"Adventure is Worthwhile in Itself"

I've been in Denmark for a few days now and wanted catch up on my activities so far. After I arrived in Copenhagen on Saturday, I took a train to Aalborg to stay at Jacob's family home. After a few wrenches thrown into my plan, I arrived safely! I know I can't go without telling a story of the biggest issue during my travels so here it is... As soon as I got onto the train in Copenhagen on Saturday morning-- I knew it was WAY too hot in the car I was on. I know Denmark doesn't have air-conditioners but goodness it was like a sauna on there. So much so, they were even giving out free water bottles and fans to everyone. Well about 3 hours into this 4+ hour long train ride of misery, everyone somehow vanishes from the train and a woman shooing me away in Danish is coming toward me. Finally I said, "I"m sorry I can't understand you... Jeg taler Engelsk, Jeg taler ikke Dansk" (I speak English, I don't speak Danish), so she immediately says "Oh, does anyone know you are a foreigner? You need to change trains quickly, this is too hot." My heart sinks remembering the two huge suitcases I have had to bring along, the bookbag and purse and the fact that I have no shoes on and have basically stripped down due to the heat and no one is willing to help me... AHHHH! Never fear though, I did get the other train just in time. Not without strange stares and people muttering under there breathe about what I'm sure could only be the sweat pouring down from my body and the excess luggage I am carrying with me....


An hour later I got to Aalborg to be greeted by Jacob smiling... It's hard to be in a bad mood anymore when you see that! So for the rest of the evening we ate a beautiful dinner outside on Jacob's patio then joined two of his best friends, Nicklas and Morten downtown for a few drinks and catching up!

Nicklas (Left) and Morten (Right)... Love these guys

The tip of Denmark from Lighthouse

Jacob and I in two oceans at once

The church covered by sand

The next day Jacob and I woke up early and drove about an hour and a half to the town of Skagen, the very top place in Denmark. It's famous for it's watches, beautiful scenery, and for being one of the only countries that has a place where two oceans collide and you can have a foot in each! Not only did we go to a church that was half-way underground because of sand erosion but we climbed up a lighthouse, went out to the tip of Denmark and watched the waves of two oceans splash against each other, walked through the small town and ate homemade sandwiches for lunch on the harbor. It was just a lovely day all around. We had so much fun just enjoying each other's company. The last few days have been more packed with Jacob running his family's business while they have been in Spain on vacation and today we drove back to Aarhus for a job interview that Jacob had at Bilka.

The Town of Skagen

Tomorrow will be a busy day... we are driving down to Billund to pick up Jacob's parents at the airport! I'm so excited to see them again!


Will write again soon! 
P.S less than 3 days til I join Andrew and Whitney in Copenhagen :-)

COPENHAGEN!!!

Copenhagen-- Here I come!!!!

Now let’s talk about right now… I am currently sitting in the airport of my layover in Newark New Jersey (This was written on August 5th). I left Raleigh this morning at 11am after a tearful goodbye with my mom and aunt. I can’t believe it’s already time for me to be heading over to Europe. This time is especially incredible because I don’t actually know when or if I will be returning. I have a ticket home at the end of January, but since my student visa for Copenhagen Business School also serves as a work visa… I’m seriously considering just staying indefinitely and applying for jobs non-stop until I find something I love. After all I do graduate this December with my masters and am going to be ready to enter the workforce soon after school is out. Sadly, I am traveling alone today. Because of my indefinite return date, I had to take a different flight than Andrew and Whitney and therefore I am arriving two days before them. Luckily, I have a Danish boyfriend that is more than happy to let me stay with him for the days before I can move in to my apartment in Copenhagen. At this point, I will spend a few days with him at his family’s home in Aalborg (a city in the north of Jutland) and then travel back to Copenhagen and meet Whitney and Andrew on the 12^th when Whitney and I are able to move into our new home! This time I will try my hardest not to fall off the blog wagon and keep it up fairly regularly! 

Spring has Sprung

Whit, Andrew and I in NYC

Now lets jump into Spring semester... So right after returning to the U.S, the College of Textiles planned for Whitney, Andrew and I to take a trip to New York City to meet with more industry and make further connections. So it was off again and we spent the week meeting with companies like Banana Republic, Gerber Children’s Wear, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nautica, and more. We also fit in a few of the big tourist things like visiting the freezing cold top of the Empire State building, going to a broadway musical, walking through central park and times square. It was a very nice week filled with a lot of fun activities.

