Update from Shanghai

I am taking a break from writing about the adventures of Karen and Steve in the far east to give everybody an update on my time in Shanghai. As most of you know, I started my internship at China Economic Review on June 17. I essentially have a full-time job, as I am at work, or in transit, from 8:00 to 7:00 Monday through Friday. On Wednesdays I leave work early to do two hours of one-on-one Chinese instruction. That is why I haven't been able to keep up with the blog, but I am getting better at managing my time. Enough complaining, I ought to mention that I love it here.  Shanghai has the one thing that Beijing lacks, a metropolitan atmosphere. I am also lucky enough to say that I have made some good friends among my new classmates.  Even more importantly, I absolutely love my new roommate. He is a rather rotund 31 year-old finance grad student from Hunan.  I call him 爸爸佛, father buddha, for his box like frame and tendency to try and look after me. Getting to know him has been great. As much as I complained about my busy schedule, I am enjoying my internship. So far I have only been writing daily briefs and short reports for CER's sister website, CERMBA, a website about business school news. That isn't very interesting, but I am currently research a story comparing the current Chinese car market with the early 20th century American market. I know most of you just got a glazed look on your face upon reading that, but it is a concept that I have been thinking about for months. I have interview with a renowned automotive historian tomorrow, and then the fun really starts. I also pitched a story about the difficulties of teaching English in China (I suggest everyone look it up, because it is fascinating). I will find out about that one soon. As of know, I am really enjoying my time here, and it will only get better as I get more comfortable at my internship. I will have another update soon, and this one could be my interesting post yet.