Exactly 3 years to the day after my first very positive experience in China, in Guangzhou
(thread-15175...uangzhou), I landed back in the Middle Kingdom in Shanghai on a tuesday afternoon 2 weeks ago. The flight was once again on the same route that last time around as explained in my GZ thread, through the East, flying over Greenland, then the Arctic and finally Siberia and Mongolia before descending towards Shanghai.
I was once again, glued almost the entire duration of the 14 hour flight to the window, taking in the fantastic scenery along the way. After an uneventful flight, where once again, I was lucky to have an empty seat at the back of the plane besides me. Which for a long flight to Asia, is a lifesaver!
Upon landing in PVG, I had to locate the bus station to get on the bus to my destination, Hangzhou, the city where Marco Polo labelled as the Most Beautiful City In the world in his days. In my short time here, I can confirm that this is indeed a pretty city with loads of pretty sights, both in scenery and in girls! More on that later...
So why China?
Well, there are many reasons for that.
China is THE land of opportunties par excellence, in every aspect. Work wise and not just any boring life sucking job! I'm talking about exciting jobs that young guys can have a realistic shot at, at the contrary of back home. I've also been wanting to learn Chinese ever since I first got there 3 years ago. However, trying to learn Chinese on my own, outside of China has been an exercise in futility so far. Thus, the necessity of being immersed into the culture, where it's a matter of survival on a daily basis to learn to speak it.
Not wanting to return to Corporate and since Oil has been down, I started looking at what I really wanted to do. In the meantime, ever since my first trip to China, my goal was to return but this time, not for a couple of weeks but rather, to spend a year or 2 if not 5. China, is no secret, is where it's really at opportunity wise. China is a mid-long term investment (think 3-5 years) that will yield very handsome dividends for anyone willing to put in the time.
Well, after being laid off from my job in the oil sands towards the end of January, I went back home to Toronto. Got a finance job right away in downtown wearing a suit and tie, but I could only take it for 3 weeks. Walking in among a sea of zombies and being stuck in a cubicle for 8.5 hours a day, not to mention 2 hour commute each way costing me 30 bucks a day on commuting alone! definitely wasn't for me.
At the same time, for over a year now, I've been chatting and talking with a fellow RVFer from Toronto who's been living in China for a few years (Nonpareil). Big shout out to you brother! Another guy who's been helping me and giving great feedback and tips on China has been my good friend Badwolf whom I had met in GZ in my first trip. Even tough he's no longer a member here, I still keep in touch with him. He's a great guy. Pity he got banned as he is a very experienced China guy. Both Badwolf and NonPareil have been giving me great feedback and dropping an ungodly amount of tips and been filling me up with how it is living in China. They've been telling me how chill and fun it can be to come teach English in China.
Over the weeks and months, and in light of me having not the slightest desire to return to Corporate, the prospect of teaching English in China started to sound quite alluring. So finally, around mid-end of June, being uber bored in Boretown, I pulled the trigger and started the process of getting a job in China. Nonpareil introduced me to an agent that he knows and while talking to this guy on Skype about the type of jobs available given my background, the conversation somehow turned into football (soccer). He asked me if I like football, I told him it's like my 2nd religion! He then asked me if I can coach football. At first I thought nothing of it and answered that yeah I've coached before, first in high school and also in college and that I played to a decent level while in France (up to under 15 nationals).
The next question that J (let's call him J) asked me, was one that would change everything. It made me go from "ok, that's interesting" in regards to getting an English teaching gig, to "are you for real? Where do I sign?" when he mentioned if I wanted to coach football in China?
After asking him several times if he was serious or just playing with me, J reassured me that he can get me a football coaching job within a day or 2. True to his words, less than 24 hours later, he had an offer in my inbox to coach a middle school, part time, with free apart, work visa and airfare refunded at the end of the contract at the end of June of next year.
My gig is 20 hours per week of coaching at a middle school, with lots of free time to learn Chinese and just chill. The school is a small one, the field is brand spanking new with synthetic grass. Everyone has been very nice and very helpful so far. The students have been good too. I was and am blown away by the level of discipline displayed by the Chinese kids and how obedient and respectful they are towards the teachers! Each time they see me, they do like a bow almost like a Thai wai but without the hand gesture. Incredibly refreshing! The complete opposite of kids in schools in North America who don't give a damn about a teacher...
1. Land of Opportunities: Cool, Interesting and Fulfilling Jobs Galore!
That's obvious that China is THE hottest market in the world right now and for the foreseeable future. The locals spending power is exploding, their thirst for foreign goods and everything exotic (read not Chinese) is insatiable. The Chinese have money and they are looking to spend it on foreign goods and foreign expertise. This is where it's GREAT news for us, foreigners in China. I've had way more job offers thrown my way in the 2 weeks that I've been here and even before I got here than in the past 6 months in Toronto! And mind you, these are not just boring, mind numbing, soul crushing cubicle J.O.B.S!
I've had teaching gigs paying 150RMB/hr (31$/hr) for a guy with no prior teaching experience like me. The guy who offered me this gig said after each 100 hours worked, I'd get a raise of 20 RMBS (4 bucks)! So within 3 months, I could be making over 40 bucks an hour just to teach basic English to Chinese people! Looking at my resume, he said he could even get me gigs doing corporate training teaching business english charging a "LOT more than 150/hr".
