I’m currently going into my super senior year because I chose to take a year off and work at two different companies to gain experience in my field and explore what I want to do after graduation.  On this trip, Xinli was able to use his contacts to get us tours with Changan Ford and Exxon Mobil which were both eye opening experiences for me to see different businesses that I haven’t had the opportunity to work in yet.

When I heard we were going to visit Changan Ford, I was a little bit skeptical at first.  I’m a chemical engineering major, and I didn’t think this experience was going to be particularly significant to me since I’m not into cars nor the manufacturing process that they go through to make it.  I honestly thought that a lot of the material that was going to be covered would go right over my head, and I would be lost the entire presentation.  We arrived at the Ford plant early, and I was already impressed at the size of the campus.  Changan Ford is a joint venture between the Changan Company (Chinese motor company) and the Ford Motor Company (American).  What was even more impressive was that just a few years ago, the land that the factory was on was just farmland.  Also, within the last few years Ford has become a major competitor in the Chinese car market moving from number 12 to number 5 in the last 4-5 years which is a huge jump.  I was interested in learning how Changan Ford has altered their American designs to better cater its Chinese consumers.  I worked on an international team with Unilever on Dove Japan Body Wash and the formulation for that product had to be changed drastically to be marketable.  I am not sure how far I can go into detail because of intellectual property so I am choosing to air on the side of caution and not reveal anything in this blog post.  I’ve been in a few manufacturing plants before, but this one of the most impressive.  The operators perform their job quickly while being accurate and precise.  The process was incredible to watch since there are so many intricate details that go into building the cars.

I was extremely excited to visit Exxon Mobil.  I was hopeful that I could learn more about the business to see if it could be a potential candidate for my job search in the next few months.  It was interesting to learn about lubricants especially since my background in that is minimal, but I also didn’t know that the company has research in other areas such as polymers.  The labs were state of the art and extremely efficient with some equipment being similar to ones that I’ve used in the past.  We were able to ask Jay Rogers, a former student of Xinili’s, questions about his move and experiences with both the company and the transition to working in another country.  Listening to his presentation and hearing him talk is making me more open to taking an international role in my future.

May 21^st was the first official day of the cruise on the Yangtze River.  We docked in Sandouping to visit scenic sites of the historic Three Gorges Dam Project.  The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric project in the world.  When the project was first proposed, it was highly controversial for social and environmental reasons.  Natives were concerned about fish not being able to pass through the dam.  In addition, citizens would be forced to relocate from their homes in order to build the dam.  While the younger population was more accepting to move because the dam could bring cities and prosperity, the older population was upset that they would have to leave their homes after all these years.  Since China is a communist country, people don’t actually own their property, the government does.  The government can choose what they want to do on the land.

The main purpose for building the dam was for flood control.  Its secondary purpose was to generate electricity.  It can generate enough electricity for 1/8 of China’s population.  It also consists of a huge reservoir where ships can pass through it.  The ship lock is the second biggest in the world after the Panama Canal.  However, the dam is free of charge for ships to pass through.  The ships only need clearance from the authorities.

The dam cost a total of $3.6 billion and required 1 billion cubic tons of concrete.  The amount of steel bars present in the dams construction could build 62 Eiffel Towers.

Although the dam has brought many good things to cities along the Yangtze River, it also has brought a few negative things.  For example, there has been silt accumulation on the beds of the river.  Also many have hypothesized that the earthquakes that have been happening in the last few years are a result of the dam.

On our way to Dalian, we had previously taken a sleeper train from Beijing.  In that train, we were in what they call the soft sleeper.  It had its own enclosed room with 4 sleeper bunks.  We have to take another train today (that will take 12 hours) from Xian to Yichang in order to get on the cruise.  This time I am in the hard sleeper compartment.  The hard sleeper experience so far has been extremely different from the soft sleeper.  There are 3 levels of bunk beds instead of 2 in the soft sleeper.  The beds are also so much less comfortable than in the soft sleeper.  I also have found a yellow colored stain on my sheets so I am exiled to the clean corner of my bed. I’ve also had to pretend to fall asleep in this corner because there is a couple cuddling right above me, and I really don’t know what to do.  This train ride just got even more uncomfortable.  In addition, there are no doors in this part of the train so at least one person must be in our little compartment at all times to make sure nobody steals our belongings.  I am pretty sure people are watching me sleep since I am on the bottom bunk.

