International MBA

Did you know…?

By: Marijana Guduric, Alexandra Koller and Ijeoma Ohiaeri

Did you know…?

The word “China” most likely derives from the name of the Qin (pronounced “chin”) dynasty.

Fortune cookies are not a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented by a worker in the Noodle Factory in San Francisco in 1920.

Cricket fighting is a popular amusement in China. Many Chinese children keep crickets as pets.

The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.

The most important holiday in China is the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. Chinese traditionally believe that every person turns one year older on the New Year and, thus, that day is considered to be everyone’s birthday.

China has the world’s oldest calendar. This lunar calendar originated in 2600 B.C. and has 12 zodiac signs. It takes 60 years to complete.

China has an obligatory Military service of 2 years for all men between 18 and 22. Women of the same age group are also recruited for specific military jobs.

China has the second largest waterfall, Dietian, spanning two countries. Second only to Niagra Falls.

It was two monks who smuggled the secret to making silk out of the country and gave it to the western world

Wedding dresses never reflect black, blue or gray because it is believed that it may bring sorrow to the marriage. Red and white, symbols of love and prosperity are the two most popular colors.

The compass was invented in China, probably during the Han Dynasty (2^nd century BC.) It was originally used for Feng Shui not navigation.

At least 14 countries and 4 seas border China.

King Tang (A.D. 618-97) of Shang is credited with the invention of Ice Cream. He combined milk and sugar using snow and saltpeter. His creation was likely brought from China back to Europe.

That 85% of all US artificial Christmas lights are made in China

That China has 20% of the world’s population

That the number of unmarried young men is predicted to be 30 million by 2020. The population is more male than female with 119 baby boys born for every 100 girls

That 34 children are born every minute in China. How many children would have been born by the time you’re done reading this?

That the number 250 means stupid

That the number 4 is thought to be unlucky because it is very similar to the word for “death.” 

SOURCES:

http://www.qingdaonese.com/what-the-fact-interesting-china-facts/

http://www.ianbritton.co.uk/

http://Traditions.cultural-china.com/en/14Traditions8022.html

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=59707463@N00&q=detian%20waterfall

Defining Moments

In a week, I will leave with 26 students for China.  For many it will be their first time in Asia – and China.  I expect — and hope — that it will be an experience that I call “a defining moment” — so impactful that it remains with them for the rest of their lives.   Defining moments occur when we are taken outside of our comfort zone.  I have experienced personally, and observed, that new international experiences can be just that – it is a stretching experiences, frequently pushing us outside our comfort zone. It may be as simple as challenging the palate.  Sometimes the real learning doesn’t take place until after the fact, upon reflection. 

I think of how we from the west may draw the world map.  As shown below, we see it as Americas-centric.  It’s human nature that we form our perceptions and expectations based on what we read, hear, see, experience, and it becomes our norm.      

And then our norm is challenged – sometimes the challenge sneaks up on you; other times it is a full, frontal attack.  The experience in China is hopefully more of later.  And we begin to see the world, and our experiences , through the lens of others.   This is a defining moment – something that shakes our thinking, reshapes our view – turns the world upside down, giving a whole different perspective. 

Time will tell to what extent the coming weeks will be a defining moment for the students.   Stay tuned to hear how our experiences, what we hear, and see – challenges our world-view and pushes us outside the comfort zone.

China Blog#1: Pre-Departure (Shalanna, Jeffrey, and Vahid)

In less than ten days, our Global Partners cohort will embark on a journey to one of the world’s oldest civilizations with 4000 years of continuous history – China.  Specifically, we’ll visit three major cities including the most populous city with over 19 million residents, Shanghai, one of the main industrial centers, Qingdao, and the capital city, Beijing.  According to the schedule, we’ll visit 15+ different companies.  In addition, we’ll attend several cultural sites such as The Greet Wall, and The Summer Palace.  Furthermore, we’ll meet students at Peking University from Guanghua School of Management.

During our visits, our three-member group, Shalanna Hill, Jeffrey Royal, and I (Vahid R. Ghabel), will be updating you with our own experiences and reflections based on our daily business and cultural visits.  We’ll have these updates posted after each visit.  One of our primary objectives is to predict the future of China whether if it will “lead the world or falter by the wayside”.

Our group is extremely excited about this intensive two-week field experience as it allows us to not only learn about the Chinese dynamic business environment, but also its cultural impacts on both local and global scale.  One of the main challenges that we as a group will be faced with is the language barrier especially in Qingdao.  Jeffrey has already been to China in recent years; however, Shalanna and I will be visiting China for the first time.  It’s difficult to predict the future, but we feel confident that our unique personal and professional background will help us to bring you a panoramic version of this experience.

What to expect on our next blog: Further information regarding our group members’ perspectives/expectations/interests prior to our departure (April 8^th).

Please feel free to share us with your comments, suggestions, recommendations, and feedbacks.

Sarah, Rui, & Frank’s 1st post.

Being as diverse as we are so to are our excitements. This trip is new for all of us. While Sarah and Frank have never been to China and are excited to see such a country for the first time, Rui is excited to see new parts of his own land (Qingdao) and experience previous travels as a MBA student instead of as a tourist. Although for different reasons another excitement for us is cuisine. Frank and Rui are excited about eating various authentic Chinese fare, while Sarah is more apprehensive of exotic ingredients. After that our expectations become unique.

Sarah’s expectations are both of excitement and nervousness. Shopping for cheap copyrighted material possibly even a nice Feauxlex or Channel on the cheap are countered by her disdain for being cut off from her communication trinity; Facebook, Blackberry, and Gmail. Frank is eager to see the architecture of new China. He’s also curious to visit a country directly involved in communism. Rui is to the point of elation to once again step on soil of his motherland. He’s also looking forward to seeing how we, his classmates, react to his homeland and observe the culture shock.

We will undoubtedly gain new insight during this trip and are excited to do so. Our experiences will be shared by the group and others will be unique to whomever posts. So in the coming days expect these individual insight/updates here.

Excitement and Awe for China!

First, let us introduce ourselves: we are three international MBA students in the Global Partners MBA program from Georgia State University. We leave for China (Shanghai, Qingdao and Beijing) in less than 2 weeks! As we prepare for departure, we are very excited because despite our combined extensive international experience, none of us have been to Asia, much less China. It will be interesting to see how our “West” meets the “East”.

 Our inspiration for this blog was a discussion about what most attracts us to Chinese culture, as well as what we look forward to most. Thus, our “Top 5″ list was born:

 Top 5 Most Anticipated Experiences:   

5. Seeing our classmates sing karaoke

4. First-hand experience of the major growth and development in this BRICS emerging market

3. Meeting with MBA students at Peking University and various members of the Chinese business community so that we can exchange ideas and experiences 

2. Taking in the historic art and culture, including shopping in local markets 

1. Seeing the Great Wall of China!! We cannot wait to see one of the Seven Wonders that is visible all the way from space!

We are sure there are encounters we have not even considered, and some may even top our expectations. This is the most exciting part of all: the unknown.