Update from SMU

Today was pretty uneventful and all of the international students had a class together. It was a three hour lecture on Chinese culture and history and the professor has very clear English. He told us that he learned his English from missionary schools and that explains his British accent. He talked a lot about his past and he has spent his life in research. This class will be quite enlightening for most of us and I'm eager to learn more about the culture.

We had a weekly meeting with the head of the international program and discussed our upcoming events and plans. We were finally given a period of time to use the weight room here on campus and that was important for a lot of us. They have some very nice facilities and we went and used the gym tonight. Some of us went to the library tonight because we have plenty of reading to do for our classes. The weather was pretty nice today but it is still really cold. I'm hoping it will start to to warm up in the next few weeks.

The IMB cadets were scheduled for a three hour Business Law lecture but the professor was unable to make it. This opened up a full day of freedom so we decided to go to Nanjing road and do some shopping. We all needed some warmer clothes so this was a good day to do that. The MT cadets had a full day of lectures so they were unable to come with us. We met some of our former roommates in the city and did some shopping before lunch. The clothing here is actually a lot more expensive than the US. A $40 dollar pair of Levis in the United States would go for about $150 in China. This was the same for many of the US and European brand clothing. There are several shopping malls in the city and they are all huge.

Some of the MMA cadets had dinner with some new SMU friends at a restaurant on the campus tonight. We had a great time and the food was really excellent. It is quite amazing that we come from two completely different cultures but we are still able to socialize and communicate. All the Chinese students are eager to learn more English and we are eager to learn more Chinese. I think everything is going smoothly and we are all adjusting quite well. The food and diet is definitely different from what we are used to and I think we have all lost several pounds in one week. I usually just avoid asking them what we are eating because I usually don't want to know.

Adam Silvis is a 2/C cadet and Student Trustee at Massachusetts Maritime Academy