As we enter the final week of our internship here in Xiamen, we can’t help but feel that we will be leaving such a magnificent city that has brought many memories for us to remember for years to come. It seems like just yesterday that we arrived in this vibrant city where we found ourselves settling in comfortably and quickly. The hospitality we received from our local buddies certainly made us feel more than welcome here. The array of quality and affordable bars and restaurants gave us the impression that this is the ‘Newcastle of the East’. With the amount of activities going on here (jazz gigs, going to the beach and visiting neighbouring islands) it seems almost impossible that we would ever wish to leave this city. Massive credit goes to the GEO Team for offering us such a fabulous internship!
All fun aside, we were kept busy during the day with our work. With a good kick of caffeine in the morning (yes, we bought our own coffee machine), Bradley and I were all buzzed up and getting our assignments done by the end of each day. My job was to identify the unique specifications of forklifts in the market and fabricate a database for Linde. Indeed, it was very technical and overwhelming at first but over the course of the internship, it became as easy to understand as a McDonald’s lunch menu. The lads in Utrans, Simon and Andrea, had plenty to do too in their wine industry- and not drinking related! As we looked forward to work each day, we definitely established a healthy work-life balance here.
At Linde, there was no language barrier at all and we built up a strong rapport with our colleagues. Playing basketball and having dinner with them definitely got us closer to them. Oh, and let’s not to forget about KTV- be prepared to sing your lungs out! I can’t remember the amount of times we all sang James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”. Never a dull moment here in exuberant Xiamen! And don’t be too alarmed… but some of us have found love here(!).
It’s a shame that all of us will be going our separate ways in the next week. So far our time here has been far from what we could imagine and we are sure that this city still has much more to offer. Can’t wait to come back again!
Written By HorngYih Loh from Newcastle University, UK
