Berkley Center

To cross the Shanghai streets one must use not the traffic lights as guidance, but rather common sense to safely cross the street, dodging drivers zooming in all directions. Quite often, once enough individuals have impatiently waited for the cars to stop running red lights—inhibiting their ability to cross the street—people just start walking in a pack. There is power in numbers, and there is no shortage of numbers here.

Sometimes I feel like I am walking with China—embracing the pace and purpose of life here. For example, I have acquired the taste of Chinese tea; weekly, I go to tea towns where I ceremoniously taste tea, buy my favorite tea, and enjoy their unique taste throughout the week. I get around town using Chinese and my metro card. Older Chinese women line dance at night in streets and parks, and I have adopted a personal tradition of joining in whenever I see them. There is much I embrace about Chinese culture.

However, there are times when I feel like I am colliding with that determined pack of impatient street crossers. Those are the moments I experience culture shock. Most recently I experienced culture shock in the workplace.

In my second semester here I am interning at a consulting firm to gain an understanding of Chinese business culture, and to use my language skills outside of the classroom. My primary responsibility is to develop a corporate social responsibility program for the organization, which includes getting to know the company culture by talking with colleagues, and doing research on effective corporate social responsibility initiatives in China.

In my first conversation with two employees I asked them about their experience with community involvement, and told them about my duties as an intern. They told me they had never donated their time or money to organizations with a good cause, nor did they want to. They said, “Chinese people take care of their families, and the government should take care of the people who are without a family.”

My excitement for creating a sustainable way for the organization to do good in Shanghai came to a screeching halt when I was faced with the reality of why corporate social responsibility is struggling to popularize in China. I wondered, how much good am I really doing if I am imposing the Western practice of civic duty in a place where that is not their tradition?

In the case of my internship it makes sense because the company’s clients are American companies looking to expand business into the Chinese markets. So, it makes sense for the Chinese employees to gain an understanding of social responsibility by participating in it. However, this interaction challenged me. Since learning about social entrepreneurship through the Compass Fellowship at Georgetown, my belief that corporate social responsibility was objectively good. Though, I am learning Chinese to engage in the Chinese culture that exists, not to change it into something I know.

Prior to living abroad I thought culture shock happened upon arrival at an unfamiliar place. Though I have come to find deepening my understanding of Chinese philosophy through language skills gives me the opportunity to be shocked. When I am surprised, this is when I know I am engaged enough in the local way to experience the differences between the Chinese way and the way I have been taught as a Westerner.