1. My international experience to date is:
Though I've only been to a few cities in Canada outside of the United States, my family has hosted three year-long German exchange students. This, combined with my German language class in high school, has taught me a lot about German culture.
2. I want to go to China because:
Today, China is gaining prominence in the engineering world: more businesses are outsourcing research and labor to countries like China and Chinese universities are producing high levels of engineers. In order to continue to compete globally, I need to understand their methods and education as well as my own. Visiting businesses in China would expose me to a new way of thinking and problem solving that would help me in my career and help me understand and communicate with engineers in throughout the world that are gaining prominence in science and technology.In addition, I want to learn more about some of the historical aspects of the Chinese city that I’ve been learning about in my History class this semester. We have discussed the Forbidden City in-depth and I can’t wait to see what it’s really like!
3. I think the main professional work differences I will experience will be:
When I’m visiting businesses in China, I expect to find more formal business relationships and office behavior. In the US, a lot of workplaces seem to have many distractions, and I don’t expect to find similar levels of distraction in China. I think the business hierarchy will be more obvious, and more respect will be given to people in higher-level positions.
4. I think the main cultural differences I will experience will be:
When I was learning about group behavior in Intro to Psychology this year, my teacher showed us a case study that demonstrated the differences in thinking between Americans and Chinese: the Americans tended to see a picture as promoting leadership and individuality, while Chinese participants saw the picture as demonstrating a collective society. I expect to see this reflected in Chinese culture, especially through greater respect for other people and greater interdependence.
5. I think the main political differences I will experience will be:
The political differences should be very obvious, as China is a much more socialist nation than the United States. I expect that there will be less political freedom and more censorship, especially in the media and on the Internet, but that the government will also provide more services for its citizens.
6. I think the students in China will be:
I think students in China will be more hardworking and focused than students in the United States, and I expect far less of a party environment than I find in colleges here. I also expect that more students will be working toward a technical or scientific degree, since this type of education is highly encouraged in China.
7. I predict I will be surprised to find:
I don’t really know what to expect about the nature of Beijing – I know it’s far more dense than any of the cities I’ve visited or lived in in the United States, but I can’t visualize it. I have heard stories about the traffic conditions on the gigantic highways surrounding Beijing, which will be really interesting. I also want to learn more about public transportation in the city, though I’m pretty nervous to actually try it!
8. I think the major differences in living conditions will be:
I expect the city of Beijing to be a lot more polluted than either Rochester (where I live) or Pittsburgh – though both of these cities have supported large industries in the past, Beijing is still a huge center of production and has fewer environmental restrictions to deal with. I also expect that homes in the city will be a lot smaller and closer together than apartments here, but will make better use of the space available.