SMU Update 5/18/11

The cadets here along with the international students had the privilege to be taken on a tour by Shanghai Maritime University to the Shanghai World Financial Center, and the Shanghai Museum. The significance of the Shanghai World Financial Center is that it is one of the tallest buildings in the world, and in fact has the highest skywalk in the entire world. Yes, and we got to go to the top of it. We could see the building from tens of miles away on our way into the city as it towers over everything else. The building almost looks like a bottle opener because there is a huge hole in the middle of building near the top. Later we found out that engineers needed to style the building this way because it stands so tall that the wind needs travel through it. From the outside, you could not even see the top from the bottom.

This is a huge tourist attraction in Shanghai, as the place was extremely crowded. We entered a pitch black room, and it seemed like we were waiting in line for Space Mountain at Disney World. From there we entered a futuristic elevator, and everything was neon lit. The elevator took us up to the top floor in under ten seconds. I wish they had warned me that my ears would pop. The skywalk stands at 492-metres (1,614-ft). As you can see the outside is visible at all angles. The floor is glass too, which at first I hesitated to step on to it. 

You could see the entire city, and even more. The view at night must be unimaginable. It honestly was like we were looking out the window of an airplane, you could barely see the cars. After that we were taken to the gift store where we all bought some souvenirs. It was a great tour, and is a must-see for anyone who visits China. This is a symbol of China’s emerging economic dominance. What is even crazier is that they are in the process of creating an even taller building right next door!

SMU Update 5/13/11

As part of our Port and Terminal Management class, we traveled to the Yangshan Deepwater Port south of Shanghai today. The Yangshan Port was designed to meet the demand for deeper berths that can’t be met in the shallow Port of Shanghai, and we had all been looking forward to this field-trip for quite some time. While most of us have been to a port before, I know that I have never personally seen so many cranes and berths, not to mention that many containers!

The journey to Yangshan Port may have been even more interesting than the port itself, as we had to  cross a 32.5 km bridge to get there! The Donghai Bridge is the 2nd longest in the world and was built specifically to connect the port, which is on an island, to the mainland, and thus is only really crossed by trucks. A portion of the bridge is flanked by rows of offshore windmills, so it was sort of a sneak-peek of what the windmills could look like off Cape Cod, and we were all pretty impressed. We weren’t able to tour much of the port, but we took pictures from a viewpoint and felt pretty lucky to get to see something so relevant to our studies.

SMU Update 5/9/11

As we reach the final month of our exchange program and I think back on my experience thus far, one of the most exciting that I have to mention is certainly our trip to Chengdu, to see PANDAS!

Vanessa and I had mentioned to our Chinese Culture professor, a cheerful travel-enthusiast and avid mountain climber (you wouldn’t believe that she took her own Everest pictures if she wasn’t in some of them!), that we would feel that our entire trip to China was unfulfilling if we didn’t get to see any pandas, and she said that it is a goal of hers to travel to the Giant Panda Research Base in Chengdu, a two-hour flight west of Shanghai, to see (and hold!) pandas.
In addition to the research base, an hour outside of Chengdu is Leshan, home of the “Giant Buddha,” carved into the side of a mountain. We had learned all about this Buddha during Chinese Culture class, so going to see both of these made the flight seem quite worth it. For about $300 USD round-trip, we flew to Chengdu (somehow finagling first-class on the way back!) and stayed in a hotel for about $75/double room for two nights. The costs of travel certainly make the trips so much easier to go on!

