Northwest Community College Connections

Bobbi Boyd – Business Administration China exchange blogger

Bobbi Boyd, second from left, and other NWCC Business Administration students on the academic exchange to Qingdao, China. Pictured is a recent trip to a museum and cultural centre.

Qingdao Cultural Centre: Our Chinese language teacher Mr. Fan took us on a field trip to a museum and cultural centre. All we knew was that we were going to see a demonstration and learn about Chinese Paper Cutting Art. Little did we know we would see a museum full of incredible artifacts from different dynasties, take part in some folk music and be followed and interviewed by a camera crew from QTV!

When we first arrived in the large square in front of the building, we saw a large group of seniors doing some interesting dancing moves with balls of fabric on strings. Once inside, we were lead past a room with squeaky screechy music being played. Being curious, we peeked our heads in and saw more seniors practicing playing an interesting skinny instrument with strings and a small round drum-like base played like a violin.  

Pushed inside by our guides and the QTV camera crew, we watched them play. A few delighted and very surprised band members got up and shoved us into their seats and positioned the instruments in our laps and motioned to us how to play. After piercing some ears with horrible shrieks and squeaks we carried on to a series of rooms filled with ancient artifacts.

 We poked around eyeballing all kinds of dusty old dishes and vases, sculptures and coins and even  dinosaur bones. A couple head faculty members explained a few pieces as the cameras rolled and snapped. They even managed to corner Christine for a quick interview with the pretty young tour guide named Daisy. Jessica stepped in to translate for Christine who was a deer in headlights with all the cameras shoved in her face!

Lastly, we came to a room filled with artwork. Framed works of red paper cut-outs of the most intricate detail lined the walls and filled the room. A tiny weathered old woman sat at a table cutting red paper. She looked up at us curiously as we sat down around the table with our QTV entourage. Scott sat beside her and got a one-on-one lesson on how to cut out a symbol used to decorate for weddings. We were all given paper and shared scissors to give it a try, but we were more interested in watching her and Scott!

After the lesson, she pulled out some other pieces to show us and we were in awe. Beautiful cut outs  of maidens, flowers and fuzzy animals were spread all over the table. She handed me a flower and maiden and an incredible piece to Joyce sitting beside me. More pieces came out and she motioned to everyone who then snapped them up like vultures in the desert! What a score!

After a look around at the rest of the gallery, more pictures and thank-yous, the faculty presented us with an amazing piece for NWCC. A work considered priceless. I'm not sure what to think is more priceless though, the piece of art or the bonding we shared with such a special old lady who told our teacher that she had never given her work away to anyone.

Bobbi Boyd, a NWCC Business Administration Certificate student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. She will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.

Scott van Dyk – Business Administration China exchange blogger

Since we’ve gotten to Qingdao, we’ve gone to a few places. Specifically, we’ve been to Beijing, Qingdao, and Weihai (Qingdao is a 30 minute ferry ride from Huangdao, the location of QTC; although Huangdao is still considered part of metro Qingdao).

The one thing one notices about Beijing upon entry is the pollution. To put it bluntly, it was just awful. I made sure to breathe through my nose because occasionally, if I accidentally breathed through my mouth, I would physically choke on the air. The pollution is also the cause for limited visibility, which at times was so poor that you could barely see the sun. 

Other than the pollution issue, Beijing is an incredible place. I’ve never seen such a bustling place in my life. Walking through the downtown at night is sensory overload.

Cars are lined up end to end on the multi-lane roads, giant television advertisements that cover entire buildings look down on you, and neon lights glow along the boardwalks overhead that lead to the entrance of giant, 12-storey malls.

Like the downtown, the tourist attractions during the day are loaded with people to the point where you can barely move. Quite simply, Beijing is incredible. 

Qingdao is a nice coastal city with a population that is a little larger than Toronto’s. The first
thing one notices about Qingdao is the dozens, if not  hundreds, of cranes.

In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve noticed many buildings under construction rising another 5 or 6 stories. It is a pleasant city with plenty of interesting shops and markets to be found if one is adventurous enough to do some exploring.

Weihai is a coastal city perhaps 300km north of Qingdao. After everything I’ve seen, I thought it was a nice little coastal town, and then I remembered it’s the size of Vancouver. It had the cleanest air I’ve breathed in a long time along with a beautiful coast line with plenty of sculptures along the beach.

