The Right Way

Ice Cream Metaphor

People can experience the same things differently, I get that. I eat an ice cream and I feel happy and satisfied, someone else will eat the exact same ice cream and be confused at the appeal of the cold milky snack and want to throw it in the bin. Maybe I work in an ice cream factory and am sick of eating the left over ice creams, or maybe I have never had an ice cream before and my first try is heavenly. Perspectives on the ice cream differ. Every single person experiences it differently and their experiences are all valuable no matter their background. The ice cream factory worker knows more about ice cream, but that doesn't make the experience of a first time ice cream taster less correct.

I started thinking about this concept of how valuable and authentic one experience is compared to another when I was reflecting on my own experience living in Chile. From travel blogs I have read recently, it seems that my situation is quite unique. Not many foreigners get to live inside another culture like I am right now.

"My Situation":

• Sharing an apartment with Chileans.
• Having only Chilean friends and acquaintances.
• Being immersed in Chilean culture whenever I'm not alone or on Skype.
• Using Spanish everyday to communicate my thoughts and feelings.

These things have their advantages and disadvantages. Living with locals does give you a different perspective and lets you see things that are way outside the Lonely Planet version of a country. But are they more real and valuable than the three day tour version?

Foreigner Bubble

When I lived in China for a total of about three years I never lived within Chinese culture the way I am living within Chilean culture now. Sure, I ate Chinese food regularly, I practiced my Chinese with locals, I encountered strange and interesting things about the culture, etc. However I was always experiencing these things from the outside. I didn't live with a Chinese family, I didn't have many Chinese friends, so I found parts of my own culture within China to relate to and enjoy. Basically I lived in a foreigner bubble version of China.

I'd like to point out that I had a fabulous time in that bubble. I made amazing friends, experienced new things, and learnt a lot about the world. The foreigner bubble isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did keep me at an arm's length from the country I was living in.

This realisation of how different my 'foreigner life' in China was compared to my current 'local life' in Chile makes me wonder if my Chinese experience would have been more valuable and authentic if I was immersed in everyday Chinese life. Definitely, my Chinese language skills would be much more advanced. After three months in Chile with no prior Spanish training (except a few months on Memrise) I have conversational Spanish and a basic hold on grammar. Getting to that level in Chinese took me three years. Another difference is that I would have learnt more about Chinese culture from observing those around me 24 hours a day rather than reading about it in a book or hearing another expat's perspective on a certain tradition.

On the other hand I wouldn't have connections all around the world, like I do now, if I lived in a local context, and I probably still wouldn't know that Turkmenistan exists. And maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have enjoyed myself as much. I wonder whether I would have kept on returning to China after an intense cultural experience? Being all of 14 when I first visited China, I think I would have been quite shocked at the prospect of being put into a completely Chinese environment and that may not have had the best impact on my excitement for China. But who knows.

Living like a Local

The fact is that living as a local, for all its value, is hard. First of all, how do you get into this situation? It's not an easy feat. I remember having a deep desire to connect with locals and share with them in China. I looked for avenues to achieve this goal- hobbies, clubs, language exchanges, etc. It doesn't always work out how you think it will, and it requires a lot of persistence to find a local who:

a) isn't using you for English speaking practice,
b) is cool, and
c) wants to hang out with you.

I guess that's why a lot of people pay good money to do home-stay programs and immersion internships. (My first solo trip to China was through a volunteer organisation, Lattitude Global Volunteering.) My Chilean pathway to living in a local environment was less planned: I fell in love with a Chilean. He has been kind enough to show me his country and I am grateful everyday for his help in understanding his homeland and its people. I know I am very lucky to be able to share this experience with him. Many people don't get the chance to live like a local when they travel overseas and their experiences contain completely different content because of that.

Your Version

Imagine all the different impressions foreigners can have of a single country. Your thoughts on China or New Zealand, for example, are almost certainly going to be different to mine. Some people travel on tours, others with their parents, some backpack without plans. Budgets differ, time frames differ, reasons for travelling differ too. Which version is the best? Which combination produces the most reliable presentation of a country? All of them happen, all are true, yet they result in different experiences, good and bad, and varied images of a place. Local is one way. Foreigner bubble is another way. Tourist another.

Entrepreneurial Spirit in China, Chile and Australia

I find it fascinating to travel and learn about different cultures because it helps me to understand the world better. Conceptualising theories in from a textbook is not useful until you know that it is real somewhere. I have learnt so much from living outside of my own culture and I recommend it to everyone who has the opportunity. 

Entrepreneurship

The vibe that I have felt when in developing countries like China and Chile is one of movement, motivation and opportunities. It rubs of after a while and you feel excited just to be part of it. So many people are finding new ways to be prosperous, to improve their living standards, to connect with the rest of the globe and think outside the box. 

When I lived in China I found that working hard and business networking was a part of life, a vital part. People were open to ideas and opportunities coming their way and they set aside a significant amount of their personal time and energy for pursuing those opportunities. Apart from cultural tendencies for making contacts and helping people with favours, the fact that the economy was growing rapidly seemed to influence their view of their potential in that environment and motivated them to take advantage of the available opportunities. 

I also met many foreign expats in China who were thinking of how to open their own businesses so they could connect with the opportunities of the Chinese market. Some of them were also from developing countries. I really admire all of their views and motivation for creating something from nothing. At the the same time they are willing to take risks for the chance to succeed, and they aren’t afraid to fail and learn from mistakes.

In Chile I have found a similar phenomenon. Young Chileans are very open to meeting new contacts, to network and talk about their ideas. Many people have their own small businesses and are working out the issues along the way with the support of their families and friends. But the point is they are willing to work hard to be their own boss and make something for themselves. When networking, the way Chileans and Chinese people explain their ideas is with passion, with authority and with a little bit of “fake it til you make it”. This skill is very useful in life, not only in business but socially too. Having confidence in your thoughts and projects shows your motivation and planning, the time you have put into something and how far you are willing to go to succeed, your commitment. It also helps you develop your powers of persuasion and diplomacy: essential skills to have to get what you want. As a non native speaker of both Mandarin and Spanish, I have coined this “whoever talks the longest wins”. The more you can talk about a topic, the more information you can impart on the other person in the conversation, the more you you know, the smarter and more well informed you are. This positions you better to gain and use contacts. It is definitely a skill I need to master.

However Australian culture is different. We have tall poppy syndrome, we don’t want to hear someone go on and on about how much they know. Instead of being impressed we might be hesitant to cooperate with them, we might interpret the noise as compensation for lack of actual knowledge or credibility. Moreover from my experience in Australia so far I see less entrepreneurial spirit in young people. Most people are interested in securing a well paying job by studying at a advanced level and working their way up the chain (while paying off their Uni loans). In Australia this is achievable and is very secure, so in reality this plan is a smart one, however the environment discourages new businesses being created and level of competition in the market. In general the population is risk adverse and would rather take the safe pathway to financial security. Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert of economics, so I would be very interested if anyone has other comments on this.

I’m sure that government policy, laws, media, culture, location and many other factorrs also influence the amount of business growth and entrepreneurial spirit in a country. As Prahni from Seachange says “Everything is connected to everything else”.