Where are they now: Patrick Faden

When high energy, creativity and a strong western Nebraska work ethic mix with an open mind and a desire to experience new cultures, one finds possibilities endless.

Kimball native Patrick Faden embodies this melding of forces and has moved from the fields of the Panhandle and the halls of Potter-Dix High School to Beijing, China.

Faden, a 2006 graduate of PDHS, followed high school with a bachelor's degree in communication and journalism from the University of Wyoming.

Faden enjoyed activities throughout school, and because he enjoyed speech he had hoped to go into television.

After graduating from UW, work opportunities near Kimball didn't leave Faden enough options."I decided to go to China," he said. "It was a random choice."

He moved to China in 2010 where he obtained his masters in broadcasting and television arts, but broadcasting wasn't what drew him to the the country, about which he knew little. He was drawn to China at that time because they were becoming an economic super power at the time.

"It wasn't really broadcasting or television that drew me to China," he said. "I thought it was the opportunity for me."

His choice to relocate left him with many hurdles, but Faden, who credits his youth here in Kimball for his strong work ethic, was undeterred.

"I did a one year immersion program which was we don't speak any English – it is all Chinese, all the time," he said. "Basically, they throw you in the deep end and you sink or swim."

In addition to language barriers, Faden had to overcome cultural barriers as well.

"The Chinese culture has a few thousand year history where the United States only has about 300 years of history," he said. "I was very open to it, that was one of the great things I was able to do."

He hosted a television show for some time hosting and broadcasting shows throughout his college internship, and at the same time he "caught the marketing bug."

"I think the marketing and journalism comes in, like how you communicate with clients. So, I think that broadcasting and television degree was really a nice platform for me – a nice base," he said. "That was a great opportunity. I thought that was the perfect way. While I had a masters, it was one direction and I wanted to go in another."

Faden transitioned from broadcasting to marketing on his own with online programs. He studied independently, another strength he garnered growing up in Kimball.

"From a young age 4-H kids are working steers. Your parents aren't always around, you have to do your chores and get to school. I was driving myself to school at 14," he said. "In other areas you don't have that kind of independence. This area (western Nebraska) grows independence in you."

In addition to his ongoing education and learning a new language, Faden learned about many cultural differences between the two nations.

Personal space is much smaller in China that what Americans are used to, likely due to the vast number of people occupying the same space. For instance, he said the dorm he stayed in his first year in China housed more people than the entire city of Kimball population.

He further relayed that in China the population of a small city might be two million people so it is daunting to explain that in America a small city can have just 2,000. There, if you are not in a city, you are in the country, and that means physically plowing the land with horses.

"You have to be open to that too, or you will have a really hard time," he said. "They think that I'm country, and yes, I am, but we have Starbucks and Walmart, everything you need."

He currently works for Octagon, a large sports and entertainment marketing company, and has worked with Mastercard for the last year.

Doing so has given Faden the opportunity to travel to events such as the Japan Fashion Week, Australia Open, the Grammys, and the Munich UCLA Champions League soccer games.

While his career is exciting, Faden takes time to enjoy his own passions as well.

"I play basketball quite a bit, play a lot of sports, and we travel quite a bit," he said. "Travel is cheap, because we take the train everywhere. So that has been entertaining. You can see the whole country on $50 U.S. I go everywhere on the train now."

He also enjoys camping, which is a great get-a-way from Beijing, though he finds the city fascinating. Faden describes a busy and stimulating mix of the very modern lifestyle clashing with the ancient and revered.

"I think Beijing is very entertaining and interesting because it is a clash of the old and the new," Faden said. "We will sometimes go to the art museums, and they will do that. You can say, 'Oh that is very modern but that is very ancient.'"

In the city he adapts to constant sound, seeing skyscrapers but no sky and people everywhere.

"I almost have reverse culture shock when I come back to the United States," he said. "Everything is English, and when I leave DIA I can look at the sky, and it is so quiet."

Despite the many differences, Faden has drawn an important similarity from his time as an expatriate.

He said the people are caring and they have a desire to really know who a person is. They are welcoming and he has been invited to spend Chinese New Year – a strictly family affair, at a classmate's home.

"I think here in western Nebraska we have that same mentality, it reminds me of home," he said. "We think that China is so different than the United States, but humanity is humanity."