1. “I'm not telling you it's going to be easy.
I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.”
Art Williams
Question C
Describe a time when you took
a great risk. What was the outcome?
Bianca Obert-Sauvagnac

2. A five months work experience in Shanghai
at SAS FASIA, a Chinese company
importing French wine.

3. Why Asia ?
30%
20%20%
30%
Curiosity/Will to learn Food Culture Test myself

4. Weaknesses
 General risks
- Living in a country where I had no family and no connections
- Working in a foreign country where most of the population did not
speak English
- Communist Party’s monitoring and unstable legal environment
- The fact that you will never be accepted as “Chinese”
- Human and animal rights are not always respected
 Health risks
- The “occidental” health care system is globally poor and corrupted
- A nuclear risk: the Japanese nuclear central explosion few months from my stay
- The air pollution
- The food safety
Experience’s risks

5. Strengths
- Focus on improving myself in a developing country
- Respectful and accessible population
- Daily surprises that make everyday exceptional
- Interesting food experiences
- Urban density
- Possibility to live a dual life as both a “local” and “laoi” (foreigner)
- Low violent crime rate
Experience’s good points

6. Where
 Surrounded in red
Shanghai’s delimitation for expats
 In gray : Minhang district
(new industrial area)
- District where I lived and worked in
A place where I could live my experience
to the fullest: far enough to the center to
live an “expats” life but close enough to
have a “Chinese-workaholic life”
1rst solution: living in Minhang

7. My exciting job: CRUOVER manager and aid to other projects
Creation of a Business Plan
for the CRUOVER Vth generation
Promoting new wines (show and website)
“Secret des Grands Chefs”

8. The chance to evolve fast in a company
As a speaker
Business dinner Internal company dinner
“Ganbei” : a sign of respect
Customer and Coworker’s presentations
Translation and Q&A

9. Discovering new traditions
It is important to have a ranked
military figure in a company
Political figures are
the n°1 stars in China, held above:
International stars
People with high standing
Buddhist monks

10. What I gained: A life changing experience
 Evolution
When one does not know a country's codes or have the “right information” and
people to help, one needs to learn fast, the hard way and adapt quickly.
 Education and Experience
Details of daily life become enlightening and precious source of information.
If shown respect, the Chinese population never fails to give a helping hand or a piece
of advice. As long as you have a smile on your face and are willing to learn, you are
given a chance to prove yourself .
 Networking
The people I met were usually open minded and have lived worldwide. The great and
sometimes awful circumstances created a special and unbreakable bond.
 Empathy and Humility
I had to think beyond my preconceived notions, further my understanding of the
Chinese culture and learn how to adapt to other viewpoints and working
styles/methods.
 Appreciating Home
It made me aware of my values and the little details I took for granted.

11. In ONE phrase
This experience proved to myself that I was
capable of many things as long as I was ready to:
take initiative, fight for my ideas, adapt and
kept an open mind.

12.  All the pictures were taken by myself but
• You may find here the link to the map’s
o http://www.google.fr/imgres?start=106&um=1&client=firefox-
a&hs=n2t&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=664&bih=680&hl=fr&tbm=isch&tbnid=Lw-Jz0No-
YwdJM:&imgrefurl=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421511005738&docid=V
EQkVSZrcvklgM&imgurl=http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0301421511005738-
gr1.jpg&w=386&h=425&ei=vB2SUZv0Mce3hQfF4oDoCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1268&vpy=84&dur
=102&hovh=236&hovw=214&tx=188&ty=166&page=4&tbnh=142&tbnw=129&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429
,r:34,s:100,i:106
o http://www.google.fr/imgres?hl=fr&biw=1525&bih=714&tbm=isch&tbnid=9CMZZFtg-
3NMVM:&imgrefurl=http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspectives_de_la_Chine_comme_superpuissance
_potentielle&docid=-
hbnaIrty89dXM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/People%252
7s_Republic_of_China_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg/180px-
People%2527s_Republic_of_China_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg.png&w=180&h=180&ei=Xy
WSUcz_GIW3hQff_IC4CQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=944&vpy=160&dur=243&hovh=140&hovw=140&t
x=101&ty=26&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=140&start=0&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0,i:93
• And the dragons can be found here
o http://www.google.fr/imgres?um=1&client=firefox-
a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&hl=fr&biw=1525&bih=714&tbm=isch&tbnid=CgLelXjKT9jihM:&imgrefurl
=http://blog.dpark-
shanghai.com/%3Fp%3D739&docid=nMEMCag1EH8pgM&imgurl=http://blog.dpark-
shanghai.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dragon.jpg&w=413&h=413&ei=_yWSUYzvNo-
rhQfRtoDgDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=12&vpy=120&dur=353&hovh=140&hovw=140&tx=97&ty=102
&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=140&start=0&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:78
o http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=http://www.renders-
graphiques.fr/image/upload/normal/Picture5-4.png&imgrefurl=http://www.renders-
graphiques.fr/galerie/Dragons-66/dragon-d-or-
67580.htm&h=1000&w=1300&sz=1440&tbnid=uoU5xSCNl5o1VM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=111&zoom=1&u
sg=__rzmv-
Xw5ZBpLGy3LY81_HYS3P_Q=&docid=KkShRG1rehKdeM&sa=X&ei=pR6SUbXXDOqM7QaH4IHYBA&ve
d=0CDMQ9QEwAQ&dur=52
Links