Experience: Elke Kemperman, Shanghai, Mainland of China

On the 12th of April my big adventure started; that day I said goodbye to Holland for 3,5 months and I stepped in to the airplane to head off to Shanghai City. Today it is July 30 and the big adventure is already over. In short I can say that it was an amazing, wonderful and above all unforgettable experience. In three months I have met so many new people, had a nice internship, had nice trips to different cities/ countries, had some great time dining/clubbing and I experienced the amazing culture of China.
Before it all started on April 12, already quiet some steps had to be taken to get myself prepared for the YES- program. First of all, there was the YES selection evening in which it was tested whether you were suitable to participate in the YES program. Finally, after a week of full of stress and nervousness ;) I received the news I was hoping for: I was accepted and from April on I would become a Shanghai resident together with Dennis, Rick, Thomas and Tim. In the months before our departure all kinds of preparation sessions were provided by AIESEC Tilburg, while AISEC SISU (AIESEC residence located in Shanghai) was busy arranging our internship. This is also where we had our first experience with the Chinese culture: for both AIESEC Tilburg and us it was really hard to communicate with AIESEC SISU and all the internships were arranged very very last minute (which means I had my Skype application only 3 days before departure). So, keep in mind that it will be very likely that not everything will/can be completely arranged well in advance. Furthermore, during the sessions of AIESEC Tilburg all kind of information was provided on what is important to arrange. However, sometimes I had the feeling that the AIESEC member weren’t as up to date as they should be on several topics (e.g. the visa procedure). As advice, make sure your flight and visa are arranged on time (preferably at least a month on beforehand), since this can save you money on your flight and a last-minute trip to The Hague to pick up your visa just before your departure.
On Friday, April 13, Rick and I arrived in Shanghai were we were picked by one of the AIESEC SISU member (We could recognize here by the nice giraffe sweater she promised us to wear that day and yes, this type of clothing was already a good indication of what the average Chinese would wear). During the first days different AIESEC SISU members showed us different parts of Shanghai, helped us arranging Chinese phone numbers and helped us making appointments with different housing agencies.

After one week of getting used to Shanghai, behaving as a tourist and moving into our apartment it was time for me to get started at my internship at an NGO called GoodtoChina. GoodtoChina’s goal is to supports sustainable living through environmental projects, social initiatives and consulting projects and is run by a very passionate and lovely women called Susan Evans. As I have a background in the field of business and logistics, she asked me to make a complete map of all here suppliers, the internal processes and the contact with clients. Furthermore, she always got me involved in new projects, interesting meetings (for example with the top-management of IKEA Shanghai) and was always interested in sharing thoughts with me on various topics. Furthermore, I really liked the informal working atmosphere and the team of GoodtoChina which consist out of multiple interns. All the other interns were also students, coming from different countries all over the world, who made my days at the office real fun and with whom I spend some evenings dining and drinking. I think I am very lucky with the internship that is provided to me, especially compared to some other internships I have seen/heard about in which the tasks and working environment weren’t as appealing as at GoodtoChina.
Since I only worked for four days a week, there was also plenty of time to discover Shanghai, to plan some nice trips in China and to experience the Chinese Culture. AIESEC SISU arranged several activities during our stay in which we could participate and could experience how they spent their time; e.g. we learned how to cook dumplings, got the chance to were traditional Chinese clothing and of course also a karaoke night was part of my AIESEC-SISU experience. On the other hand it was also great fun to show them some things they haven’t seen/done before: typical Dutch food, going out to one of the many clubs Shanghai knows etc.. Furthermore, there was plenty of time to discover other beautiful places in (and around) China. We have visited places like Hangzhou, Suzhou, HongKong and Beijing. Especially the trip to Beijng was pretty impressive, as the city is completely different as Shanghai and you really see the traditional culture of China and also a lot of residues of the communistic period (e.g. the forbidden city, Tiananmen Square (also known as ‘Plein van de Hemelse Vrede’). Also, the Chinese people there are less familiar with western people (which most of the time resulted in some nice picture taking activities with us as Western people in the center of the picture).
After my three-month stay in China I travelled for 2,5 weeks in Indonesia and I can only describe this period of 3,5 months as an amazing and unforgettable period. I found it very interesting to have the chance to go abroad and to experience how it is to live in the dynamic city that Shanghai is, to work with people from all over the world, to discover the mainland of China and to meet many new and amazing people. It definitely exceeded my expectations and I would recommend everyone to experience it their selves.
Enjoy it! One of the best things I ever did!