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office etiquette – Learning Office Etiquette with Christina, March 13th, 2019

• Nebula is one of the staff members of GBCA and she would like to share her experience as part of the GBCA community 

How time flies! It has been more than three years since I moved to Melbourne, and so much has happened in the blink of an eye. Melbourne is a very special city in terms of demography – many people from different cultural backgrounds are calling Melbourne home. I guess everyone somehow expected a regular level of “cultural shock” . 

Melbourne has many wonderful features after one got through the initial “shocks”. Working at GBCA, I often enjoy the serenity and calm when strolling around the green spaces near the college, which are within a few minutes’ walk – isn’t that delightful? Especially as our college is only two blocks away from Central Station.

Yesterday we held a multicultural celebration at the college’s library. It was a short two-hours lunch gathering, but it reflected the unique charm of Melbourne in many ways. There were staff, lecturers and students from our college, as well as guests from the University of Canberra and Deakin University. Over 70 guests from many walks of life: different ages, different country of origins, have different heritage and different cultural backgrounds, all came together to celebrate a community that we established for ourselves.

The event was inspired by the Diwali festival and coincidentally this year’s Halloween as well. Some people showed up in beautiful Saris and others were in fun Halloween costumes like apes and witches – believe it or not, we were not the only ones dressed up when we walked around that evening… 

Diwali (also spelt Deepawali) is regarded to be the Festival of Lights. It is one of the four major festivals celebrated by Hindus and a grand festival in India, usually taking place in the tenth or eleventh month of the Indian Gregorian calendar. To me, Diwali has a lot of similarities to the Lunar New Year in China. I enjoyed the many legends and regional stories shared by my colleges and students. They told me that on this day, fireworks and celebratory lights illuminate the night sky and purify our body and mind. Not only is it a metaphor of good defeating evil, it also serves as the symbol of knowledge fending off ignorance and enriching our lives – I love this metaphor.

On the other hand, Halloween is rather different from the fear-themed Chinese Ghost Festival and Ching Ming Festival. It is widely known as a popular holiday from the United States, but it can also be traced back to centuries ago in Europe, as it is related to the Iron Age Celtic’s “Samhain”. The ancient Celtic Savin Festival is the celebration of the end of the harvesting season and the beginning of winter. According to the Celtic story, the spirit of the dead would return to visit the living – now that’s rather similar to Ching Ming! I guess to some extent, Halloween commemorates the generations and experiences before us, farewellautumn or fall and prepare for winter… which can be confusing in the Southern Hemisphere as we’re actually preparing for a hot summer according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Either way, it is wonderful to be able to find parallels between cultural groups.

My most memorable moment on the day was my first bite into the famous traditional Indian desert “Gulab Jamun” and “Rasgulla”. They were made from dairy products and sugar, black tea, rose water, rose petals, etc… I always believed that the experience of food can be the first step in experiencing attitudes, cultures and lives. I encourage everyone to go out there and learn about other cultures – starting with food!

The only imperfection of the day was that I didn’t win anything from the event’s lucky draw: movie tickets, JB Hi-Fi vouches, Google Home, and those cute little gift packages! Hopefully I will be lucky in GBCA’s upcoming Christmas event, and experience more stories and delicious food! 

I know there’s no way we can list and try all the different foods, stories, cultures and festivals – but if we keep an open mind, and the willingness and openness to connect with one another, we will  have a bigger and more wonderful world to share.

Australian Trade Minister, the Hon. Simon Birmingham is leading a delegation of Aussie state politicians and business leaders to Shanghai during the first week of November to attend CIIE in Shanghai, which GBCA is one of the only 10 Aussie tertiary education providers exhibiting. 

Senator Birmingham was the Minister for Education and Training, during a speech at the EduTECH Conference, 8/6/2018, Senator Birmingham had expressed that the Federal Government “knows the challenges our nation and our education system face in preparing for the future”, which prompted the country’s investment on innovation and reinvigoration of Australia’s national research infrastructure.  

GBCA’s motto is “Innovative Minds, Caring Hearts, Global Skills”. Our team hope to become one of the critical parts of the Aussie education ecosystem and help bringing young talents to enrich the Australian innovation and research landscape. 

Senator Birmingham had contributed the following article based on his experience at CIIE on the Australian Financial Review where he explained “…education, healthcare and logistics” are some of the longstanding partnerships fields between Australia and China. 

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GBCA’s Managing Director Dr. Celina Yu had represent GBCA at the first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, 5-10/11/18. GBCA is one of the 106 Aussie exhibitors among 2668 exhibitors from around the world.  

Based on economic forecasts, China expects to import goods and services of over 13.8 trillion AUD (10 trillion USD) every year from the late 2010s. CIIE marked an important point in international economic history and a unique platform for international collaborations. During CIIE, Dr Yu has connected with many international delegations and discussed global economic and trade issues and developments.  

This year’s CIIE feature the launch of the Hongqiao International Economic and Trade Forum. The forum highlights on topic areas including “trade and openness”, “trade and innovation”, and “trade and investment” with world class panelists for example Mr Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group; Mr Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board of Terra Power, LLC; Mr John Denton, Secretary General of International Chamber of Commerce and many distinguish economic leaders.  

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We are very delighted to share that our college’s Managing Director Dr. Celina Yu was interviewed by one of the major education news outlet in China, China Education News Network, during Day 2 of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai. 

“The first China International Import Expo had opened in Shanghai today; exhibitors, guests and audiences gathered (at National Exhibition and Convention Centre) in Shanghai. It is a world stage that promote exchanges and cooperation between countries and continents, many participants from the education sector had told our reporters that the Expo will be a valuable opportunity for exchange in innovation and international collaboration ideas.” – 5/11/18, China Education News Network 

Reporter from the Beijing based Network had complimented that GBCA is closely in touch with this great opportunity and appreciate GBCA’s welcoming approach at the Expo, GBCA booth was set up in the Trade zone at the exhibition’s Main Hall. 

GBCA’s Managing Director Dr. Yu had told the reporter: “Since we opened our doors, we closely stay tuned with the demand from around the world, for example, China has great demand for tertiary education. So, we provide a good and practical variety of high quality education and training, ranging from employment-ready training to academic qualifications; we also have good collaborations with Soochow University and the University of Canberra that enabled us to offer Postgraduate and Undergraduate opportunities to international students that are interested. By attending CIIE, we are hoping to reach out to more and wider scope of cooperation, particularly with the Chinese government, China based enterprises and schools.” 

Full article was published on page 2, Breaking News segment, China Education News Network, 6/11/2018. Link to read in Chinese:《中国教育报》2018年11月06日第2版 版名：新闻·要闻 (NB external site – browser compatibility may vary)

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Global Business College of Australia (GBCA) is delighted to take part in the inaugural China International Import Expo (CIIE), held at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre in Shanghai. 

CIIE is hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China with Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and organised by China International Import Expo Bureau. This Expo is the first and the largest of its kind and partnered with important global organisations including the World Trade Organization, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and United Nations Industrial Development Organization. CIIE is China’s official welcome to the world’s economy, selected delegates from over 100 countries had taken part.  

GBCA is one of the only 10 Australian tertiary education providers exhibiting at this Expo this year, other Australian delegations from the education sector include: 

GBCA offers a wide variety of higher qualification studies from certificate to diplomas of short courses within a positive and modern environment. By attending important world-class event like CIIE, GBCA strive to learn from and to forge meaningful relationships with the best from around the globe, hence our worldly focus programs and highly workforce-ready graduates. 

Dr. Celina Yu, Managing Director of GBCA is our delegate leader at CIIE, for more information please click here.  

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