Shanghai, wo xiang ni...

It’s been over a month since my I returned from my very own journey to the East and I’ve definitely started to notice several things:

1.     I miss the daily challenge of trying to be understood.  I know. It really shouldn’t be something that I miss as communication is an important aspect of daily life, but I just can’t help it. The daily game of charades. The need to think outside the box just to ask for some tissues. The awkward laugh and forceful smile when you realise that the person you are trying to communicate in Mandarin to has no idea of what you’re trying to say as you’ve got your tones wrong. I miss all of it. Even the frustration.

2.      I need to keep reminding myself that EVERYONE can understand me now. No muttering to myself whilst waiting for a bus. No talking to my friend about the person next to me on the tube. I can’t get away with it here. Stop it.

3.     I must stop pushing. Even on the crowded tube. Trust me. For two months I got used to the rough and tumble of the Shanghai metro where it was a free for all and if you didn’t fight to get on it was your loss. Those old ladies might look fragile and innocent, oh yes, but trust me it’s just a front.  From my experience they can be the worst. Here, when the tube is full, it’s full. It’s not like Shanghai where everyone’s favourite game is “how many people can we fill in a tiny space?” (yes even in lifts). I can’t do that here. No. Londoners don’t shove like that.  It’s subtler here.

4.     I miss people taking pictures of me with their children. Not in a sort of arrogant way, and definitely not in THAT way. It’s just back in China, we seemed to be the attraction. It was fun and made us feel special. They wanted us to hold their babies as if we had some sort of special powers that could be transmitted to their little ones. Here if I even look at a child I’m frowned upon.

5.     I’m sad to say it but Chinese food here will never be the same now. Don’t get me wrong; it used to be my favourite! Sweet and sour chicken balls? Chow mien? Please!  I miss the 30p fried jiaozi dumplings and the xjiaolongbao soup dumplings a stone’s throw away from our flat, the delicious sticky and oh-so-not-good-for-you sweets next to my office, the weird yet wonderful street food… oh I could go on… hmmmm hen hao chi!

It’s weird. Maybe it’s because for the past week I’ve been staring at my laptop from morning ‘til night frantically applying for any jobs that might be of interest for me. Maybe it’s because I’ve got itchy feet and am dreaming of my next adventure. Or maybe, just maybe it’s because Shanghai, in fact China in general has wiggled it’s way in and has stolen a piece of my heart… 

Marie xox

Wo ai ni Shanghai...

Wow. I can't believe how fast my last 3 weeks in Shanghai went. Unfortunately I have now left China and missing this incredible city, in fact the country in general, terribly. I apologise for the lack of posts, but it was an intense last 3 weeks trying to make the most of my time left there. But for those who want a quick update on my recent escapades, here's a rundown... (I apologise in advance for the length of this post!).

After Beijing, work powered on full steam ahead for my last 2 weeks at SHEX.  I had events to work on left right and centre, in addition to the regular Wednesday Night Mixers and Sunday Coffee Meetings.  From a Salsa Night, to a Sports Fall Ball, to my company's yearly Thanksgiving Meal, there was only just about enough time to plan the last few details of SHEX's anniversary party. Crayyzeee times.

Shex Salsa Night @ Renaissance Hotel

Me & the girls @ Sports Fall Ball River Cruise

Thanksgiving Meal @ Sinan Mansions

And it wasn't just work where I was non-stop! The last few weeks blurred into continuous nights of sampling the Shanghai Nightlife that we were yet to have tasted. This included entry into the exclusive M1nt where only those on the guest list can enter, a Ministry of Sound event in a deserted warehouse, the cool soundings of JZ jazz Club, a comedy night (tickets were thanks to SHEX!), the infamous Huangpu River Cruise and drinks on the prestigious rooftop terrace of Bar Rouge. Phew. Just listing them all makes me feel tired...

Simi and the shark tank in M1nt...

Ministry of Sound 

Huangpu River Cruise...

Rooftop drinks at Bar Rouge with the CRCC interns...

Of course, the rest of my time spent in Shanghai didn't always revolve around the nightlife. Promise. I went and visited other cultural aspects of the city, including stepping inside the Shanghai Art Museum which housed mostly Chinese paintings, the Science & Technology Museum and the Jade Buddha Temple.

