mexi china final pdf
TRANSCRIPT
LucaCHEVALIER ToursCampus
MEXIZhejiangWanliUniversity
CHINA
September4th2015–January24th2016
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AcknowledgementsIwouldliketoexpressmyappreciationtoMrs.PennyPanthecoordinatorforforeignstudents
inZhejiangUniversitywhohelpedmealotwithadministrativemattersthroughoutmystayon
WanliCampus.
IwishtoacknowledgethehelpprovidedbyAnthonyTahmasbimyflatmateduringthis
semester.IappreciatedhiswillingnesstogivehistimesogenerouslywheneverIneededit.
IalsoextendmythankstoAdrianJaworskyandAdrianSibikmytwoPolishneighbourswho
madethisadventurememorable.
IwouldliketooffermyspecialthankstoHuZhouandLeeDongnanmytwoChinesefriendsfor
alltheirassistance.Theygavetomystayanotherdimensionsharingtheircultureand
traditions.
Finally,mythanksgotomyschool,theESCEMandtoallthepeoplewhomadethisexchange
possible!
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Summary1. Introduction:.......................................4
2. Analysisofmyexperience...................6Integration.........................................................6Adaptation.........................................................9Activitiescarriedout........................................11
3. IfIhadtoredoit................................13
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1. Introduction:WhenIwasyounger,astudentinHighschoolmygoalwastoenterabusinessschoolinordertolearnthebasicsofbusinessandmanagement.Then,myplansweretotraveltoNorth
AmericabecauseIhadthispositiveimageoftheAmericandreamanditsopportunities.
Furthermore,IknewthatEnglishwasthekeylanguageforbusiness.That’swhyduringmyfirst
yearattheESCEMIdidaninternshipinToronto.Igotareallyinterestingexperiencethere,
learntquitealotandimprovedmyEnglishskills.Nevertheless,Iwasdisappointedbythe
culturalenvironmentthereandIfeltthattheAmericandreamwasover,orifnotdead,
declining.Iabsolutelydon’tmeanthatIregretthisexperiencebecauseIneededtoliveitto
realizethatourworldischangingandthatIshouldstarttothinkfurther.
FormythirdyearIwantedtodoanexchangewithapartneruniversity.Formeitwasan
amazingopportunitytoexperiencestudyingabroad.Ononehand,itwasachancetowitness
howeducationisorganizedinaforeigncountryandontheotherhandtoexploreanew
countrybeforedoingmy6-monthinternship.Thissolutiongavemetheopportunitytolivein3
differentcountrieswithin3years!Moreover,Ithoughtthatstudyinginapartneruniversitywas
better,becauseatleastIwassuretomeetinternationalstudentsandliveinaschoolstructure.
Furthermore,itwasgoingtoletmetimetothinkandchoosetherightinternshipintheright
place.
SincethebeginningofmysecondyearatESCEMIknewthatIwantedtogotoAsia.I
consideredthispartoftheworldasareallyinterestingculturalexperienceandatthesame
timeahugegrowingupplacefordoingbusiness.During2015,Chinabecametheleadingworld
power,that’showIstartedthinking:whynotgoingtoChina?ThenIlearntthattheESCEMgot
apartnershipprogramwithaschoolinNingbo.Istarteddoingresearchaboutthecityandsaw
thatitwasthesecondbiggestportinChinaandoneofthewealthiestcityofthecountry.I
didn’tevenknowthiscitybeforeanditpuzzledme.Eventually,Ispoketothestudentswho
previouslystudiedthere.IgotonlyamazingfeedbacksabouttheexchangeingeneralandI
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especiallyappreciatedthefactthatmostofthemfoundaninternshipthere.ThatishowI
decidedtochooseWanliZheijiangUniversityasmyfirstchoiceforasemesterabroad.
