Okay, I'm back for another installment.
I had planned to only make one more entry before we actually leave for China, and that was going to be about what I am expecting, saying thank yous and goodbyes, and talking about what I'm looking forward to the most (try all of it). However, I realised I would be neglecting the PDB and as this was a pretty awesome and significant experience, I thought my poor blog would feel naked without it and hence here I am spontaneously adding an entry! Fair enough, in the great scheme of things it doesn't really matter if I don't stick to my 'blog schedule' and I've just wasted a whole paragraph justifying why I'm writing this. Digression? Yes :S.
Anyway, so back to the point. Having read the other fellows' blogs I think they have comprehensively covered what actually happened, and so I will try and focus on my personal experience and what I learnt from three memorable days in London. By the way, I love London...maybe because I'm a Norfolk boy who's impressed by anything tall and made of concrete, or because its a vibrant global city, either way. It's just a world away from Norfolk; the millions of people, everywhere, the hundreds of bars, restuarants, cars, buses, the tube, the architecutre. There is so much going on there, so much life, and so much to do. It's hard to imagine how one could ever get bored there, and I definitely realised I would love to spend more time there in the future.
For me, the highlight of the PDB was the corporate visit, mainly because all the HSBC fellows got to go to the 40th floor of the HSBC building in Canada Square, Canary Wharf. We were informed that this was the 2nd largest building in the country and the view was spectacular. Furthermore, the inside of the building was no less impressive; we had to pass through security on arrival, travel in super quick lifts and got to see the lush corporate environment in which the employees work. In that building alone there were dining rooms, a gym, coffee areas for meetings, fancy escalators and much more. It was a concrete reminder of what can await you if you're willing to work for it, and although I wouldn't condone being driven by just one area of your life, it was certainly alluring and tempting to say the least. The visit to HSBC was truly unreal and it was one of the things I go to do which without the GF I probably would never have done.
The workshops back at BC were also interesting, especially the language and culture classes and the media workshops; I have always been interested in the media and at one point wanted to be a journalist. I find it interesting how the media can often dictate public opinion and make or break careers. Sometimes, they report only half the story - often the bad half - and therefore a person is left with a tarnished reputation because people are unwilling to report the facts. Luckily in this country we have not yet succumbed to a liberal mainstream media, as they have done in America, and I would say it is hugely important to maintain fair and balanced news across all sectors of belief and political allegiance. Oh! Now I feel guilty for using this blog as a political platform; I'm not overtly political in the general meaning of the word but I do have strong beleifs and I did vow I would try and not litter this blog with them. But alas, I have failed and will give myself a good kicking tonight with the hope that I refrain from doing this again.
So, I guess the vital part of the whole weekend is what did I learn. Well, here's a list:
- I learnt that I need to be more vocal in crowd situations. Sometimes, especially when its a new environment, I become too self concious and aren't willing to express myself as freely as I should.
- I need to try and be more outgoing with regards to meeting and talking to new people.
- There are huge disparities, on every scale, in the world, and it is the responsibility of governments and businesses (and ordinary citizens) to try and minimise these, as well as caring for the environment.
- Journalists aren't really mean people. They're just after a good story, because like everyone else they still have to pay the food and the rent. So if a journalist is mean to you, don't take it personally, they just want something juicy to write.
- And lastly, I love London! :)
I probably learnt lots of other things but they slip my mind. But there is one other thing. Last night I watched a programme on BBC Four called "Shanghai Tales" which is a documentary about people living in China. Last night's episode was called "First Period: The War of Growing Up" and focused on school children and how young their futures are decided for them. At just 11 years old these children were revising for an exam that would determine much of their lives, such as their high school. Where we are perhaps taking a more relaxed approach to younger children, and not burdening them so young, the Chinese are ramping it up and producing a generation of hardworking and academically excellent people. It was just a brief glimpse into the difference between our two countries and hopefully one which will be developed throughout the trip. However, personally, I do not feel our system is inferior. I believe childhood is such a precious period of ours lives and is one of the only times we are truly care-free and without responsibility. Therefore I think we need not push our children too soon, but let them be happy and enjoy it while they can.
By the way, if you sometimes don't understand what I'm writing it's probably my fault. I have quite an idiosyncratic mind and a tortured use of English and while it makes perfect sense in my head it doesn't necessarily translate so well onto the page.
Thank you for reading again,
Ollie ;)