Ivyuan

Chris, a Shanghai native and Chinese counselor at Ivyuan, reflects on her trips to Japan.

"I really enjoyed going to Japan on our company retreats. Tokyo is a shopping center so basically I went shopping and I had a good time there. When I was in Tokyo this year, I was walking along the streets alone and met some people. When I was in a park, an old Japanese man came up to me and asked to paint a painting for me. I also met a Swedish guy when I was walking near the Imperial Palace and we chatted for a while.

I definitely liked Kyoto better. I prefer more peaceful atmospheres. When I was there, I put on a kimono and walked around, which was a very pleasant experience. A lot of tourists took photos with me because they thought I was Japanese, but I’m not. Many of them were Chinese tourists, which I found funny. A lot of local Japanese people even thought I was Japanese. I met a geisha who randomly took photos with me."

Iwen was born in Taiwan, but spent over a decade living in Shanghai before college. Having left for four years to study at Lehigh Universitry, Iwen came back to Shanghai with a new perspective on the city.

"When I first got here, Shanghai was very different. There were only two subway lines. Now, there are over sixteen. There weren’t as many people in Shanghai. It was still developing and growing into the city that it is now. I think there’s a whole lot more infrastructure here that makes life easier and more convenient, such as transportation and venues for events.

I guess I’ve always felt a sense of being home here. Before I was in my high school bubble, so now I do see a different part of the city and I do see different aspects of the city, especially cuisines. There’s a good amount of diverse cuisines here--cusines from all over China and the world.

It's also interesting to see how much wealth has amassed here. Before, there weren’t as many rich people here, but now it's not uncommon to walk down the street and see a Ferrari."

We spent our September 2017 company retreat in 朱家角 (Zhujiajiao), an ancient water town on the outskirts of Shanghai. We spent two days discussing the future of Ivyuan and doing team building activities. It was great to have our staff from all over China come together for this event.

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After graduation from UCLA, Michelle moved to Seoul, South Korea to experience a different culture. Growing up, she often felt like a cultural ambassador within her family.

"I remember growing up and having to teach my parents American traditions. I didn’t know that at Christmas you got presents or kids had birthday parties until I went to school and was invited to things. I didn’t know what Thanksgiving was. Growing up I felt like my brother and I were the ones trying to bridge the difference between the two cultures.

After college I decided I wanted to do something completely out of my comfort zone so I decided to move to Korea and I taught English there. I had a great experience during my four years in Korea. It was hard to leave but I did feel that it was time to move one and I felt that I had to experience my own culture. That was my first thought when deciding to move to Shanghai and experience living here."

Celebrating our 2017 class' accomplishments!

Christina is a former student who spent her summer before heading to UC Berkeley interning for us in Shanghai. Like most incoming freshmen, she's wondering what the next four years will bring.

"I like meeting new people and opening myself to new environments a lot, but I’m a bit nervous about starting college. It’s a completely different environment for me. I went to a high school with only 600 students where everybody knows each other. But now I’m going to a school that holds so many students, including the graduate students. I think that’ll be a little overwhelming at first. Just the feeling of not being able to know everybody or familiarize yourself with them seems dizzying.

I just got into contact with my roommate and followed her on Instagram. She’s really into art and she’s from the Middle East. I’m excited to meet her. It seems that there are way more different kinds of people and things that I will be able to meet and experience in college. I’m excited for that aspect."

Jingle grew up in Guangzhou, China, away from most of his family. Now, it's just him on the Mainland.

"I was brought up in Guangzhou, but my situation might be a little special because everyone in my family besides my parents was in the US. I’m the only one in my generation who was born in China. I grew up with parents here but my mom passed away three years ago. My dad recently immigrated to the US. My whole history and education and childhood was in Guangzhou.

Growing up, when I needed to talk to my grandpa or grandma or cousins, I’d have to write them a letter and it would take 2 to 3 weeks to get to them and 2 to 3 for them to get back to me. It was pretty different from other families here because families here typically live close to each other.

Since April, I’ve been feeling pretty lost in China because I have to take care of everything myself. I’m taking much more responsibility in my family. Thankfully, Ivyuan has felt more like a second home for me so I’m feeling less lost."