Jacob and I in Aarhus

Maria, Me and Benedicte in Copenhagen

When we returned, it was time to go back to school and hit the books. I took some very interesting courses with a flexible schedule. I know it’s not realistic to summarize the entire semesters into one paragraph but it was just like getting back to the life I had before leaving. I moved into a new apartment, worked hard at school and filled my free time with a fun social calendar, applying all over for a competitive internship for the summer and preparing for the next semester in Europe. I had the opportunity to visit my now boyfriend Jacob in Denmark for my spring break (plus stayed the night with Benedicte and Maria in Copenhagen) and again after school was out in May.

Me with the Uvo Luxury Team in NYC

 Soon after, I started two fabulous internships. One with Uvo Luxury, an entrepreneurial handbag design company where I implemented my brand development skills and did a little PR and marketing to spice things up and the other with Clairemont Communications, a FANTASITC PR company that I did a little social media marketing and blog write-ups etc. for. I split my time between the two half and half and used my weekends and free-time to, again, prepare for my journey across the Atlantic.

Jacob and I in D.C

Jacob's First American Restaurant: Angus Barn

In the meantime, Jacob, came to visit me for about a month and my two bosses were so kind to give me a week off from work to travel around with him. We went to Edenton and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Norfolk and Williamsburg Virginia and Washington D.C. Talk about a memorable time trip. My time with him in the states was just too short. But he left last Tuesday (the 26th of July) and it has been 10 days of extreme packing and preparation so that I could be ready to head to Denmark for the Fall semester

Jacob and I at Korean War Memorial

Catching Up Since Hong Kong

The last time I wrote was ages ago… so sorry for the fall off towards the end of my trip. I know I will miss tons of details but I will try and use this blog to talk about what I did towards the end of my trip in Hong Kong. Shortly after my last post, Whitney, Andrew and I picked up Whitney’s mom, Ms. Sharon, at the airport and had a blast spending a few days with her before my mom and aunt made their arrival to HK. I was so happy to have them arrive that I completely forgot that they were not acclimated to the humidity and extreme temperatures. Having arrived in August myself, November was like a dream come true but a little harder to handle for two people coming from chillier weather. So I kind of overachieved the first day taking them through the underground tunnels of the metro to the Peninsula Hotel for high tea, walking around TST, visiting the Ladies Market and Taking a walk by the Harbor… I’m sure they were exhausted after that. The following days we went to Macau and had a fantastic time walking around the historic areas and finishing the day taking in the sights of the humongous Venetian Hotel (and an INCREDIBLE Italian dinner inside). The next day, we took the metro over to Lantau Island to visit the Big Buddha with Jacob (at that time one of my best friends in Hong Kong). We had a great day filled with the Buddha tram that carries you up to the Buddha area, catching a few shows taking part up there and then returning just in time to get to Ned Kelly’s for the live band. That day was hands down both of their favorite days by far. The next day we hit Hong Kong Island with Stanley Market, the ride up to the Peak, and meeting up with Whitney and her momma before heading back to the hotel to meet up for drinks with Benedicte. Before I knew it the final day had come and it was time to see the Peak and then check out the famous Harbor Light show before having a great dinner with Whit and Andrew. It was sad to see them go home but it was so much fun and I loved every minute of it.























Hotel in the Philippines







The Beach in The Philippines


In the next few weeks, we traveled to the Philippines with a huge group of friends to the Cebu area. In as few words as possible, the Philippines was hands down my favorite location I visited, besides Hong Kong, in Asia. The people were incredibly kind and the western influence was unbelievable considered the extremely low value of their currency and the less than urban environment that was common. Fortunately, our French friends found a wonderful hostel that was accommodating to the French and who ever they brought. This place was decked out with a great bar, pool, individual suites and a massage area. It was perfect. As if that wasn’t the greatest, we also went snorkeling, went out on boats, went ziplining, lounged on the beach and scooted around on motorcycles and took-tooks for a week. I don’t think any of us wanted to go back and take finals. But we did… The next two weeks were spent cramming for exams and taking any last minute adventures that Whit found in the handy-dandy lonely planet book!















