Week 01 – Toronto to Guangzhou
After a long 15 hour flight out of Toronto, we finally landed in Guangzhou, China!
We took a car 154 KM to a city called Shenzhen. Our first week we spent most of our time at Shenzhen Institute of Technology (SIT). We absolutely loved the time we spent there. The students were so friendly, the staff were amazing and we made a joke that while we were there we didn’t know whether or not we felt like Celebrities or Aliens! The people in the community were stopping on the street to take pictures of us and all of the SIT students wanted selfies with us. Our highlights of the week were: learning about Chinese tea culture, watching the school sports ceremony and spending time with the students. The tea culture has many different meanings in China, some of which include: education, socializing, and one way to welcome visitors into your home or place of stay. The overall experience of learning how the tea is traditionally made and served was truly amazing. Our last morning at SIT we had the privilege of going for what is considered “Morning Tea” with the Dean of the International Business Department, Mr. Zhang. Many citizens in China have morning tea often and it is a important part of the social environment in this culture.
During our Pre-Departure many people that we worked with explained to us that the heat in China would be a big change to adapt to. We found out that they were more than right about this. The heat in Shenzhen was fairly hot and muggy, but we have really enjoyed the sunshine! It also was rainy a few days that we were at SIT.
The food was a major culture shock for us especially with being jet lagged and our stomachs not adjusted to the time change. Although we found it challenging we kept an open mind and experienced many different flavours and tastes. If you are planning on coming to China, be aware of this and keep an open mind to try everything. Our Chinese friends gave us a tip that said “If you don’t know what it is your eating, don’t ask before you eat it.”
Our next stop is back to Guangzhou to spend a few days at a school called The Guangzhou Maritime University and deliver a presentation at a few agencies. We are also going for a day visit to Nanhai Zhixin Middle school.
Don’t forget to check out our blog in a few days to see our updates on our new adventures! Feel free to send us any requests of what you would like to see by going to our contact us page!
Below are pictures from our first week!
Introduction about our project for the Marketing Students at SIT
Traditional Chinese Tea set up
SIT Welcome meeting for us 🙂
A few Chinese breakfast options
Enjoying a variety of Chinese cusine options with our new friends
Student Engagement time at SIT
Presentation preparation 😀
Presenation for the Marketing Students at SIT
Sports Ceremony at SIT
Looking awesome guys!
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Amazing experience, looking forward to your posts
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I am so proud of you both. Great photos! I’ve shared with many staff here at Georgian. Keep up the awesome work.
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Love your blog – the information and photos are great. I enjoyed reading your first entry.
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This is amazing, great to see your smiling faces and all I could think of when I saw the breakfast options where are my bacon and eggs. lol having said that, I would definitely try the cultural cuisine.
I love the welcome table with the flowers and Canadian flags, incredibly thoughtful of your hosts in China.
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What an awesome experience. Enjoy!!! Keep up the blog love it. Bea Collins
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It’s so great to see all the smiling faces! what an awesome adventure and so glad you guys are sharing it with us!
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Such an awesome experience. I am sure you will have much to share upon your return. I am positive you make great Canadian embasador’s. Enjoy
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Trying to follow you two every step of your adventure. Love your photos, your info. and you. Gpa
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