Week 3: One month is too short

I can’t stress enough to potential interns that one month is too short. You’ll find that many people undertake the two months internship for a reason. One month you really treat see your time here as tourist even though you’re here for an internship. Keep in mind that you will be working full time and therefore will only really have 3 weekends to explore Beijing. Whereas two to three months it feels like you’re actually living and working in Beijing.

Moreover, it is the third week in and I finally got a handle on the job, office environment and the importance of online communication applications like Skype and WeChat in the workplace. Being here for only a month means I do get to fully explore my capabilities in my role and with the company as unfortunately I am nearing the end of my internship.

This week’s highlights

1. Hotpot is hot!

If you’re like me and you can only handle a little spice, then make sure you order the non-spicy hotpot. I made the mistake a blindly following a fellow intern in ordering the hot one and while he did try to emphasis to only make it a little hot their version of a little spicy is still mega mouth numbing spicy. Though from what I could taste when my mouth returned to normal it was quite delicious.

2. Tiananmen square – not so interesting but the hutongs are

Last week when we explored the Forbidden City we were too tired to walk about Tiananmen Square. I really didn’t find the square too interesting, but a further walk down, you arrive at the hutong area, which is pretty spectacular for a walk about, souvenir shopping and some yummy food.

3. KTV – till 4am – a must do

KTV is really popular here. A lot of my co-workers spend their nights hanging out with friends doing KTV. It is truly one of the major pass time activities. If you have enough people (i.e. 4 or more) it would be worth going a long and letting loose. Our group of four stayed up singing until around 4am, which is pretty epic considering that we didn’t ever stop singing.

4. Lama temple – be respectful but don’t neglect to participate

Continuing our weekend sightseeing expeditions we decided to head to the Lama temple a Tibetan Buddhist temple. It was less exciting than some of the other places we have previously visited but has some unique things about it. The courtyards are beautiful as well as the halls. In many of the courtyards you can participate in lighting incense sticks.

There are also some narrow lanes/hutongs around the Lama Temple area which are worth walking down. Unique craft indie hippie stores are abundant as well as cafes, steak houses and a nice tex mex restaurant.

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