Before I arrived in China, I had some apprehension. Even if I was so happy to discover China and his "legendary" history. I heard a lot about chinese standards and I was not very confident about a lot of things.
In fact all my concerns left away. The appartment is very good and even if there might be some troubles sometimes, Sandy and his devoted team fixe it in a very short time.
About the chinese classes, the book and our teachers are great : we work in a small group and we learn very useful sentence structure. Now I am able to cope with a lot of situations : find your way, subscribe at the gym, order a dish at the restaurant….
When the weekend comes, you can do a lot of activities in Wuxi, Jiangsu area or in Shanghai. Wuxi is a big city and does not lack of places to have fun with friends, enjoy the beauty of nature near a huge lake… Suzhou and Shanghai are respectively at 20 and 40 minutes from Wuxi by train so you can enjoy these city whenever you want.
Zach is telling his experience :
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Age : 21 / Chinese sign : horse
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Chinese courses & Intership (July 2012 - August 2012)
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Finance & Actuarial affairs - Institut de Science Financière et d'Assurances.
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zg_cns@ymail.com
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Why did I want to come in China ?
The first one was to have a first working experience in this country. This last decade, we hear a lot about China, their amazing growth, despite the financial crisis western countries face. I thought it might be good to do an internship here in case I decide to come back later for a job. Indeed, knowing the way they work, what matters for them when they ask you something … is a good way to find a job here easily.
The second one was to learn a language completely different from Latin languages. They speak in a very different way that us, and the logic is completely different. Tongues and intonations are very important, and may be difficult at first, for Europeans, because we do not pay as much attention in intonations as they use to do here. Conversely, their conjugation is very simple. On top of that, the way they write is related to the environment and the Chinese history, it’s very nice to learn and understand how they interpret some words.
The last one is related to the second one. I wanted to discover China, the population, their way of life … So far, I traveled in Europe, but everywhere I went, even if the places were amazing, the way of life was not so much different. Here, because of the amazing number they are, because it is an emerging country … From the food to advertisements (they love Karaoke for instance), life is completely different.
My feelings about this trip ...
I spent in China a very good and nice time. Even if the way of life is completely different, it is still very rewarding. Monuments and the countryside are, in some places, very beautiful, and various. Rules in society are different, in my opinion: in the street, they can be rude and not very polite; in Wuxi, they are not very used to see foreigners, some inhabitants stare us … We need a few days to get used to that. But once you are used to that, it really worth it !!!!
Another thing I loved here is that China allures a lot of foreigners, and I met so much different nationalities, who were there for so much different reasons. Very nice!! Chinese teachers in the school, or the ones we met in the bars, the sports centers … were very nice, and we learned a lot about Chinese habits with them. The night life is Shanghai was very nice, and the province and the countryside can be very beautiful (of course, China is an emerging country, so there are also a lot of industrial neighborhoods, not so much beautiful!)
As I said before, learning Chinese was very interesting. Firstly, Chinese people are very happy when a foreigner tries to speak their language. Secondly, it is the best way to meet Chinese when you go to see them trying to introduce you in Chinese. It makes immediately some connections.
To sum up, if you are looking for a real experience to valuate your resume and an unforgetable experience, I advised you to have a look on this part of the world ! My word on that, tou won't regret it !! ;)
Florent is telling his experience :