We took a bus to Leshan for 20Y ($3 for a one hour ride? No problem), and paid an additional 100Y to get into the viewing area. If you were wondering, having a “student-visa” sticker in your passport does not go toward a 50% student discount, so while some of us had our MMA IDs, the rest of us suffered the $15 blow to our wallets.
We walked around the viewing area, up and down incredible sets of stairs, stopping to take pictures with Chinese girls when we caught them taking pictures of the boys, and taking in the breathtaking views of the water and the mountains. We thought that we’d save the Buddha for last, leaving plenty of time to take a 30 minute cab to the Leshan Bus Station for our 7 pm bus to Chengdu. We got into line around 3, really wanting to leave time to enjoy the view from below. The line starts fairly high up on the mountain, so after the first 30 minutes in line, we were excited to be moved with a large group to the actual line, as it turns out we were in the line-before-the-line. Standing behind the Buddha’s head, we couldn’t wait to see how amazing the whole thing must be, if the painted eye-brow is as long as my body, at least. The line snakes back and forth about 100 people deep in each section through narrow barriers, which was extra fun when it started sprinkling and the umbrellas went up. By 5:15, we started to get nervous that we wouldn’t even get to glimpse the Buddha, being in the section of the line furthest from the edge, but finally made it to the top of the stairs by 5:30. While we read the signs warning that the stairs were too slippery-when-wet to allow visitors to navigate during the rain, it started to rain a little harder and we started to get more nervous. After much debate, we figured there was no way we were going to make it backwards through the line to go look for a cab by 6:15, not to mention we were probably never going to have a chance to see the largest Buddha in China ever again, so we decided to worry about missing the bus when the time came, even though there are no hotels or anywhere to stay in Leshan.

The stairs got narrower and even steeper, flat against the side of the mountain, and we made it down to the base by 6, surprisingly. We had a quick and casual four minute photo shoot, before making it back to the entrance (by climbing, no running, stairs BACK UP the mountain and down the other side) and started looking for a cab around 6:20. Little did we realize that everyone else in Leshan was also looking for a cab and there were none to be found. Long story short, we were on the bus to Chengdu, relieved albeit a bit sweaty, at 6:55 on the dot. Now, for the pandas.

The Giant Panda Research base started with something like 6 pandas, and now has over 80 in captivity. Mostly, we cared about the fact that for some number of a donation (we heard both 100Y and 1000Y), you could hold and take a picture with a baby panda. Well, this was not our luckiest weekend, and the baby panda that normally stars in these pictures was too sick and weak to accept our human germs, so we couldn’t even view her through the glass. No matter, as there were so many pandas to be seen, from the lazy adults that have their food scattered throughout their habitat by their caretakers to discourage sitting in the same spot all day long, to the lively “teenagers” racing each other up their jungle gyms and practically posing for pictures, to “Panda Kindergarten,” where the babies all teetered dangerously in different branches of the same tree, not moving once over the course of our three hour visit.

That night, we attended the Sichuan Opera. We had heard a great deal about it and seen the masks in every traditional store, so we knew we had to see it. While some of it was hard to follow, the performances were amazing, from comedies to traditional stories, intricate puppet shows and even shadow puppets. The best part was the performance where the actors changed to the colorful mask of a different warrior, probably 6 each, with the blink of an eye or snap of fingers in front of their face. I would still love to figure out the mechanics of their mask-changing!

What we learned in Chengdu? Just as we suspected: pandas are the best part about China.

SMU Update 4/26/11

We went to SMU’s Old Campus in Shanghai city today for a presentation by Zurich Financial Services Ltd on “Zurich Day.” The most interesting presentation was by a marine insurance underwriter out of Singapore, as he really was able to hold our attention and make the presentation relevant to us as students. I only wish I had already taken Marine Insurance so that I could’ve had a better conversation after the presentation!

We attended a buffet with our roommates and the master’s students that were also at the presentation afterward, and we were very pleasantly surprised by what was served: lasagna, lamb, chicken, steamed vegetables and SALAD! Very good meal for those of us who were missing home and Easter activities!

SMU Update 4/19/11

The other day Denis Kelleher and I went to Shanghai Wild Animal Park. It took us about twenty minutes to get there via taxi, and we arrived about twenty minutes before the gates opened. It was great to get there early because as soon as the gates opened, it was like we had the entire zoo to ourselves. The zoo consisted of two sections. The first section was the walking section, and the second section was the safari section.

