Dear 瑟兰,

I apologize that I have to write back to you in English by now. I cannot type Chinese in this computer but I can view Chinese font.

 I saw your response to my diary “人在团体中，感觉踏实一些.” Thank you for your understanding, in the mean time, I want to encourage you learn as many foreign languages as possible. I used to think that if I had not traveled places, experienced different cultures, made friends with different ethnic backgrounds then I would consider myself as survived, not as lived.  From economics point of view, the better we know our customers’ languages, the more beneficial trade terms we have. Say, Indian economy is booming. The prediction is that India’s growth will exceed China in 15 years. Indian politics are trying hard to attract foreign investments. I am convinced that compared to China, India has no language barrier when it comes to communicate with the foreign investors. That being said, I believe we ought to know some foreign languages.

 On the other hand, if the mainstream society here in the U.S or in Europe doesn’t accept my culture, I can hardly defeat the biases alone. For example, the very same Miss ‘alcoholic’ in the office said to me that that her father is going to China to do business and she wanted to get some “Cheap Chinese stuff”. At the very first, I did not know whether she wanted good deals, or was cheapening my people being cheap. From her sarcastic tone and facial expression, I guessed that she probably meat both. Later I discovered her emails with plenty of harassments. How can I defeat this type of insults?  Learning our insulters' languages better enables us to defeat them. 

I’d hope if my fellow Chinese professionals could care enough to communicate with each other about this type of issue. Together we can make the job place culture healthier. 

As I said, we are stronger in a group.

Best, 

Seacoast