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"quarterlife abroad"
My friend Suda Kongpradist just started a wonderful website called Global Young Women. Suda and I vaguely knew each other at Cal (we were a year apart and both in charge of planning philanthropic events for our sororities.) We randomly ran into one another in City Shoppe in the basement of Shanghai’s Portman Center shortly before I left China in 2007. Since then, when I have visited Shanghai, Suda has been the most wonderful hostess, leaving me hand-written notes and planning special meals and outings in that fun city.
Here is Suda’s bio from her site:
Originally from the United States, I have been living, studying and working in China for four years. I have traveled through Asia, Europe, America and Africa. My Bachelor of Arts was in Contemporary International Relations. My Master of Arts was in International Studies with my thesis focusing on Expatriate Women in China. I have been in leadership roles with women’s organizations for over 10 years. One of my greatest honors was organizing an event that gave me the opportunity to meet Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
The Hillary Clinton event took place at the US Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai EXPO. As part of her work on this event, Suda received an all-access staff pass, which allowed her to enter any pavilion without waiting in line (a non-trivial benefit on a super-sweaty summer day. We visited 17 pavilions and feasted on free food. Totally unheard-of among ordinary, non-VIP guests! This girl is connected!!) This photo shows Suda and me enjoying pisco sours at the Chilean pavilion. Good times.
Suda asked me some really excellent questions about my background and experiences working in China and Chile.
GWY – What are some professional working habits where Chileans and Chinese differ?
LESLIE: The first difference that comes to mind is the way people greet one another. In Chile, both men and women greet women with a cheek-to-cheek kiss. (Men greet each other with a handshake). In China, business associates (male and female) greet each other with a soft handshake, followed by using two hands to pass a business card, and polite, congratulatory questions about the information on the card.
The second difference that comes to mind is the food and drink involved. Meetings in Chile usually involve coffee, tea, and cookies. Every office I have visited has a nana (maid) who comes in at the beginning of the meeting with a platter of store-bought cookies and takes drink orders. I don’t think I was ever served cookies at a meeting in China, but I did have business dinners at restaurants, with more dishes than we could finish, and sometimes too many shots of baijiu (Chinese rice wine).
GWY – What are some professional working habits where Chileans and Chinese are similar?
In both Chile and China, powerful people use personal connections used to get things done. Both countries have a specific and common word for this. In Chile, the word is pituto. In China, it’s called guanxi. I like to mention this when I’m talking about China with Chileans or Chile with Chinese, because everyone smiles and nods and acknowledges that the world is really quite small!
Read the rest of this Q&A, which includes stories about my bilingual childhood, here on Global Young Women!
That quote is from Lulu, one of my students at Jiaxing University. I could not have said it better myself!
In one quick sentence, Lulu encapsulated my mindset in 2010. Beyond thinking about Chile, I’ve been on an occupational adventure.
Projects Completed in 2010 (in chronological order, with some overlap, for various companies/clients):
- Trained 6 Chinese patent attorneys in advanced, specialized English for four months (as part of a 14-month intensive program)
- Created and delivered 4-part professional skills training for multinational mining company’s admin team
- Led public speaking training for Chinese attorneys
- Authored two quarterly newsletters for employees of a multinational manufacturing company
- Tutored an 8-year-old Chinese-American girl in English (read: playing Barbies and discussing their outfits in precise detail!)
- Conducted survey to benchmark employee engagement among Chinese employees of an American retailer
- Helped a Dutch diplomat brush up her academic English in preparation for a summer course in public diplomacy at the University of Southern California
- Supported Dr. Jane Goodall‘s visit to Beijing, as a volunteer for the Jane Goodall Institute
- Assisted a Taiwanese-American executive with resume editing and job search
- Created blog outreach strategy for Wokai
- Wrote advertisements to generate demand for computers in emerging markets
Note: I’ve only named organizations that could benefit directly from me mentioning them online.
I am so lucky to have such a wide variety of professional opportunities here in China. These assignments have spurred my curiosity, and connected me with all kinds of people.
Special thanks to my Chinese teachers, Layla and Xiaofei, for helping me develop the vocabulary to talk about the aforementioned topics in relatively coherent Chinese.
And yes, to use Lulu’s poetic phrase, “Sometimes, I find myself set in a puzzlement about meanings of life and jobs.”
I think we all do.
