My name is Nick Alexander and I’m a 22 year old American law student. I came to China in order to work at a law firm, hoping to gain experience in the international law arena. In addition, I lived with a host family in order to improve my Chinese language skills. My internship was at the Zhong Lun Law Firm in Chengdu. I can honestly say that my time in China and with my law firm was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. Not only did I learn a lot of things about law in China in general, but I also had first hand access to Chinese culture both in a professional setting and in a more relaxed social setting. 

Firstly, my placement was a great fit. My work colleagues were incredibly welcoming and excited to introduce me to Chinese legal culture. They provided me with numerous documents and information regarding the law in China. In addition, I was given access to certain legal documents and contracts in order to gain an understanding of how international commercial transactions take place. One of my main jobs was conducting research on the legal systems in countries like the United States, Canada and England in order to provide my colleagues with answers to questions that they had regarding the international business ventures they were conducting. I learned a tremendous amount of beneficial information during as short time with my law firm. I’m incredibly grateful for this experience.

Additionally, my host family was incredible. My homestay mom went out of her way to make sure that I was comfortable in my environment. She really made me feel like I was a member of the family and I am sure that we will remain in contact.

Projects Abroad provided me with a life-changing experience that I could not have made happen on my own. It was a great program and I will always cherish my time in Chengdu. I am sure that this experience will have a tremendous impact on my future life and career. I would seriously recommend Projects Abroad China to anyone who is interested in working in any kind of international field. It gives you great exposure and it is a rewarding experience.

We all know China’s economy is booming, which means there has been an increase in wealth in the country. The increase in wealth leads to more millionaires’, which mean an increase in disposable income, so yacht companies are ready to take full advantage of China’s economy. There is a luxury Yacht that sits on the Huangpu River, this divides Shanghai into Pudong and Puxi( or the Eastside and Westside of Shanghai). There is over 800,000 millionaires in China now and Yacht companies think it’s time to introduce luxury ‘toys’ to these Chinese millionaires, only a few yachts where sold in China last year and I believe mostly in Hong Kong, so now companies are trying to get Chinese people to want such a luxurious toy.

One the other hand, the Chinese spending habits differs from America, is it possible to get the Wealthy here in mainland China interested in buying a luxury yacht that may cost about five million dollars plus another two million in taxes and maybe a half a million every year for upkeep, gas, and to dock?  Who knows, I guess only time will tell.

08/03/ 2011

Last Friday, I went to go check on an intern, who was taking Mandarin lessons. While we were talking I saw a young lady dressed like a baby doll, she even had bells on her shoe. I can only imagine how annoying that could be after a while. I stopped in mid sentence to stare at this individual until she was out of site. I know how rude it is to stare, but there is always that exception and this was definitely it, besides, I figured she wanted the attention anyway.  Later that day I was riding the subway, and there another one goes, this young lady is dressed like a doll and even has a little clown hat on. So, now I’m thinking to myself that’s weird, what are the odds of me seeing something like that twice in one day in two very different parts of the city.  As my day begins to end I see it again and this one was just scary, she had babies in hair and cats on her dress, so I did what anyone would do after seeing three ladies dressed very differently, I took a photo. I thought about this hard and figured it had to be a baby doll day or one of those dress crazy days, like those days during spirit week in junior high and high school. I asked a colleague and he had no idea, so who knows what the occasion was; maybe it was a group of friends that just wanted to play dress up, or some bets were lost, or just their idea of bringing in the weekend right.