Week Three as an Intern in China

After months of planning and organization, the opening ceremony of the Chirpy Dragon project was successfully held in a prestigious primary school in Guangzhou with distinguished guest such as Matthew Rous, the British Consul General in Guangzhou, our vice-chancellor, David Eastwood, Chen Jianhua, the Guangzhou Mayor. For my part in organizing this ceremony, I was involved in sending invitations
to schools and facilitating the communication between different parties.

Week Two as an Intern in China

Other than screening abstracts, I also have to manage the CHIRPY DRAGON Project along with my teammates. As the project involve the participation of three primary schools in Guangzhou, I have to draft and translate relevant consent form and information sheets for teachers, parents and students. Besides, under the supervision of Dr. Li and Dr. Liu from CDC in Guagnzhou, I learnt that cultural awareness accounts for the success of the project. For instance, the language we use in the information sheets have to fit into the context and do not arouse any misunderstanding that would prevent students or schools from participating. It involves trust building which is particularly important in modern China because citizens are always alert to protect themselves especially when they don’t trust external organization from other countries. From this, I realized that contextual and cultural understanding is essential to effective communication and cooperation, especially on an international scale.

 

Besides working, the delegation of responsibilities is also worth learning. Every Wednesday, we rotate to collect some home-made sweet soup from the CDC to our department. When the water runs out from the water machine, we also have to collect water bottle from the ground floor. I find this training of self-disciplinary very inspiring because it creates a disciplinary and sustainable environment to employees there. I have worked in big company but most of these little things are always taken for granted and employees all focus on themselves. Learning about the difference between the collectivism from oriental culture and individualism from western culture definitely gives me perspective on how to balance on my working ethos

METROPOLIS China, Blog #5

Reaching the end of my internship I have managed to tie up the ends of all my work and I am proud of the stage of completion of all my projects! The website work I have done has undoubtedly improved Guangzhou’s presence on the METROPOLIS website and I left it in a position so they can continue updating the page with all their fantastic work. I was nervous about my second project but couldn’t be happier with the feedback I received because they were so pleased of my fresh outlook on the situation.

After a hard first few weeks getting used to a new culture and job away from home I feel into a routine and the eight weeks have gone by incredibly quickly. I think the highlights of my time have been visiting Gui Lin for the beautiful scenery, relaxing on the beach in Hui Dong, and getting a bit lost in Hong Kong in the search of some top notch ramen!

The experience has been eye-opening and I have developed both professionally and personally in ways I didn’t imagine I would.

 

Hannah Thompson