I don’t have any grand answers to this puzzlement. But this past year has given me a better sense of what I like.
What may look like an acute case of career attention-deficit-disorder has given me direction. I like variety. I like people. I like possibilities, languages, and stories. And today I took my first step towards building something useful, a platform to help people navigate working in China. It’s here. More to come…
My dad took this photo in October 2009, when he and my mom and I went cormorant fishing on Er Hai, near Xizhou, Yunnan Province. I chose this picture because it reminds me that China has bits of blue sky, and simple living. Though this may not be the China I see every day, it does exist, as a place and as a mindset.
What do you do when you feel “puzzlement about meanings of life and jobs”? I’m curious to hear what you think.
I just pitched in to teach China about the importance of conserving coral reefs, through art. I hope you will too!
Joey Ellis is a good friend of mine, a sculptor, TED Fellow, and entrepreneur.
His work has consistently communicated China’s environmental challenges, in a way that inspires rather than preaches, and reaches new audiences.
In August 2009, he and his Chinese collaborators hand-carved 100 ice sculptures of children from blocks of ice. They were then placed in the blazing summer sun of Beijing’s Temple of the Sun (Ditan Park) to represent the fragility of our childrens’ future due to climate change. The ice consisted of water taken from the Ganges, Yellow and Yangtze rivers. The piece was commissioned by Greenpeace and would not have been possible without their support.
Now Joey has started a new project: 
ENDORSED BY THE GLOBAL CORAL REEF ALLIANCE (www.globalcoral.org)
What I and my crew want to do:
We will translate the large international database of coral reef publications into chinese by using graphic design, animation and just plain writing as an instrument for change. Throughout the process we will reconstruct the information into public friendly design and animation that simplifies whats at stake and highlights how to rectify the problem. We will promote awareness but we will focus on the SOLUTIONS!
One might ask “why is it difficult to translate such documents and why is funding needed?
The documents we will be focusing on are the lengthy scientific ones that use science as a way to prove what works and what doesn’t. Remember our goal is to affect the minds of the people in control! To do this we need both community and government support.
YOU: What topics will you actually focus on?
We will highlight the modern techniques of coral restoration (such as the BIOROCK process) and coastal management.
Informing people of such things as…….
1. How coral reefs protect the shorelines from erosion caused by the currents, waves and storms
2. How corals build up land and extend beaches and encourage the bio-diversity of the oceans.
3. How coral reefs dissipate wave and storm energy, which as a result create lagoons and sedimentary environments favorable for the growth of mangroves and sea grasses.
4. How coral reefs help promote tourism, which is the largest industry in the world and sustains 10 percent of all jobs.
YOU: What else?
Highlighting how the economic potential of eco-tourism greatly exceeds that of fishing. In one year it can generate around 25 times more income than all of the world’s fisheries! WOW! In some areas, one square kilometer of coral reef can generate nearly three million Dollars. In comparison, dynamite fishing in the same area would yield a one time only income of US$ 15000. China is one of the worst places for the ongoing use of dynamite fishing!
All in all we need to get the chinese community involved in the international efforts and let them know how it can help the future of China. To do this we first need to make them aware (believe it or not there are no current publications that exist in China!!)
Click here to help contribute to CHANGE!
For more information please email Me@josephfosterellis.com
or Dr. Thomas J. Goreau at Goreau@bestweb.net
Project location: Hainan, China
Andrea James, who I have never met in real life, always leaves fascinating comments on this little blog. This week she posted a heartbreaking story about the news value of a death. Her story is uncannily similar to one of mine.
Suffering is not increased by numbers: one body can contain all the suffering the world can feel.
I first read that line on a flight from Asia back to the United States, in early 2006. I’d bought a copy of Graham Greene’s, “The Quiet American,” from a Vietnamese woman at Hoan Kiem Lake, in Hanoi.
The book remains one of my favorites, for it is filled with life gems like that.
A Buddhist woman prays at Hoan Kiem Lake, in Hanoi, Vietnam. January 2006 | Andrea James
I traveled to Vietnam in January 2007, and I bought that same book from a vendor next to Hoan Kiem Lake. If I had been there one year before, or if she had one year later, we might have met in one of those Hanoi coffee shops with the cool metal filters that drip strong coffee into a thick layer of sweetened condensed milk.
I wasn’t such a huge fan of the book, though. I fell asleep reading it on multiple occasions, and I left it behind in a hostel.
