Welcome YOU International Students

So many things happen every week that it’s hard for me to pick out what to share with all of you. Since I last posted here, I’ve done a lot more exploring throughout the city, continued to eat great food (for the most part), and hung out with my friends here. Also, the other international students are starting to arrive on campus. It’s kind of strange now that we aren’t the only foreigners in the neighborhood. 

 
On Saturday we had a type of scavenger hunt where we were divided into groups and had to visit two landmarks in Shanghai. My group ended up going to the Shanghai Railway Station and the Shanghai Museum, pretty much just because they were the closest to get to. It was still pretty fun as I got to know my roommate even better. After the activity, I went with a group of the students and some of the Chinese roommates to a nice Western food restaurant that serves great sandwiches and salads. It was fun to see how our Chinese friends enjoyed the food. While a little pricey by Chinese standards, I think it was definitely worth the $14 for a sandwich, fresh orange juice, and dessert. 

Another exciting place I visited a few days ago was the Old Town area. This place is the ideal location to buy souvenirs. It has pretty much any iconic “Chinese” object you can think of from tea and t-shirts to lucky gold cat statues and panda stuffed animals. While we were there we stopped at what is apparently the best Xiao Long Bao restaurant in Shanghai. While quite tasty, I didn’t think they lived up to their hype. I prefer to go to the place right beyond my school where you can get 8 for 5 kuai instead of 25!

My friends and I learned a very valuable lesson the other day: Don’t Trust Chinese Burger Restaurants. Needless to say, it was not very good. I think the meat (if it was even meat) was only about a centimeter thick.

Today was really exciting as I went to a Fabric Market where you can get clothes made to order. The place is really overwhelming at first with suits, jackets, scarves, and Chinese dresses hanging everywhere. My list of what I wanted to buy just kept growing with each booth that I passed! In the end I decided to start with buying a grey pinstriped business suit set which comes with a jacket, pants, a skirt, and a blouse. All custom made of course. I ended up getting it for about $115 after some intense bargaining. I’m quite excited. I’ll be sure to post photos when I pick it up next week. I think a nice spring trench coat is up next. My goal is to get it for $40.

After the market, we went to the lobby of the Park Hyatt in the World Financial Center on the 87th floor as the sky was actually somewhat clear. We treated ourselves to some hot chocolate and éclairs- quite delicious! The skyline was absolutely beautiful, especially when the lights came on.

 

Whenever I visit the financial center of Shanghai, it recharges my desire to be successful in international business. It would really be a dream come true to work in one of these buildings overlooking this wonderful city!