Our Journey
The project was initially Elvina’s idea. We were having dinner when she told me she wanted to do something for the Indonesian community here in Shanghai. I remember casually saying “well, if you need help with anything let me know” and next thing you know, I was on board the project for Shanghai’s international community.
We spent a few months planning the project, and we’ve been working as fast as we can ever since. Apart from interviewing people and collecting articles, we’ve been spending lots of time advertising the project. It is something that both of us are quite new to, and we’re trying to spend as little as possible on that.
One of the most difficult part of this project for me would be the working distance between Elvina and I. We have lots of ideas and we’ve got a good balance of strengths relevant to this project. However, we are not in the same university and we have our individual hectic schedule that is making communication quite difficult.
Another difficulty we’re facing is trust issues amongst potential article contributors; everyone’s got a story but not everyone’s willing to share them for free. There’s no better way to put that.
Despite the difficulties, we have collected articles from wonderful, good-hearted people and we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. This is indeed for a good cause, and your articles will help newcomers in Shanghai learn and associate their new experiences with what we have all been through.
Very soon we will share snippets of selected articles with you, I personally enjoy the funny ones especially because I have had my fair share of funny experiences here in Shanghai.
Elvina and I will be contributing to the contents of the book as well. Collectively, we have written several and we will have to select our favourite one and it won’t be an easy task.
We still have quite a journey ahead of us, so stay tuned. Again, don’t hesitate to contact us if you’ve got questions about the project or if you’ve got a suggestion. We’d love to hear from you!
~Sabz, October 29, 2009