We arrived in Shanghai late yesterday afternoon. While traveling between cities usually takes up most of a day, traveling in Asia is almost always uneventful. Trolleys for your luggage are readily available and are free; flights are on time; baggage is at the baggage claim area when you get there; and taxis are always lined up waiting to take you wherever you want to go – just be sure to have your destination written in Chinese characters!
Before we left Beijing, we had dinner last evening with Jolene Gurevich. Jolene is a Baruch undergrad who is doing a one year study abroad program in Beijing. Since Jolene worked last year in the Graduate Career Management Center I had a chance to really get to know her. It was great to see her here and to hear about her experiences since she arrived in late August. She told us that her days are extremely long, beginning with Chinese class at 8:00 am, followed by individual Chinese tutoring. She is also taking English classes and classes on Chinese ethnic diversity. She said she always has tons of homework.
We enjoyed a wonderful buffet dinner in our hotel. While Jolene had offered to take us out for “Hot Pot” we decided on a great buffet of both western and Chinese food at our hotel. Jolene was delighted to get some “real” salad.
Jolene with my husband at the desert table