Bangkok on Christmas Eve







View from Hostel in Koh Phangan


Finally the end of December had come and it was time for people to head home for the Christmas Holiday. Since my family basically celebrates Christmas whenever we can (which is never actually on or close to Christmas) I decided to postpone my trip home and head to Thailand with a bunch of my fellow exchange students instead. Leaving was bitter sweet, I had to say goodbye to a lot of friends, including Whit and Andrew and head over to Bangkok to be an extreme tourist. We had a great little hostel in a shopping district and had a blast the next two days running around. We had a guided tour of the area and I even got a custom-made suit for myself along the way. On Christmas Day we actually traveled to Koh Phangan to join the rest of our group for a few days of fun in the sun. Unfortunately, our hostel was misbooked and the only place we could stay was an un-airconditioned, no hot running water, room with a view that you would die for. We only had one day to relax in Koh Phangan before we had to say our goodbyes to part of the group and head to the only place where we could get a hotel room, Koh Samui. A confusing ferry trip, a long walk, and another mix-up in reservations later. I finally had one last day to spend in Thailand before I traveled back alone to Hong Kong. Talk about an adventure! On my way back to Hong Kong, I traveled through the most beautiful outdoor airport I have ever seen… and was greeted by, the previously mentioned, Jacob at the HK airport. Without getting too personal, he and I spent the next day having the best time shopping, eating, taking pictures and going to the movies. It was a beautiful final day in Hong Kong--- words can’t really describe just how amazing it really was. But after a full night of packing, I got my things together and headed to the airport to go back to the good ole’ U.S of A







From the Peak on my last night in HK






It’s hard to look back and make it all seem so simple and summarized but Hong Kong truly was one of the most amazing times in my life. It changed so much of who I wanted to become and I just enjoyed all the people I met and places I saw so very much.

"Because of our routines we forget that life is an ongoing adventure"

After my last post, I found out I have a walking pneumonia and bronchitis combo with a side of an upper respiratory infection. Since I've been somewhat held up in my room, drugged up on 6 medications, I figured I'd make more of a dent on my blogs.... unfortunately sleep took precedence and I am STILL behind on blog entries.

The day after we got back from Shanghai we had a brunch date with the Nancys at the famous Peninsula Hotel. We walked into a beautiful dining area with a small orchestra playing from the balcony. While we ordered a lovely lunch, we chit-chatted over the future of our program and what is expected of us on return to NCSU. Although the whole conversation was a little overwhelming, lunch was fabulous, not to mention I completely understand why High-tea at the Peninsula is a "must do" in Hong Kong... because by the time we left there was a line out and around the corner to dine. After we left we took a small shopping trip around the area for Dr. C to purchase brown pearls (I didn't know those existed) and then we headed on the Star Ferry over to grab the bus up to catch the tram to the famous Victoria Peak. I can't believe I have been here almost 3 months and I hadn't made in up to The Peak until now...! The entrance to the tram was some place we had passed numerous times and didn't even realize! Before getting on the tram, there was a "History of the Tram" to read, and tons of people ready to pack onto these two tram cars that make a 45 degree ascent up to the lookout. I'm not quite sure what I expected of this area but it turned out to be a little town plopped on top of the best mountain view in Hong Kong. It was a beautiful shopping and dining area with lots of people and things to do.... and on top of all that, I look out to the sun setting on Hong Kong and the skyline lighting up for the evening- WOW! Since we had dinner reservations we couldn't linger for long and down we came to catch the bus back to the MTR so that we could make a quick costume change before dinner. We all met back for dinner at a local restaurant famous for their dish, "Beggar's Chicken". We had no idea what we were in for but let me tell you after we had ordered some dishes to share out came this big round egg-like dish that Andrew was given a mallet to crack the thing open with. Turns out the story behind the dish went something to affect of--  Many years ago there was a homeless starving beggar who was wandering the streets and caught sight of a chicken. He was desperate for food so he kills the chicken, lacking a stove, he covers the chicken in mud, makes a fire and bakes it. At this point an Emperor passes by with his entourage. Attracted by the aroma of the baked chicken, he stops and dines with the beggar, demanding to know how he created such a delicious meal... "Beggar's chicken" was then added to the list of dishes served at the Imperial court.-- I have to say, it was very delicious! Not only was that an interesting new dish to try but a show came with the meal, there is a chef who hand makes noodles with dough out in the dining area every 30 minutes or so, I'm still not sure how one long thing of dough turned into a LOT of noodles just with a few flips of the wrist! After dinner we headed off for drinks at the Intercontinental Hotel! Just walking into the place I knew this would be wonderful! We walked into a beautiful lobby area with a great live band overlooking the harbor and the world's most famous skyline. Unfortunately, the dessert menu called our name so much that we ended up mostly passing on drinks and ordering 3 HUGE desserts to share between us 5 while we talked. After a long day we turned in around midnight and headed back home, ready to start fresh the next day.

