- Where we are
- What we have been doing there
- Anything interesting we’re learning
- And the best stories as they come up
So I hope you find it interesting as you track along with
the Walton College’s Summer Study Abroad Trip out here in China!
My name is Nate Zachary, and I’ll be your journalistic voice
for this trip. I’m a business student at
the University of Arkansas, majoring in Human Resource Management. A little description of myself: The top of my
hair is about 6 feet, 6 inches off the ground when I’m standing, and I weigh
about as much as something that weighs 170 pounds. A good descriptor for me is wiry, kind of
like Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith show. The Chinese word for tall, from
what I understand, is “gao” (sounds like “cow” except with g instead of c) – so
I’m curious how many times I’ll hear that while I’m walking around.
I’m one of about 25 other students on this trip, some who
are also business students and others who are apparel studies majors. Our faculty advisors from the business
college are John Aloysius and Gary Peters. Knowing those facts and names will
hopefully give you an idea of who’s who out here! And as the names start popping up like
whack-a-moles in my descriptions, I’ll do my best to let you know who I’m
talking about. That way, you’ll be able
to keep them all under control and understand what’s going on.
Right now, I’m writing this from 35,997 feet up on the plane
to Shanghai - making the top of my hair actually about 36,003 feet off the
ground, haha. I’ll be connecting with the rest of the group in Shanghai in a
couple thousand more miles and about 9 hours time. So far, and fortunately, travel has been safe
and uneventful. If there was any story
to tell at this point, it would probably just be about the fly service I’ve
been treated to on China Eastern Air so far! (forgive my pun) For food, we had
a delicious pork and rice meal with a fresh biscuit. We also all have tv’s on
the back of the chair in front of us, with a dozen movie options. But for some
reason, everyone around me has decided to watch Frozen. So from glances up while
typing, I’ve now seen Elsa freezing Arendelle from every viewing angle
possible.
Random fact about China I learned reading my daily Harvard
Business Review Case (just kidding, I don’t read a daily HBR Case, that’s just
for this trip): China is predicted to surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest
consumer market as soon as – get this – 2020!
It may have something to do with their population of 1.3 billion people
– 4 times that of the U.S. Thinking
about the population difference, maybe it’s surprising that we still consume
more than them… Hmmm. Anyways, one of
the exciting things we get to do on this trip is learn a lot more about the
Chinese consumer, through direct cultural experience and official business
visits to companies operating here in China. And it will all begin just as soon
as the plane touches down!
Thanks for tuning in, this is the Z-man signing off, have a
good one!
