CAPA WORLD

Daniel Powell is an official CAPA vlogger for fall 2018, sharing his story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Relations and Applied Economics major at  Ursinus College, he is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Daniel shows us his packing techniques and what he's using to bring his necessities to Shanghai for a semester abroad.

---

Thanks, Daniel!

Daniel's journey continues every Thursday so stay tuned.

Rachel Epp is an official CAPA vlogger for fall 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Global Business major at  Cedarville University, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Rachel describes 3 interesting places she saw and learned more about as she spent time in downtown Shanghai.

---

Thanks, Rachel!

Rachel's journey continues every Tuesday so stay tuned.

Rachel Epp is an official CAPA vlogger for fall 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Global Business major at  Cedarville University, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In her first post, Rachel tells us why she chose Shanghai as her study abroad location and lists the 5 important things she did to prepare for her semester abroad.

---

Thanks, Rachel!

Rachel's journey continues every Tuesday so stay tuned.

Trisha is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Business major at Champlain College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Trisha explains what the Chinese work culture is like and shares 5 important observations from her tech internship at SparkPad in Shanghai.

---

During my time in Shanghai this past summer, my fellow intern Billy Hughes and I had the chance to experience the Chinese work culture as Software Development interns at the tech corporation SparkPad. SparkPad designs touchscreen interfaces that allow consumers to place orders with restaurant vendors without having to directly interact with wait staff or cashiers. Being a Computer Science minor myself, along with Billy having limited programming experience, we were hopeful to learn a lot more about working in the tech industry from interning with the company. Here are 5 observations and experiences that I encountered during my time in Shanghai.

1. Working and Socializing

At the entrance of SparkPad, a tech company in China, with fellow intern Billy Hughes and co-founder Heikwan.

One of the first stark contrasts we found between the American and Chinese work cultures was the blend present between working and socializing. Back home, it’s a commonly accepted idea that one’s work life and personal life should be kept separate, whereas in China we found that not only is the reverse more common, but that retaining the opposite western ideal was actually frowned upon.

Trisha is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Business major at Champlain College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Trisha tells us about what social behavior and culture are like in China and encountering her biggest culture shock as an American to date.

---

A few Fridays ago we had our usual internship course for CAPA on the East China Normal University campus in Shanghai. That day, Professor Carol Ma gave us a brief lecture on some vital differences on business culture in a Chinese environment. One characteristic that stood out to me the most was the contrast in which Chinese and American people react to compliments. I learned that whereas in American culture it’s very typical to be lavished with compliments to one another, especially as a conversation starter, in the Chinese culture compliments are taken more as a serious interest. Something several of us have even experienced at our internships already is that if you compliment a particular object a Chinese person has, they will likely attempt to gift it to you. In the US, if someone you know seems to greatly admire one of your possessions, the typical thing to do is to tell the person where you obtained the object.

Exploring the city.

However, in China it seems that the typical gesture is rather to bequeath the item to the complimenter that admires it so. I once wound up with an entire box of snake meat to take home with me because I mentioned a friend of mine would be interested in trying it!

Calling all institutions!

Have you ever wondered what it’s like for your students to study abroad in Shanghai? This October, join CAPA in Shanghai at our Global Education Workshop to get a firsthand look at what this incredible city has to offer.

Global Education Workshop in Shanghai: October 8-13, 2018

As a participant in this 5-day workshop, you will analyze and explore Shanghai, much like your students will, while gaining insight into CAPA’s approach to teaching the city. Over the course of this workshop, we will also work with you to discuss the programs that best suit your institution’s needs.

Trisha is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Business major at Champlain College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Trisha dishes what it's like to eat like a local in Shanghai and shares examples on how she stays open to new food.

---

Eating in Shanghai has been the biggest no-holds-barred cultural experience (and shock) thus far, and without access to a kitchen in our residence (where we would otherwise be able to tap out and prepare a western meal on occasion), we all experienced a head-first dive into the intricacies of the local cuisine. The first culinary encounter I faced was the breakfast provided at our residence. Besides boiled eggs, all the foods were very heavy and what I would consider to be lunch or dinner meals. These were things like pan-fried noodles, fried rice and corn on the cob, giant steamed pork buns and many varieties of hot cabbage, hot cucumbers, and eggplant. It was a difficult adjustment to make from the light cereal and toast breakfasts with maybe a few sausage links or strips of bacon many of us are accustomed to having back home so early before work or class.

In fact, many of my peers resorted to strictly eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they provided us bread and condiments for. My coworker Billy and I eventually found ourselves migrating our breakfast routine to the fried pancake street food they serve at a cart outside our internship office. They crack an egg inside and wrap it up with either Chinese sausage (which is a bit sweet) or basted chicken. It’s still a bit heavy for breakfast, but at least it’s similar to foods we’d usually consider in the early morning!

Trisha is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Business major at Champlain College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Trisha writes about the consumer culture in China and explores the mall and fake markets where she also experiences the bargaining culture in Shanghai.

---

Something intriguing I’ve been observing since our arrival in Shanghai has been the wide spectrum of consumer culture in China. Upon my arrival, I was well aware of the traditional politics of the country’s communist state, but I had never seen it in practice. I was anticipating having to adjust to a strong contrast from the capitalist market I’d grown up with. However, this turned out to not exactly be the case.

One visit to any mall here and you can see not only how many western brands have been integrated into the Chinese economy, but also just how heavily western marketing and capitalist ideals have begun to ingrain themselves within the Chinese culture. Walking through retail stores at the mall you’ll definitely find that familiar sense of attentiveness to the consumer, clean-cut displays, ostentatious sales discounts, and an assertive yet restrained desire for your business.

Trisha is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. An International Business major at Champlain College, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Trisha visits the Yu Garden on a My Global City outing and shares some fun observations from her experience.

---

During my first two weeks in China, one of my favorite first places that we visited during a My Global City event arranged by the CAPA staff here in Shanghai was something that piqued my interest at an earlier outing. Our first weekend here, CAPA resident director Colin Speakman took us to see the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, which was filled with scale models of many of Shanghai’s most famous sites and tourist attractions. One of the models that most caught my eye was Yuyuan Garden.

On the way to Yu Garden.

The following week a small group of students and myself were led by CAPA on the metro to see this beautiful place for ourselves. The Yu Garden was originally built in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a pleasure for his ancestors in their old age. The garden itself is more temple than garden, with beautiful structures spanning the entire course. You can walk through almost the entire thing without ever having to step out from the shade of a rooftop! Amongst the beautiful foliage there are meticulously placed small tiles forming stone paths spreading out in every direction and bordering the ponds of giant koi fish.

Jolena is an official CAPA vlogger for spring 2018, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Finance and International Business major at University of Pittsburgh, she is studying abroad in Shanghai this semester.

In this week's post, Jolena talks about taking a sleeper train to Hangzhou, visiting West Lake, and getting a chance to experience Shanghai Fashion Week.

---

In this blog post I’ll be describing our CAPA excursion to Hangzhou and attending a Fashion Weekend event in Shanghai!

Two weeks ago, our CAPA group set out on an adventure to Hangzhou. We took the sleeper train which was a really cool experience. The sleeper train is basically broken into sections with six bunks within them. It was something I’d never experienced before, and as cramped as it may sound, a lot of us agreed that we really enjoyed our naps on the train. While you’re on the train there are also snacks, such as fruit and different beverages, being wheeled on carts and sold for a small price. Before long we arrived at the Hangzhou Railway Station and our hotel was conveniently located right next to the station! It was an unfortunate first day due to rain, but we managed to walk to the West Lake and have a brief walk through before we all decided to return to the hotel and stay indoors.