Myobjectivesweremostlyexploringanewpartoftheworld,learninghowthestudentsofthe
leadingworldpowercountrywerestudyingbusiness,meetinginternationalstudentsinorder
toimprovemyEnglishandmakecontactsallaroundtheworld,andwhynotfindingan
internshipinAsia!
IhadafewpreconceivednotionsaboutChinaandChinesepeopleingeneral.Asalotofpeople
IthoughtthatChinawasadirtycountry,verypolluted,withpeoplebarelyinformedofwhat
wasgoingonabroad.Someofthoseclichésweretrue,someofthemwerepartlytrue,and
somethemwereahundredpercentwrong!Atthesametime,IknewthatIwasgoingto
experienceareallydifferentcountryandculturebutwhatIreallylivedtherewentbeyondmy
expectations.
TodayIcaneasilysaythatallmyobjectivesandexpectationshavebeenmorethanreachedand
thatiswhatIamgoingtodevelopthroughthispaper!
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2. AnalysisofmyexperienceIntegration
IarrivedattheNingboairportonSeptember4th.PennyPan,thecoordinatorforexchange
studentsonWanliZheijiangcampus,wastheretogreetme.Shepickedmeupandtookme
directlytotheuniversity.Then,sheshowedmethedormitorythatwasgoingtobemynew
homeforthenextsixmonths.SheintroducedmetoAyi,afriendlyolderwomanwhoisin
chargeofthedormitory.Everythingwentsmoothlyandfastatthesametime.Ihadbeenin
Chinaforlessthan30minutesandIalreadywasonmycampus,hadthekeystomyroomandI
endedupalonewithoutanyinformation!BackthenIhavetoadmitIwasalittlechockedbythe
stateoftheapartmentandthedormingeneral.Chinesestandardsarereallydifferentfrom
Frenchones.Butontheotherhand,everybodywasefficient,friendlyandIalreadyhadmyown
placetolive.Isoonrealizedthatthereareveryfewinternationalstudentslivingthere.
Nevertheless,onthefollowingdayImetMikael.HewasastudentfromIndonesiaandhegave
meatouroftheWanlicampusonhise-bike(mostpopularwaytomoveinChina,anelectric
scooter).
ZheijiangWanlicampusisaveryniceandpleasantplacetolive.Everythingisconvenientfor
studentsexceptthatnobodyspeaksEnglish!Thecampusislikealittlecitywhere20000
studentslivetogether.Barelya100areforeigners.Thereareamazinggroundstoplayevery
sportsyouwant(basketball,soccer,badminton,tennisetc.).Morethanahundredsmall
restaurantsareavailabletoeatgreatcheapChinesefood.Thereisabeautifullibrary
(attachment1),anamazingairgarden(attachment2)andmanyeventsforstudentsbut
nothinginEnglish.Forexample,attheverybeginningallmymealswererandomlychosen
becauseeverythingwaswritteninChinesecharacters...But,eventhoughitwashardatfirst,I
mustsaythatIreallyenjoyedbeingonagenuineChinesecampus.AtleastIcouldfeelthe
authenticatmosphereoflivingasaChinesestudent.Moreover,Isoonmetmynewflatmate.
HewasaforeignstudentfromIran.HehadbeenlivinginChinaforalongtime,spokeChinese
andhelpedmealot.
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Thenourfirstclassesstarted.MostofthemwereChineseclassesandIquicklyrealizedthat
languagewasgoingtobethekeytomyintegration.IneededtohaveChinesebasistomakemy
dailylifeeasier!OnlyforeignstudentsattendedmyChineseclassesandthat’showImetmost
ofthem.Myintegrationwenton.Nevertheless,withboththedifficultyoftheChineselanguage
andtheratherpoorlevelofEnglishofourteachers,thingsbecameverydifficult.Itwasbarely
impossibletocommunicatewiththeminEnglishwhichledtomanybadandfunnysituations…
MyflatmateandhisChineseskillshelpedmetocarryon!
