Everybody loves a bit of vintage...

Hey everyone!

Sorry it’s been *gasp* 3 weeks since my last post. Again I’ve been busy with job-hunting whilst working, but (drumroll please) you guys will be pleased to know that all the job apps and interviews have finally paid off (well for now anyway!!!). I have been offered a paid internship, which is so rare to find anyway, at an ad agency in Tunbridge Wells! Ta daaaa! The process happened so quickly, and I am starting immediately, i.e. tomorrow! So bare with me whilst I start to adjust to full time work again (it has been 4 months since I left Shanghai!) but don’t worry, I will fill you all in as soon as I can!

In addition to enjoying the glorious sunshine (spring is finally on its way yay!), this weekend I also had the chance to attend a gem of a fair that is actually run by one of my closest friends and her boyfriend. My second time attending (shamefull, I know, as this was their 14^th fair), antique vs vintage at Bourne Hall in Ewell didn’t disappoint! I bought presents galore (I would put pics up, but hey that would ruin the surprise element of present buying) and had to restrain myself as I saw so many wonderful things that I was tempted to buy juste pour moi!

If you have a love for all things vintage and/or antique-y then this is the place to come monthly as everyone is so friendly, and most importantly all the goods are genuine!!! From jewellery, to dresses, to china and much much more, be sure to leave enough time to rummage around Surrey's original vintage fair. Plus these places are so good to have a rummage around in, particularly for those who are trying to keep an eye on the pennies, as everything is so reasonably priced, and what with all the wonderful stories that surround all these objects, are excellent value for money! Just think of all the history that one handbag could be connected to?!?! Anyway, enough of me talking, the next fair is on Saturday, April 7th, so go ahead and see for yourself..!

Ooops, just seen the time - I’d best get ready for my first day at work (eeekkk!). Wish me luck! :)

Marie xox

Work hard, play hard...

Hey guys!

Apologies in advance for the lateness of this post, but the last week has been MANIC! Because of that I have decided to split this up into two posts (plus I can keep you on the edge of your seats hehe).

Work last week was as busy as always with lots of preparations not only for my companies weekly offline events (Wednesday Night Mixer and their Sunday Coffee Meeting) but for their special events over the next few weeks such as ShanghaiExpat’s 3^rd Stampede Karting – Halloween Edition on Friday (still don’t have a costume to wear wah), their Photostory contest and up and coming proposals (sorry I have to keep details under wraps I'm afraid) for their biggest event of the year – their 11^th Anniversary Party that I’m unfortunately going to miss by a couple of days as it’s on Dec 2^nd (I leave Shanghai on Nov 30^th booo).  One of my tasks as their intern is to not only chase and follow up their current sponsors for events, but also to find new potential sponsors.  At first this seemed incredibly daunting (What if I mess it up? What if they never want to sponsor us for an event ever again because of something I said?), but what definitely pleasantly surprised me is how easy it can be to find a general contact number for a company on the internet (lets say Grand Marnier cough cough), and the next thing you know you are talking to its regional manager!  Without a doubt it would be so much harder to do that back home… If you were lucky you would have been able to have left a message with a secretary with little chance of receiving a reply!  Gotta love China for that… J

Last Wednesday night I attended my first SHEX (ShanghaiExpat) Wednesday Night Mixer in the Pudong area (the area with the fancy smancy tall skyscrapers).  This didn’t only include a lot of networking (guan’xi – of which is a very important part not only of business culture but also daily life here in China) but our second beerpong tournament (think we are going to make it a regular event at our weekly mixers)!!! All in all there were a lot of misses, a lot of beer drinking, a lot of cheering and shouting and a whole lotta fun with not only expats taking part but local Chinese too J.  Getting into work the next day was definitely hard for all of us lol…but as the saying goes, people in Shanghai definitely work hard AND play hard! Here are some pics that I took of the event…

Cynthia's (part of the sales team at SHEX) attempt...

Smiles all round...

Flora (my supervisor) celebrating with her team mate...

The winning team with Flora (my supervisor) and Mike (SHEX's editor) who are both in the middle...

As well as work, Mandarin lessons have also been going well (we’ve had 4 now since we’ve arrived, every Tuesday & Thursday), although as they are after work it can be very difficult to maintain concentration! But our teacher is very patient and makes us feel very comfortable despite our mispronunciations.  We have also found 2 good local restaurants in the area, which despite our basic language skills in ordering food has been extremely successful! Out of the two, my favourite has to be Golden Hotpot.  Here you order a range of food along with your choice of hotpot and cook it (boil it) yourself at your table! The two times I’ve gone we have definitely provided entertainment for all the locals inside due to our terrible chopsticks skills (before coming I thought I was pretty good at using chopsticks) but it was all good fun.

