名片 = business card

Here's another little tid-bit on a cultural difference bewteen the US and China that seems to keep coming up in my research (and now even at work!).

The exchange of business cards is a very formal matter in China (and most of Asia). When giving someone your business card you should hold it with two hands, fingers in each top corner, with the text facing so the recipient can read it. It can't be messy, smudged, or have corners that are damaged. If you are receiving a business card from someone you should accept it with both hands, pause to thank them for it, read it carefully, and make a comment to them about it, particularly something about their title.

In the US it is common for two business people to casually hand their card to one another and put the other's in their jacket pocket immediately without looking at it. To the Chinese, this shows a huge disrespect. You should also never write notes on the back of someone else's business card, at least not in front of them.

I think this formal exchange is the result of two important characteristics of China:

1. The Chinese value relationships and making connections. A word you will hear commonly used in relation to China is guanxi, which basically means a close relationship. The exchange of business cards is a way to network and is the beginning of a new relationship.

2. In the business world, the Chinese value titles and positions and pay attention to superiority and rankings within a company. If they are receiving a business card from someone they can see their title listed on the card. If it is someone "higher in ranks" you better believe they are going to show a great deal of respect to that person.

Today at work I was giving a customer (white guy/not Asian) my business card, and he said, "You know in Asia that would have been disrespectful. Over there you have to...." - and I finished his sentence and then demonstrated the proper way to exchange cards. He was pretty impressed I knew!

喜讯 = good news

I got an email today that I was awarded $750 for the study abroad scholarship I applied for!! I'm really excited!! I won't get it until mid-June though... But I'm paid in full for the trip!! No more money drama. What a relief!

网志 = blog

One of the professor's going on the trip sent us an email telling us about a blog they have set up tracking all of the trips she has led to China each summer since 2006. Students (and professors I think) have posted in the blog with reflections and research from their experience. I've only read a few posts so far, but there is some really interesting information on there from what I've read so far. She said we'll be using the blog again this summer; each student can log in and blog about whatever they want to share. It's kind of the same idea I had with this amy goes to china blog. Here is the link to the blog. You'll find some perspectives of the dating relationship in the Chinese culture, racial minorities, and the evolution from the traditional Chinese culture happening in the youth today.

款项 = payment

i got an email on wednesday saying that the first installment for the trip is due on sunday the 15th... that's a 4 day notice for a $1,320 payment. wtf?! and the second (and last) installment was due on the 30th. when i made the non-refundable down payment on the trip, the website i was on said that the first charge would show up in my account on the 15th and had to be paid by the 30th and that the second payment would show up on the 30th and need to be paid by april 15th. i guess they changed their minds... but, being a college student, i don't just have a grand sitting around somewhere that i could use to make this payment. my loan money hasn't come through yet, and it won't for another week or two, and i don't get paid again before the 15th. i asked if there was any way to have a few extra days since they changed the dates on us, and they basically said no way because they are buying our plane tickets next week. so, needless to say, it's been a stressful past few days trying to figure this out. i think i may have a solution. keep your fingers crossed!

同窗 = fellow classmates

I got an email today with a list of the other students going on the trip... and of course I looked them all up on Facebook to see if I knew anyone else going! Other than my friend, Jon (who I already knew was going and was the one that talked me into going), I didn't really know anyone else. There are a few people that I've had a class with at some point, but other than that I don't know any of them. But I'm excited about that; it's always great meeting new people. It definitely seems like a diverse group of people! I think there are a total of 30 students going and then a handfull of faculty members.

They also gave us some more information about all of the pre-trip happenings. For the class I'll be getting credit for we have to do some online work in June. We'll be having virtual meetings on Monday and Tuesday evenings on WebCT Vista. We also have 4 meetings, one each month, before we go. The first one is April 18 - and of course I can't go! :( I'm really bummed about it. But that morning is the same time I have this big event going on that I'm the project manager for and have been planning for months now - so there is no way I can not be there. I really wish I could go to the meeting. I really want to meet all of the other students going and the faculty. I also don't want to miss any of the big information they talk about. I'm going to meet with one of the program directors to go over some details and to fill out some paperwork. Apparently they are doing all the work in regards to getting us Visas and the cost for the Visa was included in the program cost - so that's good news!

中华文化 = Chinese culture

I'm taking an International Human Resources class this semester, and we've done a few case studies dealing with China. They have had a lot of interesting information regarding the culture in China, especially in regards to their business culture - which I will be experiencing a lot on the trip with all of the company visits and plant tours we'll be going on.

Here are some of the things that I've learned about the Chinese culture/business culture:
The Chinese live in a polychronic society, meaning time is non-linear to them. The Chinese don't define or segment time like the West. Time simply flows from one day to another; if a job is not completed today, they will carry it forward to the next day or the day after next - no big deal. This differs from the monochronic ways of the West where we are very task-oriented and have set schedules and deadlines.

A Chinese philosophy describing the interaction with Westeners says: Wheras a Westener will try to tell you everything he knows in a conversation, a Chinese will listen to learn everything the Westerner knows, so that, at the end of the day, he would know both what he knew and what the Westener knew.

