Final Post

When I think back on the twenty days I spent in China, it seems like they were years ago now. Life has a way of jumping your mind from one task to another without fully understanding the transition taking place. Now working far from what I considered home and learning how to cope with yet another new career, change and instability have become my way of life.

The Beginning

When we set out for the trip I really did not know what to expect of China. I spent a lot of time preparing for China by studying their economics, the vast majority of that agricultural economics which tends to be falling way behind the rest of the country. I also studied some history and cultural items which turned out to be quite useful. Not until I had walked around that first day did I realize what I was in for. The population, smog, people, culture, and business were all absolutely foreign to me. That’s what made it great!

Having spent some time traveling in Europe and Mexico, I felt like I was a bit more prepared for this type of international travel and as it turned out I was. During the first week it was amusing to watch the people that had never really traveled before experience the same types of things I did my first time.

Business

Of course I am going to be biased and say the Papaya farm was the coolest business we saw there, I got to do it. Besides that, I really felt like all the business we visited gave me something. Even if I went into the visits uninterested in the industry, I ended up finding something interesting. One that really sticks out in my mind is KPMG. I was expecting a dull explanation on how the Chinese prepare financial statements, but what I got was an incredible overview of the Chinese business environment. I left that visit feeling cheated because it seemed as if the group had only scratched the surface of our presenter’s knowledge.

I was intrigued by the varying levels of western influence the business had. All the multinational firms we visited were western so that was obvious. The really interesting observation was the contrast between the Chinese multinationals and the Chinese domestic firms. The level of non Chinese influence the business had really changed the environment of the business. An interesting firm visit for a future trip would be with a Russian, Indian, African, etc firm to see the contrast.

Culture

As this was a business trip, it is understandable that culture was not as big a focus. Fortunately, I could not help but to absorb what was happening around me where ever we went. Whether or not I truly understand what I learned culturally on this trip now is questionable. I think this realization will come in time when I am pushed to work more closely with the Chinese.

I thought the food was good. Though some meals were defiantly better than others, I was not threatened by the food at all. There were times I was challenged by the cuisine, dried fish for example, but over all I enjoyed sampling. One of the most fun things was trying street food. I learned the key is to only eat at the venders that were really busy, no details on how I learned that lesson.

People and Myself

I probably learned the most from other people on the trip. The learning experience was not lecturing but interaction through myself and others. The people that influenced me on the trip were the Chinese people, professors, Chinese students, Chinese business people, and the MBA students. Observing peoples interactions with one and another can teach a person a lot about human nature. For example, with the MBA students, I learned how to interact better with people in highly trying situations. When people are tired, stressed, sick and irritable they can be a real challenge to interact with. Now I better understand how to be around these people. The Chinese people were fun to interact with. The inquisitive nature I observed with many was astonishing. It was really nice to interact with a people so eager to learn.

Overall I loved the trip and really cherish the opportunity it gave me.