I hope everyone is having a fun and productive summer. Mine is off to a great start...I just landed in Shanghai, China!
After a 20 hour trip, we landed but could not deplane until after the Chinese Healthworkers (in full Hazmat gear) took the temperatures of every person on the plane. The Chinese Government is very concerned about the spread of H1N1. It was a bit unnerving, but we all passed with flying colors so we were allowed to enter the country. I am traveling with a colleague, Tom Robinson, who is Northeastern's Global Manager. Tom and I are participating in a 4-city recruiting tour for Northeastern's new consortium program with Baylor University, University of Vermont and Utah.
We had a wonderful dinner with the representatives from our consortium partner schools the night we arrived. The restaurant was amazing, overlooking the Bund. I don't think I will ever eat Chinese food in the States again! Everything was delicious.
This morning, we took a 3 hour bus ride to Hangzhou where we conducted presentations for students and parents. China countryside is mixture of farms and factories. Other than the architecture not much is really different than the U.S.- highways are lined with billboard advertisements and I think we just passed a BMW factory!
Our presentations and interview sessions went very well tonight. We had more than 150 students and parents attend the session and it lasted three and half hours. Each college presented information on our programs and opportunities which was translated for students and parents. Even though it was a long session, the students and parents were very interested and excited about the opportunity to attend college in the United States.
I had the opportunity to speak with many students who asked great questions about what it is like to study in the U.S. One young woman who asked about student relationships with faculty was pleased to hear that our faculty all have office hours and encourage their students to contact them in person or via e-mail.
Hangzhou is a beautiful city that has a famous lake - West Lake - in the middle of the city. Tourists come from all over the world to see the city and the lake. Tomorrow morning before we depart for Suzhou, we will have a brief tour of the lake area. I am looking forward to taking pictures. It was a wonderful night.
Most posts from our tour will be coming this week..stay tuned.
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