The walking section was filled with a huge variety of animal species. Our first encounter was by a man holding the reins of a camel. He offered to let me ride the camel for 50 RMB, which is under 10 USD. Of course I couldn’t say no! The ride was enjoyable especially since it was something I have never done. It was a great start to a day that would only get progressively better and better. We continued our tour and got to see things like the endangered golden monkey, kangaroos, crocodiles, a rhinoceros, anteaters, ostriches, and many more. What was even more amazing is that these animals were not in cages, it was as if they were out in the open. Next we came to a section called the “Animal Kindergarten.” This was an area where the young animals were kept. We saw animals such as baby monkeys and meerkats. The most exciting however were the baby tigers, and baby brown bears. We got to see baby tigers wrestling on the ground two feet in front of us! When I thought it could not have gotten any better, a man offered us the opportunity to hold the baby brown bears. Again, of course I could not say no. Denis held the baby, and I held one that was a little bit older. It was funny because the bear acted similar to the way an infant would. It was so great playing with them that I did not want to leave. I really wanted to take one home.

From there we headed to the lion and tiger section. Along with seeing typical lions and tigers that you would see at every zoo, we also saw the White Lion, and two Ligers. The White Lion (see picture) was ferocious, and judging by his loud roar it seemed as if he was not too happy to see us. The Liger is a mix between a tiger and a lion (see picture). Its skin was similar to a lions, but it also had faded stripes of a tiger. Its face was like a tiger, but its head had the mane of a lion. What is even more amazing is that the possibility of this happening is about 2% and it is believed that there is only eight existing in the entire world! From there we were again greeted by a man standing next to an elephant. Before he even asked I handed him some money to ride it. He told me to put my hand on the elephant’s head, so I did. Instantly the elephant’s trunk wrapped around me and he lifted me over his head! For a second I thought he was going to put me in his mouth! The elephant was great, and definitely my favorite part of the day. To top it off I hand fed a giraffe right afterwards. The safari section was surprisingly a disappointment. The ride was way too quick, and the bus was severely over packed. Even after that, I can still say the zoo was my favorite experience here so far, and my close encounter with so many animals is something that not many get to experience. I recommend for any one who ever comes to China, to make a pit stop at Shanghai Wild  Animal Park.

SMU Update 4/16/11

Today was “Open Campus Day,” for Shanghai Maritime University. The campus was opened to the public, mainly for prospective students and their parents. Along the “lake” in the center of campus, booths were lined up giving away food from other international students or with activities and prizes. We participated in a filming for an organization for people with disabilities, and learned to say “We Love Your Strength” in sign-language.

The business students were asked to do a performance of  Walt Whitman’s “Going Back to Cambridge” alongside our Chinese roommates. The US students read in Chinese and the Chinese students read in English. From L-R in the picture are John Coogan, Bob, Adam Vieira, John, Brendan Dickinson, Leo, Jack Gomes and Leo. Their performance got rave reviews!

The deck students were asked to set up a booth of “typical US food,” so they made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and grilled cheese sandwiches; both were a big hit!

We will be doing something similar on May 18, which is “International Day.” We’ve been given a stipend to buy food and décor for our stand and we were thinking of performing “YMCA.” More on that in a month…

SMU Update 4/12/11

Here at Shanghai Maritime University we are privileged to have excellent living accommodations. We are staying in one of the school’s hotels. Our hotel is building number 23, and it has six floors. The building is in great condition, and it looks as if it is brand new. Our hotel is home to all International students that our studying here.

      The students that live in this hotel are from all over the world. We are surrounded by students from Poland, Russia, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Mongolia, Cameroon, and there are even more that I have yet to encounter. Mostly all of them speak descent English, which is great. We have had some classes with them, as well as gone out to dinner with most of them. They all are very nice, and have huge interest in American culture. What is even more interesting is that mostly all of them are from maritime schools as well. It’s cool to see the difference in their uniforms, and their regiment. For example the Russians’ uniform are all white and they almost resemble an old navy sailors uniform. The students from Poland wear Dress Blues at all times, and the students from South Korea wear blacks (although they are much different from ours). From my understanding for the most part our regiment at Massachusetts Maritime Academy is taken much more seriously. The German students do not have a regiment at their school, and their college resembles a normal one. It has been a pleasure to meet all of these people, and as time passes our friendship with all of them grows.

