Had anyone told me, say, as little as six months prior to that September that this would be my life, I would have bet them quite some $s that they were dead wrong. Experience has now taught me that every so often that which you think is impossible is the way to go; once you’ve crossed that bridge – it’s a whole new you.
This is now my life, and I couldn’t be happier.
I do not remember the date when I made this decision and come to think of it, these days I side more with the idea that the decision made me.
It all began as an innocent joke back in 2006 in Russia, just a few months before my college graduation, as I was going through the all too familiar ‘what-do-I-now-do-with-my-life’ phase. If there was one option I was definitely never going to take – it was, as sad as it might sound, staying in my home country. I am a very proud Russian, don’t get me wrong, I profoundly believe we are a great people – I just happen to find it unfortunate that we got slightly lost along the way some time ago and are still figuring our way out of the woods. We will get there eventually, I know that in my gut, maybe just not in my life time is all…
I happened to discover a magazine in my mailbox one day. How it ended up there remains a mystery to me until now. I only vaguely recall what the magazine was about, as the only page that got my attention was an excessively colorful ad of an Academic Year Abroad Program administered by English First. They listed around 15 cities in various countries where you could live for a year and learn the language. The package included staying with a host family and taking language classes 40 hours a week, pretty much a full-time job. Now, this is probably a good time to mention that I happen to be one of those language whiz kids with a brain that all words foreign stick to like gum sticks to stuff. So, naturally, the idea alone of a year like that made me ecstatic. All I had to do was pick a country and a city. The US and the UK were on offer, but seeing how I was about to get a BA in Linguistics and English at that point had already occupied about 99% of my brain making Russian just this other thing I happen to speak, I was obviously not going for either of those. Every other European language was an option – we are talking a year spent in Italy or France or Spain, who wouldn’t want to do that? Suddenly, there it was – the last option on the list – Shanghai, China. Oh, this was just too good – I ran into the kitchen where my mom was making dinner and made the announcement: “I know what I am going to do, mom, – I am going to go to China!” The woman froze. Next thing I heard ran somewhere along the lines of “Put this back where you found it, I never want to hear anything like that again.” I told her straightaway that was a joke and she had nothing to worry about, or so I believed…
It started haunting me. No matter how hard I tried, the idea of actually doing it just wouldn’t go away. I couldn’t explain it, but I somehow knew that this was it, this was my way, this was my place. I was gulping every single Shanghai article, every image I could find on the Internet – the city became the center of my life long before I set foot here.
Two months of family battles – me desperately trying to get through to my parents, to make them see how much sense it makes and how much I want it. They caved.
@ 10.00am on the 20th of September, 2006 flight Moscow – Shanghai landed in Pu Dong International Airport. I was on it. And thus the tale begins…
I loved this story! You write so well. I think this is the first time I found your blog and will now continue reading it. Can’t get enough of foreigner in China blogs. Especially when the author is such a good writer as you are!
Hi Sara,
Wow, thank you, I’m glad you liked it and will be happy to see you here again! I originally started this blog with the purpose of conveying what it is like living in Shanghai, I’ve been here almost 5 years now and this has become my second home. I do deviate quite a bit though, every so often going on about Russia and such :) Thanks again and now I’m off to check out your blog – see what Guangzhou is from the perspective of a girl from Finland!
Sorry for a stupid question, but are Chinese quiet happy to be taught english by a non native speaker? I thought that it’s quiet difficult to get a job if English is not your first language. Thanks for the information!
No problem at all, Maria! That all depends on the school you want to be working for. For instance, small private schools for children hire foreigners from anywhere, so long as they are white, but the downside is not very transparent wage cycle and you can be let go in a blink of an eye, if, say, a parent doesn’t like you and complains about you or something. They are quite often not very nice places to work for anyway. Schools with reputation, like EF or Wall Street (I worked for both), they are quite strict, but only became that way in the last couple of years – the market is very competitive and students have become more and more demanding – 5 years ago it was much more relaxed. A lot also depends on your experience and education – my advantages have always been a TEFL degree, years of experience and I have no accent, which I’ve been told was why they all felt safe hiring me – people can never tell I’m not a native when I talk (Americans can, but others just think I’m from Canada :) So it all depends really, but I would say the general rule of thumb is if you are new to the scene, a non native speaker and have no experience teaching English in China or anywhere else – you’ve got to start from those shady kindergartens. Then little by little, as you get to know more people, someone may eventually recommend you to a better school.