Monday morning we got ready early and met the Nancys to escort them to their meeting at HKPU and then came back to get some errands done before getting ready for dinner with Mr. Vincent Fang. Around 545 we met the Nancys at The Marco Polo and waited on Mr. Fang to pick us up. Even though we had already had the privilege to meet him in NC, this was a very big moment for all of us... It's not every day you meet someone as worldly successful yet as humble as Mr. Fang! He picked us up and we were driven to the prestigious Pacific Club at the harbor for dinner. We walked up to meet Mrs. Fang and proceed into the Governor's Room of the club- WOW! After an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING dinner and conversation, we returned back to the Marco Polo and said goodnight. Unfortunately that was the final bye bye to the Nancys as they were leaving early in the morning back to the States. I have to say-- I couldn't have dreamed of a better trip with them! They made so many things I thought could never happen, realities and for that I am eternally grateful!

Waking up the next morning without them was strange but we did it! Whit and I got ready early and headed to the Ladies market to try and find HALLOWEEN costumes for the week. After figuring out the market didn't really start til after noon, we went into the costume shop and picked out a great Firefighter costume for me and a Pirate Wench costume for Whit. As simple as this sounds though- It was not... Not only was the store overrun with costumes and accessories, you were not allowed to open or try on any costume before you blindly bought it. (I figured that out the hard way after opening up a bag and getting it snatched away from me and being yelled at in some very slurred Cantonese)!

Wednesday we woke up bright and early for class and after lunch at Subway (YUM) we headed out to the Cebu Travel Agency to purchase tickets to the Philippines for the first week in December. They had an excellent promotion where round trip tickets were less than $150 a piece- GREAT! Later in the afternoon we took a rest until the first costume party at a club called Sugar in LKF started. Everyone's costumes were marvelous and even though my sickness only let me stay for a little while-- it was so much fun! ** The best one was definitely a girl who had taken a big piece of cardboard and practically copied her facebook page exactly and left a square cut out for her head as her profile picture---very creative!

Thursday was a less eventful day for me in that I really felt horrible and even though Whit and Andrew went to the Halloween version of Ocean Park, I just couldn't imagine dark, haunted houses mixing much with a girl who is coughing like a seal every other minute so I stayed in and rested while they went and had a blast.

Friday night I pulled myself together long enough to catch up on some email with the Trio and get ready for the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival where in a huge fair-like area, different countries set up multiples of booths with wine and snacks for people to try to encourage wine sales throughout Hong Kong, even though I don't really prefer wine it was lots of fun and we mostly stuck around the French booths-- anyone who knows me would know that DEF. makes me a happy girl! Later on we decided to go to Ned Kelly's jazz bar to watch a friend (who has now become a regular at the bar) play piano--- the place was packed and after two sets and a round of onion rings for me-- it was bedtime! :-)

After my exciting Friday-- I was EXHAUSTED and come Saturday and couldn't even fathom making it out for the Halloween festivities for the night, so like a lame, sick person- I stayed in and watched tv shows on my computer and went to bed early!

Sunday was a nice day of relaxation before going out to dinner with Jacob and a bunch of friends to spend some time with his parents. Whitney and I had the chance to meet them at the Wine and Dine Festival Friday night but it was nice to spend some extra time with them, walk down to the harbor and eat with everyone before they all went off to Ocean Park for the Halloween festivities for the night. Later in the evening- the Trio, Benedicte and Maria all went and got sushi at a great restaurant down the street in Whampo... GREAT!

Monday, I made my 3rd trip back to the doctor for another round of diagnosis and more medicines before doing some small shopping around for a sweater and back home to bed. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday went by with class, some movie watching and rest before Saturday evening, our best contacts from Shanghai came to Hong Kong for a few days and asked if we would be free for drinks. At 6:30 we met Wallace and Idy (of China Home Fashions) at Causeway Bay/Time Square on Hong Kong Island. I have to say again- I have not been a good Hong Kong resident in that this most popular shopping area I had not been to until now. We walked out and it was like stepping into paradise, great buildings, name brands everywhere and shopping that soothes a fashion lovers heart. We walked through to the open street markets where Wallace told us that the house wives of Hong Kong come to this open market EVERY day to pick up fresh foods, fruits and seafood for their families. It was like Mong Kok on steroids! Wallace also made it a point to tell us that this market has to be clean, tidy and reliable so that it is well respected and people continue to come. If a vendor looses its quality, it's customers will follow. We walked through to find the restaurant they were taking us too. Wallace is very concerned with fresh food and cleanliness so we knew we were in a good spot. As soon as we sat down outdoors, Wallace had us walk over to big crates on the ground full of seafood to pick our live dinner. Shrimps bigger than I thought possible, fresh oysters, conch shells, and so much more all were picked. We sat back down to talk over this great meal also joined with vegetables, chicken and soup! After this great meal we walked around the area (where Wallace also grew up) and got a tour, a street vendor waffle---yummm, all before heading to a healthy dessert restaurant. This place was amazing! All the fresh fruit, yogurt, sorbet, pudding a person could ever want (and let me tell you with the constant consumption of carbs in a place like Hong Kong--- fresh fruit and calcium never sounded so good) I got a honeydew flavored sorbet with fresh kiwi, and melon balls! Whit got mango pudding with mango sorbet and fresh mango while Andrew was the adventurous one with swallow bird spit and frog fat "from cold areas" not quite sure but that is the direct translation from what was written in cantonese.... surprisingly, he liked it! As if the night weren't already amazing and we hadn't been treated like king and queens, Wallace and Idy then led us to the very nice Excelsior Hotel for drinks on the 34rd floor. We walked in to sheer luxury. Lovely bar, live band, and an overall great atmosphere. Since I have been so sick I started off the night with a "Hot Tottie" And after dancing around, laughing and talking for the evening (even meeting some of the band members) we had one more drink each (mine was a passionfruit martini) and then called it a night!--- a great night!