   A huge benefit to living among diverse group people is our actual living accommodations. Mostly all of us from MMA live on the same floor, and down the hall from us is a community kitchen with a stovetop oven and microwave. Each student lives with a Chinese roommate. Each student is given the luxury of having two rooms. The first room is where we sleep. This room consists of a bunk bed with full size mattresses. It sure beats our twin bunk beds at home! In this first room I have my own personal closet, bathroom with shower, an air conditioner, a TV and a balcony which overlooks the entire campus. The second room is right across the hall, and it is known as our study room. In our study room is my roommate’s personal bathroom, another flat screen TV, two study desks for our laptops, and another balcony. We are also provided with a fridge, and cold/hot water dispenser. The best part of living here is once a week a house keeper comes in to our rooms. The housekeeper changes our sheets, and cleans our rooms! With all this luxury combined with being in China, I often feel like I am on vacation!

SMU Update 3/22/11

Tonight, the student union hosted an “English Connection Party” for us to meet more of the SMU students. We were divided into teams and played games such as musical chairs and multiple balloon stomping games. The most interesting game had to be when a MMA student had to listen to a popular Chinese song through headphones and try to sing it back to the crowd for them to guess the tune. Our limited Chinese vocabulary made for a very interesting rendition of the songs, but the SMU students were able to guess most of the time!

The SMU students set up many performances for us, including traditional instruments, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, hip hop dance and pop performances. We all had a great time getting to know more of the students and really appreciated all of the effort that they put into hosting us. While we didn’t have time to prepare for much, Pete and Adam did an impromptu dance while an SMU student sang, I sang karaoke and more of us danced (for extra team points) throughout the night. Just a wonderful weekday evening at SMU!

SMU Update 3/21/11

Our Monday started off with Morning Formation. The way they do it is similar to the way we do it, but also very different. Only the licensed majors have to attend, and it is held once a week. All the cadets line up just as we would. An officer comes out with a microphone and starts yelling something. It was pretty funny because I wasn’t expecting it and I had no idea what he was saying. He must of said something funny because all of the Chinese students were laughing at us after wards. Any ways after he stopped talking, everyone was silent. Then an Honor Guard meticulously marched in front and raised the flag. They march a little differently as shown in the pictures.  The flags of the other countries were raised as well. Their morning formation is not as long, and the weather is a little warmer. Best of all we can sneak our hands in our sleeves every once in a while. Once that ended we ate breakfast, and awaited our first class.

 The way our class schedule works out is we have two classes on Monday, and then one class Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and Sunday. So far our classes have been pretty good. I like the way our schedule is set up because aside from homework, we have a lot of spare time to do whatever we want. The other day we taught some Chinese kids how to play American Football. Although it was complete chaos, they loved it and so did we. We will soon be playing basketball which they all love. Everyone here is obsessed with the Lakers, Kobe Bryant and of course Yao Ming. Chinese Culture class is probably the best class so far. It has been a good first week. It is now Thursday, and tonight we head into the city for the first time. It should be a great experience.

SMU Update 3/17/11

The group has been here in Shanghai for almost a week now. So far it has been a great experience. We arrived last Saturday after a fourteen hour flight. The plane ride wasn’t very fun, but we were immediately welcomed with open arms from the Chinese students that were at MMA last spring. From there we took an hour bus ride to the new campus. The structure of the highways and its surrounding buildings are very unique. When we arrived to the campus hotel where we were greeted by our new roommates, and placed into our rooms. The Chinese students were so anxious to greet us and even more excited to practice their English. For a majority of them it is their first time ever seeing Americans in their life. They already have decided on their own American names, most of them being very basic. For example Bob, and Jack. It was around 7 pm at this time, and we decided to go to a Chinese restaurant located on campus. It’s a good thing our roommates spoke English because it was total chaos in the restaurant. Waiters and Waitresses were speaking to us, and we had no idea what they were talking about. All the menus have pictures of the plates so we just pointed to them. The food was definitely not what we are used to, but it was a good time. Immediately after that everyone went back to the rooms to catch up on some much needed rest.