Here are two photos from my 2007 trip to Vietnam:
Hoan Kiem Lake sits at the center of the Old Quarter, a quaint area of Hanoi in which each street specializes in a different commodity (shoes, fruit, bags, silk, holiday decorations, etc), motorbikes whiz past, and food preparation and consumption occur in the same sidewalk space. The lake’s reflections were incredible at dusk, and I enjoyed watching ladies practice tai chi (hmmm… how do you say tai chi in Vietnamese?)
In the lovely gardens of Hanoi’s Temple of Literature. I’d dyed my hair bright red about a week before.
Here’s a paragraph from an email I sent home from that trip:
My first impression of Vietnam, as I awoke on the train from China, was of a visual geometry completely unlike the the six-story concrete boxes so prevalent in the city I’ve called home since August. The workers’ triangular wicker hats, the tall Victorian-style houses, even the rice paddies formed sloping triangles in my surprised eyes.
OK, enough travel reminiscing for now. Back to the “real world” of China…
In my last post, I referred to this piece by kindergarten teacher Christina Shunnarah, who works with students from all over the world. She describes culture as an iceberg, with a small part visible, and the vast majority hidden under the surface.
This is one of my favorite excerpts from her excellent essay:
Developing cultural competence is a process of inner growth. In order for me to be as effective as possible with the students I work with, I must continuously engage in a process of self-reflection. To be able to know others, especially diverse others, one must know the self. So the growth of a culturally competent educator starts there. We must look within for a deeper understanding of who we are before we can adequately address the needs of our students.
This investigation should include our core beliefs, hidden biases and our religious perspectives. Developing cultural competence is also a process that comes with experience and engagement, and with sometimes painful lessons that highlight our limitations and prejudices. To learn about the backgrounds of the students in my class takes time and effort; it involves reading about their countries of origin, visiting their homes and meeting family members, connecting with parents, developing relationships with community members and organizations, and going to cultural and religious festivals. By learning about my students’ lives outside the classroom, I am more prepared to work with them in the classroom. [more]
I also find that, in order for me to be as effective as possible, I must continually engage in a process of self-reflection. Through reading, reflecting, and (most awkwardly and perhaps most importantly) reacting inappropriately in situations in which I hadn’t realized my cultural tendencies were so different than those of the people around me, I have identified the following core beliefs that have shaped me (in no particular order).
(Ramit Sethi makes a similar point in this post about invisible scripts, and the 200+ comments are well worth reading!)
Note: This list is based on my own observations, and does not imply that one set of values or invisible scripts is better than another. I just see them as important and discussion-worthy, and I’d love to hear your own stories.
* Independence and Individualism. From a very young age, I wanted to do things my own way, and the people around me (parents, teachers, etc.) mostly supported these urges. In kindergarten, my mom recalls that I would wander around the classroom, looking at the pictures on the walls, while my classmates sat at their desks writing. Then, with about five minutes to go, I would sit down and write my story. My teacher let me do my thing, and praised me for the quality of my work. I doubt a Chinese kindergarten teacher would allow such a thing!
* Options. I think this is a product of my generation. We have always had so many options, for activities, schedules, classes, assignments, and so much more. And expect limitless options, for jobs, working styles, food, etc.
* Fusion. I grew up in a suburb of San Francisco, with classmates from all over the world. We ate food from many continents. My mom is Christian and my dad is Jewish, and we celebrated holidays from both traditions, as well as many others.
* November and December are holiday months that punctuate the year. In China people work straight through November, December, and January, and the real holiday is not until February.
* Stubbornness. This is something I’ve tried hard to mitigate, but it will probably always be there. I’m a Capricorn.
* Smile. I like to smile. I am a happy girl. This is sometimes misinterpreted as “not serious” or too flirtatious.
* Directness. We Americans tend to get straight to the point. This, compounded with the unsophisticated sentence patterns that come with limited language proficiency, sometimes makes me seem rude. Sometimes a smile helps, but that can be misinterpreted too. The best solution I’ve found is to use an interpreter, who can sugar-coat statements into more culturally appropriate forms.
What about you? What are your core beliefs, and how do they shape your interactions with other people? Has being more conscious of these traits helped you be more effective in your communications? What else would you add?
I'm Leslie and I connect entrepreneurs in Chile, China, California, and beyond — especially through translation, training, and trade. More about me.
