So, after this past week, I am totally exhausted. I have bounced back and forth from my two offices and they have struggled to find things for me to work on each day. Finally in the one office I work in, I had to transcribe a very long presentation given by an American-Chinese scholar on the importance of Sun Yat-Sen's work and revolution. He is a modern Chinese hero and has been the basis of the Chinese government's international and economic development plans for the future. It was really interesting to go through the presentation sentence by sentence, typing it all out while learning about the man who created most of the plans for developing the modern and amazing China that I get to experience everyday. Its funny because I am the only person who speaks English as my first language so I am the only one who could have typed up the script. It was my first job that I felt truly needed. To be honest, I haven't been doing nearly as much as I expected I would be doing at work. The language barrier has proven to been a hassle and a struggle in many regards. Its been a culture shock to me because I was told by everyone at Mason that this wouldn't be much of a problem. At work, people are able to communicate with me but the work is mostly in Chinese making it difficult for them to give me legitimate work to do. I have tried my best to stay positive and work with other interns and co workers on little projects, learning about the work ethic, and how they conduct business. In politics, everything is extra complicated, but everyone I work with is very nice and extremely helpful, or at least as much as they can be. I believe that I am getting much more out the experience then they are though haha. Although work in the office has been slow, Friday July 1st was the anniversary of the hand over from Britain to China for Hong Kong, it is a national holiday and a day for political protest. Considering that I work for the Democratic Party, it is a huge day for them. From 1pm-6:30pm I was out on one of the hottest days of the year, handing out fans with the DP slogans on them, and marching with the party. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. I was the photographer which made my job quite easy and was given special treatment because of my position. There were over 200,000 people at the march which was double of last year. They were chanting, say no to social injustice and fight for universal suffrage, there were so many people who joined in and were marching for democracy. I attempted to uploaded a video of the march because it is the best way to get an idea of what was going on for hours, but my internet here is very slow. I might be able to do it next week. It took us over 3 hours to just get out the the first district we marched through. It was exhausting and so damn hot, after 6 pm, I couldn't take it anymore. I have experienced rallies and protests, but this was nothing in comparison. The people's passion was even more intense than the heat. I was able to march with the government officials that are probably the most famous people in HK, and it just so happens that I have met all of them either in passing or during random assignments I have been apart of since I have been working. It's pretty amazing to say that these Legco members know me on a first name basis. Making history this summer! :) I've been learning a lot about how the Chinese operate at such a fast pace all the time and also how they express their deep and fascinating culture. An example, we went to the Chinese opera this weekend, its nothing like what you would think of as an opera in europe or the US. It's loud, causal, and everyone in the story line seems to die. The story is brutal and crazy, and the costumes are vibrant and elaborate. The actors and actresses are so dramatic and the opera itself seemed to be never ending. It was over 3 hours! I spent Sunday at a gorgeous beach (Sunday is beach day for the Hong Kong people) and we spent time in an adorable little town right along the coast named Stanley enjoying a traditional Chinese lunch and shopping in the little markets, making the end of the week beautiful and relaxing. In conclusion, I am hoping that my projects at the government building will be interesting, other than reports I have been given to read, it has been quite slow so far, so lets hope that it gets better.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Week of Crazy Experiences
So, after this past week, I am totally exhausted. I have bounced back and forth from my two offices and they have struggled to find things for me to work on each day. Finally in the one office I work in, I had to transcribe a very long presentation given by an American-Chinese scholar on the importance of Sun Yat-Sen's work and revolution. He is a modern Chinese hero and has been the basis of the Chinese government's international and economic development plans for the future. It was really interesting to go through the presentation sentence by sentence, typing it all out while learning about the man who created most of the plans for developing the modern and amazing China that I get to experience everyday. Its funny because I am the only person who speaks English as my first language so I am the only one who could have typed up the script. It was my first job that I felt truly needed. To be honest, I haven't been doing nearly as much as I expected I would be doing at work. The language barrier has proven to been a hassle and a struggle in many regards. Its been a culture shock to me because I was told by everyone at Mason that this wouldn't be much of a problem. At work, people are able to communicate with me but the work is mostly in Chinese making it difficult for them to give me legitimate work to do. I have tried my best to stay positive and work with other interns and co workers on little projects, learning about the work ethic, and how they conduct business. In politics, everything is extra complicated, but everyone I work with is very nice and extremely helpful, or at least as much as they can be. I believe that I am getting much more out the experience then they are though haha. Although work in the office has been slow, Friday July 1st was the anniversary of the hand over from Britain to China for Hong Kong, it is a national holiday and a day for political protest. Considering that I work for the Democratic Party, it is a huge day for them. From 1pm-6:30pm I was out on one of the hottest days of the year, handing out fans with the DP slogans on them, and marching with the party. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. I was the photographer which made my job quite easy and was given special treatment because of my position. There were over 200,000 people at the march which was double of last year. They were chanting, say no to social injustice and fight for universal suffrage, there were so many people who joined in and were marching for democracy. I attempted to uploaded a video of the march because it is the best way to get an idea of what was going on for hours, but my internet here is very slow. I might be able to do it next week. It took us over 3 hours to just get out the the first district we marched through. It was exhausting and so damn hot, after 6 pm, I couldn't take it anymore. I have experienced rallies and protests, but this was nothing in comparison. The people's passion was even more intense than the heat. I was able to march with the government officials that are probably the most famous people in HK, and it just so happens that I have met all of them either in passing or during random assignments I have been apart of since I have been working. It's pretty amazing to say that these Legco members know me on a first name basis. Making history this summer! :) I've been learning a lot about how the Chinese operate at such a fast pace all the time and also how they express their deep and fascinating culture. An example, we went to the Chinese opera this weekend, its nothing like what you would think of as an opera in europe or the US. It's loud, causal, and everyone in the story line seems to die. The story is brutal and crazy, and the costumes are vibrant and elaborate. The actors and actresses are so dramatic and the opera itself seemed to be never ending. It was over 3 hours! I spent Sunday at a gorgeous beach (Sunday is beach day for the Hong Kong people) and we spent time in an adorable little town right along the coast named Stanley enjoying a traditional Chinese lunch and shopping in the little markets, making the end of the week beautiful and relaxing. In conclusion, I am hoping that my projects at the government building will be interesting, other than reports I have been given to read, it has been quite slow so far, so lets hope that it gets better.
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I can sense a bit of discouragement in this blog post, though you certainly are making the most of the situation and trying to do the best you can. I suspect that it will get a little easier as you move along. I'm eager to hear how the reports were received. Keep the good attitude and all will be well! You'll learn more than you think from this experience.
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