MyothersclasseswereallaboutBusiness.Inthoseclasseswewereatthemost5foreigners
perclassamong30Chinesestudents.However,allofourprofessorsspokequitegoodEnglish
andthathelpedusalotforourintegration.Allthepresentations,essaysandpaperswehadto
turninwerethesameasChinesestudents.ButourChineseteachersaskedustocomparewith
whatweknewinourowncountry.However,Irealizedthatthereisahugedifferencebetween
FranceandChinaasfarastheclassroomcultureandlearningcultureisconcerned.Itstruckme
thatintheWesterneducation,thestressisputoncommunicationandinteraction.Wespeak,
discuss,givepersonalopinionswhereasinChinathisiscompletelydifferent.Thestudent’srole
istositinclass,listencarefully,memorizeandregurgitateundertheauthorityoftheteacher.
Thereisnocriticalthinkingexpressed.Younevergiveopinionordisagreewithyourteacher.It
isacultureofcollectivity.Forexample,Inoticedthatitwassohardtogetapersonaladvice
fromChinesepeopleevenonsubjectssuchasgoodrestaurantsorwheretogoforavisit.They
haveahardtimeexpressingpersonalopinions.Justofftherecord,thereisnoreallyspecific
wordstosay“yes”or“no”inChinesewhatwasformeincredible!
Inordertoimproveourintegration,alltheforeignstudentsdecidedtoorganizean
internationaldayoncampus(Attachment3).Weallpreparedaboothrepresentingthe
traditionalaspectsofourcountry(food,music,pictures,informationetc.).Chinesestudentare
veryshybutsomeofthemcame,mostlystudentsinforeignlanguages.Inthisinformalcontext,
notunderthesupervisionoftheteacherIdiscovereditwasmucheasiertosharewithChinese
students.Theyevenbecametalkativeandveryeagertoknowusbetter.ThatdayIevenmet
twoChinesestudentswhobecamemyfriends.Infact,HuZhouandLeeDongnanweretwo
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ChinesestudentsinEnglishMajorandthat’showIstartedtodoactivitiesoutofthecampus
withthem.
ThusIhadtheopportunitytodothingsthatIcouldn’tdobymyselfbecauseofthelanguage
barrier.Forexample,IexperiencedChinesemedicinewithLee.Hetookmetoatraditional
doctorwhobalancedmyenergieswithmassagesandplants.Itwasaninterestingexperience
thatwouldneverhavebeenpossiblewithoutknowinglocalpeople.
HuZhou,taughtmehowtousetheChineseinternetwhatisactuallynotthateasy.It’s
importanttoknowthatinChinanothingworkswithouralphabet.Moreover,websitessuchas
Google,Wikipedia,YouTubeorGoogleMapareallforbiddenandblockedbytheChinese
government.However,theirinternetisasefficientasourswheneveryouknowhowtouseit
withChinesecharacters.HuinstalledmeaChinesekeyboardonmyphoneandexplainedme
howtouseChinesemaps.Ithelpedmealottotravelandexplorethecity.ButthebestthatI
discoveredinChinaistheire-businesswebsite:TaoBao.Onthiswebsiteyoucanorder
everythingyoucanimagineanditrepresentsanimportantpartofChineseconsumption.Thatis
alsowhatmotivatedmyinterestfortheChinesee-businesswhichevenbecamethesubjectof
my“Memor’A”.
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Adaptation
When I was in France thinking about my adaptation to Chinese culture I thought that I was going
to deal with something totally different. I didn’t have too many preconceived ideas about the
country, but whenever I told my friends I was going to study in China everybody said: Chinese
people are dirty and rude. Everybody thought that they don’t care about foreigners, that it will be
crowed everywhere and that the food will be very weird.
