First day of work

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I have to do biweekly journals for my internship seminar class, so I wanted to share it as a blog post. Enjoy!

First Journal at China Supplier

As I walked in to work the first day with Obi and Alyssa, I had a few expectations that seemed to drive what I hoped to experience, and what I actually experienced. China Supplier is a web based state owner corporation that specializes in connecting Chinese suppliers with international buyers, most specifically the US. My work at China Supplier has been broken down into 3 parts, correcting English grammar on the www.china.cn website, attending conference, and doing surveys that relate to how the average American buyer views a product.

At China Supplier, I understand that the American face has added value because of the strong target of America, but I did not expect for it to turn out this way. Let me explain. After spending an hour on a survey about American shoes and what is popular/expensive, Obi and I went with our supervisor, Athena (Xong-Li) to a conference targeted at Russian buyers and Chinese shoes. Our responsibilities were dull and miniscule to say the least, and were told in mostly Chinese, with hints of English for my understanding. Obi had to take pictures, while I passed out a booklet next to Athena, and smiled. Needless to say, I could handle it. I expected to be a face that the company could point to, but I didn’t expect to blandly hand out flyers. I’m smart, and I felt underutilized.

Although I did not do much work at the conference, I was surprised with the amount of networking that I was actually capable to do, even with the language barrier! With the language capability of a four year old Chinese baby, I was able to talk to nearly all the coworkers at the conference. We talked about American shows, cheerleaders, and credit cards. I would have never thought that I would be able to make friends at this level. I also networked with the Russian translator and co-sponsor (besides Athena) of the event, Hi-C (phonetically said). Although his English was slim, between my Chinese and his English we were able to make good conversation. It ended up with me giving him my information, and telling him if he is ever in LA to call me. He gave me his card, and turns out he is the director of the Shanghai Corporation. Right now I don’t know exactly what that is, but it sounds really official.

On the way back, I felt like part of the team. And although I did not solve quantum mechanics at the conference, or successfully circumnavigate the globe, I walked away with friends and a respect for how people do business in China. I was even able to talk to Athena about finding a saxophone supplier for my own entrepreneurial activities – more to come later about that I am sure. And after work, Obi, Alyssa, and I had dinner and “ganbei le” to our first day. We ate a feast, which was fitting for the celebration of a strong friendship evolving into colleagues. The commute did not seem too bad with them. Actually, the 2 hour commute was great with a full stomach and good conversation.

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