From the Other Side of the World

A few pictures from my trip to China. The trip was really fantastic, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to go. I don't think I ever expected to actually see some of the things I saw on the trip, including some of what you see below: At the Great Wall--the weather was absolutely perfect that day, around 70 degrees with bright sunshine. Wonderful for hiking!

In a park outside the Forbidden City, overlooking the city of Beijing

In the Forbidden City

At the Temple of Heaven

In the Olympic Stadium, pretending to be a spectator

In Shanghai--this is the historic part of the city

And Life Rolls On

Well, dear friends, if any of you even take the time to look at this blog anymore, I'm back. I am writing from yet another big city, this time on the other side of the world: Shanghai, China. I'm here with a school class that is looking at investing in China. We have been here all week and have met with business people and others who work with financial institutions in the country. It has been a fascinating experience, though I have to say, we haven't been able to really see as much of the city as I would have hoped, since we have had a lot of program activities each day. From what I have seen, though, the city is a very interesting mix of old and new--tradition, and future hopes. I am going to be visiting Beijing for a few days as well, and look forward to seeing some of the places that I watched over the air waves for the Olympics!

So that is where I am. Now for where I have been.

Life has been quite busy since our Christmas and New Year's in Paris. When we left France, we got on separate planes for VA and NY to return to academics and job searching. The day I got home, I started prepping again for interviews and continued submitting job applications for a summer internship. Having been through the summer job search for both a law student and an MBA student, I can say without a doubt that if I never have to do it again, it will be too soon! I submitted 35 job applications, and of those, I got interview invitations from 7. It was quite frustrating to see the same thanks, but no thanks email again and again from all the other submissions--discouraging, actually. You want to think that working as hard as you can will always get you results, but that is not reality. Sometimes, it just means you tried and failed. I learned a lot about myself and my personal expectations, strengths, and weaknesses through the process. The weeks leading up to and during my interviews were an emotional roller coaster unlike anything I remember experiencing before. But at the end of the day, I was blessed with the best of the positions I could have asked for, and I am so excited to have this process come to a conclusion. Now, I am really looking forward to the work the summer will hold.

It seemed that just as everything came to a conclusion with interviews, we were heading into finals for our first half semester classes. I definitely feel like the time has sped by so far this semester, and I'm determined to enjoy the next half.

Just in case there wasn't enough going on in our lives, we decided at the end of February, about a week before our lease expired, that we were going to move. So came the last-minute apartment hunting and logistical game-playing. We are very blessed, though, to have found an amazing deal on a fantastic apartment. Although I hate the actual moving process with a passion, it went really quite quickly, and we are now settled in. The new place is larger (couldn't get any smaller!) and in a much nicer neighborhood.

After I return to the country, we will have only about 6 weeks remaining in the end of our respective seemsters. With that, law school will be finished. Three years of very hard work! I am so proud of my man, and look forward to celebrating graduation with him. Before then, though, we're hoping to make some fun memories this spring--our first full spring in NYC. I think we'll be able to manage something!

So there you go--life does roll on, and I would say, has rolled along quite satisfactorily. I'll try to post some pics of our new place and of Shanghai soon. You can find more photos from our Christmas trip on my Facebook.