Needless to say Sunday was a day of rest for me. After lunch Whit and I took a stroll down to the harbor with some friends from France and sat there practically all afternoon before coming back only to rest more and hang out. Today was our next adventurous day. We woke up and got breakfast early and got some errands accomplished before heading out to Toppy Tower in the New Territories to visit Mr. Vincent Fang's offices. We of course got lost in the taxi ride but ended up welcomed and ready to tour. We started out in a conference room with Mrs. Fang and her colleagues for a presentation and Q&A before we took a tour with two marketing personnel, Kayla and Cabia! From Ground to 11th floor we toured their entire facility including Fantastic Garments LTD and all of the companies current brands; Episode, Jessica, Jessica RED and Weekend Workshop... It was absolutely fascinating! After more than 2 hours at the tower we sat down for some time with Mr. Fang before we left. Overall it was a great visit and we were welcomed with open arms and our questions were well received.

This week I have a lot to look forward to (after I go BACK to the doctor for the 4th time tomorrow)... Whitney's mom comes tomorrow night, we have no class this week and my mom and aunt come Saturday night! YAY!!!

Cheers,
Debbie

"If such a thing as living life fully interests you-then it's up to you to learn about it and live it"

As I have clearly not kept up my word and posted about Shanghai as quickly as I had hoped I should explain that I have been sickly and am now returning today for my THIRD time to the doctor in a month---woah-is-me :-(

Right after my last blog stopped we boarded our plane in Shenzen on our way to Shanghai (not before being stopped for a random 20 minute layover in god-knows-where China to literally leave the plane, ride a bus to and from the terminal, and plop right back down in my SAME seat!) Once we arrived at the lovely Pudong airport, we knew we definitely weren't in Beijing... this time we had arrived in a metropolitan city! We took a bus through the city to our hostel, got checked in and had a quick  late lunch. After running a few errands to places like the dry cleaners and getting a Chinese sim card for our phone, we headed to the center city area to meet up with some friends from PolyU, who were finishing up their Shanghai trip. Although we ran around like crazy, we finally found them and had a local, street vendor dinner of fresh seafood cooked to order, it didn't turn out to be very filling but it sure was tasty! After we told them bye-bye we headed back to the hostel for our first Shanghai-night's rest :-)

On Sunday we woke up early and grabbed breakfast at the hostel before we began our only real day of sightseeing. We started out going through the subway to end up at the IFC building (the tallest building in the world- shaped like a big bottle opener if you look at it one way and like a knife piercing the sky another way--- **someone told us it was a huge issue when the tower was built because with the known rival between Japan and China, a Japanese architect designed the building to look like a knife was stabbing Shanghai, quite controversial**) When we got into a line (if you could really even call it that-- it's pretty much who can push their way in front of you and get away with it), we realized this would probably take up most of our day. Overall we were in line for a little over 2 hours, along the way we saw 3 little girls just pull down their pants and use the bathroom right on the street, we found a friend from undergrad meet up with us, Michael Postin, we found a man who wildly resembled one of our professors from home, all before rising the 100 floors to the observation sky walk. I have to say, I'm not even afraid of heights but the glass windows and glass floors really turned my stomach and although it was a magnificent experience, I was ready to get back down to earth haha. After IFC we took the ferry across to walk along the Bund for a few and then found lunch at a wonderful little restaurant along a side street. Then we walked down the most popular tourist shopping street in Shanghai- Nanjing Road! I can honestly say I have NEVER seen so many people in one place in my entire life and I have been to some crowded places but that area was UNREAL! After some minor shopping and exploration we all went back to the Bund to catch the lights before calling it a night. It was a lovely day but we all knew... the next day it was down to business.

