After a busy and exhausting weekend in the Anhui province, we finally made it back to Nanjing! As our normal class schedule resumes, I realized how much we have seen and experienced so far on our trip. From bustling urban cities to remote villages, I am starting to get a sense for just how massive and diverse China is.
After class and a quick lunch, it was time for our first day at work at our internship sites. I am an international business student, and have been really looking forward to getting a sense of what the Chinese workplace is like. I have worked at several different companies in America, and I was curious to compare the two. My internship here is at Jiangsu Sainty Runlong Trade Company (picture here), a large supply chain and networking company in China. It is the same company that we visited on a prior dialogue a few weeks ago. My first day on the job was pretty uneventful but I got a great taste of the culture at the company. I was surprised to notice how similar the office culture is to companies in America. The way co-workers communicate and interact mimics that of American businesses, which surprised me. My expectation was that things would be completely different and that I would have a hard time getting acclimated to the way business was run, but I am getting the feeling that the transition to working in China will not be too difficult. I am looking forward to the rest of this internship, and to further my understanding of business in China.
While I found many similarities at my internship, this trip as a whole has made me realize how very different China and America are. From little things such as the way people dress, to major issues like the role of government in society, China is completely distinct. As my Chinese improves and I am able to converse more and more with Chinese people these differences are becoming even more visible. From a average foreigners perspective there are many noticeable differences but I, along with other Chinese speakers who are more advanced than myself in our program, have realized that speaking in the native language is the only true way to understand the culture and people. The more I learn about it, the more I question what I am seeing. Experiences such as living with the host family and speaking with natives in the Huang village have given me a variety of perspectives on the real China. Though I am learning a great deal as the trip progresses, I at the same time find myself becoming more and more confused about China and its society as a whole. The differences I mentioned above are extremely difficult to comprehend, and leave me wondering. Sheltered in the suburbs of Boston, it is difficult to imagine how different things are in other areas of the globe. I look forward to continuing our adventures and understanding more of the complex Chinese world.
- Max G.
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