I went to a place  called Liugong island where there is supposed to be a real eastern China forest. The size and lackadaisical nature of such “wildlife” gave me a new appreciation for the beauty we have at home.

 

Scott van Dyk, a NWCC Business Administration Diploma student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. He will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.

NWCC Business students travel to world’s biggest economy

NWCC Business Administration program coordinator and instructor David Try, front right, with his seven students in Qingdao, China at the Tsingtao Brewery, the country's largest brewery that was founded in 1903.

 

TERRACE – Business and China go hand in hand, so for Business Administration students from Northwest Community College (NWCC), nothing could be a greater learning and cultural experience than an academic exchange to the country boasting the world’s strongest economy.

This year, seven Business Administration students, along with program coordinator and instructor David Try, are in China at Qingdao Technical College (QTC), NWCC’s sister college. It marks the second of a three-year exchange agreement. Try explains the exchange agreement came out of a broader exchange between the two colleges, in which management and faculty from both institutions spent time abroad. In 2009, four QTC faculty came to NWCC for two months each, then Try went to QTC for a month in 2009.

“Our goal, as faculty, was to understand the key differences between our countries in teaching and learning and have a basic understanding of the big changes between our two countries that our students would experience,” said Try, adding that it was during this period the three-year exchange agreement was signed.

Naturally, it made sense to send Business Administration students, says Try.

“Given that we are the business program and trade with China is growing, plus the factor of the Prince Rupert container port and the business possibilities for our graduates in the Northwest, it seemed like a natural fit to have an exchange with China,” said Try, who along with two of his students, has been posting to the NWCC Community Connections blog.

“Living here, in student dorms, and going to class – and of course those field trips – is a truly eye-opening experience for our students,” he said. “As NWCC students are assigned a QTC student, the friendships which develop enable NWCC students to see what life is really like in China – not just what tourists see.”

Student bloggers Bobbi Boyd and Scott van Dyk, plus classmates Christine Leclerc, Lindsey Bentham, Joyce Cloakey, Jason Shellenberg and James Seymour, in addition to their classroom studies, have taken trips to the Emperor's Summer Palace, the Great Wall, the Chinese War Museum and the Forbidden City in Beijing, plus the Tsingtao Beer Factory in Qingdao.

Boyd and van Dyk’s blogs have been characterized by awe at the sheer size of the cities, the population and the visible signs of growth, a genuine appreciation for their hosts and the pride of the Chinese, a frustration with the language barrier and a sense of humour and adventure in tackling the cultural differences.

“There are so many things we have seen and done now that I could blog about, I don't know where to start,” writes Boyd, a first-year certificate student, in one blog. “I want to share everything I have felt and seen so far.”

Last year, Try brought 11 NWCC students to China and two QTC students came to NWCC, both graduating in December 2010.

Scott van Dyk – Business Administration China exchange blogger

If there is anything I love in China, it’s Engrish signs. These are signs whose meaning got lost in translation. They’re the little things that make you laugh everyday.

I’ve collected many so far, but here are a few of my personal favourites:

 

 

 

 

Right above a urinal, I found this:
We are civilized peoples, not savages.

 

Outside of the security gate at the Chinese War Museum in Beijing:
With pleasure.

 

In the Summer Palace in Beijing: 
God forbid anything happen to those railings!

 

In the Forbidden City in Beijing: 
Boy, am I glad I didn’t stay at a 3 star toilet.

 

At the Temple of Heaven in Beijing:
There is nothing more dangerous than a wild imagination.

 

Above an escalator in the Qingdao Beer Museum:
I’ll frolic in whatever direction I please thank you very much.

 

In Qingdao:
I’d like some bread, milk, and a baby with that please.

 

Scott van Dyk, a NWCC Business Administration Diploma student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. He will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.

Dumplings, two left hands & laughter

What could be more Chinese than dumplings!  And, who would want to just eat dumplings if you could make your own...   Take 8 Canadians with ‘two left hands’, add 8 Chinese students and combine with a generous helping of QTC management team who took the time from their busy schedules to join us.  (I should especially mention QTC’s VP Academic who spent a lot of time trying to teach an unnamed Canadian professor…).  And, you have a dumpling-making team ready for action; comic action!