Let me know if you need any other specific pointers!
因为 именно 上海, а не 北京, 西安, и т.д.? Also what do you think is wrong with Russia?
Anyway, I’m quite curious in your story. I’m a Russian who migrated to the UK and US many years ago, and currently learning Chinese and hoping to perhaps live in one of its cities for a time.
That should be 为什么. As you can see, I started on it recently.
:-) Yes, indeed, should be 为什么, but in any case, a beginner taking on characters instead of just doing with pinyin is impressive!
Hmmm, wow, Shanghai vs. Beijing, Xi’an or even Hong Kong – where do I begin… Well, for starters when I selected the school Shanghai was the only city in China that they offered and I believe they still only run the program here. But I’ve been around the country a lot, HK, Beijing, Xi’an, Qingdao, smaller places like Hangzhou and Suzhou, made it to Tibet and the Chinese Hawaii – Hainan island – and after everything I can say for sure that Shanghai is the city that works for me here, I don’t see myself anywhere else. Beijing is too grey, reminds me of home too much, Hong Kong is too loud and too tiny for the amount of people it has, I get headaches so crowded it is! I think that in general for foreigners here it has to be Shanghai, Beijing or HK – a smaller city will only work if you are what in Chinese is called a ‘China head’ meaning you are really into local culture and truly want to try to be one of them. But I haven’t met many people like that and I sure am not one, I need the international crowd, most of my friends are foreigners. Plus Shanghai is the fastest growing city here, some people say it’s New York on steroids, and I love the vibe, I love how fast it changes. I’ve grown so attached, I love it so much it will always be a part of me – in a way this is where I really grew up, made the transition from girl to woman.
Russia… So many emotions, so much love in me for that country. In terms of what is wrong with it, I don’t think it’s the place that is wrong – I think there are plenty of historical reasons, set backs due to which we are not quite there yet. One of the things that has always bothered me is the victim mentality – our people tend to blame whatever bad comes their way on somebody else – it’s the government’s fault, it’s the boss’s fault, the neighbor’s fault, the neighbor’s dog, what not. What we don’t have is the pick yourself up and do it for yourself, by yourself attitude. And don’t attribute your successes or failures to somebody else. We enjoy the drama and the samo-bichevanie so to speak, pitying ourselves. The reason I’m not there is not simple, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that I don’t see myself making a decent living, having bright prospects and being able to provide a good life for me and my family. It’s sort of sad, but I can do a lot more on the outside, and it shouldn’t be like that – that might be another thing that I think is wrong – I want to be home, I want to be where my roots are, but I don’t want to be miserable there struggling through each day with little hope.
Thank you, AK, for asking, and I know this answer doesn’t do the question justice at all, there are so many more levels to it…
You mention you would want to live in one of the cities in China – where would you see yourself? What kind of China?
Hey, alterismus!
I also have a question, if you don’t mind. The benefit of learning English is very obvious nowadays. I’m not even speaking about how it improves career prospects, but referring more to educational and cultural aspects. I can’t even mention all excellent books I’ve read, great films and TV-series I’ve seen (damn you, Hollywood!) owing to my previous investment in learning it. So, in that regard I have absolutely no second thoughts and regret about it.
On the other hand, one of my acquaintances learned German, hoping to read some works that he liked in the original. That he did, but was quite disappointed afterwards, as he found out that very few truly interesting books are published in Germany, discourse on the subjects that interest him is somewhat limited.
So my question is, do you find that learning Chinese opened a lot of new scopes to you? Are there many original books? Do you come across interesting ideas and discussions that are rare in the West?
Hi kovane! How have you been lately? How’s home? Is it snowing yet?
I know, I know, I’m a little overdue with the reply and I apologize profusely, but I now have VPN, which means they can no longer stop me from coming over here! It’s not possible otherwise, I think China has banished WP for good.
In response to your question – most definitely yes, in this day and age if you want to invest yourself into learning a new language, besides English of course, Chinese is a very good choice. But I need to somewhat clarify this statement – I believe it applies if you are planning to establish (or already at this point have established) a connection with this country through your professional life, business ties etc. Come to think of it, I don’t really know if there are that many industries out there that are not tied to China. This is the world’s largest factory. Whatever industry you work in – apparel, automotive, electronics, chemical and so on – it’s all made here. Some of the most lucrative constructions projects are being planned and carried out in China, as another example. I couldn’t do this job that I have now if I didn’t speak the language, I would not be of any interest to the company whatsoever. So, career-wise, yes, definitely.
