你好, My name is 威丽丝!

Week 1 & 2… conquered and done!

It’s exciting to blog again about my new adventures abroad.  

I am across the world in Beijing, China!  It has been a very interesting experience here, but I’m adaptable and up for the challenges. China is a huge country and has so much happening within.  Beijing (北京) is the capital city with 15.500 million people and is considered the political district, whereas Shanghai, the largest city in China with 20.200 million people, is recognized as the financial district.  I can say that there are too many people in this country based on 24/7 traffic and packed subway lines.

You’re probably wondering if I know/speak some amount of Mandarin.  No, not at all.  All I knew before I arrived was 你好 (ni hao-hello, which is in my title) and 谢谢 (xièxie-thank you).  I didn’t know any characters before I arrived either, but after 2 weeks I can recognized about 12 characters and say about 20 phrases/words. The other set of characters in my title represent my Chinese name. I’m having language struggles, but thank the Lord for my fingers, universal pictures, and translation apps.  

Why am I here?  Well, as a recent graduate of Trinity University (May 16,2015) receiving a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business, I needed an internship abroad.  I am doing a research portion on the side with my professor, Dr. Deli Yang, and other students in this program. There are six of us from the university participating in this new program.  We’ve had some adventures, which I’m sure that’s what you’re waiting to hear about…

Our first week here was just the time for introductions with our program and getting acquainted with the university, our research partners, the metro, and our internships.  Have we been to the Great Wall yet?  No, but in due time.  With the internship and research course, we really have to plan out our excursions.  So far, we've been to the Forbidden City, the Beijing Zoo, HouHai (lunch with Big Ma), toured AmCham China, and the Great Leap Brewery. 

I know it may seem like we haven't done much for the amount of time we've been here, but know that we will be making moves soon. This work schedule and jet-lag is real. I have limited access to posting and social media due to the network blocks in this country. But, you must have patience dealing with technology in the country.  The adventures continue, so stay tuned!

Until next time 回头剑,

Photos of the Weeks