3~ Orientation

Our first official day in Hangzhou started with a 9:30 orientation, where we all had a meeting in a very fancy conference room to hear about exactly what we would be doing over the next three weeks. We were given a huge amount of information over the next 2.5 hours which was quite hard to digest especially with jet lag kicking in but the excitement kept me going. We were asked to fill out loads of forms and then given our timetables which were packed full! Only 4 full days of free time during the entire programme and from 3 - 7 hours of classes per day I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least but it definitely looks like an exciting 3 weeks are ahead of me! 

After orientation we had our first class which was our module option. I had already chosen Chinese Business previously so headed on my way to class with my roommate. I'l probably dedicate a blog to the teaching styles and classrooms so won't go into much detail but today's class was just under 3 hours long! Kind of crazy I wasn't expecting that, while it was long it was really interesting and I'm a big fan of our business teacher Mary, who's English was flawless and seems to have a lot of experience in the trade. We learnt that Hangzhou and people who live in Zhejiang province are mostly owning their own businesses as its better to be a chickens head than a phoenix's tale (pretty awesome idiom there). 

Once class has ended we only had 15 minutes rest until the meeting point for the Opening Ceremony, where we met the big cheese (Vice President of the University, such an honour!) and we heard speeches from various people welcoming us to the University which was pretty awesome. We also had a speaker from the StudyChina students to thank the university for their hospitality - which is what i'l be doing for he closing ceremony in three weeks, I'm so nervous! 

The ceremony was really really nice, everyone seems to welcoming and we also met a group of student volunteers from Zhejiang who seem great fun and really kind. Their English is just amazing and they are mostly studying chemical engineering and other science things which is just incredible! Once the speeches were over and all the pictures were done (I got a cheeky selfie with the Vice P) we all went to the dining hall where a huge buffet had been laid out to welcome us to the university with free flowing beer and food it was pretty awesome to chill out and get to know people. 

Cheeky Selfie with the Vice President!

Of course as our first day in Hangzhou came to an end the jet lag kicked in hard and I think I was in bed by 9 absolutely dead to the world ready for an early start tomorrow!