Reverse Culture Shock??

March 4, 2011

 

          The third week of my internship is already done. Time is really flying by. I spent a lot of time this week proofreading the agenda for the summit. My boss also wants me to find current events for a monthly newsletter that they are going to start putting out. This task has been harder than I thought. I have had some difficulty finding events that are directly relevant to CEC. Important things that they also want to stay in-the-know about are high-profile business people coming to visit China, other green/CSR/internationally-related summits, and any major changes happening in politics (i.e. economic or foreign policy) that may have a direct impact on the members and/or constituents of CEC. There is a lot of information out there, just not always very good quality. I have been sticking to a couple major news outlets in China like Xinhua and Beijing Daily, as well as various foreign embassy and NGO websites.

 

         As I attempt to sort through how best to go about this new professional world I have found myself in, I have developed a few questions. The point of an internship is to prepare a student for life in the working world. However, I am afraid that Chinese business culture is too different from American business culture. Norms that I become accustomed to in China may not be at all what the norms are in the U.S. I already know that I am learning a lot about professional life, but I just hope that our two cultures aren't so different that I experience "reverse culture shock" when I go to work in an American company one day. I really don't have any point of reference to go off of. Everything is new to me, so it is difficult to figure out what is standard, universal business practice, and what is the Chinese business practice. I'm not too worried about it though because I think that common sense and common courtesy will more often than not lead one in the right direction.

          In other things going on in my life, I am really enjoying the volunteer work that I am doing at church. I have been going to the multimedia team's weekly Bible study meetings. Even though I don't understand a lot of what they are talking about, I am glad that I am able to form relationships with these people and start to develop a base of friendships outside of work and home. I finished editing the church's Christmas video. I also got to be on the camera during their evening worship service. Since the church is so big, the service is projected onto a big screen so that everyone can see. My job is to get different shots of the people on stage so that the congregation can see. It has been different serving more behind-the-scenes. At my church in America, I served on the worship team and taught Sunday School. The type of service I'm doing now is not always seen and appreciated. It is really helping me be more humble and to remember that I am serving Jesus, not people at church. I was also asked to summarize the English Fellowship's sermons every week on Haidian's website. I talk about the sermon topic and then give a little commentary on what I took away. It is really a great opportunity. Who knew that I would be able to have such an open chance to talk this freely about my faith in China? So long as I don't say anything too outrageous, I think I can pretty much say what I want. I am really excited. Also, my host mom has been asking a lot of questions about Christianity and I have had several opportunities to share the Gospel with her. She seems really interested in it, so keep my host family in your prayers. :-)

Chinese Word of the Day

Lang fei 浪费： to waste


Verse of the Day

Matthew 6:33-34
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."