Science & Technology Museum

The Jade Buddha

From all of this it's easy to see how quick the remaining time I had left in Shanghai went. Yet in spite of the never-ending culture shocks and the intense way of city life that I was thrown into, I do not regret a moment of it.  And despite the millions upon millions of people living in this hectic metropolis I never felt lost or homesick. During my day-to-day existence as a Graduate on my very own journey to the East, I learnt and improved upon many skills that were unbeknown to me. Whether it was my acting abilities during my first weekend when trying to look for coat hangers and struggling to find the word in my phrasebook (I am proud to say that I am pretty good at charades now!), or my ability in hiding my true feelings towards some unknown Chinese delicacy that I had to eat out of politeness (there were many dishes whose ingredients were unrecognisable, and perhaps to my relief will continue to remain unknown), or successfully holding my own on the way to work and reaching my desired metro stop without being shoved and pushed off the stop before, Shanghai showed me that I can adapt to any situation.

I will take all these experiences with me and not forget a minute of it! It has been an incredible few months and I really didn't want it to end. This has been because of all the amazing people from all over the world that I have met/worked with/played with during my time in this breathtaking city - a mahusive xie xie to you all!!! I will never forget you, and most of all, I know that this isn't goodbye - I will be coming back!!! See you very soon Shanghai! <3

Zai jian!

Marie xox

Another weekend gone...

Wow. Time is going so quick here and I can’t believe I have already been here for more than 4 weeks! This was highlighted by the fact that it was time to say goodbye to some of the interns who were only here with us for 1 month L and welcome the new batch of November interns.  And what better way to do that than to welcome them with what Shanghai is renown for: its nightlife!  So after my last two hectic weekends away, this weekend was finally spent enjoying what the city had to offer from clubbing in M2 and The Shelter on the Friday night, to quiet and sophisticated cocktails with the girls on Saturday night at Glamour Bar, M on the Bund.  

Whilst the cocktails there were much steeper than what us interns have already become accustomed to whilst clubbing here in Shanghai (e.g. 100RMB –or £10- cover charge then all you free flow drinks), they were definitely worth the money! Oh how much we had missed and appreciated the skill that goes into cocktail making! For 88RMB a cocktail (or £8.80 which is pretty much London prices) I chose a refreshing Pear & Lychee Martini to start. I then treated myself to the wonderfully named cocktail “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard…” which had freshly crushed strawberries, baileys and vodka.  I’m craving one just as I write this!  It was a shame that the weather had been so humid that evening as the fantastic view could just be made out amongst the dense mist surrounding us.  However, I know that at least one more trip will be made here before I go just so I can sip another of those expensive and alcoholic strawberry milkshakes!

Salma & I with our Pear & Lychee Martinis <3

Although Sunday is a day of rest for most, it wasn’t for me.  I was put in charge of organising SHEX’s regular Sunday Coffee Meeting which takes place from 1pm-3pm.  Here expats are encouraged to come along to not only socialise and make new friends, but to pass on their knowledge onto newcomers (like myself hehe).  It is such a nice relaxing change from all the other events that we put on, and the caffeine was definitely appreciated!!!

After that I decided to take a walk to an antiques market called Dongtai lu near to where the coffee meeting was.  Whilst many of the things at the market were obviously copies (I think here anything over 1 year old can be considered an antique!) it was still a nice change from the western shopping malls that I normally step into.  

Although be warned - bartering here is encouraged, in fact expected, so don’t ask a vendor for the price of something unless you really want to buy it, otherwise as you walk away you will be hearing chinese obscenities shouted at you as in their eyes you have wasted their time.  It’s all good fun though, and definitely have fun when attempting to chat with the vendors - I definitely will be returning here in the next few weeks to buy all my xmas pressies!

Zai jian!

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

Zài jiàn England!

Apologise for this brief entry BUT after hours of manically packing my life into a 20kg bag (or trying to and failing miserably…hopefully whoever is on the check in desk will take pity on me!) I am finally good to go! So, I guess all that remains to say is…wish me luck!  With only 14 hours and one stopover in Amsterdam I’ll see you on the other side of the world in Shanghai!!!!  I’ll let you know how I get on…

Zai hui

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