That was 9 weeks of teaching at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts & DeTao Academy. Up until the last day, teaching made me feel honored (“Wow, they asked me for this”), but at the same time feel nervous and inadequate (“Who the hell do you think you are, teach branding?”).

The students were nice, clever, sharp, always friendly — but when I asked for feedback, every time they said everything as fin (“Are they being Chinese, afraid to be honest?”, I’d ask myself).

But in the anonymous survey, the students left such wonderful notes for me. Even then I was still unsure, maybe they were afraid of being tracked, but that last shred of doubt was removed when I left the campus they were having a picnic: “Jaap! Jaap! Come have a photo! And a taco!”

Thank you students, thank you thank you. I know I have a lot to improve. I won’t be sharing my articles just yet, because the flow and order can be better, there are bits to cut and bits to add. But a weight has been lifted from my heart. A 大 (dà / big) honor and 最大  (zuìdà / even bigger) pleasure thanks to these awesome students.