A few of us on the program have started to build an alliance in the hard sleeper.  This consists of looking out the windows together and typing about our experience on our laptops.  Some of us have begun to act delusional and have begun fantasizing about being back in the United States and eating hamburgers.  I don’t like hamburgers so this conversation topic doesn’t phase me.  I eat my chips and dream of Cool Ranch Doritos.  Someone luckily has a movie to get us through an hour or two. I sit in my stain-free corner, dreaming of freedom.

I volunteered to take the hard sleeper just for the experience.  I thought I could handle it. Also, I was told that Xinli would buy my lunch if I didn’t pick the soft sleeper so I guess I had an ulterior motive.  I guess this is karma for me being cheap.  I know now to pick luxury and just buy my own lunch.  The hard sleeper is no place for a small-town Connecticut girl.

Life in the Hard Sleeper

Today we stopped for a visit at a local high school in Dalian, and it was probably my favorite day so far on the trip.  As we approached, we immediately saw a group of students waiting for us and waving.  After we took the group picture, I was grabbed by a student and her two friends.  They introduced themselves as Ariel, Crystal, and Jo.  They each presented me with a welcoming present which included chocolates and a handwritten postcard.  It was so thoughtful that I wish I had something that I could’ve given them.  We toured their school, and I was able to see some of the classes they could take including calligraphy and ballet (just to name a few).  Ariel even taught me how to write a few characters in Chinese such as hello and sunshine.  The girls even gave me calligraphy of an old Chinese poem that their class made.  I am so excited to hang it on my wall when I get home.

As we sat down to lunch, I got to learn more about the girls.  They were all third year students at the high school and getting ready to go to university.  Also, I learned that the school was actually more like a boarding school so the students actually lived on campus in dormitories.  The students were separated by class so third years lived in one building, second years lived in another and so on.  Also, I learned that only the third year students have to go to school on Saturdays because they need the extra day to prepare for their examinations.  Unlike in the United States, Chinese students get into their universities based on the results from the exam they take at the end of their third year.  This was so different to me that one exam determines where you will spend the next few years of your life studying especially since in the United States college acceptances are based on multiple criteria.

The girls were so amazing and welcoming.  Although there was a bit of a language barrier, the girls and I were able to talk and communicate very well together.  Their English skills were very good!  We were able to sit down and learn from each other.  This part of the program was definitely my favorite part so far.

My friends from Dalian: Ariel (left), Crystal (right side of me), and Jo (right)

When I first got off the plane in Beijing, I experienced my first culture shock right in the airport.  It wasn’t seeing the signs with all the characters I could not decipher or the crowds of people speaking a language I could not communicate back in.  The first thing that made me realize that I was completely out of my element was my first trip to the bathroom.  The toilets were in the ground (as seen in the picture below) and since then I have coined them “squatters.”  There was also no toilet paper or soap in the restroom but luckily I had some on me along with hand sanitizer.  This concept of using this device was so foreign to me, I wondered if I could ever get used to it.  I also was confused as to why there was no toiletries there.  The only places in the U.S. with this kind of scenario are sketchy gas stations in the middle of nowhere.

The purpose of having the toilets in this way is to make the bathrooms more sanitary which is something that I have come to agree with.  I find that the bathrooms are generally cleaner (for the most part) in the stalls than most in America.  This varies depending on the place though since some of the family owned restaurants aren’t really kept up at all.  Most public restrooms don’t provide toilet paper or soap purely because it costs the business extra money.  Those establishments that do are generally nicer places or cater to an international crowd.  A few weeks into the program, I still feel as if it is highly inconvenient for me to have to carry along toilet paper and a bar of soap that I stole from the hotel in Beijing.  This will not be one of the things that I miss about China.

A typical public bathroom in China