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Cool statue outside an art exhibit
- there are 10 or more different art exhibits in this tiny block The first GT Alumni Reception (gathering/meeting) ever in China was held today and any interested SSP students (from the LBAT students to the Graduate dual major students) could attend as long as they RSVP'd. I, expecting free food, of course decided to attend and it was well worth it! I chose this over doing Nanjing right after our Suzhou day trip. It was held in the "Two Cities Gallery" at the M50 Art District, a pretty explore-worthy looking place. Though I don't remember exactly how to get there...we just took a taxi, the subway's a bit far from the stop. The only undergrads that went were Derryl, Phillip, and myself. Derryl likes to network and meet interesting people (primarily women), Philip likes food and only looks for women to talk to, and I just wanted some snackage and to hear the Alumni's experiences in Shanghai, ha...and network I guess.
The gallery itself was just ceramics and colored/crystal glass pieces. I met an Alumni who is now working as a Chemical Engineer and heads a small company in Shanghai...Ashley something (got his business card somewhere) and also another alumni who owns a much larger company based in Tunxi?? - Ryan Sweeney.
He's been living here for the past 7 years and really knows the ins and outs of the business culture here in China. The biggest problem he's ran into here so far is training his employees. He has to do a lot of micromanaging, he says, because Chinese college grads do not learn, very well, how to critically think - they just know how to study and memorize something and never want to analyze or make decisions. However, he likes having Chinese employees to send out on inter-company meetings so others don't know that his company is foreigner-owned.
We enjoyed some American style snacks - mini hamburgers, quesidillas, shrimp, and hash browns - while the Vice Provost for International Initiatives Dr.Schaffer told us briefly about our past and growing future endeavors with various other international universities and locations, such as a new satellite campus in India that will start construction soon. Then, our SSP program coordinator gave us an overview of all the parts that make up the Shanghai Summer Program - from student exchange programs to LBAT to dual-degree grad programs. It gave me a better understanding of our relationship to SJTU. The last lecture was given by
The Alumni Reception
Place was comfortably packed, but still got more than enough free food! Dr.Balfour who talked with much enthusiasm and a heavy/interesting British accent and mumbling about the history and development of the city of Shanghai, and why it is such an important and intriguing city. He also informed us of how a primarily GT Alumni owned company - Portman and Associates - has designed and built more than 20 blocks of Shanghai and Atlanta, including of course the Portman Hotel, Tomorrow's Square, etc. His company is involved in as much with the new as it is with restoration work.
Ryan Sweeney, who organized most of the event, finished with giving out some small prizes to the Alumni (bottle openers, etc.) and then free shirts for everyone - they are of Suzhou-style interpretations of Tech Tower, very cool. There was one female alumnus there who was very sketchy and just kept asking if we would take pictures with her near random art pieces but wouldn't really engage in any conversation, despite being able to speak English...oh and I also met this tight Computer Science engineer who's been here for 3 years and gave me his number if I ever needed to get some advice about Shanghai or travel/tourist destinations. I just love
free food....
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