My Experience in Beijing

By Marie, Kocoon's Marketing Intern 

 I arrived in Beijing in April 2014 with my classmates from the University of Nantes. I had Chinese classes in Beijing University of Technology for 4 months. This intensive program was very interested, I had the opportunity to learn more Chinese and meet students from all over the world.

My Kocoon adventure started in September 2014 after a short break in France for the Holidays.

When I knew that I will work for Kocoon spa I was very excited because I knew that this will be a very rich experience. Indeed, I can say now that it was a very rich experience!

First, I learned marketing in a real situation. Maika shared her precious knowledge with me about marketing and promoting actions. But above all she shared with me her passion and her commitment to her company. She made me feel I was part of the team and that we all had to walk on the same path to grow the company.

Secondly, I had the chance to work with a team of Chinese ladies. All nice and respectful with me. I learned more about management which is my major in my Master degree. This part was quite challenging because Chinese management is different from French management and in Kocoon spa, even if the management is more French it needs some adaptation to the Chinese culture. It was interesting for me to see the differences between the two cultures in real situations.

I can say that at Kocoon, the more I worked the more I learned, which was great for me!

About my everyday life in Beijing I cannot say it was easy because it takes time to adapt yourself to a new city but I enjoyed my life here. The great thing about China is that there is not a day without a surprise.... Of course sometimes you hate this city because of the pollution and the Chinese people who split everywhere. But once you know some nice places, you have good friends and a good working environment you enjoy it. I enjoyed for example to sit at Crepanini's terrace with a cup of coffee, or go to a local Chinese market close to my apartment and buy vegetables at the stand of an old women always smiling!

My family came in February to visit me. I was happy to show them a piece of my life here…my apartment, my neighborhood, the spa… We all had a great time together. I felt very lucky that they were able to come to China consider that we are 7 people in my family! But I got this passion for travelling from my mother so for her it was a chance to come to visit Beijing while I was staying there.

Thanks to Kocoon I met a lot of interesting people. I met the practitioners who come at Kocoon to share their passion. I met other foreigners who created their company in China, like Lexie from The Lollipop Bakery or Klara from Miss Muesli. I enjoyed these meetings, it made me dream a little…maybe one day I will also create my company…

To sum up this experience was amazing. I also learned a lot about myself and about what I want to become in the future.

I hope I will be able to come back and work in Beijing after I graduate. So see you soon Beijing!

About Marie...

Marie is from the West coast of France, precisely from Les Sables D'olonne in Vendée. She is a student in Master Degree of Franco-Chinese Management at the University of Nantes. Before she studied languages (English, Spanish and Chinese) and Political Sciences in France.

She had several experiences in foreign countries. She studied Chinese language in Taiwan in 2011, and in 2013 she spent 3 months in Colorado, USA to study American politics.

Her Kocoon adventure started in September 2014. She is in charge of the Marketing and Customer Relations at Kocoon spa.