June 2013 « Reflections of a Walton MBA Grad

The Journey to China:

Right after my finals, I drove down to Little Rock, AR for a few days to spend time with people I truly care about. I hadn’t been back home since January. It felt really good to be home again. Below is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

With my beautiful niece Alise at the River Market on a Saturday morning

On May 12, I started my journey to China. My mother dropped me off at the Bill and Hilary Clinton International Airport in Little Rock, AR around 4 am. I knew I was up too early when I made it to the airport before majority of the TSA and airline employees. Thankfully, everything ran smoothly that morning. I left Little Rock around 6:20am to head to Dallas. I had a layover for a few hours in Dallas. This gave me an opportunity to study my Mandarin course. As a part of the program, each student was required to complete a 15 hour language course on Mandarin. I have the utmost respect for any American that can speak Mandarin fluently. It is a very complex language with four tones. I could not look at the spelling of a word and sound it out. For example, in order to say thank you in Mandarin one would say Xièxiè. The pronunciation is Shi-eh Shi-eh.

Once I arrived in Los Angeles from Dallas, it finally started to set in that I was about to leave for China. I had been talking about going on the trip for a while. However, it didn’t really hit me until I started to board the last leg of my flight. The flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai was approximately 13 hours.

Just landed in Shanghai

This is the vehicle we rode in to get to Suzhou from the airport in Shanghai. If I remember correctly, it was a two-hour drive.

Week One: May 12-18

During my first week abroad, I stayed in Suzhou. The University of Arkansas’ relationship with Suzhou University allowed us the opportunity to meet with faculty and students. The faculty provided insightful lectures on China’s history, culture, economy, and current challenges. The students were so friendly and eager to educate us on their life experiences and culture. They were very eager to learn about life in America. Below are a few pictures from my week at the University.

The lotus flower shaped library

My view from the top of the library

Group picture with some of the students at Suzhou University

In addition to our daily visits to the university, we were able to visit the Suzhou Museum, Pingjiang Road, downtown and the Humble Administrator’s Garden. Below are some pictures from these experiences: