Today was the first day of class. From 10:00-11:50, I was in Seminar on the Changing Nature of Business in China, which every BLC student has to take. There are 32 of us in total. Dr. Chen Min is our professor. He is Chinese, but has studied in, I want to say 5 different countries. China, U.S.. Australia, Russia, and Israel. He has a Ph.D. and two Masters...pretty impressing right? In addition to his academic career, Dr. Chen is also Vice President of Corporate Development fro NYSE listed company in the Asia Pacific Region. He has worked for GM, AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Motorola, etc. Basically, he's a big timer.
He was going through his syllabus section of recommended readings, when I recognized one of the books on the list. "Managing The Dragon, How I'm Building a Billion Dollar Company in China," By Jack Perowski. That's the book I'm reading. Even better, Dr. Chen personally knows Jack Perowski. Sweet, right!
After class, I approached him and told him that I was reading this book. I also asked him where an ASIMCO company is in Shanghai, and that I would really like to visit.
The point of the story is that, it's a small world. Who knows If I can maybe meet Mr. Perowski, tell him a bit about my self and hope for the best. Not even, I can just stand out in Dr. Chen's class, and make sure that he knows me and is aware of my strong interest in working in China after I graduate. It's all about networking or as they say in China, Guanxis!
My Chinese class was brutal. I was placed in beginners II after taking a placement written and oral exam. The teacher only spoke in Mandarin, and she spoke very fast. Didn't feel any pitty or show any signs of slowing down for us. There are only 6 students in the class, which helps.
However, although the Chinese classes are going to be tough, I prefer it this way. In fact, today while eating dinner with my host dad, I was able to speak to him about my family, how many countries I've lived in, and I even showed him some videos and pictures from BVA training. I tried to best explain the training, but I think he got it from the videos and pictures.
Another awesome day in Shanghai.
Also, a bunch of us got together to play football, and I completely dominated. It was fun and tiring, which brings me to my next point. I have already lost some weight, and I've only been here for 8 days. Pretty sweet!
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3 comments:
Sweet! Was the teacher surprised to see that you were ahead of the game in terms of literature?!
hmm, not really. I thought he would be, but he gave me the impression like he didn't really care. haha. The readings were just recommended.
True.
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