Pablo's internship review

After a month and a half the merry time interning at Xinchejian is now coming to an end. The experience hanging out in the space - under Ricky's strict watch and valuable mentoring - was enriching in many more ways than I could retell here. Really but a summary of what kept me busy during the last weeks would include printing, soldering, sanding, editing the XCJ wiki, repairing stuff, retrieving a drone gone rogue, helping others to buy all kinds of material on Taobao, spreading the word about events on XCJ's public Wechat account to is 3000+ followers, welcoming new members to the space and make them sign up, and and and... I finished building a portable 3D printer under the guidance of Lucio over at Xinfab, our neighouring fablab, had an introduction to Arduino with Yu and learned how to fly a drone - well, I admit that's still a work in process. Also I had the pleasure of testing Elwingboards latest prototype - a battery driven skateboard with remote control, which by the way can reach scary high speed. Apart from the obvious technical knowledge acquired - it is a hackerspace after all - there was also another skillset which I ended up practising much more than I could have hoped for.  In sociology the concept of participant observation refers to the process of becoming a member of a community while at the same time keeping track of the changes oneself undergoes by doing so. And it has been especially interesting to do so at Xinchejian. A hackerspace is in some way or another a political organization, and XCJ's decision process requires not only a considerable amount of time but also tremendous dedication from staff and all members willing to contribute. To see how the organisation develops despite of the barriers was definitely one of the most valuable insights. In my eyes the key here really is the notion that it is always better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, otherwise nothing will ever get done. At Xinchejian I spoke mostly in English and Chinese, but there also were conversations in Portuguese, French and German, an aspect which in my eyes gives the space its extra charm, a certain cosmopolitan touch. This, and the innovative and collaborative, although sometimes also kind of rough atmosphere innate to it make XCJ a place maybe not easy to get used to, but surely one hard to leave. So here's to Lucio, Ricky, Amanda, Kevin, Andi, Roger, 老窦，Lio, Sean, Minlin, Paul, John, and Sean again, Lemon, Laura, Mark, Danny, Gael, Quentin, Michelle, Silvia, Eva, Yu, Albert, William and all others I'm sorry about not coming up with right now - it was an immense pleasure to go through this experience with you, and I hope to see you again in September! Making, being creative isn't restricted to any one life phase, much less to an internship, so I'm really looking forward to working together again soon. And to future interns at XCJ - be bold, bring in your own ideas and don't wait for others to tell you what to do - in the end it's all about making your own project.