Work hard & play as hard as you can.

Posted by Cassie Chao ,
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Now I truly don’t know where to begin.  I have come upon my second week of work in Sponsorship, and have already developed a love hate relationship with my job/lifestyle. Of course I have exhausted myself physically and mentally through constant nights out.  I don’t know what it is but I definitely have the dance bug where I can’t stay in at night.  Over the past 2 weeks of being here, I have stayed in for only 4 nights, which means every other night I have been living up the Shanghai nightlife. 

I guess I’ll break this post down in to WORK & PLAY.

WORK

The sponsorship department takes care of all the sponsors – around 70 dedicated companies/cities that have supported the USA Pavilion.  Since the USAP is privately funded, it is crucial that we take care of sponsors and see it through that they take full advantage of their benefits.  We host events daily, including VIP tours through the USAP as well as other pavilions.  Last Monday, I brought through a delegation from Houston, one member of which worked on the recently launched satellite.  I was also able to visit France, Spain, and Canada pavilion through the VIP access – just one of the perks on this job.

Occasional visits from GE, one of our global sponsors, fill up our schedule throughout the week and they bring rare gifts, such as jade pendants from the Beijing Olympics – another perk of this job.

One HUGE aspect of life at the Expo is the “trading of pins”.  Workers at different pavilions receive their own country pin (USA gave us 4 each) and we trade them between pavilions/workers.  Of course the USA pavilion pins are a highly sought so those can be traded for more than one pin.  Sometimes people in the Expo will just give you pins…this is rare but it’s happened – how do you think I got the Communist Party pin? J I’m awesome.


My work schedule has been somewhat random.  I never get two consecutive workdays off, which is understandable because sponsors can come in any day of the week.  This definitely messes with my playtime, but it hasn’t stopped me yet. When I do have work, I have to get to work before 9, since many delegations choose to come in earlier, but it hasn’t been a problem even when I sleep at 3 or 4 in the morning.

As of right now, I am waiting for some VIPs of Pepsi to come through… kind of bored right now.

As of tomorrow, I am being transferred to the “Special Projects” department as my experience is much needed in the event management section.  I will remain an ambassador, but I will be more hands-on on all of the events, including non-sponsored events.  Not only will I be working on events, but office management – my favorite! I’m excited to be a part of a new team, which only consists of 3 people including myself. I will let you know how it goes.
PLAY

Shanghai nightlife is something I had dearly missed when I was in the States.  Even New York City does not compare.  I always had a saying that “Americans are too lazy to dance which is why there are so many bars and lounges…Shanghai knows how to party”.  Shanghai Round 2 is homework-less making it MUCH easier for me to experience the nightlife…full on.  The ironic part of it is that I only stay in the nights before my days off… and go out every other night.  For those who are reading this…yes, I am responsible and I have not been drunk, “I just wanna dance!”- my motto for my stay in Shanghai, as many of my friends know. 

The session 2 ambassadors have been so much fun, and its great to get to know them better through dance! I have made friends with the Dance America team (hired dancers from LA for our entertainment crew) as well, but just watching them dance at clubs make me feel bad about my movin and shakin!

There’s not much to write about my nightlife experience, except that it has been a blast.  I have already tested my physical limits by sleeping a mere 4 hours a night. It’s ok, the hours have been increasing recently so don’t worry! Just think about all that dancing and how many calories I’m burning.  I’m not sure, but I think I’ve lost about 10 pounds already.  Impressive, huh?

I have also been shopping like NONE other since our weekly stipends are far more than enough for us...well those of us that like to eat frugally but spend fruitfully. My most impressive purchase thus far is 3 pairs of PRESCRIPTION glasses for 120RMB (~$18USD) each, and they're cute!!

Photos are worth a million words.
The Dance America team captain - my fave!!
Expo Midterm Party

Dinner at Boxing Cat Brewery, some good "southern" food.

My first night at MUSE with session 1 ambassadors.

We won  trivia night :) 1000RMB in drinks.
Bulldog Pub

My suite mate, but soon to be roommate!

