The past 6 months flew by too fast and it is already time to say goodbye to a great team at swissnex China and to the fascinating country that China is.
When I arrived here four years ago, I barely knew anything about China, its culture, and its language. It was overwhelming at first to arrive in a country where you can’t be understood by others. But overall, I would say the experience has been nothing but a positive one. Confronting myself to an unknown environment and to an unfamiliar culture impacted my life in so many incredible ways. I learned a new language, discovered new hobbies and passions, and met great friends from all around the world. All the hardships or tough times that occurred at first all seem to have disappeared to give place to only good memories now.
My 6 months internship at swissnex China has been an amazing time, and the perfect way to finalize my 4-year journey in China. I was able to work on challenging and interesting projects such as Lift China, and the organization of the “Escalade” 2014. I will also remember the very dynamic and multicultural atmosphere that fills this office. I want to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues at swissnex China for the great moments shared within these 6 months. Your warm welcome and constant support allowed to perform well at my tasks and to make the most out of this experience.
Before leaving, I would like to share with you a quote from Lin Yutang’s book “My Country and My People” which I think describes very well the relation one can have with China.
“When one is in China, one is compelled to think about her, with compassion always, with despair sometimes, and with discrimination and understanding very rarely. For one either loves or hates China. Perhaps even when one does not live in China, one sometimes thinks of her as an old, great big country which remains aloof from the world and does not quite belong to it. That aloofness has a certain fascination. But if one comes to China, one feels engulfed and soon stops thinking. One merely feels she is there, a tremendous existence somewhat too big for the human mind to encompass, a seemingly inconsequential chaos obeying its own laws of existence and enacting its own powerful life-drama, at times tragic, at times comical, but always intensely and boisterously real; then after a while, one begins to think again, with wonder and amazement.”
Hope to see you all soon either in China or in Switzerland!
Julien (小朱)