As far as the food is concerned, I must admit that I saw very strange things (Attachment 4) but
most of the time the food was amazing. Moreover, I really saw my eating habits change: no more
processed food and dairy products, a lot of vegetables and soups. Of course I had to learn how to
use chopsticks and eat out of a bowl. I even lost weight whereas I was eating everyday in
different restaurants. I can definitely say that Chinese food is healthy. I also had to adapt to the
habit of drinking tea. Because in China tap water is not drinking water, we have to boil it and it
often implies making tea.
Of course I had to adapt to different rules in hygiene. People are spitting in the streets and it was
something difficult to adapt to, even if only old people are doing it nowadays.
But the most surprising aspect was the kindness and friendliness of all the people I met in
Ningbo. People were always very helpful. For example, if I had to ask my way, people could
even call one of their friend who spoke English in order to help me. In a restaurant, if the waiter
could not speak English, he could even take me to the kitchen to make sure that I ordered what I
wanted. Very often I’ve been invited for a cup of tea or even a meal by people I just met on the
street! However, I’m aware that in more touristic places in China things can be slightly different.
Ningbo is not a touristic place therefore people are always happy to meet foreigners.
On my side, I did everything I could to adapt to my new environment. Unlike other foreigners I
met, I really decided to live as a real Chinese student for the semester and I think that’s why my
adaptation went so well. First, I bought a bicycle. The campus and the city are so spread out that
it proved to be very convenient. Most of Chinese people are riding a bicycle to move around or
even using electric bikes. I also tried to stay away as much as I could from other French people.
In fact, I was the only exchange student from ESCEM Tours to go to China. That’s why I
decided to make the most of this trip and improve my English staying with exchange students
from all around the world. I had to face a twofold adaptation: being a foreign student in a multi
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cultural environment and adapting to the Chinese way of life. All the foreign students were
accommodated in the same dormitory. Thus I improved my English a lot staying with people
from Canada, USA, England and even Poland, Iran, Sweden, Ghana, Korea, Japan etc. English
was our common language.
But the biggest adjustment I had to make was learning Chinese. This was a real challenge. First
of all, I started to learn a couple of sentences and words just to survive! I learnt how to order
food, water, the name of the different dishes, and how to ask for direction. In fact, the city is so
big that you have to use taxis to move around. Moreover, it is very cheap and convenient in
Ningbo. Communicating with taxi drivers was the first issue and I had to learn very quickly
simple things such as being back home! I realized that showing them the written address was
useless because they can not read our alphabet. That’s how I started to learn how to draw their
signs or write them on my phone, at least simple words such as the name of my university, the
train station or different usual places I used to go to. But, it wasn’t sufficient! Actually some cab
drivers don’t even know how to read their own language! I finally found how to manage it,
downloading their own Chinese map application showing which road to take. It is a quite simple
situation but it shows how different and hard it can be to adapt to China!
An other important point was learning how to count. Again, I had to learn how to say the figures
and the corresponding gestures. In fact, Chinese people don’t use the same hand gestures than us
to illustrate figures! For example, making a cross with your two indexes means 10. Knowing
figures is very important in China because of bargaining. Whenever you want to buy something
in a market or try to get interested in business here it is required to master those codes!
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Activitiescarriedout
Before going to China I didn’t really know which kind of activities I was going to do. I even was
a little worried at first, because the information I had were not very clear. Even the website of the
University was not written in English. I didn’t know what to expect. Even the planning of the
classes was rescheduled at the last minute. Penny Pan, the coordinator for foreign students just
gave me very few details by mail before my departure. Arriving at Wanli Campus was a very
good an unexpected surprise! The campus facilities for students were very modern. The
environment was very pleasant with a lot of parks, trees and even a lake. There were a lot of
various recreational activities such as a fitness park, many tennis courts, table tennis clubs and
soccer fields that were located just across my dormitory (Attachment 5). All the athletic activities
were for free. I chose to integrate the University soccer team. I trained twice a week and took
part in a couple of games against other universities such as the Ningbo campus of the university
of Nottingham. It allowed me to meet more foreign students from other campuses. I was amazed
by the professional aspect of the university teams and the high budgets allotted to sports. For
example, there was a special application for the university championship listing all the results,
the best players etc. Once, a game was even broadcasted on Ningbo local TV.
