Chinese versus Western Cuisine
The InternChina team Chengdu finished the last week with an epic food clash of Western & Chinese cuisine. As per Thursday night tradition, we went to Mike’s Pizza kitchen, Chengdu’s premiere pizzeria. Friday night saw us join a neighbouring company in our we office building to celebrate a classic Chinese BBQ.
Mike’s Pizza kitchen provides really good Western food (which is rare for China). Paul, who already lived for almost two years in China and is currently one of our interns in Chengdu, said it was the best pizza in China he’d ever tasted (also happened to be his first in three months). So, it would have been good anyway, but I completely agree with Paul that Mike’s pizza kitchen is a top notch place to enjoy Western cuisine in Chengdu.
In comparison to that, we had some Chinese BBQ on the next day. We bought a lot of local specialties, ranging from beef, chicken, pork and a lot of local vegetables to put on the grill.Of course we had some cold beers, too (it wouldn’t have been a real BBQ without a chilled beer!)
The Chinese style of making a BBQ seems to be a little more spontaneous (maybe we are too fastidious when preparing our BBQ back in the West). Put on a open coal grill, the meats and vegetables are seasoned ad hoc depending on an individual’s preference. Regardless, it was still really tasty! The combination of the different local spices and herbs blended well with the succulent morsels of meat. All Chengdu interns were glad to have this BBQ to cap off the week.
For me, the result of the food clash in regards to taste was a draw. But the atmosphere of a decent BBQ with a lot of friendly people can’t be beaten by a dinner at a restaurant. All in all, I can say that I really enjoy the local food. Still, from time to time, a good home cooked Western meal is needed to keep me close to home.
Like exposing your palate to new interesting flavours? Why not come to China! Apply now or send us an email for more information.
Hi there!
My name is Max Ma. I am a rising sophomore in Vanderbilt University, majoring in Human and Organizational Development. This is my first internship and I hope it will be an unforgettable and meaningful experience.
As for most college students, every summer break is very important and should not be wasted. So, with the hopes to put what I’ve learned in college into practice and to gain some experience, I started my first search for an internship on Google. However, with only a superficial understanding of my major, I was pretty confused about what I would like to do and where I could fit at the beginning. Also, the overwhelming information about internships made me feel lost and frustrated. But fortunately all my efforts paid off when I found InternChina. The name aroused my interest at first sight, and as I learned more about this company, I felt I definitely should give it a shot. I prepared the first CV and cover letter in my life and sent them to InternChina with hope. I got a reply soon after, and, luckily, they offered me a video interview. About two weeks later, I had an interview with Jack Fairhead, the Qingdao office manager. The first impression he left me with was warm and considerate. Through him, I could feel the comfortable and liberal working environment in the company, and with a fairly deep conversation, I got a better view of their business.
When I learned that they were helping westerners with internship opportunities in China and helping them experience and understand Chinese culture, I was like “Dude, that’s exactly what I want to do.” I thought it should be a pretty interesting experience to know how westerners feel about China after they really become part of it, just as Americans are interested to know what I feel about America. Furthermore, as a native Qingdaoer, I’d like to help them get a more real and deeper understanding about my city, and with the experience of having to adjust myself to a different culture, I’d like to try my best to ease their life in China. After weeks of waiting, I was finally accepted by InternChina and got my first internship contract!
As I got to the office on the first day, I was impressed with the hospitality of my colleagues. They were so nice and generous to teach me things. Meanwhile, the diversity in the office strengthened my interest to work here. We had people from England, Germany, France and China. It must be very exciting and valuable to learn how a team with such a huge diversity can work well together, and to actually see how an organization which markets its programs almost solely online, and more important, to be part of it. I really can’t wait to see more, learn more, and do more together with these fabulous guys.
Would you like to meet Max and share internship experiences? Apply now or send us an email for more information.