Monday came way too early but we woke up and grabbed Starbucks (silly Americans haha) and then a cab to meet Glen Raven about 45 mins away at the Renaissance hotel at 8:30am. We were greeted by Lewis, an NCSU alum working for the head of the Asia office of Glen Raven Wally (also an NCSU alum). He drove us from Shanghai to Suzou, an area of China being built to reflect something similar to RTP in Raleigh. SIP (Suzou Industrial Park) is a collaboration between Singapore and China to create a city within a city basically; where it is convenient for it's people to do EVERYTHING a person would need all in one small area and is quickly becoming one of the most popular areas for companies to set up manufacturing facilities. As we drove through, all the companies manufacturing you would expect were plopped down right there... YKK, Sony, Versace... etc. We got to Glen Raven Asia for a warm welcome banner and with our names and the entire office anticipating our arrival. After some quick pictures we were led to the conference room where we met the head honcho- Wally (it honestly wasn't until half way through our talk that I realized just how important this guy was and how much of an honor it was to have had so much of his time that day-- the ranks went Alan Glen(grandson of the company founder)- Steve Ellington (acting president of Glen Raven NC headquarters) and then Wally (General Manager of Glen Raven Asia)-- After a long talk and Q&A we toured the entire facility with Lewis. He then took us to lunch at a local restaurant that had fabulous food. Naturally we thought the day would end here but BOY were we wrong. Not only did Lewis then take too have a tour of the SIP showroom but he then took us sightseeing to Old Suzou, then took us shopping along a popular street (where Andrew and I bought fresh pearls from mussels opened by us), and finally took us to dinner at the waterfront for Hotpots (a local dinner where  you get a pot on an open flame to yourself and you put in raw meat, veggies, and get to make your own sauce to dip it in-- pretty much fondue gone asian) Lastly we took one more trip back to Glen Raven to see Lewis' office and get any final questions answered... Overall the company spent more than 12 hours with us that day--- Hands down... AMAZING!

Like anything really could live up to Glen Raven Asia... We woke up and started another day of business on our way to Springs Global Asia. We got to the office and was greeted by Henry- a Clemson graduate (we forgave him) who was so kind and kept our attention until Peter (Vice President of Springs Global Asia) was ready to meet with us. We got a tour around the facility of about 120 workers and then sat down one-on-one with Peter. After about a 30 minute meeting Q&A (and a job offer in NYC AHH) he took us to a local restaurant for lunch and then we said bye bye. Afterward, we had to check out from our hostel and move closer to the Renaissance hotel where Dr. C and Nancy Webster would be staying! Dong Hau University did us a huge favor and put us up in their on campus hotel--- so kind. Once we were greeted by a local student, Mong-Mong, and checked into our hotel we headed to our next meeting of the day at Shanghai Mart. I had no idea what I was in for but it was pretty awesome. Shanghai mart is a showroom building where companies can rent out space and show their collections year round. It is a fully equipped B2B building where buyers can come in any time and purchase for their company. We walked to the administrative offices and met with the secretary named Lizzy. She took time to show us a powerpoint describing the facility and then took us on a tour before Hansen (the General Manager of the mart) sat with us for a Q&A session. At this point-- I should probably say I felt like the luckiest 22 year old alive. Some incredible company's most important people took time to talk to 3 NCSU grad students... I counted my blessings all night! Later that evening we settled in the lounge area of the Renaissance and waited on Dr. C to arrive, we spent time late into the evening chit-chatting and catching up--- now the party begins!

Wednesday morning we woke up at 7:30 and took breakfast at our hotel (left a lot to be desired--noodles, porridge, and random pork dim-sum) then we were off to meet up with Dr. C and head to Intertextile (a trade show where lots of big name companies come to network)! When we arrived, we completed visitor registration and started the walkthrough. Of course being the small world it is we ran into a former student of Dr. C's who showed us around a big before meeting some great companies... Invista, Unifi, YKK, Swarovski,  etc) As the day wore on we got ready to be picked up by China Home Fashions (a company Nancy Webster, adjunct professor at NCSU, does consulting work per her industry involvement with the now CEO of the company), after a short drive to the facilities we were greeted by Wallace (CEO) and Nancy (this was my first time meeting Nancy and I have to admit I had butterflies in my tummy). The company had just been met by their biggest buyer Pier 1 to set up purchases for their spring line. We got a small walk through and then were welcomed by a room full of snacks and taken to the conference room for a Q&A with Wallace. Afterwards we got an official tour of the facilities and then got everything together to head to dinner with Wallace, Idy (Wallace's wife and COO of the company), Nancy, and Dr. C. We drove into the heart of Shanghai to an absolutely breathtaking restaurant called "The Kitchen"--- I'm honestly not sure I had ever been to that fancy of a restaurant. Not only was the meal amazing but mid-meal the trio took out our business cards that had our names translated in Chinese and I discovered Idy and I have the same Chinese surname--- perfect grounds to ask her to become my first industry mentor! :-) After a glorious time at dinner, we drove back to the hotel with the Nancys and had a follow up of the day over a glass of wine... perfection!

