The Asian business environment was something that I had been exposed to in the classroom, but was curious to experience with my own eyes and ears. Something I did not realize was how heavily the nation relies on foreign workers to build up and maintain the city. It is certainly different from the U.S., and raises some ethical considerations that I had not thought of. It was very interesting to listen to James from Mandarin Hotel talk about negotiating with business leaders in the region, the main issue of the talks may not come up for days. This focus on relationships and motives rather than immediately jumping into the details of a deal was interesting to learn about, although I doubt I would have the patience to operate in such an environment.
Something I did not expect was how nice the people were. :Everyone we met, whether it was one of our tour guides or someone random on the street, was friendly, patient, and willing to help us. One situation that particularly stuck out to me was when a group of us was trying to get into a Singapore Slingers basketball game, but had no idea which stadium it was in. We walked up to the main soccer stadium looking confused, and a worker approached us and asked if we needed help. We explained our situation and she offered to walk us there. She showed us inside the national stadium and spent the whole walk answering our questions and telling us about her experiences living there. It was very refreshing and reminded me of people from the south here.
Although I did not learn as much Mandarin as I would have liked, my time in Singapore was very well spent. I learned new things, made a lifelong friend, and got to eat some very tasty food. I can not wait to be able to go back!
