While Joe covers some of the extrinsic rewards of internships in Asia, such as travelling and cultural exchanges, let me give a little insight into one of the intrinsic rewards of Asian internships.
Asia is where most of the world depends on now. Look at the things around you, how many of them are Made in Asia? Many of Westerners (Americas and Europe) are coming into Asia to source for goods and to have business dealings with. Compared to the past where people are going into the West for further studies and expand their business, the opposite is happening.
Not only is Asia the most populous and the largest continent in the world, but it also has one of the most spoken language in the world, Mandarin Chinese. Imagine if you don't know any Mandarin, how are you going to survive in Mandarin-speaking countries? Many Westerners went into China for exactly the same reason, to learn and master Mandarin, some to the extent of majoring in Chinese studies. (Met some Westerner friends in Shanghai who did so..)
I am not implying that the Chinese language is more superior than the other languages, but given that we are all being more exposed to globalization, learning to communicate in another language is essential. Even the taxi drivers in Beijing had to learn basic sentences of English to support its host event Beijing Olympics 2008. (refer to above Beijing taxi driver..)
All in all, given that Asia is a mixture of many different cultures and languages, visitors and interns are bound to bring home some very useful lessons..
Apart from learning a new language, interns will also learn the way of doing business in Asia. Let's take China for example. Many sales are closed through what the Chinese call 'guanxi', literally relationships and we will give an insight on this topic next time.. Subscribe to us and receive updates on Part 2 of Advantages of Asian Interns!
If you're looking for some internship availability, try considering the ODM Group! They offer wonderful experience and training programmes!
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