Tyeisha Walton - April 30, 2010

It gives me great pleasure to inform you of my experience thus far in China.

Since I touched down at the Shanghai International Airport, I have felt a full appreciation of the decision I made to intern and study abroad in such an area. As you know, I am accommodated at Hohai University where I attend Chinese Classes each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I absolutely love my classes. Each teacher I have is very focused on making sure that I, along with my colleagues, are properly learning and retaining each lesson given. I have also been given a language partner that I can contact if I am in need of any additional help. As an intern, I work at the Sheraton Hotel in the Public Relations department. There I am responsible for marketing a very large event for the Sheraton Hotel and the entire Nanjing community, the Dragon Boat Race.

Initially, I did have questions as to what my duties generally were, but as of now, I have a much clearer understanding. One recent task that I was asked to perform was to make a PowerPoint presentation that would market the Dragon Boat Race to potential sponsors. I was given positive feedback, and definitely look forward to participating in the upcoming event. As you would imagine, it is very difficult to juggle Chinese classes, my internship, along with assignments at Jackson State University. However, in my leisure time I do try to complete many, if not all, assignments in due time. When classes are finished in Jackson, I do plan to travel throughout China until the following semester arrives. As of now, I feel that most interns are doing well in this program. In the beginning, I noticed a few of us had the initial cultural shock. At this moment, I think everyone has grown accustomed to the different aspects of China, not only in the business world, but also in China’s everyday life. Again, I do appreciate and love every second here in China, and I look forward to enjoying the remainder of my time here in Nanjing with the rest of my colleagues.