Thursday was our first full day with the Nancys, after spilling the beans on our "not quite up to par" breakfast at our hotel, the Nancys invited us to the DELICIOUS buffet breakfast at the Renaisance. One we were filled up with eggs, pancakes and fresh fruit we headed to Dong Hau Fashion Institute for a day of touring. We spent the morning at a round table discussion at the prospect of our universities sharing a deeper exchange connection then were taken to a great lunch at the University restaurant (it seems that is common in that PolyU has a similar setup) then we toured the entire campus.
 **Side notes: at their university, no matter the age of the student, there must be parents permission to live away from campus and boys and girls are separated across campus from one another; some of their classrooms are sponsored by companies who invest in the students and expect a turn around from their ideas to their company**
After the tour and a quick run through the campus museum, we were exhausted and decided to go back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. That night we went to the ex-pat area full of great shops and tons of restaurants. We had dinner and drinks before calling it an early night and heading to bed :-)

Friday was our final Shanghai day with the Nancys. We started out with Renaissance breakfast and being picked up by Bill Cummings (the sourcing director for the Global Sourcing Walmart office). We took about a half an hour ride through Shanghai to the brand new Walmart location where we arrived to again another banner with our names and pictures taken of us on the spot! After a tour and intense question session (along with a signing of the wall of visitors to the office), we had a short presentation and Q&A with Bill and the sourcing manager Julie, we were driven back into Shanghai to another lunch with Wallace and Idy at the Shangri-La hotel (I can't believe I just said those words--am I in a dream) We had a great lunch of peking duck and met a few of China Home Fashion's clients (as well as a former colleague of Nancy's) then Wallace provided us with a driver (who we named Neal) that drove us to the Yu Garden area of some serious market research as Dr. C calls it... SHOPPING! While we were there I bought a lovely jade bracelet, jade ring, a name stamp and some souvenirs for some friends back home! Lastly we went to M on the Bund for drinks--- a very popular and shi-shi spot (the drink I got was called "Our milkshake brings all the boys to the yard"--loved it!) and then to the Peace hotel for a final round of drinks and appetizers while watching the jazz band of 70+ year old men knock em dead!  **Side note: While we were there we met a girl named Stories turning 13 who adored us and Andrew wrote her a birthday card on a napkin that she absolutely cherished**
Finally we said tah-tah for now to the Nancys before they hit the sack to get ready for their flight early the next morning.

Saturday we woke up with high hopes of another touristy day only to look out the window and see it raining like cats and dogs! We slept in a bit then checked out of the hotel around noon. The Nancys had left us with a small project that we decided to get a start on so we headed out to the Renaissance hotel for some brunch and to start working. After most of the afternoon had passed us by we made a pitstop to Starbucks for coffee and some winding down time with our books then headed out to get a taxi to the airport. I wont bore you with the details but I will just say--- It was dinner time, taxi drivers were hungry and no one wanted us haha. Luckily Mong-Mong was kind enough to race to us and help us find a cab driver willing to help us and off to the airport we went. We had a slight delay at baggage (of course Whit got the random bag search before we could get our boarding passes), got a great KFC dinner **KFC is the most popular fast food chain in China... even over McDonalds)** , then boarded our BRAND NEW plane back to Shenzen. It was a peaceful flight (although we were concerned we were flying into Typhoon Megi that had just destroyed the Philippines and Taiwan), luckily the storm had turned and we were able to land rain free and get a bus back into Hong Kong with no problem... We arrived back at the Residence Halls around 1:30am

Without dwelling on what I learned on my trip to Shanghai too much, I will just say I learned that with the right contacts, the right attitude and taking advantage of the opportunities put in front of me... it will be easy to be successful and happy and I look forward to everything my career has in store because I know it will be GREAT!


Cheers,
Debbie

"Life is unchartered territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time."

