Ok so it's time for an update. Hmm so much happens in 2 weeks it's hard to remember everything. So since my last update I have done a couple things in Beijing. Last Tuesday was Dominic's (a former intern, he's from Switzerland and he speaks French! And he makes fun of my accent and my Quebec expressions...) birthday so we went to a restaurant called "No Name Restaurant" (how original). We didn't know where it was so we took a riksha. In the rain. In the dark. ooo how creepy. It was amusing and it got us there better than if we had walked! Last Friday we went to an office party where Dominic works. The theme was the 20s. It was pretty cool (free food and drinks again!) but I drank a bit too much.
Saturday night was Juan's goodbye party. He is from Costa Rica and was on the China MC, but he had to leave to start AI transition because he is incoming SSGN Director (so much AIESEC talk, sorry for the non AIESEC people). It was a very emotional night because he is leaving a bunch of people he worked with for a year and has no idea when he will see them again. Juan is a very cool guy, too bad I didn't get to know him better.
Then Sunday! Great Wall of China! Woohoo! We went to a section called Simatai. It's less touristic than the place most people go (don't know the name) and a lot more steep. I really enjoyed it. After that we went to eat some Brazilian BBQ and then I went to a Global Village hosted by one of the LCs. The Global Village was not so exciting but after that we went to eat and it was really nice to chat with people. I met Maurice from AIESEC Ryerson who is studying in Beijing and a guy from France (more making fun of my accent and expressions). I also got to see Cherry again. She's an AIESECer I met last week and we were helping each other in our respective language because she is studying French, really cool girl. It was a long and tiring day, but a really great one!
Here are 2 videos of the MC apartment. They were shot after I left for Shanghai so I am not in them, but you get to meet the people I lived and worked with. The guy talking is Caio, a Brazilian CEEDer. He's leaving China soon. Too bad I didn't get to know him more. He's a really cool guy and gave me a bunch of contacts in Shanghai, really appreciated.
Monday night I took the train to Shanghai. I was a bit stressed to take the subway and the train alone here because I had never taken it and everything's in Chinese. I got confused a couple times but made my way to the train. On the train I was thinking that I am a bit disappointed that I didn't connect more with people in Beijing, but I think it'll be better in Shanghai. When I got here I talked to Emman on MSN and it really cheered me up.
Sophie (my "buddy") picked me up at the subway after confusing conversations over the phone to find me. She keeps telling me "You are so happy!" with her accent and I think it's funny. I met a bunch of people from Fudan University. I live in the Fudan office, which is a small apartment. For now I am alone (so lonely after having lived with about 17 people), but Daniel should come back to Shanghai soon after he finishes MC transition. We discovered something interesting at the pizza place they hold most of their meetings. There's an English menu and a Chinese menu, and the prices are doubled in the English menu! It's still cheap for me though.
Last night I went to an AIESEC dances coaching with some AIESECers. They so don't know the same dances as us, except maybe for Tunak Tunak and Dragonstei Din Tei. I need to learn all those Chinese AIESEC dances. Then we went to one of the girls' house and played the killer game. It's a simplified version of Loup-Garou if anyone knows what that is (a game the kids at camp loved last summer...). I taught them my more sophisticated version and they loved it. It was fun nonetheless.
Apart from that my last 2 weeks have been filled with very good food, some discovering of the surroundings and a little work. I feel I haven't done much this week in terms of work: worked a bit on Canada-China cooperation. I am settling down now and I'll have more stuff to do once the people in Beijing finish what they want me to implement here in terms of trainee reception and integration.
I don't have a cell yet because I can't find anyone to unlock the one I brought. I think it's funny that everybody is like "omg you don't have a phone?!!!" like it's the most important thing ever and nobody says anything about the fact that I don't have a mattress (I sleep on the wood planks...) nor a fridge or anything to cook with. Eating out alone is kind of boring! Personally I don't really think I need a cell phone that bad: they all have one so I can reach them anytime. Plus if I'm not at the apartment (where they can reach me), I'm probably out with someone.
I want to get a bike here. They're so cheap and so useful. But as a bike lover, I want to cry at some bikes I see. Most people don't inflate their tires properly, and so many rusted non functional brakes! I shall take care of mine.
This afternoon Charles (Fudan's VP Communications) is showing me around Shanghai and tonight we're going to a housewarming party for some girl I don't know with some of the interns. It should be interesting.
That's all for today. I know I don't post often but it builds up your excitement to read me. ;)
P.S. I uploaded some pictures. See link on the right.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Julie's Excellent Adventure
Ok so I have been asked to start a blog so that you people can follow my adventures in China. I hope I succeed in being somewhat interesting. Oh and it's in English because it's the international language. I didn't want to start it before and didn't reply to people asking me how China is because I didn't have an opinion at the beginning. I wanted to have experienced it more before saying anything.
