A Pacific Star Internship

Family style dinner with Coworkers

Learn more about our programs and activities on the FSB China Programs website.

By Mike Solarz - Junior Accountancy major

This past summer I had the opportunity to visit China—it was my first time abroad and definitely a learning experience on so many different levels. During my first five weeks in China, I participated in the five week "Far East" study abroad program where I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and several other cities. During the latter half of my summer, I interned at the Shanghai office of Pacific Star International Logistics.

It was difficult to form lasting relationships with any of the Chinese locals due to the fact that we were always on the go for my study abroad program. However, my internship at Pacific Star really showed me what daily living in China is like. Because I was staying in Shanghai for two months, I was able to connect with and form relationships with the people in our company.

One of my duties while at Pacific Star was to give daily English lessons to the employees. Through these English lessons, I was able to talk with some of the employees and form friendships with them. I was also able to learn about what daily living for the native Chinese was like. Many of the employees at Pacific Star were the same age as me, yet came from totally different backgrounds. For instance, many lived with their parents and were still supported by their parents financially. This wasn’t too surprising, because most employees at Pacific Star only earned around $300 monthly. Conversely, when these individuals get older, it is expected that they will financially support their parents. This may be difficult, considering that many of them are only children (and they will be obligated to financially support their children and their parents.)

Because many of the Pacific Star employees don’t earn much and realize that they will be needing a larger source of income in the future, many plan on opening their own business one day. This can be extremely lucrative, especially for labor-intensive companies (like the logistics company) because the cost of labor is so cheap. Cheap labor can equate to a relatively large profit margin.

Besides learning a lot about Pacific Star’s employees, I (along with the other Miami interns) was able to hang out with several of the employees on the weekends. We would go to restaurants, bars, KTV (karaoke,) and different landmarks with them. I think they took a particular liking to us because we were American. Every weekend the Pacific Star employees wanted to make plans with us. It was quite nice having a group of locals as friends.

The relationships that we formed with the Pacific Star employees have continued even now that we are back in America. We keep in touch via instant messaging, e-mail and Facebook. I am hoping that many of the relationships that I formed while in China will continue to last me a lifetime.

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