Since I can't seem to ever quite catch up on blogs I have decided to split the last 20 days into two blogs with the hopes that they wont be boring... Let me know how it works out :-)

After my last post I had my first trip to the horse races in Happy Valley. It was a lovely night and the atmosphere was unlike anything I have ever felt. We went at the beginning of Octoberfest so as you might imagine there were beer stands everywhere, drinking contests and an extremely long line at the betting counter. I have never seen such a huge complex and as we walked up the the 7th floor viewing area past the McDonalds and enclosed preferred seating... I knew it would be an exciting night. As time flew I didn't get the opportunity to bet on a horse but with all my friends screaming for their horses, I know I caught some of the adrenaline. After the 12th and final races we all boarded the city trams into Wan Chai for ladies night (As I have mentioned before girls drink and get into clubs for free on ladies night). We made a pit-stop at a little bar called Canny Man to have some chatting time before we headed to Mes Amis to dance the night away! GREAT NIGHT

The next day was the International Cultural Gala, it is almost like a fair of booths where all the exchange students set up traditions from their countries. We naturally set up an American booth but took more time to walk around and visit others than we did actually manning our own booth, HA! As I mentioned before I caught a nasty cough and decided to go to the doctor that afternoon. The student health center here is MUCH different than any in the states. 15 minutes tops to get in, see a doc, get lots of medicine and leave all for $15HKD (less than $2USD)--efficient!

On Friday, although I was sickly and probably shouldn't have, I made a quick trip to my first ever gay bar with some friends. I've always wondered what that atmosphere would be like... all I can say is, for the short time I was there--- it was a blast! :-)

Saturday night we decided to try a more chill approach and got dinner at a place down the street that is ALWAYS busy (a sign of good food--when all the locals swarm the place). Although there was no English and we had to point at other people's food to order what we wanted... it was fabulous! Afterward we went to a local jazz bar called Ned Kellys, a friend was playing piano for a set and we joined some friends to hear him play. Not only was he wonderful but we met two older couples traveling together who had been friends for more than 40 years... it's always nice to have chit-chats with people who have cared for one another so long and still have a warm sense of humor and smile a lot- gives me something to look forward to with my friends.

Sunday was a gloomy day and despite our longing to go hiking we settled down and took the opportunity to visit the Space Museum! I figured it would mostly be about the advancements of the Chinese space program but quite the contrary, it was a culmination of space travel throughout its time... very fascinating. We also saw an Imax picture before we made plans to get sushi for dinner, bake cookies together (in a microwave since we couldn't use the toaster ovens due to a singing competition in the halls) and watch Slumdog Millionaire without the subtitles that night. FUN :-)

Tuesday was the next somewhat exciting day in that we got the opportunity to meet with the people who began our Global Supply Chain Program years ago and were able to interact with them one-on-one, get some questions answered and begin the steps to making this program what we know it is capable of! After the meeting, I gave my second presentation of the semester with Whitney and I made a HUGE step in that for the FIRST time I gave a presentation without needing to write out every word I wanted to say as a security blanket. Instead Whit encouraged me to work with her and write bullet points ONLY IF I NEED THEM, don't look at them if I can and let her pick me up if I fall apart since she knows what I want to say.... I'm pretty sure she has saved my life because I DID IT!

Wednesday we got ourselves together and headed out to pick up our visas for China. This time we applied for a multi-entry visa for 6 months so that we can come and go as many times as we please. When we applied I was advised to submit a different picture of myself since the only I had taken prior, I was wearing a strapless romper and apparently looked naked (although the picture was accepted the first time I applied for my visa and taken BY THEM) You might know... this woman wrote to reject me on the paper because when I went to pick it up the mean woman at the counter told me I had been denied and it was my fault because I had been warned. I don't think I could have felt more helpless if I had tried. I was so angry and sad all I once, not to mention worried since I was leaving for Shanghai in 3 days... luckily Whit, Andrew and Benedicte pulled me through and helped me reapply... and after drowning my sorrows in a margarita and Mexican food, I was able to go back on Thursday with Andrew and pick up a new visa! WHOOSH

Thursday and Friday seemed to run together because we decided to attend a Highlighter party on Thursday night where everyone is supposed to dress in white and write on one another with highlighters. We were reluctant to go but ended up having a great time (even though it was such a last minute decision that I had been wearing black so I didn't fit in at all with the crowd). Friday morning we got brunch at the mall and Whitney and I went shopping for warmer clothes for Shanghai. After a quick trip we grabbed AMAZING gelato and rushed home to do laundry and pack before we took the final MTR of the evening (the MTR doesn't run early enough for us to take it in the morning and a taxt trip is too expensive) to the Shenzen airport (cheaper to fly out of than Hong Kong) to sleep on a bench before our flight early Saturday morning.....

Before we knew it, off to Shanghai- blog about last week soon to come!

Cheers,
Debbie