I am in China from August 2016, I was excited to go to my internship in China as early as possible, because who wants to stay in home country for an extra month of the summer if there is a possibility to travel through the half of the world! My first experience was pretty smooth and nice. As long as I have an experience in changing the culture, thanks to my life in the Netherlands, I did not have a "Honeymoon stage", depression or panic. To be honest, during the first-first day, at the evening I had a 5 minutes of panic and nervosity (because of the first official job), but I was so tired and sleepy that I passed out almost immediately and never had these feelings again.
I am taking my internship in Chengdu, in a company which is publishing mobile games, especially for me, entertainment industries (like movies and games) are very close and it is inspiring me. My job is Community Operation Intern, I am using my knowledge in languages to set up the community around the games, also I am here as a consultant and content provider. Experience that I am gaining, is not only about the games and work, it’s about working in a team, in a company that cares about their employees, in one word – satisfying.
From the first days I recognized that China is highly advanced in technologies. Everyone is using smartphone for everything, people does not use bank cards, actually, they have special QR-codes to pay for goods or food via universal applications like AliPay (part of the giant Alibaba) or WeChat (similar to WhatsApp). Your smartphone is a key for everything!
In overall, I would like to say that opportunity that gives China Global Connection (CGC) is enormously valuable, don’t look at this as an advertising, it’s not. You can accept it as an advice, because in the Chinese culture, everything based on your connections. That is why you need support, key figure who will present you to the country of opportunities and potential success.