30 April 2012
I just past one month in China. At this point I have started feeling that I have gotten my bearings around the city. I actually start to recognize where I am in different parts of the city. Longer than anticipated lead time to get working but I have just completed my first week at High Team Communications Co.
High Team Communications is the largest public relations and marketing company in China. They have many recognitions and an extensive brand portfolio. My collegues are friendly and I have been graciously given an updated computer with Windows 7, in English for me to use. I am already learning a lot as I do not have previous agency experience in public relations. My introduction during the first two days was a server folder full of past marketing proposals and media pitches to look through and get an idea for the work. Then I was assigned to write a press release for a new launch product for the company Henkel. I guess this was mine because the company wanted a native English speaker to write it. I was also given a translated informational brochure for American Standard brand bath products and told to edit it for English grammer. Professional translation service, please, this thing reads so poorly I hardly know where to start. And lastly for my first week, the Beijing Auto show is happening and a collegue just returned from the press days with a fist full of media contacts who were interviewing for Fiat. All of these medias are international from US, Germany, France, and UK. I was told I might understand them better than Stella because my English is good so I was passed the job of calling them up to see where they will publish their coverage on Fiat, which our company represents in China. So work wise, no regrets on getting out of my first placement job which was a low class dead end. I know have a nicer office, my own computer, nice co-workers and an unbeatable location on Nanjing Rd W. right in the middle of the city.
May 1 is a national holiday so I have off work Monday and Tuesday. I've considered traveling on this 3 day weekend but didn't get things put together and I know that anywhere I try and go it is going to be massively crowded with domestic travelers. So a little more free time in Shanghai. I attended another Shanghai expat mixer night put on the meet people and make friends. I met a really cool guy named Nico who is from Switzerland. We met up again and went for brunch on Sunday at an awesome place called Origin in TianZiFang. After we decided to check out a local music festival being held at the World Expo park in Shanghai. The Stawberry music festival as it was called was a very Chinese music fest experience with some international but unknown bands and really cheap beer. We had fun with it while enduring sticky hot and humid weather.
Summer is coming quickly to Shanghai as this week it will already be in the high 70s. It will be 40 hour work weeks plus 2 hours of Chinese lessons a night to keep me pretty busy for May and June.
P.S. I keep adding pictures to already created picture albums so make sure if you're browsing you go back and frequent sections such as food or Shanghai life.