Whenever it comes to extra scholar activities it was even better! Our professors were very
comprehensive. They were aware that China is an amazing and huge country that and that we
had to discover it. Therefore, they allowed us to take days off to travel. They even allowed
Chinese students to come along in order to help us! However, we had to do reports about our
trips. I really appreciated that because it was a chance for me to travel, have fun and learn at the
same time!
That is how I visited several cites such as : Beijing (Pékin), Shanghai, Yiwu, Hangzhou,
Zhoushan and Shengzhou. All those places were amazing. In Beijing I walked on the Great Wall,
visited the Forbidden City (Attachment 7), I strolled on the Bund in Shanghai (Attachment 8)
and explored some amazing Buddhist temples in Shengzhou (Attachment 9).
But the trips that influenced me the most were Yiwu and Hangzhou. Yiwu is a city hosting the
biggest market in the world! 1 000 000 square meters are dedicated to trade. You can find every
manufactured product made in China. I was really impressed by this visit and I really saw what
“Made in China” meant. I went there twice because I couldn’t stop wondering what I could
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export abroad myself. That is the first point which really impacted my future professional
project.
The second one is when I went to Hangzhou. This city is the capital of the Zheijiang province. It
is the city where one of the biggest Chinese company dedicated to e-business is located. This
company named Alibaba is the Chinese equivalent for eBay or Amazon. The whole city is into e-
business and all the innovations in this field started there. That is how I started to get interested
into Alibaba and e-business in China in general. These trips directly influenced my personal
projects. That is how I made the decision to choose Alibaba and the e-business as the subject of
my “Memor’A”.
Furthermore, this visit at Yiwu acted as a trigger for my future professional projects as well. It
made me understand what I really wanted to do later. Following with this project, I found an
internship in a trading company in Ningbo which works with suppliers based in Yiwu.
Another unexpected experience was to be a teacher. As a student and if you are teaching your
own language as a part time job, you can legally teach in China. I started to do it for fun and to
try something new. But it actually became something very interesting. My students were older
than me and already working for some big companies. One of them was the official buyer for
Bricorama in China. She already spoke English and French quite well. I was the only native
speaker in the school. My missions were to introduce my students to the French culture and teach
them the right accent. This activity allowed me to expand my circle ofacquaintances out of
campus. The people I met there were already professionals and communicating with them was
easier thanks to their language skills. I also was happy to share with them elements of my culture
such as: music, food habits, and books.
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3. IfIhadtoredoitTobehonest,thiswholeexperiencewasveryrewardingandthereisnothingmajorIwould
changeifIhadtoredoit.IreallydideverythingIcouldtotakeadvantageofthisexchangeand
theresultwentbeyondmyexpectations.Thisexchangewasveryinspiringformypersonaland
professionalprojects.BeforegoingtoChinaIhadsomequestioningsaboutmyplanssuchasmy
internshipormymemoir.TodayIfeelluckyandsomehowmoreconfidentaboutmyfuture
thankstothisexchange.Moreover,IhadtheopportunitytodoeverythingIplannedandeven
more.Icouldn’texpecttodothatmanyactivitiesandtravels!Thisexperiencereallybroadened
myhorizons.Ididn’tevenknowcitiessuchasYiwuandHangzhoubeforewhiletheyaretodaya
significantpartofmyprofessionalandpersonalplan!
