How To Speak Fish
Learning a new language is hard. It’s even harder when its non-verbal.
I’m spending my summer working abroad with the Cansbridge Fellowship, a scholarship program that funds a 10-week internship in Asia. To ease the burden of loneliness, I have recently decided to become both a mother and roommate to a fish.
- Mother, because Frederickton the fish is completely dependent on me. Regular feedings, water changes, entertainment courtesy of spontaneous karaoke and drawn-out monologues (I promise I’m not going crazy).
- Roommate, because Freddy lives in my apartment. However, his contributions to the dishes and rent have been very minimal, so we may need to have a conversation about that soon.
The learning curve for speaking Fish is tough, but rewarding. Here’s a quick guide to see if your fishy friend is doing well.
Happy: Swimming back and forth energetically.
Stressed: Swimming back and forth stressedly.
Dead: Floating at the top of the tank upside-down.
You’ll note that like any other language, there are many nuances when it comes to speaking Fish. Once again, learning a new language is hard.
Just ask my friend Brett McGonigal! He has been learning to speak Mandarin for the past couple years. Impressively, his skills are at the point where could probably hold a conversation with my native-speaking mother.
People like Brett are the reason why I joined the Cansbridge Fellowship. The program, designed for Canadian post-secondary students, includes a week and a half in the Bay Area learning from tech leaders, $10,000 to self-source an internship in Asia, and most importantly, a network of some of the most interesting people I have ever met.
On being an unadventurous person spending time with the most adventurous people
I got the call about being accepted into the Cansbridge Fellowship in December 2022 from Allen, the head of selection. I remember him asking me how I was feeling. I then remember trying to explain the absolute dread and stress about having to spend a summer alone in a foreign country.
The vast majority of Cansbridge fellows are some of the most adventurous people I’ve met. They’re big on getting out there, eating new foods, exploring new places, and meeting new people. It does feel like I’m the most unadventurous person in this Fellowship.
I hate discomfort. When I was younger, I used to stay inside for weeks at a time playing video games — sitting at home was pretty comfortable. I like ordering in and watching Netflix on the weekends.
I think a lot of people forget how uncomfortable adventures can be. Anything from trying to figure out directions, to anxiety from not being able to speak the language, to the loneliness associated with being in a foreign country (see: recent fish adoption). For me, the worst part is being in a completely different time zone than all your friends working wonderful and comfortable private equity internships on Bay Street in Toronto.
This summer was a good opportunity to challenge that. Since fellows have to find their own internships in Asia, I had to decide where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. Coming into the Fellowship, I was set on #1: work somewhere that would make me uncomfortable. During my internship hunt, I became set on #2: work at the best hotel I could find.
A quick explanation of #2. I was so sick of the traditional commerce paths and wanted to do something completely different — luxury hospitality management seemed like a good place to start. I’ve had a longstanding interest in luxury and being a designer in that space felt like a good place to throw myself into the luxury goods industry. Moreover, I believe that to optimize for learning, you should put yourself in the best places that attract the best people. Thus, “the best hotel” search began!
What I’m doing now…
I’m lucky to have fulfilled both #1 and #2. I’m spending my summer in Jakarta, Indonesia, working in product and packaging design at the St. Regis Hotels. No doubt, it’s a stunning place to work, with world-renowned architecture and elaborate fashion shows every two weeks. So far, I’ve been the stand-in for a celebrity designer for a major autumn event, worked with a well-known pastry chef, and ate more satay than I’d like to admit.
A minor tangent: Welcome to… Flavourtown!
Of course, I have to write a small segment on the incredible food I’ve gotten to experience during my time in Jakarta. My coworkers always tell me that Jakarta has two things: food and malls. I didn’t have a lot of experience with Indonesian cuisine, so this was a truly exploratory moment. My highlight reel includes:
In Indonesia, I’ve tasted flavours I never knew existed. Seafood is really big here, pork is not. The pictures above are the top eats out of the millions of pictures of food I’ve taken in my camera roll. Perhaps it is a sign to start documenting where and what I’ve been eating?
So if anything, reading this is your sign to go out and get yourself some satay — truly life changing!
What now?
I’ve had to run back to China for a couple family things, so I unfortunately had to cut my time in Jakarta a bit short. I’m still working at the St. Regis, albeit remotely. Hopefully I’ll be back soon, but China has also been an awesome experience. I’ve eaten tons of Peking duck and soup dumplings.
Interestingly, my Mandarin has improved exponentially (despite all the store clerks giving me funny looks when I try to speak… apparently I have a Taiwanese accent. I’ve never been to Taiwan). Brett, if you’re reading this, the next time I see you we better be able to hold a conversation in Chinese longer than that two minute tragedy you had with that Uber driver in SF.
My biggest thanks
Before I close off, I’d like to make a few acknowledgements of those who enabled me to pursue a summer in Asia. This list is not exhaustive by any means — thank you to all who have helped me get to where I am today.
But more specifically, thank you to:
- Mahir Hamid, for your continued faith in my abilities. I think it is rare to find someone who has supported you from the beginning, no questions asked. Thank you for taking a chance on me when I was just another first-year.
- Allen Chen, my inspiration! When I see myself in a few years, you’re exactly the kind of person I want to be. Thank you for being so supportive throughout all of my ups and downs — I’ve had a tragic number of those in the past year…
- Sarah Zuo, Egor Petrov, Jeremy Hua, and Alex Lian, my best friends and my biggest support system at Queen’s.
- Mom and dad, for letting your child run off to Asia for a summer. It takes a lot of trust to let your favourite daughter do something like that. To my sister, Veronica, hate to break the news… just kidding. Thank you for being the best sister ever, please start picking up Mom’s calls.
- Dean Wanda Costen and the Smith School of Business, for making my dream summer possible. Without your generosity, I wouldn’t be able to explore the incredible opportunity that Cansbridge affords.
- William Yu and the Yu family — for putting together this incredible program and allowing me to be a part of it. My learning has increased exponentially because of the Cansbridge experience and I’m so excited to give back to it.
- Frederick the fish, my companion through my time in Asia and a wonderful conversationalist.
This is just part one of three of documenting my summer abroad. Check back in soon to see how the rest of my summer in Asia goes! Wahoo!