It looks so easy!  Just take a little circle of dough, add some filling (fortunately pre-mixed for us in giant bowls).  Fold the circle in half, a little pressing and sealing and you’re done!  Of course, if you don’t seal dumplings properly, when they go into the pots of boiling water, poorly made dumplings fall apart. 

Honesty compels me to report that the Canadians sure won’t be getting jobs in a dumpling factory any time soon, but we had a lot of fun trying.  And, I got a photo of my friend and QTC colleague Sara, unobtrusively resealing every dumpling the Canadians made!!  

Afterwards, the best part – eating them!  1000 dumplings seem to vanish in a flash, surrounded by laughter and noisy conversation of people doing what people everywhere have always done – enjoying each other’s company over a good meal.

Dave

Bobbi Boyd – Business Administration China exchange blogger

I sit here and wonder what to blog about next. There are so many things we have seen and done now that I could blog about, I don't know where to start. I want to share everything I have felt and seen so far. Which now makes me think of just the thing to talk about: sharing.

Since we first arrived we have been led here and there, on campus, off campus, hours away, minutes away. Every time and at every place we are greeted with smiles and enthusiasm. We would have seats in the front row and the title of "honoured guests".

Our Chinese hosts want to share their pride and way of life with us. They are proud of what they do, how they do it, and in their success at each endeavor.

From Qingdao beer making to the fine art of making tasty dumplings, and from kung fu and ping pong to a school fashion show, they want us to see it all and hope that we enjoy it. In turn we share our time and embarassed laughter as we butcher their language just trying to say hello my name is and count to three for one of many group photos.

This morning, we met students learning e-commerce in a small recruiting satellite office of a fast growing search engine company that competes with Google here in China. On one of our excursions to Qingdao we stopped in to take a tour of the provincial headquarters of this company, called BaiDu. It looked like a fun place to work with a strong team atmoshpere and young motivated staff. At 33, I think I was older than most of them.

Team leaders were eager to show us their sales stats and team pictures, which were plastered all over the walls in happy colours. This company is growing fast and they are proud of its success. The next best thing to Google in China? I would be proud too!

I look forward to more surprises during activity time each afternoon and wonder what they will think of showing us next. Maybe our next activity will involve drums or dancing! Whatever it is I know it will be presented by smiling, enthusiastic faces. How I wish we could bring our new friends back to Terrace and have the chance to show them the same hospitality that they have shown us.

Bobbi Boyd, a NWCC Business Administration Certificate student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. She will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.

Bobbi Boyd – Business Administration China exchange blogger

Northwest Community College students have great stories to tell. Get to know the future of the Northwest's workforce now.

Beijing, what a busy place. The new and modern mixed with ancient footprints. We saw a little of both. The Great Wall was quite the sight. It is hard to imagine what an immense undertaking it was, especially back then without modern technology. There were so many people there as it was a special holiday weekend, something like our Labour Day. Young and old alike made their way up the steep uneven steps to different lookout points.

Many of them seemed to think I was more interesting than the view, and I obliged posing for picture after picture. Some didn't even ask but instead snuck pics from the side or had their family pose a few feet away to get me in the shot. I find it flattering and amusing but wonder how and why they think a blonde foriegner is worth a place in the family album.

Seeing the Great Wall was a big highlight of this trip for me. Something I never thought I would see with my naked eye. I scooped up some pebbles to take with me, they will be the most prized in my global rock collection.

The night scene in Beijing was just as busy, with markets and shopping malls open for business late. Enormous screens and lit up billboards adorned almost every building with huge faces of blonde western models advertising all the high end brands. We passed by a Rolex store and I thought, am I in New York? If a building didn't have a billboard or screen it was lit up like Las Vegas. Streams of colour slinking and twinkling, flashing or falling, make Beijing the most colourful city I've ever seen. Even the cars had lit up accessories.

A few of us wandered down a street with food vendors offering creatures I would sooner step on than eat. Scott and I were the only brave ones sampling small deep fried scorpions on a stick. Mmmm.. tasted like deep fried potatoe chips, but watch out for the stinger, they poke! 

The remnants of such unique ancient tradition nestled amongst the exploding westernized Chinese culture is now deeply ingrained in my mind. Beijing, I have one word to describe you: WOW.

Bobbi Boyd, a NWCC Business Administration Certificate student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. She will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.

