Here I sit in the Guilin (KWL) Airport, typing my first blog post since the CRCC Induction and Orientation Day, waiting for my flight back to Beijing. It is my last full day in the amazing country known as Zhongguo – “The Middle Kingdom”, China. Hard to believe that I arrived in Beijing nearly 5 weeks ago to set off on an adventure to push my boundaries and test my limits. Oh how the time has flown, filled with wonderful memories and experiences. Needless to say, I have been very bad about updating this blog.
Just some random thoughts filling my head on this final day in China. My time here has been full of contrasts. I think that is a good way to describe what I’ve experienced: contrasts. There are so many friendly, kind, and generous people here, it is hard to begin to put into words. Add the close-knit family of CRCC intern friends that I’ve made over the past month into the mix, and it makes leaving even so much more difficult. There are plenty of frustrations that go along with living in a still-developing country and particularly Beijing, such as sanitation, hygiene, crowds, traffic, pollution, and communication. But I had this group of people going through the exact same culture shock as me.
The internship experience was an interesting one. My workplace ended up being not what I expected in the least. We produced an economic and environmental conference that kept our coworkers busy working nights and weekends. Aside from that, there wasn’t much work to go around. That goes for the employees even more so than unpaid interns. And the working environment was not, shall we say, conducive to interns getting the most out of their placement. Morale was extremely low, and employee turnover was the highest I’ve ever experienced anywhere—workers routinely left 1-3 months after they began because the work environment and pay was not as promised. All in all, it was a small group of coworkers that took us under their wing, were able to speak English with us, and explain that this is not the norm in China. I and the other intern Deo were grateful for their friendship; otherwise, the experience would not have been nearly so redeeming.
I miss my wife, boys, friends, and family back home terribly, but I am not necessarily homesick—as in missing Portland or my house or the U.S. way of life. In fact, I want them to be here with me, to have experienced what I’ve experienced, seen what I’ve seen, interacted with those who have crossed paths with me. But alas, I know that is not the case, and will never be. They can’t know what I’ve been through, no matter how many stories I tell. And despite the magic of Facebook and the Internet to keep in touch and hopefully see one another someday, we will never have the same group of intern friends living and having fun together in Beijing.
I realize this is the expat way of life, one I had never experienced before. Transience. One group of friends arrives, another one leaves. It’s tough, but I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything. I will try to recount some of the stories from this past month in upcoming posts while they are still somewhat fresh in my memory.
Zai jian China! I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand you, but you have definitely captured my heart.
~ Tom
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