I Love Shanghai Ladies Night with my favorite Session 1 ambassadors.

First time at Windows Too. Bon Jovi all the way!

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Training is Draining

Posted by Cassie Chao ,
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I don’t even know where to begin. My internet connection is pretty unstable which has caused me to write minimally about my intense experience thus far at the World Expo.  Training has been draining, but I have managed to find time to go out every single night.  Today is my first night staying in this week – due to the thunderbolts and lightning (very, very frightening to me!) even though the Philippines and Angola are holding parties in their pavilions.  Today marks the HALFWAY point of the expo.


July 22 - On the first day, I was so happy to be reunited with Charlotte – my friend from Fudan study abroad. I had dinner at a Xin Jiang restaurant with a few people I had just met, including one of my suitemates. I was eager to go out, but many people were jetlagged, understandably.


July 23 - The next morning, I grabbed some breakfast with a new friend before we met up with others to visit the Expo grounds. At the expo, we visited Kazakhstan – which included a really cool 4D movie with moving chairs like at theme parks, an ice room – to imitate winters in their country, and some random games… it was all pretty entertaining in my opinion.  We then visited the USA Pavilion to check out the offices, nothing as in depth as the training I will describe later. We then visited Egypt, which was a bit underwhelming… other than a few Egyptian statues and art, there wasn’t much to see or interact with.

Self-explanatory.



Inside Egypt.

Thereafter, Charlotte and I rushed to People’s Square to have my reunion with AMBER and LUCY, after ONE YEAR!  We met at Raffles City for a sad one-hour before we had to head back for the Student Ambassador Pizza Party! It was funny to see how many people recognized me from Facebook. “Hey CASSIE CHAOS!” Oh Facebook.  A few guys at my table were really eager to go out and explore Shanghai, so this we did! M2 first, followed by GPlus, 2 clubs where I got my dance on! I enjoy Shanghai nightlife, as it consists more of dancing around opposed to New York’s lounging and drinking.


Reunion!

Night out!


July 24 – The USA Pavilion had shorts, skirts, and pants tailored for us at the Fabric Market. Sadly, I have never gotten anything made in Shanghai’s fabric market, and the only thing I would probably get made is suits, like I did in Beijing. Anyway, it was all free of charge and I have to go pick them up this Sunday.  Char and I walked around People’s Park in awe of how Shanghai has evolved over this past year, especially the number of blue sky days! For those in Shanghai, find the time to visit People’s Park. It’s absolutely gorgeous!


People's Park



We met up with Amber for our last night together and had some yummy Pho – as you know it’s my favorite. We walked past what was remaining of “小吃街”or “little food street” but all of it was boarded up or demolished, sigh- thanks a lot expo. After dinner, we went to Zapatas (one of many times to come) to hang out with some ambassadors. Overall, it was a very fun night before the draining of training.


Zapatas night 1.

July 25- Wake up at 6:30 AM to head to the USA Pavilion at 7AM…2 hours before the pavilion even opens! We took a tour for 3 hours…before we finally walked back to Expo Village, where many of us had some cheap family-style lunch. After lunch, we sat in a classroom for 5 hours for an orientation lecture. Draining much? I can’t even remember what I did this night.


July 26 – 8AM to 8PM: lecture training… important and EXTREMEMLY tiring, but still managed to go out to Zapatas for Alice’s 22nd birthday. Had an AMAZING night and really got to loosen people’s stiff sides. As I said, Zapatas – always fun. Met some USA Pavilion dancers who rocked the bar dancing!

July 27 – DAY OFF! Woke up at 1PM and introduced Alice to 麻辣汤 and she loved it! Can’t remember what else we did, but at night we visited Malta pavilion, but it wasn’t anything special – just a bar with outdoor seating. Nice for a “chill” night.

July 28 – My first day of on-site training! I was partnered with Josiah and a session 1 ambassador, both really outgoing individuals and I had an awesome time in operations. I even said a brief about myself in front of the Act I crowd in Chinese! However, my first on-site training day was pretty intense, as I had to send two people to First Aid, and help one woman find her child. Lost children seem to be a reoccurring theme at the pavilion and the expo grounds…which is kind of funny considering each family usually only has ONE child. In the afternoon, we had a very short training about VIP – nothing we hadn’t heard before.