Scott van Dyk – Business Administration China exchange blogger

Northwest Community College students have great stories to tell. Get to know the future of the Northwest's workforce now.

I’m two weeks into my trip, and I’ve been trying to learn as much Chinese as I can. One of the other students, James Seymour, and I are staying an additional two weeks exploring northern China, and so I’m trying to learn as much of the language as I can in a country where I am functionally illiterate. It may be nice to be able to get directions to a decent restaurant or hostel for those two weeks.

A translator and a very good friend of mine named Mia has been helping me learn, in addition to my normal Chinese classes. I can now form the most basic sentences involving pronouns, the possessive, simple future tense, and simple past tense, in addition to some common phrases. Most of my instruction has involved sentences discussing good looking girls and bottles of beer. But hey, whatever helps you learn, right?

I’ve noticed and adjusted to many cultural differences. A few of the major ones I noticed are:

• Deference to authority. For example, the dean of the QTC logistics school is referred to by his title at all times, and his word is law among the students.
• Staring isn’t rude. Especially at foreigners.
• Particularly in Beijing, but in other areas as well, personal bubbles do not exist.
• Driving is a free for all. Solid yellow lines mean nothing, even into oncoming traffic.

This trip really has been a one-of-a-kind experience for me, and I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to be in China. More importantly, it has altered my view of a number of issues in Canada and my view of my own country. Politicians and many others in Canada use the word “China” as a four letter word when talking about our own issues such as raw log exports – as a great big bogeyman on whose name is used to convince people to take irrational action.

I very much doubt those same people have met, talked to, and become friends with a Chinese person and an actual human being. Instead, they throw around the word China to create fear because the country is difficult to understand. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned but not fully appreciated is that China is not a scary unknown, but, much like Canada, just a large collection of people.

Scott van Dyk, a NWCC Business Administration Diploma student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. He will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.

Counting to 14 in China

NWCC Business Administration Coordinator and Instructor, Dr. David Try, is guiding a group of seven NWCC students on a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China.

Beijing China - I feel like I'm in a movie set!  You're probably thinking “The Last Emperor” or maybe one of Charlie Chan’s films, but actually I’m thinking of “Cheaper by the Dozen” because I have never counted to 14 so many times.  Traveling with 7 NWCC business and 7 QTC (Qingdao Technical College) students, plus myself and my own translator, in what are often crowded and busy places, every 5 minutes we seem to be madly counting to make sure we still have all the students!  So far, the total has always been correct!

Trips to Emporer's Summer Palace, the Great Wall, Military Museum and other historic tourist sites are simply amazing.  Seeing so many building cranes it almost looks like a distant flock of birds (a simply unbelievable number of new buildings are going up), the sheer size of a city of 9 million people, and literally 1000s and 1000’s of people, turn words and dry concepts such as GDP, into a simply amazing on-the-ground view of China’s dramatic growth.  Cheap shopping, and bargaining over prices, definitely adds to the fun.

Overall, everyone is having a blast - QTC and NWCC students and of course, even their poor old professor!!! Smiles seemed fixed to everyone’s face. 

Today, we're off on a tour, including the Qingdao beer factory, which, coincidently offers, free beer at the end of the tour!  Pray for us!!

Click here to view the photo album.

Bobbi Boyd – Business Administration China exchange blogger

Northwest Community College students have great stories to tell. Get to know the future of the Northwest's workforce now.

We arrived to a nice welcome in Qingdao, including an interesting lunch with many different dishes. Using chopsticks is easier than I thought!

We met our translators who are so nice and eager to be with us and help us. There are more of them than us so they take turns each day in our classes. So far Christine and I have managed to break a key, fry a hairdryer and a straightener and flooded our room with our water cooler!  We figured out we had to turn on a device to get hot water, after a couple of cold showers when we first arrived.

Everyone is settling in we are having a good time together. Lots of laughs as we butcher the language and learn how things work around here.

I feel very tall, white and blonde here, as we get lots of stares everywhere we go. We've had a tour of the campus and a demonstration of calligraphy. We were surprised to find two mugs of Freda Diesing in with some art on a tour of one of the technology buildings.

Now off to Beijing and my first trip on a train. So excited!

Bobbi Boyd, a NWCC Business Administration Certificate student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. She will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.