According to Wikipedia serialization is this:
"In computer science, in the context of data storage and transmission, serialization is the process of converting an object into a sequence of bits so that it can be stored on a storage medium (such as a file, or a memory buffer) or transmitted across a network connection link. When the resulting series of bits is reread according to the serialization format, it can be used to create a semantically identical clone of the original object. For many complex objects, such as those that make extensive use of references, this process is not straightforward. This process of serializing an object is also called deflating or marshalling an object. The opposite operation, extracting a data structure from a series of bytes, is deserialization (which is also called inflating or unmarshalling)."

Got it?

So I am standing this afternoon trying to explain this to a 20 year old Chinese student using pictures and metaphors. I think this could become a new TV game show format.

Sort of like Pictionary.

Starting thinking about Star Trek and "beam me up Scotty" but he is probably either too young or has never heard of James T Kirk.

2nd attempt - posting a letter, with your object in it.

Post, letter? Blank stares.

So I start drawing a picture of a letter with a stamp on it, and a letter box.

I stopped just short of Postman Pat.

I think he got it eventually, and he's a smart kid.

They never said this job would be easy.