In this episode, I interview "Bear" - originally from Scandinavia, now working in China.

Listen to find out:

- What brought him to China in the first place

- His initial hardships in China

- Why he felt he wasn't capable of learning Chinese in the beginning

- Why he didn't make progress learning initially, and what changed that

- What motivated him to start learning characters

- The drastic improvement being able to speak Chinese had on his daily life

- How he's able to make friends with local Chinese

- What aspect made a great improvement in his qualify of life in China

- Some of the big differences in company culture he found in China versus Europe

- The big difference in job interviews between China and Europe

- His experience with "face" and trust in Chinese companies

- His recommendations for foreigners living in Chinese communities and in local relationships

- How he learned to communicate using a Chinese version of English

- How learning Chinese compares to learning other languages

- His advice to foreigners who haven't tried to learn Chinese yet, because they believe they aren't capable

- Why it's ok to make mistakes while speaking