From Ashley

It’s amazing how quick you get used to not being plugged in all the time. I guess not having wifi, and a smart phone, and even consistent Internet access are really signs that the trips a vacation and will only be short lived. It’s honestly a nice break.

However, it would be very handy to have wifi and my iphone to have worked today. I went to find the location of my internship, and my directions were from Shelton in Dr. Sun’s office. Google maps, Baidu maps, and Google were all used to “guide” me to the correct location. Further direction included “let this building guide you” and “if you’ve made it to the river you’ve gone to far.” Needless to say that actually worked and I mostly found where I was going.

Along my walk I found the 22 International Art Plaza complex and was super excited about that. I was secretly hoping that this was where my company had moved too. This address was 22 and I was looking for 32, so naturally I just kept walking. The next address was 28 so I thought I was going the correct direction. It wasn’t until I saw 16 that I realized something was wrong. I turned around and noticed the numbers were correct. I ended up again at the art complex so I just started looking around there out of my own curiosity. I found a small sign, with the correct address of my company’s new location! So turns out my office is there, and they just decided to totally not abide by their actual address!

Overall, I’m really excited to be working in this environment. The major drawback is it’s an hour metro ride plus a 25-minute walk. So not going to lie…that is not going to be fun on a daily basis. Shelton said I really get to experience Beijing, and I think he’s really right.

Yue Minjun’s sculpture greets the visitors of 22 International Art Plaza as they arrive. (Yue Minjun is a very famous contemporary Chinese artist that works with contemporary themes blended with traditional Chinese cultural ideals.)