While I was growing up, my parents always tried to keep me involved in as many extracurricular activities as I could handle because their philosophy was, “If you’re bored, you’re not trying hard enough”. I take many life lessons from them, but this specific one resonates with me here in Shanghai because it would be easy for me to become too comfortable. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being comfortable, but when you are abroad you want to try new things, immerse yourself, and do things that make you feel uncomfortable.
It would be really easy for me to get comfortable in Shanghai because it is such an international city. The city itself has given me the opportunity of meeting and working with people from all over the world. And although we all come from different cultures, at the end of the day, it is a beautiful feeling whenever you can find a common interest with someone that grew up on the complete opposite side of the globe. I try to integrate into my community by finding common interests with the people I am meeting and building friendships from there. I have tried all sorts of random activities here in Shanghai. For example, I went to my first Comic Con, Shanghai Open Rolex Masters, and I am playing football again.
