Boarding

We will begin boarding the flight home any minute now. We're all trying to get ready for our 13 hour flight to Chicago. A few students have asked if we can leave them behind, but we promise to bring everyone back to IU.

Heading Home

We're on the bus to the airport. It's a beautiful, sunny day in Shanghai - much different than the day we arrived. The weather makes me want to stay longer and explore the city more. One week is not nearly enough time to spend in China. Compared to all there is to see and do here, we've hardly seen anything. I think a lot of students want to come back.

Last Night in Shanghai

Oops - falling behind in blog updates! Yesterday we had good visits at the American Chamber of Commerce and Whirlpool.

At AmCham, we were given an overview of the non-profit organization's purpose and activities. Then Jay Hoening from Hill & Associates shared his perspective on doing business in China, including how corruption and fraud affect business.

At Whirlpool, we learned about the appliance landscape in China, including how the market differs from the U.S. market in many ways. Whirlpool entered China fairly early, and they made a lot of mistakes, so it was interesting to learn about their experience.

Following the presentation and Q&A we toured the design facilities. Whirlpool moved to this location in 2008, but the design studio is new and still under construction. From there we toured the research labs where they test the safety, efficiency, reliability, and noise levels of Whirlpool washers. We were pleased to be hosted at Whirlpool by Kelley alumnus and company Vice President Ian Lee.

Later that night, a group of us went to dinner with Mr. Klotsche from Brady Corporation, followed by a stunning river cruise along the Bund and Pudong. Others went out with acquaintances or visiting parents.

We had a little bit later start this morning. First we visited Yu garden in Old Shanghai. It was beautiful - lots of great photo opportunities - but very crowded. We spent some time shopping at a market before having free time to shop or relax on our own.

This evening has been a wonderful closing night. We attended the Shanghai Circus and saw a production called Era: The Intersection of Time. Simply amazing. I could never do it justice by trying to describe it in a blog post, but I can tell you we saw contortionists, aerialists, tumblers, trampoline artists, and a death-defying motorcycle act. Everyone was in awe.

Now we are out socializing, hosted by Samridh's father. Julie's mother is here, as is Nathaniel, another Kelley student visiting from Hong Kong. I think this trip has just about worn us out, but nobody will forget it any time soon.

Bargaining

We've stopped at a market to practice our bargaining skills. Here Sagar negotiates on a pair of sunglasses.

Sightseeing

We're off to see a Ming Dynesty-era garden. The students took a minute to pose with this guy, the mascot for World Expo 2010, which opens in a couple of months.

Whirlpool Visit

Just wrapped up the Whirlpool visit, where we saw some cool design areas and testing labs. More about those later. In the showroom, this employee explained various refrigerator design elements to Jamie.

Quick Lunch

We just left the American Chamber of Commerce and have only a short time for lunch before heading to Whirlpool for the afternoon. Most of us are eating at McDonald's. I got a Big Mac meal for about $2.54.