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Wondering what a life of an intern would be like in Shanghai?

Wondering what a life of an intern would be like in Shanghai?

Wondering what a life of an intern would be like in Shanghai? Well this post sums up my experience of being an international intern in one of the best cities in the world.

My day usually starts with an 8am wake up call; I’m not a morning person at all. I hate waking up early and therefore I try to get as much sleep as possible before I must push off. After waking up and getting ready I get down to the lobby around 8.30 where I meet Zach, James and Antoine who are also working with me at my firm. I would have been extremely pleased with just one train buddy but to have three was amazing. Zach and myself are part of the new interns while James and Antoine have been here for longer. Needless to say, I knew I wouldn’t get lost getting to work since I had two other experienced metro riders with me.

After riding two metros, since we must change, we usually arrive at work by 9am. Before work I quickly duck down to the local convenience store located at the front of our building for a muffin, a bread roll or some other snack most of which cost less than $1 AUD!

So far work has mainly included doing a financial plan for clients, doing some research and basic data entry. I am also on the phone to potential clients, which has helped me to further enhance my communication skills. I have learnt about financial products and how investment and financial planning can be extremely beneficial for your retirement.

Usually at 12pm we all head out for lunch. There are many restaurants and small food outlets available a mere 5-10 minutes walk max. Burger places, soup kitchens, crepes, pasta and many, many more can be found close by. We get 90 minutes for our lunch break which is plenty to walk around and explore the near by locations. There are shopping malls and small shops everywhere in Shanghai! It’s easy to get lost sometimes if you don’t know where you are going.

After work we head home to catch up with everyone else and figure out dinner plans. Though we love going out to enjoy food sometimes we kick back and stay in. Though we don’t cook – we order through SHERPAS! Sherpas is a company, which delivers any food you may like from any restaurant in the city straight to your doorstep for only $3AUD. You simply order online and it will be delivered to your hotel room. After dinner is completely we either decide to head out to find a local bar or we can buy movies from the DVD store. The DVD store is only a 5min walk from the hotel and it has an extensive range including all the latest releases. You can pick any genre and even browse through TV shows. All DVD’s cost roughly $2AUD so it’s safe to say that Shanghai is the place to stock up on movies. You can even buy them in different languages.

One of the highlights while being an intern here has been the Chinese New Year. We have galloped into the year of the Horse! Chinese New Year is an incredible time to be in Shanghai. It’s something that I’ve never experienced back home. Even when I was here two years in 2012 I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like last time, during Chinese New Year you can see fireworks from anywhere in the city going off continuously in the evenings for around one week. Its spectacular!

This was captured from our balcony! Many fireworks going off consistently through the night even till early morning. We had some time off during the New Year as most of the offices were closed for 4-5 days. This was a great time to explore Shanghai and other locations, which I will discuss in my future blogs. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Shanghai, so till next time…

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