our professor), he will combine them into a formal paper, have a copy of it in Chinese, and then have it PUBLISHED for Chinese college students to access to learn from American college student’s perspectives. How cool is that?!

We were escorted to work on our first day, excited and nervous about what to expect. I was one of the last students to be dropped off, so the anticipation was killer. But it turns out that I absolutely love my internship. I am working with a marketing consulting company who works with big-time clients like Lamborghini, Samsung, Tesla, MetLife, a number of banks and retail companies. On my first day, my supervisor showed me his current project, which he is doing market research for the Parson’s Arts and Design school based out of New York. He wants me to conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of their school, and he said he would take part of my presentation and incorporate it into his work. It’s a small office, and I only work with about 3 people a day, and I don’t have to be at work till 10:30 am… :)

It will be weird not being with the Trinity University squad 24/7, but I am excited for this opportunity to be working right next to People’s Square with such an amazing company.
‘Til next time!

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