This is a past event
A presentation on a Scottish graduate's working experiences in China and on the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit.
As a fresh-faced Marketing and Media graduate, Gavin Marcus moved to China in 2010 to learn Mandarin, gain working experience and familiarize himself with a culture and a language he knew absolutely nothing about. With ‘chi fan’ (吃饭) and ‘hen hao’ (很好) - meaning ‘to eat’ and ‘very good’ respectively – the only two Mandarin expressions he knew – he packed his bags and moved to a city suburb of the North-Eastern city of Dalian where English was not spoken, foreigners were few and far between and, to his dismay and confusion, ‘dai fanr’ (歹饭儿) and ‘xue hao’ (血好）are the expressions for ‘to eat’ and ‘very good’. It was here he jumped head first into the deep end of China’s incomprehensibly vast and unpredictable culture, marking the beginning of his journey in the Chinese working world.
At that time the Chinese market was fast developing and welcoming the emergence of the 'Chinese Dream' where the notion of improving one’s current situation is central to society. During these four years of interning, working and studying in China, Gavin would experience first-hand the speed of China’s development. His experiences in the Chinese workplace – where workers are gathering skills at a ferocious pace and opportunities to progress are seized with an admirable intensity – would contrast greatly with his experiences outside of the workplace – where the dinner table and family life are very much central to an honest, gentle and somewhat sedate personal life.
Through his industrious work ethic and propensity to say ‘yes- I’m in!’ to everything, Gavin accumulated many unique and exciting experiences, varying from working in the teaching industry, interning with entrepreneurial start-up firms, hosting live TV performances to millions of viewers, creating student newspapers, working with foreign transnational firms, volunteering with charity organizations, and his personal favourite modelling: for a health check-up/pregnancy clinic. All these experiences helped him to achieve his initial goal: to pass the highest level of Mandarin proficiency tests (HSK 6) and to land a position with a leading Chinese E-commerce/IT company.
Now fluent in Mandarin and settled in the city of Hang Zhou, Gavin is temporarily back in Scotland and has time to reflect on this unique set of experiences.
He is enthusiastic about discussing his experiences working in China with those who have aspirations to move to or work in China, who are learning Mandarin or who are just plain interested in the modern day behemoth that is the Chinese economy.
- Speaker
- Gavin Marcus
- Hosted by
- Confucius Institute of the University of Aberdeen
- Venue
- MacRobert MR 266