To my colleagues, I'm the Singapore graduate with the fresh ideas, dare to defy Chinese working culture, handles both languages easily and I can get away with things very easily because I am a Lao Wai. Heh.
To the HR and managers, I'm an expensive investment which they hope to send back to South Asia to expand the business after a 2 year exposure program here.
To my manager, I'm Singaporean who is good at everything and produces good quality work.
I should consider myself very fortunate to have been sent here because I am the first student under the graduate program sent to AP headquarters in Shanghai. The company has never done it before and they don't send people overseas for work assignment easily, especially so for an inexperienced graduate.
So the President called me into his office and I have no idea if they wanted to send me back ( because I was too expensive) or tell me I have to take a pay-cut or whatsoever. I thought he didn't know of my existence until the US President came down and he introduced me and my colleague to him (and said I was expensive, HA).
Instead he is having me directly involved in a project headed by him, and I have to work and communicate directly with many senior level managers, same or one level under him.
I do feel honoured to be picked, or maybe he just needed somebody who is fluent in English, but every time i enters his office I put so much pressure on myself to make sure I do a perfect job. I guess the company wants to maximizes their investment. My daily work is already at a higher level than other graduates, be it in China or other regions, managers have to report to our team and we report to a senior committee that includes him. I just realised the scale of the projects I'm handling, they really affect the entire company's directions in the next few years. Any decision we make can change the company entirely. This level of job... is highly stressful for a graduate.
My stress level is extremely high these few days although I don't show it in office.
I hope my hair are still intact after 2 years.