For those who didn't know. I am doing a CEED (Cultural Envoy for Exchange Development) with AIESEC (see links at the right if you don't know what AIESEC is). I am helping AIESEC Mainland of China with trainee reception and integration. I arrived in Beijing on Wednesday May 16th after 24 hours of traveling (I left Quebec City at 4 PM on May 14th but with the jetlag it's even later). It was pretty long since I had to fly through London (cheaper).
After being picked up at the airport by Carol (other CEEDer from Edmonton) and Kitty (incoming VP Finance), I arrived at the MC apartment at around 7 AM. There I met Asia (Polish intern). Everybody else was sleeping. 5 bedrooms, 1 mattress on the floor and a couch. Mike and Steph (CEEDers from Michigan) were sleeping on the couch. There are too many people in this aparment! Usually it's just a part of the MC, but now we are the MC, 7 CEEDers and 1 intern. We are four in the room where I sleep. The table often has 10 laptops on it. The MC has an office near the apartment but it's so small. It's smaller than the AIESEC Laval office, so I'd rather work from the apartment.
I was quite confused at first because it seemed the MC didn't really know what I was supposed to do. Plus we were 4 CEEDers who arrived in 3 days. But then Natalie (MCVP PD, she's from Australia) came back from her LC visits and it got clearer. I will be working on trainee reception and integration, because it's lacking a lot in China. They have seen a tremendous exchange growth (2nd country in terms of exchanges, after India) and now they're worried they're gonna become like India in terms of quality. So for the first week and a half I am in Beijing, and then I am going to Shanghai for the rest of my CEED. In Shanghai, I will be working with Daniel (from the UK, current MCVPICX and incoming Shanghai director) and some Brazilian CEEDer named Caio. I haven't met them yet.
So what have I done since I'm here? Well the first day I took a nap (jetlag!) and then went to this presentation at Peking University on the India program. China has a partnership with India and they're trying to send hundreds of Chinese AIESECers to China so they have to promote it. My understanding of Chinese it pretty bad! I pick up on some words. Hopefully it gets better. Chinese people aren't very used to teaching their language to others so they don't know to speak slowly and repeat and use other words and gesture. After that we went to an expats bar called Propaganda. When we got out, Vincent (MCP-elect) asked me "do you have a strong stomach?" and made me try this street food. It was good. The only thing I haven't digested well so far is food from an expats bar I went to watch the soccer game on Saturday night. I am not really following my doctor's recommendations of not brushing my teeth with tapwater and only eating from very clean restaurants. I wanna live the Chinese life!
Friday night we went to an event held by the Australian Chamber of Commerce. From what I understand, AIESEC China has a partnership with it. They pay for the salary of a MC member who works for both AIESEC and the chamber of commerce in increasing relations between Australia and China. So the event was: free food and free beer! I got to meet a couple of the trainees in Beijing. Antoine was there (he's from Laval too). I haven't seen Christian yet (other guy from Laval). Then we went to more expats bars (Kai and Shooters, ok I know this doesn't ring any bell to you, dunno why I'm mentionning it). I'm not really fond of clubs, especially expats/tourists clubs because I think people act differently since they know they won't be here again. So yeah I didn't enjoy the club part so much.
Saturday we (Carol, Asia, Beth (3rd Michigan CEEDer) and I) went to Summer Palace. It's very pretty. We spent hours walking around and also laid on the grass sleeping for quite a while. Ah lazy summer days!
Interesting fact about China: they have soybean popsicles!
Thing I learned: toddlers wear pants with a kind of tear in it so they don't have to take them off when nature calls. So we see their butt all the time.
Then we went to get a massage. It was in the 3rd basement. Quite shady. I got a body massage from this dude who only spoke Chinese so we had an extensive conversation of "how old are you?" and "I'm Canadian", etc. The massage wasn't quite what I expected and I must say my back hurts since it lol. But it was a nice cultural experience. There was also this old erotic poster of a white man and woman in their underwear on the wall...
One thing I really like is the exchange rate. Taking the bus costs like 15 cents. But I can't really take it as freely as I'd want since I have no idea where buses go since it's all in Chinese. Saturday night I had to take a cab alone and all I could rely on was that piece of paper with the address on it. I hoped the driver would understand. I don't have a cell phone to call friends when I'm lost (I'll get a number in Shanghai). But it's nice to get out of my comfort zone. I need to do it more if I want to get better in Chinese, rather than relying on my translators.
The cultural shock is smaller than what I expected. I thought the streets would be full of people and that I would be claustrophobic everywhere, but the traffic isn't nearly as bad as what I expected. And the pollution isn't so bad either. The only thing very different from other places I've been is that everything's in Chinese. I guess the cultural shock will kick in once I realize the differences in mentality, which I cannot really do without interacting more with Chinese people.
Well that's all for today! I'll try to keep you updated at least once every 2 weeks.