Afterward we all boarded a bus to the US Consulate (which by the way is directly across from Bulldog…where I celebrated St. Patrick’s day and Cinco de Mayo last year…ruh roh!).  After a discussion panel and an oath, the SAs made an a-line to the grill and quickly devoured the spread like locusts. I was estatic that dessert included green tea ice cream

At night, we went to our first pavilion PARTY at the Austrian pavilion. It was a first night out for many of the ambassadors, but I was entertained with the euro music playing in the background. Apparently I danced so crazily I made it onto the front page of the Expo Nights website – www.exponights.com woohoo! One of the session 1 ambassadors took us out to a club called Number 88, which is reputed as a “Chinese” club, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself! They played the best music I have heard in Shanghai thus far.   




July 29 – DAY OFF! I woke up around noon and met up with some friends for 麻辣汤 again. We then proceeded to the fake market where I bought two MORE Longchamp bags and a couple DVDs. It began to rain while we traveled back to the village, keeping me indoors for the night.  I think I’m going to put “Kick- Ass” on until I fall asleep.

Til next time! Love from Shanghai.
PS. Forgive me for my poor grammar structure and horrible English...it's been a long week and Chinese is taking over my brain.

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This is not Disney World and I am not Obama.

Posted by Cassie Chao , Labels: , , ,
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For the past few days I have been chillin in Shanghai with some Aussies and it's been wonderful! I went out to play rugby with one of them for the first time and I feel like I've had my ass kicked, because literally, I did.  The weather is so hot here that I have only left their apartment three times in the past three days, once for rugby, once for shopping, and once for bubble tea! Apparently, it will only get hotter as July and August are the hottest months of the year... I don't think Taiwan prepared me for anything.


View from Aussie's apt. Jealous the Expo view is not like this.

As for the title of my post...it's the clear expression of my experience at the World Expo. It is NOT Disney World and I am clearly not high roller like Obama. Once I stepped foot into the Expo, the massive pavilions just awestruck me. Of course waiting in line is nobody's favorite thing to do (if it is, you're interesting), so I flashed around my staff pass in the VIP line.  Too bad for my parents, we found out that at most pavilions, only I can get in.  If only I were Obama, I would get in with as many people I wanted...but I'm not.

VIP [staff] pass

At night, however, the lines go pretty fast - there are still hundreds of thousands of people though.  We went to Nepal, Taiwan, France, and a few others that had moving lines.  Taiwan had an amazing pavilion.  While it didn't really cover the topic of urban sustainability, it had some pretty neat effects - a 720 degree movie (it surrounds you), a HUGE LED screen in the shape of a balloon - to submit digital paper lanterns, and a tea ceremony with harp playing.  Because of these intricate stages of the pavilion, you must have a reservation ticket (or pass in my case), and only 4,000 tickets are given out a day.  I don't even know when they give them out! 

720 degree movie.

Largest LED sphere.


While the expo does not strike me as a theme park, it is an opportunity for the native Chinese to explore other cultures and lifestyles.  In the French pavilion, many were taking pictures with an Eiffel Tower image, pretending they were there. In the Taiwan pavilion it was fun for me to watch the guys take pictures with the pretty female Taiwanese staff. All in all, most pavilions do not fit the "Better City, Better Life" theme, but they showcase a day in the life of a [country] person. 

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Outside of the Expo, my parents and I visited my old stomping grounds - Fudan, Wu Jiao Chang, Wu Dong Lu... as well as the Bund, Xin Tian Di, French Concession, and Tian Zi Fang.  All of these places have changed so much over the past year, especially the Bund.  But, the magnificent view of the Financial District has not been altered.  Always beautiful and always enchanting!

I love my new camera!


The new student ambassadors arrive in 4 hours! I'm so excited to finally be united with the rest of the crew.  I will be sure to update in a few days once I get settled in my new apartment!

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