Now comes my turn to write a farewell piece to say goodbye to my beloved swissnex China. I can still remember the times when I was interviewed and how I strongly desired to get this internship, and all the excitement after I did it! Four month ago, my magic journey made its sail and began to leave its mark on me.
At the beginning I was mainly responsible for translating all kinds of documents because that was within my expertise. Then Cissy entrusted me with tasks that directly facilitated the upcoming and ongoing projects including researching, writing invitations, and escorting visiting professors and students. Over time my responsibilities as an academic intern diversified. I was helping Tu draft bilingual news and publicity materials, manage social media, and maintain our official websites. I was trusted by Sherry with setting up venues and logistical support. Lijun involved me into contributing to a variety of technology and business-related events both from the office and at the front. Pascal asked me to add to and polish his presentations. My Swiss colleagues came to me for translation… I never got bored with the range of roles I could take and really enjoyed myself in the process.
I want to especially mention here an important event which took place in September in the middle of my 4 month internship – the Lift China. This whole day conference was pretty major because it was its debut in China and required a large amount of preparation beforehand. The whole swissnex team was putting a lot of efforts into the event together with the Lift team in Switzerland. I was also contributing my bit and really put myself into it whole heartedly. The process was demanding and rewarding and the conference finally turned out to be a huge success. I just felt so fortunate to be part of such a major event and get to make a number of friends, both Swiss and Chinese. Together we had so much joy and wonderful memories which I will never forget.
Apart from my exciting work life, I also had an amazing time out of the office. Lunch hunt with my cute Swiss colleagues (Chinese? Japanese? Or the Chinese-Japanese?) Fun moments I had trying to translate and explain what’s on the menu. All the teambuilding dinners, birthday and farewell parties I have been to. Intimate, personal outings with my Swiss friends. Just to name a few.
These four months have been just wonderful with a bunch of fun, loving people and interesting and challenging work. I just want to express my gratitude and thank you all for making part of life in Shanghai beautiful and memorable.
Dennis / Wang Zhongzheng