Thought, literature, culture – I honestly don’t know if I can say the same. Again, have to make a disclaimer first – I do not read characters. I mean, I do, but not to the point where I can read newspapers or books. So, that maybe makes me far from the best judge of this aspect. But what I can tell from living among the people, speaking to them – there isn’t all that much freedom in what can be discussed/published, still. Media is controlled, very tightly. What is interesting, though, is what happens in Chinese internet. Right now, that’s what most young Chinese use as an outlet for their views, thoughts, frustrations, concerns etc. Sure it is filtered too, but it’s getting harder and harder to control. For instance, check out weibo.com – it’s like Chinese Twitter and people vent there, a lot! If you want to get an idea of what the concerns of the population are, what people are thinking, use a translator on one of those pages. That should do it.
But you know, I think Chinese will be very useful for when the country breaks out of this shell. When there are no restrictions, what will they be discussing? That’s interesting. But they are not there yet. Their capacity for independent thought is minimal, and I’m afraid that takes a long time to build up again.
Glad to see you’re back! I guess I’m fine, and I hope you’re at least not worse than just fine. Home is splendid, as always, we’re finally having first snow, albeit very light.
I must say you have a nice way of building up suspense for those who await your replies. :)
You see, I’ve never doubted that China has a great role to play in the future, and hence the knowledge of Chinese can be extremely useful to almost any career. But the problem is, I don’t use English in my work at all, save for reading a lot of great books that broaden my professional knowledge. And there’s even less chance that Chinese will be more useful, though life is full of surprises and sudden twists than can turn everything upside down in a moment. So that’s why I mostly interested in the cultural and scientific value of the language. I think you agree that it’s quite stupid to put so much effort in learning a language so it’d just become one additional line in the CV. The only competitor to Chinese right now is Spanish, and I haven’t heard a lot of pros of it in that regard either. Anyway, thanks for your opinion.
It’s a pity that you don’t know the writing system well, it must mean that a whole layer of Chinese culture is lost to you. Actually, now I’m daunted even more, if even you, with your great faculty for languages, living in China, haven’t mastered it. What chances do simple mortals like me have? Or is it just because of the lack of interest on your part? Reading your posts I get the impression that you don’t mingle with locals much and have no particular desire to do so.
“I must say you have a nice way of building up suspense for those who await your replies. :)” Haha, that is a very charming way to note my ‘lack of consistency’ so to speak. I’ll work on this, honest!
Yes, I am doing okay, all is good in China-land so far, thank you.
To master Chinese writing, the most important ingerient you need to have is discipline/perserverance. I am, sadly, the kind of person that has both exclusively for things I am extremely passionate about. I actually envy people who have it in them to go: “This needs to be done, it will be good for me eventually. Forget that it doesn’t bring me that much pleasure, I’ve got to do it!” And then they go and do it. Discipline. Of it I possess a very limited amount. I can’t do something I don’t love. And I don’t really feel that way towards Chinese as a language. I speak just fine, but it’s not because I tried really hard, it’s because I spend 10 hours a day surrounded by people that speak it and it sinks into the brain. You will probably have a much better shot at it than I do. You taught yourself English from books. From what I can judge you’ve got the discipline something like this would take. All it takes is constant practice. Whatever characters you learn, if you don’t refresh them in your memory, if you don’t practice writing them every once in a while, you forget very quickly. Otherwise, grammar is super easy, you just need the vocabulary.
Hanging out with locals – that’s hard to say. I do have very good relationships with some people at the office, but they are very different from the general mass. They are well educated, speak good English, want to be successful – have that drive to constantly self-improve and learn from me, in this case, as I’m the only foreigner in the company. As for close relationships, intimate friendships, no, not really. It’s not that I mind, it’s just that we are from very different planets, and it seems to me to be really close to someone – there needs to be a common foundation of sorts, some sort of similar picture of the world. Their picture is very different from mine. But I do know a lot of really great people here, I can’t deny that.
Oh, don’t beat yourself up – it’s not that I put you on a retainer to answer my questions or something :) We all have real life difficulties and circumstances after all.
