I will be leaving for Shanghai tomorrow night. I'll be honest, I wasn't that excited to be studying abroad in China when I first found out I was going there (even if it was my first choice location). My lack of excitement probably comes from a lot of my misconceived perceptions of China, as well as stories that my grandpa and my dad have told me from their experiences, and let's just say some were not that positive. However, one of my friends, Garrick, is already in Shanghai, and has told my friend, Chloe, and I not to worry about these negative connotations we may have; it's just a different culture and way of life that we will eventually get used to. With that said, I'm starting to get more and more excited as it comes time for me to jet off to Shanghai.
Some other basic information, I managed to obtain a multi-entry tourist visa, so trips outside of China will be involved. We have two main breaks, Chinese New Year's break and Spring Break. And luckily for Chloe and I, we managed to snag two of the few seats left heading for Taiwan; therefore, we will be spending Chinese New Year's there! Pretty excited about that!
It's a little strange to think that I will be spending a semester in a foreign country, and even weirder to know that the internet may not always be accessible...aka no constant checking of Facebook...but Shanghai is still a very fast paced city, a lot like NYC and one that is modernizing more and more each day.
Hopefully they'll understand my Mandarin, and I can pick up a bit of what the locals are saying in Shanghainese!
上海，我要来了！(Shanghai, I'm coming!)
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