I have some Chinese friends in Germany who told me a lot of stories about China. Because of this I was very happy after IAESTE had told me that I had been accepted for an internship in Hangzhou.

Two month later I arrived in Shanghai where Grace from IAESTE picked me up. She asked me if I want to stay in Shanghai or if I want to go to Hangzhou. I had 6 days until the beginning of my work but I was too tired to think clearly and I told her that I want to go to Hangzhou. Before she brought me to the bus station we ate in a restaurant where I wanted to order a dog. I am very afraid of dogs and due to this I don't like them. But Grace told me that Chinese people eat dogs only in winter because dog is a winter food and that I should try a snake which is known as a summer food.

In the bus to Hangzhou I realized that I am a fool because I wanted to stay in Shanghai and that I have enough days to have some fun there. In the bus everybody looked at me. The guy who was sitting next to me was very funny. He thought that I am a Japanese. I had to laugh very hard. Finally I arrived in Hangzhou where I met Nick from IAESTE. I told him that I made a mistake and that I want to go back to Shanghai. Nick only laughed and told me that it is to late for that. I spent the first night in a hotel. The next day Nick told me that my company doesn't want me anymore and that I have an interview with a general manager of another company. First I was not amused because I feared that I have to go back to Germany but the interview was very easy and the general manager was very relaxed. At this day I met also Chanel who is responsible of IAESTE Hangzhou and Eric who is Nick's friend. Both are very cool people and Eric showed me the famous West Lake of Hangzhou. I enjoyed the trip very much and I have to say that this place is the best place for dating an woman I have ever seen. Finally the next day I went to Shanghai. In the train I met Jack who offered me to show me this big city. In deed Shanghai is a very modern city. But I must confess that I don't like Shanghai very much. The shopping malls are more expensive than in Germany and the Discos are very small and overcrowded. In addition I think that the city is too clean. I like it when there are some dirty corners. But I spent only three days in Shanghai and maybe I missed the good spots.

Back in Hangzhou I had to start to work. The people were very nice. Unfortunately the women in my company who was responsible for me lost her job after two weeks. So I wasn't really busy during my work in S&C Consulting. I learned something about quality management and I operated an English class every Friday. It was a lot of fun to teach English. I was invited to many meals and many people tried to improve their English while speaking with me. I have to say that didn't really learn much about quality management but I could see that the Chinese people work very hard. They are also more respectful and friendly than the Europeans. But in this time I smoked too much cigarettes. Everybody offered me some and I couldn't resist.

The only really bad thing in China was my accommodation. I had a very hard bed and no air conditioning. Because of this I could never sleep than 5 hours in one night. But I survived it and I had a great time.

I want to thank Chanel and Nick from IAESTE (you are very funny) and all people of S&C especially Fang Fang and Jing who made it very easy for me to live in China.

Someday I hope to see you again.