Just awesome

After reading countless newspaper articles about China's transformation into the world's powerhouse country, I knew that it was about time to actually make the trip and experience this incredible change firsthand. The only barrier that came between me and fulfilling this wish was having an organized plan of travel, accommodations, an internship position, and of course the language barrier. Luckily, I was able to find Startup China's website to answer all of these concerns. Within a couple months, I was on a plane descending into Shanghai's Pudong airport getting ready to start a life experience that I would never forget.

As I mentioned, I was looking for an internship during my stay in China because I wanted to have a firsthand encounter with China's emerging markets. Startup found a marketing and PR company for me- exactly what I was looking for.

Without getting in too much detail, the three-months I interned with this company were some of the most stressful and nerve-racking; yet gratifying and thought-provoking months of my life. I will never forget the experiences I had and the skills that I required just from the internship opportunity Startup China was able to find for me.

In terms of the language-barrier that existed, I cannot say that I am a master now or that I have a vocabulary rich enough to read a China newspaper, however, I can confidently say that my Chinese speaking and writing skills improved exponentially. Taking 4 hours of Chinese classes 5 days a week, was a great opportunity to really embrace the culture as I had no real prior knowledge or experience with the language. Being able to tell taxi drivers where to go and waitresses what I wanted to eat during my three-months in Shanghai really made things a lot easier and more convenient.

At the end of the day, I am grateful for the opportunity to live and work in China and I learned a lot about myself professionally as well as the Chinese culture. I will definitely be back in the near-future!