After classes this morning, my buddy Rainey and I head to the faculty cafeteria to eat. At our table, a young female student is visibly praying, with her head bowed, eyes closed, and hands together. After she has finished and looks up, I venture a "Ni-How." She responds: "Hello." She then shares that she speaks English; so we converse in English. She shares that she is a Christian and from Tibet. "To see the real China, you need to visit Tibet," she says. "Most of China nowadays is too modernized, too westernized." I let her know, maybe next time as there is no way to fit in Tibet right now.
After lunch, we head to Rainey's "Investment Banking" class which is taught in both English and Chinese. It is three hours long with 10 to 15 minute breaks in between each hour (2:30 to 5:20 pm). Her professor is Dr. Ning Zeng. I learn that she is a tennis fanatic, and went to Wimbledon one year and ended up staying in London for eight years to earn her advanced degrees. She asked if I would speak today since I have firsthand experience with an "IPO" and an "M&A”。
I see a familiar face: Michael Vaughn, the son of Dr. Tim Vaughan, operations management professor at UW-Eau Claire, who is teaching a class here for four week. A Chinese student in the class introduces Michael as they are tennis partners. And then Michael reads his poem. My neighbor and creative writing professor B.J. Hollars would be proud of Michael's reading.
Michael then introduces me, and I share my experience with an "M&A" and "IPO" with the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), a global energy company, which processes uranium for use in nuclear power plants. I keep it simple, and I'm able to access the website: www.usec.com. The Dept of Energy's uranium enrichment enterprise became a non-government organization in about one to two years, and then it became a private corporation on the New York Stock Exchange in another one to two years. Then we come across a concept that is totally foreign to them: Privatization. China has many state-owned businesses, and they remain state-owned businesses. Nothing is privatized from the government.
I know from my research in advance that the Chinese classroom is very traditional. The professor lectures and the student listen and take notes...or not. My teaching style is more interactive, and I consider it a success that at least three students respond to my questions. Shy or not. Some of them are willing to speak up.
Later we look at the stock price history so they can see the opening price at the IPO, approximately $15/share. Today's price is 60 cents per share. Any ideas why? Slowly I coax out of them the Fukishima Nuclear Plant disaster in Japan. Sometimes, such as incident can impact an entire industry and thus this company, USEC.
After my impromptu presentation, we listen to BBC economic news, and then the last hour is spent listening to seniors defend their theses. They speak in Chinese and I make out GDP, PPI, CPI.
Class ends, and Rainey hands me off to Theresa. It's her birthday today; so we are meeting her and some of her friends for a birthday dinner. It is Cantonese style and simply delicious. I meet her freinds, Ting, Sassa, and Woo (two girls and a guy). Ting lets me know that they have brought a birthday cake; so we sing happy birthday in English and then Chinese (I try). After dinner, each of them wants a photo with me, and then another guest in the restaurant, requests a photo with me too. I've never been photographed so much in my life as here in China.
Barbara
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