This summer, apart from traveling, I was going to intern in Beijing and teach English in Shanghai. Initially, I struggled between which employment option to choose: interning, or teaching. Then, I found some magical way to incorporate both into my summer by interning the first half and teaching the second half. And then… complications arose and the whole plan fell apart. Except for the travel component, thank GOD, or else I would have had nothing to show for my summer besides lazing about and not using my hard-earned Mandarin skills.

Interning fell through not because I wasn’t a viable candidate or anything like that. In fact, I had pretty much secured the position, which was no small feat seeing as it was at a world-class PR company’s office in Beijing. However, the issues that arose were not to do with me, but with my Chinese visa and housing. I had contacted the company expressing my interest in interning through my study abroad program in Beijing, who conveniently forgot to mention that 1) I would require a student visa to intern, 2) They would not be providing me papers to renew my student visa, and 3) They also would not offer me any housing. So, thanks to no student visa and no housing, I had to decline the internship opportunity. Frustrated doesn’t even begin to cover how I felt when things came crashing down.

Teaching fell through for a myriad of little reasons, unlike interning. The school was incredibly vague on how much I would get paid, and how much of my working hours would be paid (last official thing I heard was that I would be paid three hours per day, but expected to be at the school and work for a minimum of six). They also wouldn’t cover any visa or visa travel-related expenses (a Chinese visa costs around $140USD for an American citizen, and to “renew” a double-entry or multiple-entry visa one must leave the country). Getting in touch with the school officials to confirm anything about the job was like pulling teeth – at times, it was altogether impossible. Not exactly the most promising work environment. Also, since the teaching gig was at the very tailend of my summer in China, I would have to piece together alternative living arrangements for the rest of the summer since the internship fell through.

In the end, I’m simply going to be traveling with family in China until mid-July. Then, I return home to Chicago for two weeks to pack up my things and move out permanently to my apartment in Washington, DC. After I celebrate my 21st (August 23rd!), I kick off my final year of my undergraduate degree. Needless to say, there are a lot of major changes coming up in my life…

Tags: china, internship

In a remarkable change to my summer unemployment dilemma of 2009, I have two very excellent employment options for this summer. The only problem is that I have to choose which one I want; due to the location of each position I can’t do both.

As I would say in Chinese, 怎么办？(“What’s to be done?”)

Option #1: Interning at a PR firm in Beijing
Internships are obviously a great thing to have listed on a resume, and interning at a first-class PR firm in Beijing would be pretty damn amazing. I’d get tons of work experience in my field and also get to know what the industry is like in another country, and how PR strategies and such differ from country to country. As a full-time intern, I’d be fully immersed in my work environment and would have awesome opportunities to improve and expand my skill set. This internship would be the most related to my field out of all the work experience I’ve had so far.

But there are cons, of course. I’d be an unpaid intern, and I’d have to cover living expenses out of pocket. I also wouldn’t be able to use much, if any, of my Chinese at my internship because of the nature of the company and my position. Yes, I would still be able to use my Chinese in daily life, but not being able to use it (or improve it) in a professional setting is a little discouraging.

Option #2: Teaching English just outside Shanghai
I have never taught English before, but I would make bank doing so in China. The teaching gig I’m looking at is a pretty sweet deal, too. I would get paid to teach and receive free room and board as well as free Chinese lessons. Three of my friends are also considering this employment opportunity, so it would be all of us working at the same school this summer.

My issue with this is that it is not in Beijing, a city I have grown to love. It isn’t even in Shanghai either, but right outside it. I like everything that a big city in China has to offer, so I am a little skeptical of how well I would adjust to not living in the city.

I have to decide between one of the two soon, and I have no idea how I am going to be able to make this decision. Input, anyone?

Tags: china, internship