Luckily when I awoke the next morning, I was feeling much better. After a couple of Tylenols and an amazing breakfast of pork buns and dumplings, I got on the bus to head to the terracotta warriors. We had been warned that the terracotta warriors were the most popular place in China for Chinese tourists…
Tag: Summer 2018
Zàijiàn, China!
I can say with confidence that the two weeks I spent in China were the best two weeks of my life. I learned so much, and could not have had a better overall experience with better people. If anyone reading this now is considering applying for Plus3, DO IT. Better yet, put China as your…
CUFE
This is the day of our first non-tourist site visit. We visited a place called Central University of Finance and Economics. We began our visit with a small lecture from a professor at the university about supply chain. As a chemical engineer, I personally found this lecture boring in terms of material, however there were…
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,…
The Great Wall
It was my first full 24 hours in China, and I must say I am very glad to have spent the day with a small tour of Beijing, my second Chinese meal, and a trip to the Great Wall. My morning started at 5:30 when I woke up fully rested because I passed out around…
Traveling Day
Ah yes, the infamous traveling day(s). Starting with a 2:30 am bus departure from towers lobby at Pitt, it was a grueling day of sleeplessness and anticipation. This was only my second time traveling to a foreign country, so I was excited to add to my life experience. This was especially exciting to me because…
Professional Development Reflection: Fodun Ologunde
Ethical Issues in My Profession The issue of ethics seems to constantly arise in a variety of professions almost on a daily basis. For each new product on the market, professionals need to meet certain ethical standards to ensure the safety of their products to everyone involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and consumption of these…
Reflections: A Whole New World
Now that I have been back in the United States for a few days, I have integrated myself back into my summer schedule. I remember a graph that we were shown in the pre-trip classes of the possible culture shock we would experience during and after the trip. Dr. Feick even mentioned that we would…
Day 13: Home Awaits
Whelp! Made it to the last day. Waking up today I just wanted to close my eyes and appear back home. I felt an odd mix of excitement and sadness. Excitement because honestly, I had started missing home, certain foods, and I had become so exhausted during the two-week stay. I was a little sad…
Day 7: The Children’s Village
Breakfast in Xi’an felt a lot fancier than Beijing, a testament to the hotel we were staying at. The lobby of the hotel was a grand two stories high entrance hall clad in marble with large pillars, Chinese tapestries, and a view of massive stone terracotta warriors overlooking the koi fish pond outside. The breakfast…
Day 12: Yu Garden and Farewell Dinner
Today started off with me feeling weird. I was well aware it was our last full day in China and I was oddly sad but excited at the same time. I had truly enjoyed my time in China, but I had already started missing home. I didn’t feel like I fit in here. We started…
Day 13: Xiaomi Sells Some Quality Suitcases
Today was a bit more of a struggle because I slept a little too soundly last night after the amazing mah jongg tournament we had, and I was a bit late. Obviously, I wasn’t left behind, but nonetheless, I felt bad to keep everyone waiting. But I will have to say that being the kind…
Day 6: On the Rails
Upon waking up, we learned 7 people in total had gotten sick and had been taken to the hospital. They would have to stay in Beijing with Liliana and our program assistant while the rest of us rode the high-speed train to Xi’an. It was in a somber mood the group boarded the bus and…
Day 12: Mah Jongg Tournaments are the Greatest Thing
Today started the same as every other day where we woke up and had a quality breakfast in our lovely hotel. We were going on more company visits today – first to Delphi ICE and then to the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham from now on). When we first got to Delphi, we had a…
Day 5: Revenge of the Hot Pot
I was very excited to begin my last day in Beijing, for today we were reuniting with Joe! Our hilarious and amazing tour guide met us at the hotel and took us on a bus to Tiananmen Square. Before we left, our guide book warned us not to talk about the tragedy that occurred in…
Day 11: Bright Yellow Vests are the Newest Trend
We started our morning a bit earlier compared to yesterday because today we were going to two business sites – Ocean East International Logistics and Yang Shan Port. From our hotel, we drove 2 hours to go to the first company. While on the bus, a new guy named Mac joined us. He talked with…
Day 11: Delphi & AmCham Visit
Today was yet another business day. We first visited Delphi technologies. Based on the name, I thought it would be another tech company like Xiaomi which had many diverse products ranging from phones to TV’s. There was a concise presentation and we got to hear from a Pitt graduate school alum. It was really nice…
Day 4: The Wonder Store
A tragedy occurred at breakfast this morning. The hotel replaced the amazing pork buns with far inferior seaweed buns. I was determined not to let this sad and unfortunate start not spoil the first day of company visits. The first company, Sunshine Insurance, certainly knew how to make a first impression. Their offices were in…
Day 10: Pizza Hut is Much Fancier in China
I actually woke up after 7:30 this morning. I “slept in” for the first time all trip, and I am a big fan. We had a later start this morning because we were going to the East China University of Science and Technology. We would be spending the day with students and talking to them…
Day 10: Ocean East and Yang Shan Port Visit
Today, we visited the company: Ocean East International Logistics. Prior to that, the most I had really heard of Logistics was from a UPS commercial back in the day that had lines like “when the things that we need come at just the right speed, that’s logistics” and other lines I would just mumble until…