Well, the thing is that is something we have in common – there’s no stick in the world big enough that can make me do something I dislike, at least in the long run. And the reason I learned English is that I actually like it. Besides, every step I took in studying it brought almost instant gratifications – I was able to understand favourite books/movies a bit better. That’s why I worried if Chinese will open a field of ideas big enough to keep me motivated if I decide to have a tilt at it. Especially keeping in mind its difficulty and the lack of language environment around me.
I don’t think that such ferocious discipline that some people possess is something to be envied. Sure, it’s very handy in many situations, and our world makes a special emphasis on rewarding it financially, but I’d like to think that we who lack it are more than handsomely compensated with far greater ingenuity at what we do. Not to mention the incomparable pleasure of doing things you are really passionate about. Suffice it to say that looking at my many acquaintances who spend eight hours a day doing something that they quietly hate only to head home and scarcely find an hour for some hobby, envy definitely doesn’t come up very often.
I don’t know how it is with you, but my work relationships tend to be quite shallow. And I can’t guarantee that I know a person if I don’t have a friendly relationship with him/her. Is every Chinese is so vastly different from us? I hope they don’t try to make you eat dogs :)
Hahahaha, no, they didn’t try to make me. They offered. Once. I declined and had to leave the table because I couldn’t handle the dish on it.
I do really think they have a completely different mindset, different priorities, values. I am contemplating an ‘Us vs. Them’ post. Got carried away today with some life musings, but stay tuned :-)
I think that that ennui of living in the place you grew up in is quite natural. I have much the same feelings for Britain (where I lived my school years) as you do for Russia (which I think is awesome and interesting). Out of curiosity: I read that Shanghai has its own dialect – one with only two tones, apparently. Is it similar to Mandarin? How frequently do you encounter it relative to the standard Chinese?
I don’t know about which city in particular, that’s something I’ll think more about later. I’ve considered Xi’an (historic), Chongqing (dynamic; interesting politics) and Harbin (cooler climate, proximity to Russian Far East). I admit that they’ll likely be far “grayer” than the likes of Shanghai or Beijing, and I may get tired of them and move to the latter. On the other hand, they each have 10 million people and are developing very fast, so who knows – maybe in five or ten more years they’ll become as cool as Shanghai today.
Don’t know at all for now what I’ll do there. I have a few vague ideas. Teaching English (or Russian) is always a choice – though I guess I may need to get certified first. But another interesting angle is that there are many think-tanks appearing in modern China, where – unlike its media or politics – there is a big plurality of viewpoints and vigorous debates on politics, economics, etc (at least according to Mark Leonard’s book What Does China Think?). Concepts such as consultative dictatorship and Comprehensive National Power are discussed which have no real counterparts in Western think-tanks or academia. Exploring that world may be interesting and rewarding.
I would also be interested in your response to kovane’s question. What are the main ideas that China produces now? (E.g. sci-fi, political theories, etc).
Hello AK, hope all is going well!
Apologies first for not actually following through on the response sooner, but as you’ll see from my reply to kovane above, I keep blaming it on the government! But enough excuses!
Shanghai dialect — oh my, I am overloaded with it, I encounter it a lot more often than I would like to. I am typing this from the office and at this very second there is 4 people within 4m proximity speaking it. Loudly. Every Shanghai-born person speaks it. They speak it always, unless they are asked to switch to Mandarin, are in a formal setting, or are speaking to a foreigner. It’s completely different from Mandarin and it sounds awful. I am sorry if there is people who will be reading this later and will be offended by it, but Shanghai dialect is the least pleasant of all languages I encountered in life and almost every expat will subscribe to this. I never take public transport without my iPod, I do everything I can to tune it out. But recently I began to notice that I failed at it, it made its way into my brain – I can now understand it. I may not know the details, but most of the time I can tell what they are discussing and along what lines.
There is one in each province. A Shanghai local won’t understand a person from Jiangsu, for example, or from anywhere else, unless they both speak Mandarin. If you listen to two different dialects, I swear it’s like two people from absolutely different countries are talking. I asked some people around why that is that they all have their own language. Their response is usually – “because China is so big!” Sounds like a weird reason to me; Russia is even bigger and we don’t talk in different tongues.
So yeah, but being a foreigner, you don’t really need to know a dialect. Everybody speaks Mandarin just as well, so you’ll be fine. However, if you haggle using a local dialect, my God, the discounts you are gonna get!!! They LOVE a foreigner attempting Shanghainese, it’s like an amusement park ride to them!
No two places in China are alike, so whichever city you eventually pick, it will definitely be an experience like no other!