Projects Abroad - CHINA Daily Life

Day Life of a Law Volunteer in China

I had to be at work at Longan Law by around 8.45am so I would get up at about 7.30 and quietly (because my flatmates taught English and didn't have to be out of bed until midday usually - part-timers!) . Over my breakfast of fruity bread (very nice by the way!) I would listen to a Chinese news channel (very informative).

I would walk to the metro station which was about 10 minutes from my flat and then witness the craziest dash to get on the metro that I have ever seen...and this happened every morning...always fun to see someone nearly lose a limb before work!

I would arrive at work, (air conditioned office thankfully since one more minute in that heat would definitely have melted me) and Frank my supervisor would greet me (most mornings) with "morning I've left work on your desk". Actually, the work was really good and Frank gave me some pretty interesting projects to do such as a presentation on the legal requirements of getting listed on the UK stock exchanges and comparing these with different international exchanges. That was a pretty big task that took about 2-3 weeks to complete.

Once the morning had flown by and lunch came you could, if you were daring, visit the canteen and get a free lunch. I learnt pretty soon why it was free and never visited again. So it was Starbucks or this great Japanese noodle bar or a Thai restaurant which were all situated in the shopping centre just a 2 minute walk away! Or you could just shop your lunch away!

After lunch I usually worked on the same task as in the morning because the research tasks were fairly substantial. There was always a tea break in the afternoon which I would spend with the other interns...ice cream or frappuccino usually (avoid the green tea frappuccino though, I cannot understand the fuss about that one!).

6pm would arrive signifying time to go home...get home quick, change out of the suit and off to dinner with my flatmates and other volunteers who lived close by. This was a great opportunity to exchange stories of the day, eat good food and relax.

Then it would start all over again . . .