One step closer to another industry...

Growing up in one of the biggest and most culturally diverse cities in the US, I didn’t get as big a culture shock from Beijing as I thought I would. English is incorporated as a second language into a lot of public signage, similar to how Spanish is in the States. I studied Chinese for four years in high school, so I came with a pretty strong background with the language. Improving my language skills was a primary reason for me coming to China.
As for my internship experience, it was a mixed bag, partly due to the nature of the industry. My background is in 3D animation and visual effects. I got a great opportunity to work at an animation studio, but they were at a down period and I didn’t have a lot of work to do. Although it wasn’t a great professional development situation, all of my coworkers spoke almost exclusively Chinese and taught me a lot about the language and culture (we eat a lot of hot pot). They truly welcomed me to China and demonstrated the generosity of the Chinese. I’ve had many jobs and internships in the past - the feeling of working is the same. Work fast, please the client. Little room for creative, personal, and professional development, which seems the point of an internship. My advice to past me is that if I want to experience a country, not to come for work.
If anything I can take away from this experience, it’s that China’s ad agencies and animation studios are no different than the State's’ small studios. I’ve more confidently confirmed that maybe I should be taking my career in another direction.

PROS:
-Picked up from airport
-A lot of notifications about local/networking events
-Given a train card (it's cheap anyway, but it's one less thing to worry about)
-Wifi included
- Sometimes entrance fees to events are paid for, if Miranda is also going.
- Subway is SUPER convenient, one of my favorite things about Beijing.

CONS:
- Chinese classes were a bit too basic for me. No textbooks or advanced study material. If you have a background in Chinese, the most convenient way to learn is to go out and talk to people. Eavesdrop on the subway. Attend embassy events or quiz nights (that aren’t exclusively foreigners!) Ask the street vendors what things are called before you buy them. Be inquisitive, make mistakes, and learn from them. And stay out of the foreigner bubble - if you came to experience another culture, get out into the world (but of course, have movie night with your foreign friends).
- The company is currently going through some changes, which leaves room for mistakes that can be stressful to deal with when trying to adapt to a new environment.