Today was not my busiest day at SBR, but it was certaintly the nicest. Morning and Afternoon Activities: - Wrote one news clip for the section. - Added a few more events to the Business Diary page - Edited a contract for the SBR Executive dental benefits - Edited the weekly SBR e-newsletter Lunch: - Italian restaurant Dolce Vita with Geoff (editor-n-chief), Olivia, Thomas and Lucky (all three are interns), and Gauthier, Chris and Leroy (sales). - Ate fusilli tuna and cherry tomato, which was delicious. There wasn't too much for me to do after having completed the e-newsletter, so I [View Full Entry]

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On Monday, July 6, I received an invitation from a Spanish friend, Daniel, to come to a party at my old flat. Needless to say, I was excited to say how the Spaniards were treating my old flat (j/k), but also meeting several new expats. In Daniel's email, he mentioned he lived on Xinzha Lu; but in fact, the flat is located on Wuding Lu, Changhua Lu. I wrote him back correcting the address in hopes of lessening the number of confused guests. One of the best things about Tuesday night's extravaganza was the trip to the flat. Without a doubt, [View Full Entry]

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The fourth of July was a bit unconventional: * Woke up at around noon (first time I have done that all summer so judging is prohibited). * Took a nice long, hot shower. * Ate veggies and noodles with chopsticks for lunch. * Went to the Fabric Market with my Chilian friend, Olivia, at 3p.m. - where we proceeded to walk through three floors of fabric. * Went to the Fake Market on Nanjing Xi Lu. - where several Chinese men and women said, "Hi pretty ladies, would you like a watch, bags, sunglasses?" You would think they would try to [View Full Entry]

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The Fabric Market on Luijiabang Lu and Zhongshan Lu is amazing; three floors of wool, linen, cotton and most importantly, SILK. The Fabric Market is the best place to go to have suits, silk dresses and everything else imaginable made especially for your body at a low price. Why is it so low? Well, that is the beauty of bargaining. Saturday afternoon, I went to the market with my friend Olivia, and we spent about two hours walking around the different shops. It is definitely a worthwhile experience - and when you find something that appeals to you, it is an [View Full Entry]

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Naturally, any bar that sells wine, chocolates (qiao ke li) and other tasty treats are enticing for people such as myself, but this one has caught my attention more than once. And both times, I didn't have to pay a dime or yuan. The firs time was actually a farewell night for a friend of mine, Monica, who was moving to Beijing in a week. She was offered a better position in another company than in Shanghai so of course she took it. I was a little late getting there because my taxi driver was so slow and there were a [View Full Entry]

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It has been a crazy, eventful week I'd say. Sunday: I met Olivia (Chilian intern from SBR) at People's square to watch Chinese parents exchange their sons and daughters CVs. After an hour or so of scopping out the competition, the two of us went the the China Europe International Business School, or more commonly known as CEIBS, for an all-afternnon event. The event was called Innovate China, and it was a global challenge between international business schools that came up with possible solutions to problems in a Chinese company called Shanxi Tangrong Group. Since it was Sunday, I gave my [View Full Entry]

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It seems a little silly to blog about license plates, however, for something so small, it has caught my attention in every country/state I've traveled to. The shape of a license plate remains relatively same from continent to continent - normally a rectangle. Sometimes the rectangle varies a bit - maybe an elongated rectangle. Aside from the shape, everything else is different (e.g. colors, design, etc). In Europe, every country has a different plate; which is not to difficult to fathom considering every state in the U.S. has a different license plate - there are even different designs in one state. [View Full Entry]

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Next Step Connections had Andrew and I move to another apartment yesterday; one that is much closer to other interns, nicer in general, and in a better location. I took the day off to move my stuff and Andrew's as well - he, unfortunately, couldn't take the day off. Since his bags were extremely heavy and the day was quite the hassle ( :P ), I told him to buy me dinner last night! Lol. Without hesitation, he accepted my demand. ;) We ate at this very popular Asian noodle restaurant located in People's Square. Andrew ordered everything for the two [View Full Entry]

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Hangzhou, a sub-provincial city southwest of Shanghai, is most famous for its historic and scenic places like the West Lake and Ling Yin Temple. It's a beautiful city - more trees, less pollution than Shanghai...and of course, lakes. Friday night, I had the opportunity to go out to a pub and hang with fellow interns, however, being that I'd have to be awake and coherent at 6a.m. Saturday morning, I chose not too go out. Lame? Maybe, but when my Peruvian friend, Bosco, practically crawled through the metro to meet up with the other interns at in the Shanghai South Railway [View Full Entry]

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Rain: Environmentally speaking, Shanghai is very similar to Angers. France - well, all of Bretagne really (upper-west region in France). In both cities, it is necessary (IL FAUT) for one to carry an umbrella. Sure, depending on the umbrella, it can be an annoyance - one more thing to put in a purse or backpack. Nonetheless, if you'd like to avoid the acid rain (thanks to pollution), it is absolutely imperative to carry it along - because you just never know. It might be beautifully sunny when you leave for work, but by evening, it's an entirely different story. It hailed, [View Full Entry]

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