Hello from China!
I'm entering the final 2 weeks of my time here as an intern in Shenzhen and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed and etc. China feels like home to me now, although every now and then I'll come across a subtle reminder that I'm not in Scotland, sometimes in the form of being joined on my daily walk to the subway by a group of chickens, other times in the form of the sense of shock and novelty I feel when I hear English being spoken on the radio or see letters and words I recognize on magazines. I do sometimes find myself wishing that I was here on a Saltire Foundation internship as fellow Scots are few and far between here so my opportunities to speak fluent Glaswegian have been somewhat limited.
It has been interesting to live in one of the fastest growing cities in the world (to get an idea of how quickly this place is developing, consider the fact that the 2nd and 3rd tallest buildings in the world are currently under construction 10 and 20 minutes from my apartment respectively). I've spoken to the 2 previous Shenzhen Saltire Foundation interns and discovered that there are entire areas of the city which were building sites during their internships in 2009 and 2010 but are now packed with the bars, shops and restaurants which have been fixtures of my time here. I have no doubts that whoever is lucky enough to be selected as this year's IBM Saltire intern in Shenzhen will have a great time and that they'll probably eat and drink in a good number of places which are nothing but an assortment of cement bags and bamboo scaffolding in my memory.
Working here has also opened my eyes to the unbelievable potential to do business in China. Sure, I knew the country was expanding rapidly. I've even grunted in agreement and made vague statements along the lines of 'Yeah, China. Growing fast. Great place. Opportunity' in order to give the impression that I was knowledgeable/ even remotely interested when such things have come up in conversation. Now that I've been here though, it seems like a genuinely exciting place and I think I've built up a bit of an understanding of how things work here.
And the tea here is the best in the world.
But, in the words of the Guinness TV advertising people 'Good things come to those who wait.'
I still think they should've changed it to 'All good things come to an end.' That would've fitted in here much better because I'm about to return home and have reality layeth the smack down on me in the form of my last ever academic engagements at uni. And once that's done and the seemingly endless conveyor belt of grad balls has passed through Glasgow's Oran Mor, I'll have to find myself a job. My quest to find the next chapter in the employment section of my CV started well as I beat over 80,000 competitors to make it to the final 250 candidates to be Charlie Sheen's social media intern. Unfortunately, at the final hurdle, my application proved to be...eh...one and a half men short of two and a half men. Back to milkround.com I go then!
Luckily I've been able to make quite a few contacts through the 'Saltire Mafia' (which kind of sounds like something which belongs in a rejected Braveheart sequel ideas highlight reel) and these people are always good to ask for career advice. Which is handy as I will need plenty of it!
Finally, congratulations to all the successful 2011 intern applicants who should probably just be digesting their good news in the next few days. I'm very jealous of everyone who's going off on placements this summer and would love to relive all the 'Wow, this is actually happening' moments you'll all have over the next weeks and months. And it's especially good to see Glasgow Uni's Aero department strongly represented once again this year!