The Chinese are big into gift giving to express appreciation. They view the Westerner's frequent use of "thank you" to be insincere. When they do someone a favor, they expect appreciation to be expressed in some very concrete way. If you just say "thanks" you should at least stop and say it in a heartfelt, direct manner. However, gift giving has become less common today because of laws and regulations in regards to people accepting gifts.

More to come on Chinese culture...

求知 = to seek knowledge

I just signed up on this website - http://www.chinese-course.com/ - in hopes to learn a thing or two about the Chinese language before I go on this trip. That's where I've been getting all of the Chinese symbols I've been using in the posts. The website is pretty neat; it has the symbols, their English translations and meanings, and some even have clips that pronounce the words. The homepage also has "words/sentences of the day" - like 他喜欢桌球甚于足球, which means "He enjoys table tennis more than football" and 柜台就在您的左手边, which means "The reception desk is right over there on your left" .... you know, in case I ever need to know how to write that sentence while I'm over there...

I've been trying to come up with a list of things I want/need to learn to say. Here are some things on the list so far:

• I'm lost! I'm here visiting from America. Can you help me?
  
• What is this made from? (referring to food... and then of course I'd need to know what they were saying in response)
• Where can I find a restroom?
• How do you say ____ ?

I've been realizing the language barrier is going to be more difficult than I first expected. I've studied the Spanish language for 7 years - and I am by no means fluent - but for the most part their alphabet is the same and the letters are pronounced similarly enough that people understand what you are trying to say and when you read something you're able to sound it out and pronounce it well enough. With the Chinese language it's a whole different story. I don't even understand how to read the symbols for their writing. How can I even attempt to sound out a word?

I have been trying to find a helpful book or two for this reason - one that will show me the symbol for common words and also write out the way it is pronounced phonetically. I've also been trying to find a website that you can type a sentence into and it will tell me how to say it, not just the symbols for the words. Anyone know of a useful resource?

作息時間表 = daily schedule

Here is the schedule for the program:
7.29 - Depart ATL to Beijing
7.30 - Arrive in Beijing at 3pm, check into the hotel, free time at night

We spend the first few days in Beijing doing touristy stuff:

7.31 - We're visiting the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven. Then at night we're going to see an acrobatic show.

8.1 - Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Jingshan Park. Then we're taking a train to Shanghai.

8.2 - Campus tour of Shanghai International Studies University and Orientation. Then it says we are going grocery shopping... ?? Then we'll have some free time before we go on the Huangpu River Cruise at night!
8.3 - Monday morning starts the educational part of the trip... Lecture on China's economy in the morning. Then we're going to the UPS facility in Pudong for a presentation and tour.
8.4 - Lecture on China's foreign policy and a lecture on the history of Shanghai. Then we're going to the Shanghai Museum and the Yuyuan Market.

8.5 - We are taking a day trip to Suzhou to visit the silk and tea market.
8.6 - Lecture on "30 years of change in China". Then we are going to The American Chamber of Commerce, People's Republic of China, aka Am-Cham.
8.7 - Then we go to Hangzou for two days. Dinner with MPA alumni that night. (I'm honesly not sure what that means)
8.8 - We are visiting the West Lake District of Hangzou city. Then back to Shanghai.
8.9 - Course bebriefing and some free time. Circus that night!
8.10 - Going to the General Motors plant in Shanghai. Lunch at Lujiazui Standard Chartered Bank. Then we're going to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
8.11 - Lecture on Chinese music. Then we are going to Price Waterhouse Coopers and the Shanghai TV Station for a tour.
8.12 - Course debrief and some free time. Farewell diner at SISU Guesthouse.
8.13 - Return to ATL

8.14 - SLEEP!! :)

I also found out today I have to get a Visa... I looked up some information about it online. Anyone know the best/cheapest way to do that?

激動 = excited

last night i paid the nonrefundable deposit for the study abroad program in china!! it still hasn't quite hit me that i'm actually going. for the longest time, it was just something i talked about, thought about, and hoped would happen one day. and let's be honest, china was not my number one pick for "places to go" by any means. i looked for programs in spain first, of course - but had no luck. i looked in other places like australia, brazil, chile, and many countries throughout europe. china was the only program that seemed to work for me - the dates worked, it wasn't too expensive, i will be earning 6 credits towards my degree, and i also have an old friend from work that will be going as well. it'll be nice to have a familiar face.

but i'm slowly but surely getting excited that i'm going to china and not just that i'm going somewhere. i know i will learn a lot from this program - about their culture, their politics, their way of life, and of course about myself. i enjoy any and every opportunity i have to learn from and about people that are "different" from me - people from different backgrounds, upbringings, and ways of life. you grow up being told that no two people are the same and you learn in grade school about the basic differences between different countries - but to see and experience first hand how people function and live on the other side of the world... i'm so incredibly excited and humbled to have this opportunity.

i look forward to writing more about my thoughts and plans leading up to the trip. if you know anything about china or have any advice, please share!

再會 = until we meet again/goodbye