The next morning we were allowed to sleep in. We woke up to pouring rain, but at least it was not too cold. The weather at this time of year here in Shanghai is usually around the mid 40’s. We all then gathered in the hotel lobby, and then onto a bus to the ------- Museum. The museum was the biggest I have ever been in. Right in the center of the museum was an authentic sailing vessel, built hundreds of years ago. The tour consisted of ancient Chinese maritime history, all the way to current day. It was very interesting, and the best part was at the end. They took us into a bridge simulator. The bridge simulator was in 3d, and fully functional. The best part was that the floor moved with the waves. Lastly we were brought to a knot tying station where just about all of us forget every single knot. Good thing we are business students. When we got back to campus everyone put on their salt and peppers, and we went off to the Exchange Program Welcoming Dinner.

The dinner was great. We were all sat at large tables where we met students from five other countries. There were students from Canada, Poland, Russia, Germany, and South Korea. Then the President of SMU gave a welcoming speech, and told us to begin to eat. We were served all different types of food with beer and soda. It was the first time we were able to eat our food with forks, rather than chopsticks so that was good. After we ate, there were a few demonstrations given on stage by students at SMU. Some of the performances included Kung Fu, and Tai Qi. After that some cadets were called on stage to perform as well and none of us could move like them. So the crowd was very entertained. At the conclusion of the dinner, we all went back to our rooms to get ready for our first morning formation, and our first day of classes.

SMU Update 3/8/11

Greetings, from Shanghai!! My computer says 6:48 am, and I think my body agrees, although it's only 6:48 pm on Sunday evening. We arrived safely in Shanghai yesterday afternoon around 4:30 pm and were excited to see many of our old roommates from last spring at MMA there to greet us with our new roommates! The flight was long but smooth, although I don't recommend it when you have dry socket from a last minute wisdom tooth removal. We met our head teachers and took a bus to the campus, which was a quick 40 minute drive. By the time we arrived in our dorm, we had been traveling for 25 hours! We all went out for dinner in the square on campus, which was one of the more overwhelming experiences of my life. We took over two long tables and I think most of us ordered the first thing on the menu (which, luckily was all pictures), although I opted out of the ketchup on my noodles once a few people got meals and realized what it was, so I may have enjoyed my meal slightly more than others.

We unpacked and went to bed shortly after that to be ready for a 9 am “orientation.”
It was raining again this morning when I woke up to the chorus of American accents in the hallway around 7. A few of us got up early, surprising our roommates I think! I was jealous to Skype with my family who was enjoying a lovely American meal at my aunt's house, but pleasantly surprised at how clear the picture was for both of us and how great the connection is! Most of us ate in one of the canteens nearby before our meeting, which was another interesting meal. Vanessa and I went with noodles and meat because it was the most recognizable and we thought we'd start slow. Unfortunately, Vanessa's meat choice turned out to be spicy, which isn't really our gig first thing in the morning. I was enjoying mine greatly, until my roommate Iris casually mentioned that it's usually something you get for lunch. Oops, oh well.

Our orientation was in the same room that all of the business classes will be held in and was about a 10 minute or so walk from the dorm. There was a presentation from the head teachers from deck and business each, as well as a representative of Foreign Affairs. We were given a brief overview of our schedule, and we all turned to smile at our classmate Young Ryou when we saw that the deck students have a morning jog at 6:40 and attend the flag raising ceremony every morning, while the rest of us only attend on Mondays. He seemed enthused about morning PT and mofo, so I'm sure that will also be a wonderful surprise for Kyle Scannell and Peter Menard when they arrive on the 14th!

We were excited to meet the other international students: one from Canada, two each from South Korea, Russia and Germany and three from Poland. We were given a couple of free hours until we met to go to the China Maritime Museum with the other exchange students. We took a tour of the museums six halls: the hall of Chinese Navigation History, the Hall of Ships, the Hall of Navigation and Ports, the Hall of Maritime Affairs and Sea Safety, the Hall of Seafarers and the Hall of Navy. The museum was beautiful with its modern architecture, and a lot of fun with the many models, ancient artifacts and interactive simulators, so while we were all exhausted again, I'd say we had a good time overall.

We had a welcome dinner with the Vice President of SMU and some of the faculty, where we enjoyed a delicious buffet and saw performances of traditional dance, Kung Fu, Tai Chi and song. A few of us were invited to learn some moves on stage, which was certainly interesting to watch. We walked back, sharing umbrellas with our roommates as it is still raining and is going to all week, and are resting up for our first day of classes tomorrow. Yikes!