1. My international experience to date is:
I have traveled to Canada and Europe. I spent a week or so in Canada where we mostly stayed away from the major
population centers. In Europe, I traveled to Germany, France, Switzerland, and Austria. We did many different activities
and got to see the wide variety of cultures that exist there.
2. I want to go to China because:
It will give me a new opportunity to explore the many different cultures compared to our own. It will also provide a unique cahnce to see how other companies use Engineering from within their culture.
3. I think the main professional work differences I will experience will be:
That the companies will be structured differently with many different people collaborating on a job and higher efficiency as far as the whole production process is concerned.
4. I think the main cultural differences I will experience will be:
The people will be more conserved in the way they act and will make us seem like the typical American stereotype of being noisy Americans. I believe they will be polite and will be attentive to personal courtisies. They also pay close attention to how they fit into the social order
5. I think the main political differences I will experience will be:
I believe that the Chinese are concerned with overcoming past foriegn occupation and are looking to secure a future that puts themselves as the drivers on their own country. They wish to jump ahead and will therefore be cautious in international relations that may hinder their current exponentional progress.
6. I think the students in China will be:
Will be concerned about doing the very best they can because the job market for them is very competive. They will be very focused on learning, in contrast with American students who sometimes are not always focused on that catagory.
7. I predict I will be surprised to find:
I will be suprised that much of the country is rural, an not a major city. There is a lot of space in China, but much of it is not cities. This is important when considering all the people that are encompassed in China and the idea that it is made of multiple cultures and not just one individual culture.
8. I think the major differences in living conditions will be:
I think that space will be a commodity. They will not waste space, so the rooms they live in will be simple and small, because China is focused on being ahead, they may argue that large houses is not conducive to a more powerful nation.
(optional)9. Anything else you want to say:
I am really excited for this trip and cannot wait to discover what secrets the country has to offer, and to bring back knowledge that will help me better understand how the cultures in China operate and behave.