Team Problems

When it comes to team projects, I have learned a lot. Not only about the specific subject we are researching about, but about people from other countries. A few things that I have found out are very interesting and also, sometimes a bit annoying.

First of all, I have always heard that Chinese people are very, very hard working. I can't speak about every single Chinese student, but at least from my experience and from all my friends experience here in Korea, this is true. The Chinese students here, don't speak english and they are pretty lazy to be honest. This was something that surprised me, because of what I've heard, this is the complete opposite.  The Chinese students here has a certain nickname: "The free-riders". At team meetings, they will chat with their friends on their phones, and when I have asked for their student number, their english skills are not enough to tell me a few numbers. How weird is that? Also, something I found interesting is their way of working in teams. If there is a dominant person in the team, or a team leader, the Chinese students won't express their opinions or barely talk to this person. What I have heard, this behavior is also common at business meetings. They will rather speak to their team mate than talking straight to the "boss".

What I have found out, when it comes to Koreans, they are working really hard when they are doing individual assignments. When it comes to doing team projects, and especially with a non-korean, they feel like they don't have to do anything and rely on a exchange student who anyway has better english skills. Also, Koreans won't tell their problems or opinions face to face. When they are unsatisfied, their anger and opinions will explode on Facebook. This is just from my own experience, but I find this very sad.

One example. When working in teams in Finland, we have a thick skin. We do, we give feedback, and we correct to get the best result as possible. I warn you, don't do that here. I did, and my Facebook is exploding with messages "We are tired of you complains …". I never wanted to complain, I just didn't feel like the project was at a university standard and gave feedback, so my team mates could learn something new and also, so we could achieve as good result as possible.

But I must say, all Koreans are not like this, there is different people. I have had a team project with a Korean girl, Gina, and we have even become very good friends. She has been giving me feedback, said straight away "I don't like this, can we do it like this instead". Her behavior has surprised me, in a positive way. I have also  said my opinions straight, without any arguments. And what was the result of this? What we figured out, our project was high standard and will get a high mark. Even though it wouldn't, we are all proud of what we have done. From this project, I didn't only get the job done, in time and achieved a brilliant result, but the most important thing I got out of it, was a friend for life.

Now all the team projects are over and I must say that I won't miss them at all. I actually love working in teams, but with my experiences here, I rather work on my own. So team projects, see you next semester!