July

Coming up on my last 2 weeks in China, it feels almost surreal. Have a really been here an entire year? People say that time goes by fast, but you don't believe it until you experience it yourself. Making the most out of the time I have left, I am meeting as many people as I can and completing my last projects for my department. Even if the future is still hazy, it's incredible exciting!

No real updates on this post, other than I am enjoying my time here. Working in such a beautiful facility encourages me and inspires me to do and appreciate more. Below: Sunset from one of the building balconies, the building on a rainy day, a portrait of me enjoying the view from the cafeteria on the 38th floor.

Last weekend I went camping with a coworker and some other friends. I never thought that I would go camping on an island in Shenzhen! We had to drive about two hours to a fishing village (luckily one of the friends has a car) and then take a boat for 40 minutes to the island off the coast. We set up tents on the sand and relaxed until sunset. Aside from the humidity and lack of shower arrangements, it was a wonderful and exciting experience.

This is the last week of my internship and will now also serve as my last blog post. Documenting my year in China has been memorable and I hope it serves as a good resource for those planning to study abroad in China in the future. As I wrap things up here in Shenzhen, I will be traveling in Indonesia and Malaysia for about 2 weeks before attending HPAIR, a Harvard organized forum of exchange for students and young professionals to discuss and learn about the most important economic, political, and social issues facing the Asia-Pacific region. If convenient in your schedule, I highly recommend looking into traveling a bit around Asia before going home. This is a rare time in life when you'll have the freedom to do it!

Looking back, this internship offered me a unique opportunity to truly experience working in China; overtime culture included! I only wished I was more comfortable with myself in a new environment earlier on so that I would have made many of the connections I have now earlier on. Thank you to Flagship for continuously pushing me to challenge myself and discover the many ways to learn Chinese. Thank you Tencent for the opportunity to learn more about Chinese work culture, ethic and excellence.

1) Capstone year is an extremely personal decision, meaning that it is not for everyone. Spending a year in China is a challenging experience and especially standing in as your 5th year of undergraduate, if you do not 100% want to learn Chinese and immerse yourself, I would recommend rethinking participating in the program. The program isn't perfect, but you really get out what you put in, so if your heart isn't there, maybe your passion is elsewhere.

2) Looking for the internship was perhaps the most stressful time of the program, so definitely put in the work early and tell everyone with connections in China that you are looking for an internship! You never know who's cousin's best friend's sister's company has an opening :)

3) Set language goals for yourself and mark your progress throughout the year. It's easy to get down on yourself when you don't feel good enough to participate in a conversation in Chinese, or when everyone else laughs, and you didn't understand the punch line. Language learning is a progress, and we love the journey!

4) Take full advantage of the tutors/roommates in Nanjing! I cannot stress enough how much I took them for granted last semester (always having someone in the office to go to for help, with grammar structures, interview practice, anything!). I don't have anyone to call on anymore for help with an internship report or writeup.

5) I wasn't able to join a student club at Nanjing University, but I would have if I could do it over again. Great way to make new friends and understand the country from a college student's perspective, aka same age as us.

6) Don't be afraid to ask for help when you start your internship. Find a confidant who you can openly ask cultural questions to (ex. Am I allowed to ask to eat lunch with someone in a higher position?). Coming from that angle will seem less assuming and will often lead into an interesting discussion on cultural differences.

7) Have routine check-ins with your supervisor at your internship. I did not have that, and in hindsight, I should have asked if we could have implemented it early on. It's hard to gauge your performance in any internship, let alone an internship in another language and country. There are many ways to get helpful feedback and understand their way of doing things.

8) Be aware of how much you are spending!! They say that people naturally spend more with a credit card than with cash. I would add to that and say that people spend more with QR codes. It's so fast and kinda fun!

9) ) If you want to travel, find a good travel group in the Nanjing cohort that wants to go where you want to! My favorite trips were to Harbin for the Ice Festival and Huangshan in the winter snow. Beautiful!

10) Lastly, be in the mindset that you now live in China. It’s easy to get homesick at different parts of the year, so try to stick to the positive sides of things. Find joy in the freshly made baozi in the morning and the watermelon juice drinks in the afternoon. Life is grand and goes by faster than you’d think!

Below are a few pictures from the office carport celebrating the 20th anniversary of Tencent!