Arrived well in SH

After a long flight and some troubles with the pick up from the airport (the school driver came one and half hour late, cause they had a wrong flight number!) I arrived well in Shanghai. The city is just very impressive, it's huge, full of people and also very loud. You find very rich, western areas next to traditional Chinese quarters, you see many wealthy people with their luxury cars but at the same time also poor people begging for money, there are nice tropical parks but also a lot of traffic and air pollution. It's a city full of contrasts...

The first days I spent with AIESECers, a german girl who is on a traineeship (not with @), three @ trainees from Japan and a VP from LC FDU. It was fun to explore the city with some that are already longer here, so I learned a lot. I'm also invited the upcoming AIESEC events, so I will definitely get an insight into how AIESEC works in China. I'm already looking forward to that...

Today was my first day in school, the course is interesting and I got a good impression of the staff and the teachers. The best thing is, that my shared apartment is only a 10min walk away. My roommate is Alex, a guy from Venezuela. The bedroom is nice, but the rest is rather plain and has no A/C. But all in all it's okay and I have everything I need.

More will follow soon...

Ready for the adventure?

At the moment I'm very excited and also a bit nervous. No wonder, I'm leaving to Shanghai on Friday! That's crazy. A few weeks ago everything seemed so far away, but now it's becoming reality. Am I ready for this? I hope so! I mean I know when my plane is leaving, there will someone be waiting for me at Pudong Airport and I've a place to stay. So I shouldn't be worried. But still I'm a bit scared of the things that lie ahead of me. I've been to Asia before, but in my opinion China will be different to everything I've experienced. I've travelled alone, but I was always pretty sure that I could talk to people on the streets in case I needed to ask for directions or help. But this time it will be more complicated, cause English isn't as widely spoken in China as in other countries. I've studied Putonghua at uni for one year, but still I only know the basics. And I'm not so sure if I will remember the tones right when I'm for example trying to buy a phonecard - if not, the people won't understand me. But hey, I'm there to improve my language skills! Even tough there will be a language barrier I'm very much looking forward to the all the special moments I'm going to experience. :-)

By the way, I heard that sometimes the access to blogspot.com is denied in China. There's a trick to nevertheless write posts, but I don't know if it works. I'll give it a try. So don't be worried in case I don't post anything...

Guess where I'm going...

Imagine a city with a population of 14 Million people, a city that has developed tremendously in recent years, a city full of energy and live…You’ve no clue which place I’m talking about? So, maybe some pictures will help…

Yes, you’re right, it’s Shanghai! Perhaps you’re wondering why the heck I’m going there. The answer is simple, I’m going to attend a language school! I’ve been studying Putonghua (or Mandarin) for one year now and in order to improve my skills I’ve decided to go to China. I'm leaving next Friday and staying in Shanghai for one month.

I'm very much looking forward to experiencing the modern face of China but at the same time also to getting a deeper insight into the country's rich culture and eventful past. I've heard so many stories about Shanghai and China in general, now it's time for me to see if they're true...

What a happy day!

It took some time, but finally the growing blogger community has a new member. What a happy day! :-) From now on you will get a deeper insight into my daily life (how exciting you might think), the topics that are important to me (who cares) and last but not least some experiences I want to share with you (so what). I will try to keep this page updated, so try to check it every now and then. Stay tuned for more!