East meets West as Eisenhower Fellows from Asia visit the area
By Larry Eskridge
November 25, 2006
The Canton Daily Ledger
How do you find out what is really going on in a country?
Forget political journals or government officials. If you really want to know what's what, talk to taxi drivers.
At least that's what some of the Eisenhower Fellows who recently visited Fulton County under the auspices of Suzanne Ginger, herself a former participant in the program, said. Arriving in the area for a few days in the beginning of October, Helen Zheng and Chuck Chen of mainland China, Unsoo Kim of Korea, and Mio Kawada of Japan offered these and other unique insights while sharing a traditional American Friday night meal of pizza at the Heritage Grand Inn after a long day of travel.
Zheng, who has been to the U.S. previously as part of her job for the Shanghai Municipal government, was taking the trip to meet regular people face to face and talk to them about their misconceptions of China.
Zheng, who works to improve investment and trade opportunities between the two countries, believes a better understanding between the two cultures will provide a win-win situation. She noted relations are improving and many Americans are interested in China.
"China, like America, is a big country," Zheng remarked. "Someone who visits the eastern part or the western part will have a totally different viewpoint. They just know part of China, not the whole country exactly."
And talking to regular Americans got Zheng involved in talking to taxi drivers. "I found they have a lot of interest in China," she said. "They are very friendly, showing you points of interest and talking politics."
Chen noted the similarities between American taxi drivers and those in Beijing, who also talk very knowledgeably about political affairs.
Kawada also noted the similarities and differences between taxi drivers in Phoenix and Somalia and Japan. She said taxi drivers in Japan don't talk, and neither do those in Somalia. "If you smile at one in the U.S., you are just being friendly," she remarked. "If you smile at one in Somalia, it means you are interested in them, that you like them."
Kim also found the trip a chance to interact with different people and gain a broader insight into the American public, who remembers taking a taste test when visiting the headquarters of Coca Cola.
Kim was quite interested in the physical plant of Coca Cola headquarters, noting the board room was full of memorabilia, which he thought unusual.
"It was very classy," he said, "with a lot of old fashioned furniture. It was like a museum or an art gallery, very peaceful and quiet."
One of the topics discussed during the get-together was the changing nature of corporate culture in both the east and west. Chen, who is in the insurance business, said he was trying to learn from American companies how to create a corporate system which would inspire innovation and creativity.
Kawada, a human resources specialist, said she was learning it was not just compensation in the form of a salary which was important to workers but a feeling of empowerment, the ability to make decisions, and having the opportunities and skills to change with the times.
One of the unusual examples of the American economy which struck these visitors was the fish market in Seattle famous for vendors throwing fish.
Kawada said they had tried to make the environment more active and fun for employees, as well as make it more efficient. They came up with important business foundations, such as making sure your employees were having fun and putting the customer first.
Kim noted he visited the market after it had closed and was surprised to find how clean it was. "There was no 'fishy' smell," he remarked.
But the visitors found time to take in a few non-business related sites as well.
Chen particularly remembers going to the Grand Canyon. One of the other visitors asked why there couldn't be an elevator there, as at many other sites. Chen said they were also surprised that mules to go down into the Canyon had to be reserved a year and a half in advance.
"Why not get more of them?" he asked.