Information Session DatesClose |
Carrie and Fellow Miamians Pose in Front of Terra Cotta Warriors
Learn more about our programs and activities on the FSB China Programs website.
Last March, I received an email from Dr. Yen notifying me of a two month long, summer internship opportunity with a logistics company, Pacific Star International Logistics Co., Ltd., in Shanghai. As a China Business Program student, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. This would provide me with the incredible chance to experience China's culture in a more individual and personal way.
I spent the next few weeks anxiously waiting for a response. Finally, a month later, I learned that I, and three other Miami students, was offered the job.
My daily schedule in Shanghai went something like this: Wake up at 8:00 AM, work from 9:00 AM- 6:00 PM, and then explore the city until whenever I chose to come home!
Half of my time was spent inside the office- learning about China's business culture and the logistics world. The other half was spent outside- sightseeing, shopping, and clubbing. This was the perfect mix of business and pleasure.
When I stepped into Pacific Star I felt like I had stepped straight into a newsroom from a movie. Everybody was either scurrying around the office, hastily making phone calls to customers, or constantly refreshing their email in prospect of new messages.
Every single person in the office seemed busy. There was no conversing, no mingling between friends, and definitely no horseplay of any kind. It continued to be this way all day, and by 6:00 PM (when I was exhausted and ready to leave for the day), I realized that nobody else was leaving. Nearly every employee worked overtime, some even as late as midnight.
In China, it is very clear people separate their personal life from their professional life.
When we first arrived in the company, most of the workers did not know our purpose and therefore did not know what level of respect we should receive. I later learned the main reason for their initial behavior: they did not yet know our position in the company. Business in China is all about hierarchy and respect. Employees treat their managers with enormous respect and usually refer to them by titles (like Manager Phoebe, or CEO). I couldn't help but notice that there were not many "friendship" relationships between managers and employees.
One of our duties at Pacific Star was to give English lessons to all divisions of the company. Initial classes were very different from any other learning style I experienced. Everybody was so quiet. They never asked questions, nor spoke out in class. Luckily, we were able to come up with simple games and lessons to get the whole room interacting.
After the initial awkward quietness of our coworkers wore off, we were soon being invited to daily lunches. It was at this point when I started to learn about the incredibly different details of our friends' daily lives - most important: the concept of money.
An average employee at Pacific Star makes about 2250 Yuan a month. This amount currently translates to only $330.00 per month. These people are working full-time; at the very least 45 hours a week. I personally don't believe many Americans that I have ever met could live off of that salary. The average Chinese person does not spend nearly as much money on frivolous products as the average American.
The best part of my trip was that I was able to experience a different side of China that I would not be able to as a tourist. Yes, I did sightsee and travel on the weekends, but I also was able to establish a life here.
"When in Shanghai, do as the Shanghainese" was the motto we tried to live by. Lauren, Mike and I made every effort to learn as much about China as we could during our internship and I believe that we were successful.
There are many cultural differences that I observed when I was in Shanghai. Listed below are some of the most interesting:
Staring- Nearly everywhere we went within the city. Chinese people looked and pointed at us. Sometimes they would take pictures of us with without asking for permission. This got very annoying at times, but by the end of the trip we all learned to deal with it and sometimes even made jokes about it.
Slurping noodles- Unlike America, where loudly slurping your soup is considered to be rude, in China it is normal. Noodles in China are delicious! We learned of all the different kinds and ate noodles at least once a day.
Buddhism- Of course, when in China every tourist MUST visit at least one temple. After I visited my first Buddhist temple, I couldn't stop! They were so interesting and elaborate and so old! The history in China is incredible. I became so interested in the dynasties and history of China that I bought books on it, researched it online, and visited every single temple I could. The interesting part about Buddhist is that while only 10% of Chinese people declare themselves as a certain religion, everyone seems to greatly respect Buddhism.
Content maintained by External Relations