Nevertheless,ifIreallyhadtopinpointsomethingsthatIwouldchangeIwouldsaythatit
wouldhavebeenbettertolearnaboutChineseculturebeforegoingthere.Iwouldevensay
thattakingChineseclassesbeforehandinordertomasterthebasiswouldhavebeenvery
useful.ChineselanguageisextremelydifficultandifIhadtorenewthisexperienceIwouldput
muchmoreworkonit!Furthermore,Chinesepeopleareincrediblyreceptivetoforeigners
tryingtolearntheirlanguage.NotmasteringtheMandarinisdefinitelythepointwhichslowed
downmyexperience!
AnotherdetailthatIcouldimproveisgettingmoreinformationaboutmyaccommodation.I
mustadmitthatmydormitorywasnotverywelcomingandevenalittlebitrundown.Infact,I
didn’taskenoughinformationaboutwhatIwasgoingtoneed,neithertoPennynortothe
previousstudents.GettingthereIrealizedthatIhadtobuysheets,blanketsandeverythingto
cleanupmyplace.EvenifIdothinkthatmyaccommodationwasthenegativepointofmytripI
donotregrettohavestayedtherebecauseithelpedmealottointegrateoncampusandmeet
foreignstudents.AnotherpointthatIwoulddodifferentlyistobuyabicyclerightfromthe
start.Itprovedtobeveryconvenientandallowedmetoexploresomemoreplacesnearbymy
campus.Unfortunately,Iboughtmybicycleabittoolatewhentheweatherbecamecolderand
rainy.
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Itwouldalsohavebeenagoodideatotakeapreventivemedicaltreatmenttoadaptquickerto
thedrasticchangeinfoodhabits.Ifeltsometimessickatheverybeginningbecauseofthe
food.IlearntlaterthatsomeforeignerstookaprobiotictreatmentbeforegoingtoChinato
preventsickness.
Eventually,thelastthingthatIwoulddodifferentlyistravelingduringtheChineseNational
Day.OnOctober1st,ChineseenjoyaweeklongnationalholidayknownastheGoldenWeek.
Sincethereisonlyoneweekoffduringthesemester,ItookthisopportunitytovisitHangzhou.
Thiscityisverytouristicandthisveryweekitwasjusttoocrowdedeverywhere.Ilearntlater
thattheGoldenWeekisthebiggestfortourisminChinaandeventhebiggestpopulation
movementintheworldinoneweek.OnanotherhanditwasmyonlyofficialvacationandI
couldn’timaginenottravellingjustbecauseofcrowds.Itwasevenfunnytoseeandrealizethat
Chinahas1.4billionpeople!
ButallthingsconsideredIwoulddescribethisexperienceasveryformative.Ienjoyedevery
momentofitwithoutanyhomesickness.Idevelopedmyindependenceandmaturity.Imet
amazingpeopleandonahumanpointofviewitwasveryfulfilling!IamalsogladIimproved
myEnglishskillsandfoundaninternshipthere.Iamlookingforwardtogoingbacknext
semester.MynextchallengewouldbetolearnMandarinandmaybebeingabletoworkwith
Chinesecompanieslater!
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SummaryoftheattachmentsAttachment1:ZhejiangWanliLibraryandmyflatmateAnthony 16
Attachment2:Wanlicampus’Airgardenbynight 17
Attachment3:InternationalDayonWanliCampus 18
Attachment4:InsectmarketinBeijing 19
Attachment5:Viewonthegroundsfrommydormitory 20
Attachment6:OntheGreatWallinBeijing 21
Attachment7:ForbiddencityinBeijing 22
Attachment8:TheBundinShanghai 23
Attachment9:BuddhisttempleinShengzhou 24
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Attachment1ZhejiangWanliLibraryandmyflatmateAnthony
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Attachement2Wanlicampus’Airgardenbynight
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Attachment3InternationalDayonWanliCampus
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Attachment4InsectmarketinBeijing
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Attachment5Viewonthegroundsfrommydormitory
21
Attachment6OntheGreatWallinBeijing
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Attachment7ForbiddencityinBeijing
23
Attachment8TheBundinShanghai
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Attachment9BuddhisttempleinShengzhou