The award I received for Plus3 China was able to help my participation in the program by allowing me to travel abroad and helping save my parents from paying the entire cost of the trip. It allowed me to make memories that will last a lifetime and also allowed me to learn first-hand about China,…
Tag: Matthew Freeman
Final Summary
The two weeks spent in China have been 2 of the most fun weeks I’ve had in my life. I would recommend Plus3 to any freshman or prospective student. It was truly an amazing experience. Starting out with a group of kids that I didn’t really know at all (except Benji) and becoming friends with…
Day 13: Yu Garden & The Last Day
Sadly, today was our last full day in China. I tried not to think about it too much because although I’m excited to go home I’m also sad to leave. The day started off nice and early with another great continental breakfast at the hotel. We then headed to the bus for the last time…
Day 12: Delphi Technologies & AmCham
Today we had our usual routine as always. Wake up early, get breakfast, go to the bus. This time was a little bit different though. Today we were making our first engineering site visit to Delphi Technologies so I was both happy and excited for the engineering students who had been only sitting through business…
Day 11: Ocean East International Logistics & Yang Shan Port
Once again we had to wake up early, which comes as no surprise at this point. However, at least I have an excellent breakfast to look forward to each morning for the remainder of our trip. Following breakfast, we headed outside to the bus. We met our tour guide for the day, Mac. Mac works…
Day 10: East China University of Science & Technology
We got to wake up a little later than usual today before heading to the East China University of Science and Technology so I made sure I got down to the hotel’s continental breakfast before we left. It was the best breakfast of all 3 hotels we’ve stayed in by far. After breakfast, we went…
Day 9: The Final Destination, Shanghai
Today started with another early morning as we had to be in the lobby at 6:30 AM to take a bus to the train station. We had another 6-hour train ride ahead of us, this time to Shanghai. During the ride, I was wide awake so I decided to catch up on blogging, listen to music,…
Day 8: Terra-Cotta Warriors & Biking the City Wall
Today I woke up around 6:45 AM as I wanted to shower and have time to get some of the breakfast that everyone raved about yesterday. We met in the lobby at 7:40 AM after most of us got breakfast and it was pretty good. They had a wider variety than the first hotel we…
Day 7: Children’s Sun Village & Greater Wild Goose Pagoda
I had a very relaxing night last night as I was exhausted when we got back around 9:00 PM and decided to take a break from exploring. We were scheduled to meet in the hotel lobby at 8:30 AM to get on our bus and travel to the Children’s Sun Village for our service learning…
Day 6: Welcome to Xi’an!
After a very long day 5, today was the earliest we’ve had to wake up yet. We had to be in the hotel lobby at 6:00 AM to take our bus to the train station so I woke up at 5:15 AM to pack my things and shower. I didn’t have to worry about getting…
Day 5: Final Day in Beijing
Our adventure during our last day in Beijing included visits to Tian’anmen Square, The Forbidden City, a Hutong Tour, and a visit to The Temple of Heaven that included a Taichi Class. I woke up exhausted to meet everyone in the lobby at 8:00 AM. We have been doing so much which has left me…
Day 4: Sunshine Insurance Group & Xiaomi
Today our plans included company visits to both Sunshine Insurance Group and Xiaomi. Our day started later today as we got to leave the hotel at 9:00 AM to head to Sunshine’s campus. As the bus pulled up to the front gate the buildings looked European and even reminded me of a college campus more than…
Day 3: CUFE & Olympic Park
Our itinerary for today included just a visit to Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) and afterward, we decided as a group to go to the Olympic Park from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and a local marketplace. We arrived at CUFE around 10:00 AM and received a lecture from Dr. Yao on 5…
Day 2: The Great Wall
After falling asleep within minutes of lying down last night I found myself awake bright and early at 6:30 am. We were meeting Liliana and Jane from The Asia Institute at 8:00 am in the lobby to head to our program orientation at another hotel. I showered and headed downstairs to grab breakfast. I was…
Day 1: Traveling to China!
After getting back from our group dinner at 8:00 pm and knowing that we were meeting at 2:15 to head to the airport I decided to hold off on sleeping. This was for two reasons. First, I didn’t want to put myself through trying to wake up after only sleeping for such a short amount…
Matt Freeman: Pre-Departure Report
My international experience to date is: The summer before my senior year of high school I was lucky enough to travel internationally with my family. The trip was 10 days long and we traveled to both Spain and France. In Spain, my family only visited Barcelona. The food and scenery were amazing and everyone was…
Destination: China
Hi! My name is Matthew Freeman, but I usually just go by Matt. I’m from New Tripoli, PA and am 18 years old. I am a rising sophomore in Pitt Business at the University of Pittsburgh. I plan on majoring in Finance and Accounting with a minor in Economics. Outside of the classroom, I am…