belated entry about Shanghai
I went to Eastwood yesterday to take an exam for Soluziona - it's a Spain-based BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) company. Less than half an hour after I left their office, they called me to invite me for an interview, so I'm going there this afternoon.
I really need to start looking for a job. I wouldn't mind starting immediately after my graduate. I probably need to because I haven't saved up a single cent for Christmas.
I arrived at the NAIA airport a little before 10AM. I had a hard time with my luggage because I was carrying too much. I had a suitcase (for check-in), a duffel bag (which is what I usually use for 5-day trips), a rolled-up tarpauline poster, a brown envelope containing all my papers, and a small handbag. My carry-on baggage was 7.4 kg - the limit is 7.5 kg so I just barely made it. This was not traveling light for me - when I went to Singapore for 6 days, I had ONE bag and it weighed 5kg. For this trip, I had to bring a 7" LCD, an Intel embedded system board, speakers, a keyboard, a USB mouse, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a power supply taken from a CPU, several adapters, two mobile phones (in addition to my personal phone), and two Bluetooth USB Dongles.
I sat in seat 5F which was beside the window. They served bad food on the plane - this weird, cold, salted pansit with picked vegetables and strange-looking meat. The main course was indescribable. Curry is the closest I can come to describing it. Curry with pureed squash or something. It was mostly sweet and slightly spicy. Bleagh. The best part of the meal was probably the cold bread roll with butter.
It was surprisingly warm in Shanghai - even warmer than the Philippines. I was met at the airport by Wang Fangyuan who told me to call him Jacky/Jackie. We arrived at the Min Hang campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University where the hotel receptionists couldn't understand English. I registered for the competition where I was given several forms to fill up, as well as several pages of paper which I assumed to contain guidelines/directions/instructions. "Assumed" because I couldn't understand a single world - everything was in Mandarin. I was probably the only contestant who couldn't speak the language. While I was checking in, another team was registering. There were 6 members and they were accompanied by their adviser. I was the sole member of my team and I didn't have my adviser with me.
I completely broke down when went to my room. I was tired and stressed out from the past two weeks of constant activity; I was in a different country; my roaming had not activated and I couldn't text Mike, my family, or my friends; everything was in Chinese - I couldn't understand anything nor could anyone understand me. I just felt so alone and helpless. I think it was the language barrier that really did me in. I probably wouldn't have felt so upset if I had gone someplace where most people spoke English. I held back the tears long enough to ask the receptionist how to make an international call, which took two trips downstairs, much pointing to my Lonely Planet Mandarin phrase book, and four translators. I called Mike and, in between bouts of hysterical sobbing, told him that I wanted to go home. God. I called my mom after and wept some more. I probably would have gone on crying if the organizers hadn't called to tell me to join them downstairs for dinner.
"Supper", as they called it, was a buffet of food that I couldn't identify so I picked out the safe-looking ones. They still tasted strange to me, though. Chinese food outside China tastes so much better to me. (I'm typing in front of a mirror and I find that everything I type something about Chinese food, my face starts scrunching up.) Two of the organizers, who were graduate students in the university, joined me at the table. We talked, haltingly, about our respective universities and after dinner, took a stroll in their campus. We were mostly engaged in polite talk, but at least I wasn't lonely anymore.
I went back to my room and found that my roaming had been activated during my absence. Feeling immensely cheered, I unpacked and tested the hardware I painstakingly packed in bubble-wrap and hand-carried. It worked, hooray!
I explored the hotel room and found it to be quite a nice room. It's CNY260 per night (USD 32.50 or Php 1,700). There are two beds, which made me feel a little lonely so I dumped my stuff on the other bed so it wouldn't feel so empty. I turned on the 30" TV (which was much nicer than the one we have at home) and chose a Chinese cartoon channel over the single English channel that had the most boring news/documentaries narrated in a droning voice. There's a mini-water dispenser which gives you a choice between HOT water and WARM water, and a fridge that I haven't figured out how to operate yet. There are several tea bags and two bottles of mineral water. There are two pairs of the flimsiest bedroom slippers and these strange shoe shine mitts.
Pictures from my hotel room. I stayed at the Academic Exchange Center in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Min Hang Campus
the bathroom
view from my window
I practiced my presentation while texting Mike and my mom. I feel so much better now. Tired, so I'll go to sleep. I have free breakfast tomorrow, but after tasting the food they served for dinner today, I might not avail that. Good night.
