Come to think of it, I have joined Wistron for almost four years now. I remember that one week after I first joined, I started my very first business trip. I was so looking forward to it and set out with great excitement. In the following years, I have had to go on business trips to China around 50 percent of the time. Our colleagues in Kunshan foundry have been very supportive. They have always tried to help out as best as they could, especially when I am not in the foundry. Their assistance is imperative in fulfilling many of the customers’ requirements. I have gradually come to accustom to the way we work together. 

The most interesting part about working on overseas assignments is the opportunity to make small trips to different places and experience different cultures and lifestyles. The hardest part to get used to is the internet connection. The restriction imposed by the firewall in China makes it hard to connect to websites that I use at work back home. I am resorted to using VPN for connection, which can be unstable. In the past two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our working trips have been vastly affected. Apart from taking into account the quarantine time, much of our schedule in Taiwan has to be adjusted, despite it having been planned well ahead. Also, I have to deal with the worries of my family and friends, as well as my own insecurity of whether I would catch the disease. Nonetheless, I have to account for all of these variables and make plans as best as possible to focus on my assignment overseas. 

Many may associate luxurious hotels, exotic gourmet and mileage awards with working trips, or fantasize about communicating with foreigners in fluent English and earning the limelight. It is true that one or all of the above may happen. However, more often than not, these are just products of fantasy. On the contrary, learning as much as possible during these trips is the most crucial thing.