Learning From Each Other

Two months have passed and I’m back in Germany. It’s cold here now, although my Chinese colleagues have already started to wear their jackets from one day to the other because the temperature dropped 5°C, from 30°C to 25°C. I’m sitting here with the heater on longing for those mild temperatures.

The two months that I worked at Star Rapid were a great experience. Working with young and motivated people who want to create something following Gordon Styles’ idea, had giving me the opportunity to get deeply involved in a growing and developing company with a promising future. It has been a fantastic experience to see how western knowledge and ideas bring something forward together with Chinese will and enthusiasm. The foreigners at Star are from America, Canada, UK and Germany, professionals with a lot of experience in their field of business and a passion for China and its great opportunities.

Of course there have been differences in the way of life and in the way things can be done. But that’s why you go to China; you want to face the challenge of something never experienced before. Accepting and respecting the differences between the cultures and facing the challenges coming from these differences, helps you to learn more about the other culture and to learn more about your own. And although the number of foreigners in China grows every year, they are just a small minority compared to the Chinese. This is one reason why the Chinese are still curious about learning as much as they can about the foreign culture which most of them will never witness by first hand.

Being back in Germany, one thing you recognize in just the first few seconds of arrival is that the drive is missing. It’s the drive and motivation that will lead China to be the most important power in the next few decades or maybe centuries. Considering our own future we have to get our own drive back, the drive that creates something bigger. Both cultures can learn a lot from each other when there is more respect and less suspicion. The future should not be a separated future. The future should be a combined future.

I am looking forward to my next trip to China and meeting all the friendly and open minded people from Zhongshan and especially Star Rapid again.

Thanks a lot and byebye!

By Tino, Star Rapid Intern from Germany