What Life Is In China
Being a confident individual, I was tremendously more excited than nervous for my adventure to Shanghai. After restlessly arriving to the Pudong International airport, our group and I were greeted by a member of the Absolute Internship team. From that moment, I knew that my experience would be extremely well accommodated. After arriving to the hotel, I was thoroughly impressed by the living conditions that we were afforded. I could not be happier to have my own bedroom, bathroom, and balcony, eighteen floors above a beautiful city setting. After a fabulous traditional style Chinese meal with our group, my roommate August and I were so eager to explore Shanghai, that we took a cab to a nearby bar. The taxi experience was as unique as the city. It was my first time interacting with a Chinese-speaking individual, so using hand gestures to describe where we wanted to go was crucial. The following morning at orientation, I got to know the rest of the Absolute Internship team, and gained some basic knowledge about Shanghai and the Chinese culture.
As my first day of work was approaching, I really didn’t know what to expect. While I have Interned at other companies, I have never interned abroad. Yes, I have always dreamed of working in Shanghai, but this would really be the moment of truth. I never got to experience what Chinese Business Culture was really like. I had many questions running through my head on my commute to my first day of work. “Will I fit into the business culture here?” “Will I clash with my coworkers?” “Am I ready for what this internship has to offer me?” Thankfully, now I can say that I have overcome all of these insecurities. Starting my fourth week of working at my company, I can say that I’ve been able to grow as a professional. 
At around nine thirty every morning I walk into the upstairs office of the company and plop down in my chair at my desk situated right next to my supervisor's, the senior editor. The majority of days I have been there I have worked on an ongoing project focusing on converting hard copy books currently out of print into a type of e-book format on their upcoming website. The books are mainly encyclopedias and what I have worked on primarily focuses on music and musicians in general. The idea is to turn certain parts of each book, such as specific chapters in books discussing a singular artist or sections discoursing particular decades of music in more wide range works, into their own individual articles. That way when you search the subject on the website it will bring you to a coherent and independent piece that can stand on its own without connections to the book. That make sense? You awake? It’ll be much more interesting than I make it sound, I promise.
