Already a week...

We have been here for more than a week now and we have already gotten used to everything.

We have had three more classes since then:

In 'Green Manufacturing', we learn about sustainable production and the professor is doing a good job, even though the content has been mostly general knowledge so far, but that will change.
In 'Control Design and Practice of Manufacturing System', we cover similar topics to what we have already studied in Control Engineering and Automation Engineering, and we will work on various practical exercises related to process control. So we already have some prior knowledge about it.
Today we had 'E-Commerce'. It's about everything related to online shopping. This topic is very relevant in China, as everything is done through smartphones and the internet. Everyone orders online, pays with their phone, and communication also happens mostly through these channels. It will be an interesting subject and the professor is very good at making the lectures exciting.
We have also signed up for a Chinese language course which will start next week.

On Tuesday, we attended the Welcome Ceremony of CDHAW. Almost all German students were there (around 80) and various people introduced themselves. This included Prof. Xiao Feng (Director), Oliver Schirmer (Vice Director), and the deans of the individual departments. Of course, a party chairman had to be present as well. Everyone welcomed us and gave us some helpful tips.
Lastly, a young lady named Stephanie gave a small presentation about China. She talked about some tourist destinations, food tips, and other advice on living in China. After that, there was a small buffet organized by Barney's Café. She owns this place and organizes different events to bring locals and international students together. We actually went there this evening to get a taste of the food and see what it's like. I think we will definitely participate in one of their offers (e.g. dumpling cooking on December 22nd).

In addition, Thomas and I met our buddies (tutors/contact persons) for the first time yesterday. They are both very nice and we went out for Hotpot together. Hotpot is a pot with 2 types of soup in it, and you put various raw ingredients into the soup to cook them. It was delicious and we had a good conversation. I think we will do a lot of things together in the future.

Also, Thomas and I went shopping again. We each bought a small plant for our room and also the necessary equipment to dry our laundry. Let's see how well that works, as the clotheslines here are crisscrossed everywhere.

By the way, we are in contact with the University in Wenzhou (about 300 km south of Shanghai), as it is also a partner university of EAH Jena, and we are supposed to prepare Chinese students for their stay in Jena. I'm excited and currently the plan is to visit there the weekend after next.

Other than that, life here is going on in its familiar way. The daily study routine is not much different. Let's see what the next days and weeks will bring. At the beginning of October, we have a week off because of the Golden Week, and we are thinking about where to go, as around this time, there will be easily half a billion people traveling in China.

On the weekend, we will definitely go out and explore some more, like the center of Jiading, the district where we live.

Pictures of the campus and the rooms will follow as soon as I have time for it ;)