For those who didn't know. I am doing a CEED (Cultural Envoy for Exchange Development) with AIESEC (see links at the right if you don't know what AIESEC is). I am helping AIESEC Mainland of China with trainee reception and integration. I arrived in Beijing on Wednesday May 16th after 24 hours of traveling (I left Quebec City at 4 PM on May 14th but with the jetlag it's even later). It was pretty long since I had to fly through London (cheaper).
After being picked up at the airport by Carol (other CEEDer from Edmonton) and Kitty (incoming VP Finance), I arrived at the MC apartment at around 7 AM. There I met Asia (Polish intern). Everybody else was sleeping. 5 bedrooms, 1 mattress on the floor and a couch. Mike and Steph (CEEDers from Michigan) were sleeping on the couch. There are too many people in this aparment! Usually it's just a part of the MC, but now we are the MC, 7 CEEDers and 1 intern. We are four in the room where I sleep. The table often has 10 laptops on it. The MC has an office near the apartment but it's so small. It's smaller than the AIESEC Laval office, so I'd rather work from the apartment.
I was quite confused at first because it seemed the MC didn't really know what I was supposed to do. Plus we were 4 CEEDers who arrived in 3 days. But then Natalie (MCVP PD, she's from Australia) came back from her LC visits and it got clearer. I will be working on trainee reception and integration, because it's lacking a lot in China. They have seen a tremendous exchange growth (2nd country in terms of exchanges, after India) and now they're worried they're gonna become like India in terms of quality. So for the first week and a half I am in Beijing, and then I am going to Shanghai for the rest of my CEED. In Shanghai, I will be working with Daniel (from the UK, current MCVPICX and incoming Shanghai director) and some Brazilian CEEDer named Caio. I haven't met them yet.
So what have I done since I'm here? Well the first day I took a nap (jetlag!) and then went to this presentation at Peking University on the India program. China has a partnership with India and they're trying to send hundreds of Chinese AIESECers to China so they have to promote it. My understanding of Chinese it pretty bad! I pick up on some words. Hopefully it gets better. Chinese people aren't very used to teaching their language to others so they don't know to speak slowly and repeat and use other words and gesture. After that we went to an expats bar called Propaganda. When we got out, Vincent (MCP-elect) asked me "do you have a strong stomach?" and made me try this street food. It was good. The only thing I haven't digested well so far is food from an expats bar I went to watch the soccer game on Saturday night. I am not really following my doctor's recommendations of not brushing my teeth with tapwater and only eating from very clean restaurants. I wanna live the Chinese life!
Friday night we went to an event held by the Australian Chamber of Commerce. From what I understand, AIESEC China has a partnership with it. They pay for the salary of a MC member who works for both AIESEC and the chamber of commerce in increasing relations between Australia and China. So the event was: free food and free beer! I got to meet a couple of the trainees in Beijing. Antoine was there (he's from Laval too). I haven't seen Christian yet (other guy from Laval). Then we went to more expats bars (Kai and Shooters, ok I know this doesn't ring any bell to you, dunno why I'm mentionning it). I'm not really fond of clubs, especially expats/tourists clubs because I think people act differently since they know they won't be here again. So yeah I didn't enjoy the club part so much.
Saturday we (Carol, Asia, Beth (3rd Michigan CEEDer) and I) went to Summer Palace. It's very pretty. We spent hours walking around and also laid on the grass sleeping for quite a while. Ah lazy summer days!
Interesting fact about China: they have soybean popsicles!
Thing I learned: toddlers wear pants with a kind of tear in it so they don't have to take them off when nature calls. So we see their butt all the time.
Then we went to get a massage. It was in the 3rd basement. Quite shady. I got a body massage from this dude who only spoke Chinese so we had an extensive conversation of "how old are you?" and "I'm Canadian", etc. The massage wasn't quite what I expected and I must say my back hurts since it lol. But it was a nice cultural experience. There was also this old erotic poster of a white man and woman in their underwear on the wall...
One thing I really like is the exchange rate. Taking the bus costs like 15 cents. But I can't really take it as freely as I'd want since I have no idea where buses go since it's all in Chinese. Saturday night I had to take a cab alone and all I could rely on was that piece of paper with the address on it. I hoped the driver would understand. I don't have a cell phone to call friends when I'm lost (I'll get a number in Shanghai). But it's nice to get out of my comfort zone. I need to do it more if I want to get better in Chinese, rather than relying on my translators.
The cultural shock is smaller than what I expected. I thought the streets would be full of people and that I would be claustrophobic everywhere, but the traffic isn't nearly as bad as what I expected. And the pollution isn't so bad either. The only thing very different from other places I've been is that everything's in Chinese. I guess the cultural shock will kick in once I realize the differences in mentality, which I cannot really do without interacting more with Chinese people.
Well that's all for today! I'll try to keep you updated at least once every 2 weeks.
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