I really need to start looking for a job. I wouldn't mind starting immediately after my graduate. I probably need to because I haven't saved up a single cent for Christmas.
I arrived at the NAIA airport a little before 10AM. I had a hard time with my luggage because I was carrying too much. I had a suitcase (for check-in), a duffel bag (which is what I usually use for 5-day trips), a rolled-up tarpauline poster, a brown envelope containing all my papers, and a small handbag. My carry-on baggage was 7.4 kg - the limit is 7.5 kg so I just barely made it. This was not traveling light for me - when I went to Singapore for 6 days, I had ONE bag and it weighed 5kg. For this trip, I had to bring a 7" LCD, an Intel embedded system board, speakers, a keyboard, a USB mouse, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a power supply taken from a CPU, several adapters, two mobile phones (in addition to my personal phone), and two Bluetooth USB Dongles.
I sat in seat 5F which was beside the window. They served bad food on the plane - this weird, cold, salted pansit with picked vegetables and strange-looking meat. The main course was indescribable. Curry is the closest I can come to describing it. Curry with pureed squash or something. It was mostly sweet and slightly spicy. Bleagh. The best part of the meal was probably the cold bread roll with butter.
It was surprisingly warm in Shanghai - even warmer than the Philippines. I was met at the airport by Wang Fangyuan who told me to call him Jacky/Jackie. We arrived at the Min Hang campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University where the hotel receptionists couldn't understand English. I registered for the competition where I was given several forms to fill up, as well as several pages of paper which I assumed to contain guidelines/directions/instructions. "Assumed" because I couldn't understand a single world - everything was in Mandarin. I was probably the only contestant who couldn't speak the language. While I was checking in, another team was registering. There were 6 members and they were accompanied by their adviser. I was the sole member of my team and I didn't have my adviser with me.
I completely broke down when went to my room. I was tired and stressed out from the past two weeks of constant activity; I was in a different country; my roaming had not activated and I couldn't text Mike, my family, or my friends; everything was in Chinese - I couldn't understand anything nor could anyone understand me. I just felt so alone and helpless. I think it was the language barrier that really did me in. I probably wouldn't have felt so upset if I had gone someplace where most people spoke English. I held back the tears long enough to ask the receptionist how to make an international call, which took two trips downstairs, much pointing to my Lonely Planet Mandarin phrase book, and four translators. I called Mike and, in between bouts of hysterical sobbing, told him that I wanted to go home. God. I called my mom after and wept some more. I probably would have gone on crying if the organizers hadn't called to tell me to join them downstairs for dinner.
"Supper", as they called it, was a buffet of food that I couldn't identify so I picked out the safe-looking ones. They still tasted strange to me, though. Chinese food outside China tastes so much better to me. (I'm typing in front of a mirror and I find that everything I type something about Chinese food, my face starts scrunching up.) Two of the organizers, who were graduate students in the university, joined me at the table. We talked, haltingly, about our respective universities and after dinner, took a stroll in their campus. We were mostly engaged in polite talk, but at least I wasn't lonely anymore.
I went back to my room and found that my roaming had been activated during my absence. Feeling immensely cheered, I unpacked and tested the hardware I painstakingly packed in bubble-wrap and hand-carried. It worked, hooray!
I explored the hotel room and found it to be quite a nice room. It's CNY260 per night (USD 32.50 or Php 1,700). There are two beds, which made me feel a little lonely so I dumped my stuff on the other bed so it wouldn't feel so empty. I turned on the 30" TV (which was much nicer than the one we have at home) and chose a Chinese cartoon channel over the single English channel that had the most boring news/documentaries narrated in a droning voice. There's a mini-water dispenser which gives you a choice between HOT water and WARM water, and a fridge that I haven't figured out how to operate yet. There are several tea bags and two bottles of mineral water. There are two pairs of the flimsiest bedroom slippers and these strange shoe shine mitts.
Pictures from my hotel room. I stayed at the Academic Exchange Center in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Min Hang Campus
the bathroom
view from my window
I practiced my presentation while texting Mike and my mom. I feel so much better now. Tired, so I'll go to sleep. I have free breakfast tomorrow, but after tasting the food they served for dinner today, I might not avail that. Good night.