Intern's Story: Lloyd, Ireland   

I guess that it’s a measure of how good the last couple of months have been that it’s taken me so long to write this. Originally intended to be written as a weekly blog, since I’m struggling to even keep a sporadic personal diary it’s been downgraded to a simple review... I hope that I can do the great experiences I’ve had here justice with something more concise!

It’s been exactly ten weeks since I arrived in Shanghai. These ten weeks have maybe felt like five, but during which I’ve done enough for it to perhaps be fifteen. Even during my first three weeks I got the sense that my time here was going to be too short. Unfortunately I have been proved right and with only two weeks remaining I know that I will be sorry to leave.

But let’s get one thing straight: Shanghai is never a city where I personally could imagine settling down – for me it is simply too different a culture to stay here long-term. That said, my perception of ‘long-term’ has become progressively longer with each passing week so I guess you never know... Either way, the opportunity to experience this city as volunteer or intern is something that shouldn’t be missed. It is simply SUCH a cool city to live in for a few months.

My preconceptions of Shanghai have proved oddly accurate – it is a city of little English (though more than anywhere else in China), crazy streets, strange food, and stranger smells. There is a noticeable contrast in wealth throughout the city, while in China it seems there exists no such thing as social welfare – everybody works, whether that work is collecting empty plastic bottles, being chief executive of HSBC, or waving a flag to signal that nobody is stuck in the doors of a metro. That reminds me of something I saw recently that I found summed up the growth of this city. A guidebook of Shanghai from five years ago showed two subway lines. My own updated version shows eleven. Seven metro lines in five years?! Another interesting fact is that (one of) the business hub(s) of the city, the Pudong area across the Huangpi River (home to some of the world’s tallest buildings and location of that famous skyline shot if you’ve ever seen a photo of Shanghai) was simply farmland 20 years ago. Look at it today and that is an amazing thought.

The expat community in the city is strong, which means that there are plenty of English speakers about if you know where to find them. Apparently there are 20 000 U.S. citizens in the city at any given time - whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you!

Staying in the volunteer flat with Xu Bo has been such a blessing, and has ensured that I have enjoyed my time here with like-minded people. You get to live with other Europeans / Australians / Americans who are doing similar things to you, are around the same age as you, and who, like you, know nobody. Anybody that comes to China to work/volunteer is by virtue outgoing, and this ensures that a lot of fun is had. Since I’m staying 3 months and the majority are here for less, I’ve seen quite a turnover of people which always keeps things interesting. Many volunteers working elsewhere in China will first spend a few days in Shanghai, and their enthusiasm to make the most of their few days tend to rub off on everyone in the apartment. This means that there is no shortage of good nights out!

My situation here is a little different to most of the volunteers that come here in that I’m doing an architecture internship rather than teaching English. So I guess this is where my story gets a bit more interesting! I was lucky enough to be placed in a renowned (even famous, in China at least) firm called MADAs.p.a.m. They also have offices in the Chinese city of Xi’an as well as in Los Angeles in the United States. As such the firm works through both English and Chinese, but as is hardly surprising the Shanghai office works mainly through Chinese having a majority of Chinese workers. I guess they are not a typical architecture firm in that they are quite progressive and push the boundaries in terms of creative projects. They receive quite a few important commissions in China. The variety of these projects ensures that (even though the designs may be a bit questionable...) it is always fresh and interesting work. You are no CAD monkey in this office and that is a pleasure. I have done a good variety of work in my short time here and for any architects thinking of applying for this internship programme I’ll detail a few of them here. If you have no interest in architecture then I suggest you skip this bit.

As any architecture student should understand, the standard 9-6pm working day is a bit vague – deadlines for presentations, further project work, etc. means that there are some late nights and weekend work. But then there are the more relaxed periods as well – like now for instance, when I have time to write my story!

Xu Bo makes a big effort to get all the volunteers to meet together for different events toward the end of most weeks (karaoke, Chinese cooking, culture meetings, dinner, etc.). I think that this is very important because it tends to promote further plans to meet up during the week and at weekends! I’d like to give a say a big thank you to everyone in the office here, any time I have needed help with anything, however small, it has always been offered. Simple things like writing down the name of the train I want in Chinese make life so much easier, and I think that as ‘laowai’ (foreigner) you need that kind of support.

Just to finish, I can only recommend this programme (intern or volunteer) to anyone considering it. China was not, admittedly, number one on my list of places to visit. Perhaps that has been the beauty of it - it has opened my eyes to just how different even quite a developed part of the world can be when you leave the comforts of your own home. I wanted a new experience and China has provided it with more enjoyment and fulfilment than I could ever have hoped for.