Anyway I’d best be off… keep a look out for my next post on my recent Hangzhou trip with my fellow CRCC interns!

Zai jian!

Marie xox

An Intern Abroad...

Ni hao everyone!

Shanghai calling J! So here I am in the midst of the hustle and bustle of China and it’s AMAZING (think the upgrade to business class helped)! In just over a week I have eaten so much random food (some of them I don’t even know what they were, and perhaps wont want to know), tried to act out the word “coat hanger”, been pushed out of the metro at a stop I didn’t even want to get off (think of London at rush hour and triple it!), attended a restaurant opening, gone to a bar on the 87^th floor, and of course, most importantly started my internship.  It’s been a whirlwind to say the least.

Despite only being here for just over 10 days Shanghai already feels like home.  Perhaps it’s the easy metro system that is so similar to the London tube, maybe even because of the high-rise modern buildings that decorate the skyline (see the famous Pudong area above), or even the river that cuts through the city.  It is so cosmopolitan here too and many a time I have forgotten that I am half way across the world rather than sat in a coffee shop or a bar in London.  There are so many beautiful places to explore as well with People’s Square being one of them (although it’s not really what we would call a square like Trafalgar Square but rather a park) and my favourite area without a doubt being its lily pond (see pic below)!  All in all a lot of us interns (there are about 30 of us with the CRCC Asia program) feel settled.

Work is going really well (although think it will take me awhile to get used to the hour commute on the metro consisting of a free-for-all and a LOT of pushing and shoving) with everyone being so nice and welcoming and I’ve already done a lot in just 5 days.  The company I’m working for is ShanghaiExpat – a small company whose main channel is through their website www.shanghaiexpat.com.  Whilst their main revenue comes from advertisements on their site, their main reason for existence is to support the local expat community in Shanghai by giving advice through their forum and planning events – and that’s where I come in!  So far this week I have had to come up with several ideas for possible events that we can put on, help plan their 11^th Anniversary Party in December, ring up sponsors and promote their up and coming events on other expat marketing promotional sites and social networking sites – the 9-6 has been intense but really enjoyable and so different every day!  Who knows what I’ll be doing this week…

Zai jian!

Marie xox

A little introduction...

Hey guys! So after a month of heavy deliberation (and much encouragement from a certain someone who will be reading this - you know who you are!) I have finally succumb to writing my very own blog on the trials and tribulations of being a recent grad and the exciting adventure (more on that in a sec) that I am about to embark on. Right, here goes; please be gentle with me readers! :P 

First off, 5 facts that you should know:

1. I’m a recent French and Cultural Studies grad from Sussex Uni (oh Brighton how much I miss you already)

2. I love foreign accents, foreign languages, foreign films, forei.. in fact anything foreign and I’m there

3. I am striving to break into the advertising and marketing sector (adland I’m ready when you are!)

4. Being half Filipino and half British, as well as having had amazing experiences living in not only the UK but Hong Kong and the south of France, I have been lucky to have had a very multicultural life already

5. ...PLUS I’m about to live in Shanghai for 2 months to undertake an advertising and marketing internship (I guess travelling is in my blood)

Yes. That’s right. I’m moving to China - in less than 7 days in fact!!! And no, I don’t speak much Mandarin (somehow I don’t think nǐ hǎo, xiè xie and zài jiàn will get me very far), let alone have the knowledge to read those squiggly lines that supposedly form characters. But hey, this is really the main reason behind why I am going.  Not only will I get to gain some amazing experience within the advertising world, but I LOVE a challenge and to be honest I can’t wait to be thrown into a strange place that within a few weeks will feel like home to me! Or so I hope... Below is a pic of the infamous Bund in Shanghai - look how pretty it is!!! Hopefully one of the many places I will get to become familiar with...

So yer, I guess this is the first and main reason for this blog.  After a whole summer of working nearly everyday selling make-up and perfume (pretty good job for a cosmetic-obsessed girl like me I have to say), I am off to swap the Western shop floor for the Eastern office. This is not only a way for me to communicate the everyday challenges I will face being not only a recent grad but a recent grad abroad, it is also an easy way for me to keep in touch with all my lovely friends and family (because let’s face it, I probably won’t have that much time to update everyone individually on all the nitty gritty details of my oriental adventure).  So if you want to join me on my cultural journey ‘follow’ me and I’m sure that I will have some hilarious (and of course educational *cough cough*) stories to tell you - plus you’ll get to learn some Mandarin on the way! Let’s see how it goes ey?!?! Keep those fingers’ crossed!!! :D 

Zai hui!

Marie xox