IBSM 2007. Memories. Emotions. Thoughts

Post trip thoughts

I guess you've read a lot of "eye opening"s appearing in this blog?
It is the best word that describes this trip for me.

This trip had definitely widen my perspective of China, and also of the world.
China is no longer the "closed" market like the past, and I definitely see how big the China market is and the country's importance in globalisation.
I believe China will continue to prosper and it will become one of the biggest power in the world.

I have understood more about the characteristics of international business through the company visits and questioning sessions. I have also experienced the business environment in China which is what I anticipated most prior to the trip. The cultural visits have also helped in my understanding of the Chinese environment, which influences their business environment as well.

Besides learning more on International Business, this trip has changed me A REAL LOT.

Independence - I suppose this is what I achieved the most in this trip. Since I fell ill during the trip, I fully understood the meaning and importance of independence. I understand that there will bound to be instances in future that I will have to face alone, hence it is necessary that I start learning to take care of myself and deal with each situations with the right attitude.

Communication skills - Initially, before the trip, I thought I may not ask any questions during the company visits, as I know that I am someone who does not like and dare to express myself to a big group of people. However, at the Piano Factory, I actually raised up my hand to ask a question! With my confidence level increased, I realised that I began to be more daring in expressing myself verbally. Back to lessons in school, I become more responsive in lessons and basically, my communication with other people have improved tremendously. I feel that this change in me is also partly due to the Chinese environment where everyone are so expressive.

Dare to experience - Despite having a lot of brainwashing or prior mindset about China, I put all those thoughts away and did my best to enjoy the trip. Things that I thought I would not handle well, I did them without any pain. It was like, since we WERE out of our comfort zone, we can only depend on each of ourselves to make the best out of everything.

Respect and sensitivity to other culture - Being in a foreign country, we should respect people's culture, just like we hope ours to be respected as well.

Open-mindedness (Flexibility or adaptability) - This trip has really made me learn to be flexible in our thinking. We should not always demand things to go in our way. Instead, look at situations with a different perspective, and you never know, things may still work out perfectly fine! Keeping an open-mind, in my opinion, will also help to make one optimistic in dealing with unhappiness.

Objectives met!~ ;)
THE END

P.S I believe everyone still misses IBSM as much as I do.

miss the good times;