Anyone in here knows how much is the going rate for corporate business training/teaching for both oral English and helping them draft business letters?
Other jobs I've been offered so far:
Got approached by a Chinese company to work for them. Upon meeting with the Marketing VP, and after he explained to me what their business was, which I liked, I told the guy that currently, his company is only exposed to the English speaking market. With my language skills and marketing and business experience, I can get his company and services into markets that he currently doesn't have any exposure to, that is the French speaking market, comprised of 4 of the richest countries in the world (France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium), not to mention half of Africa. That is a market of about almost 400M people! With Portuguese and Spanish, I can get him into a market of half a billion people in Latin America! Combined, these 3 markets represent a whopping billion people potential new clients! Not to mention the Italian market, another 80 or so million!
As I was explaining this to him, I could see his mind going crazy and his eyes getting bigger and bigger! He said he's very interested and wants me to work with them. His initial offer was a peanuts base salary plus 8% commission on any sales I'd generate. As hard as I wanted to laugh in his face and just walk away, I liked the company's services and I saw an immense opportunity so I tactfully counter offered what I thought was a fair deal. Which in hindsight, I realize I short changed myself! Lesson learned! I told him that with what I'd bring to the table, that is opening new untapped lucrative markets for him and his company, if they provide me with the marketing materials, I'd want at least 20% and if they want me to create the materials in those languages (French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish), then 30% would be my minimum. He said he'll run it over with the owner first. A day later, he called me, saying the boss accepted and wanted to meet with me to sign the contract!
Another guy, foreigner, based in HZ for a few years, with his own import export company, approached me to help him expand his company into new markets using my skills. Since the guy flaked on me the day minutes before I was supposed to meet him, I've relegated him to the back of the queue for now.
The craziest thing is that I've had these offers without even trying other than just doing a short introduction on the expat wechat group in HZ through a contact from the Enter China private community! I can't even imagine what I'd get if i were to actively start looking or even better, started attending networking events! It simply is mind blowing!
At this time, my main focus is to learn Chinese asap. This would open a whole new world of incredible opportunities, work wise and business wise that I can't even imagine in my wildest dreams.
Not to mention, the calibre of girls that would become available to me with speaking Chinese! More on that later...
2. Land of Opportunities: Business Central!
Well, is there any need to expand on that any more that hasn't been done ad nauseam in here both by me and others? Check my thread from my first trip to China 3 years ago as I mention a few of the guys I met who have been building incredibly successful businesses while living in China. Whether it's importing foreign goods into China, building lucrative ecommerce businesses from China or taking advantage of the incredible opportunities that manufacturing in China affords us or becoming a connector between Chinese companies and foreign companies or foreign companies getting into China, the sky really is the limit here.
I've had offers in other cities but the main reason I chose Hangzhou was 2 folds:
- its proximity to Shanghai, only 1 hour by the high speed train. Shanghai is not only THE financial heart of China but one of the top 5 biggest business hubs in the world. Not to mention, the Greater Shanghai is the biggest metropolis in the world with over 40 Million people! And it's a pretty cool city too! For anyone who aspires to make killer connections with other foreign expats and also Chinese hot shots, no place better than Shanghai. Even more so and especially once you speak some Chinese!!!
- Hangzhou is where the HQ of Alibaba and Taobao is located and that was one of the main deciding factors for me. I do want to manufacture my own products and the area around Hangzhou and Shanghai is one of the most dense regions in terms of sheer number of factories. And I do fully intent on taking advantage of those killer logistics right in my backyard!
3. Endless sea of super sweet, feminine, sexy Chinese girls.
A major benefit of living in Asia and China in particular, is the endless sea of very sweet, uber feminine, sexy and pretty chinese girls. They are very caring and nurturing from what I've seen. My experience with Mainland Chinese girls is pretty limited as I just arrived and haven't had much experience with them directly, so for anything girls related, I can only direct you guys towards the phenomenal Chinese girls dating guide by Kai:
thread-38876.html
It is the most comprehensive and most complete guide on understanding Chinese girls and dating girls in China on the net bar none! Must read for anyone planning a trip to China or even better, already living in China.
I will post my comments about my own personal experiences with Chinese girls in this thread over time.
So far, I've been having a blast. People have been very friendly and nice to me, both at work and the people I meet every day. Every day, every little normal and mundane task is an adventure in itself.
Even tough teaching English is a very good option, this is not the only option for guys who have real work experience in the west or any valuable skills (like marketing, language skills or any other skills). If you are fit and sporty type, look into getting a coaching gig. Whether it be basketball, football, boxing, martial arts (looking at guys like Fisto or Rio Nomad in particular), you have that option and it is a very sweet gig. In my case, I just teach the basics of football such as passing and controlling the ball to kids aged 12-15. Most times I have a chinese assistant who helps with translating things and keeping the guys under control. But even when I have to do it all by myself, just with body language and showing them first what the exercise is they understand it as they're not dumb. Gotta admit that their football skills are very very basic but they're good kids, they want to learn and are open minded.
So guys, you do have other options! Always keep that in mind!
Another thing that's important to keep in mind, even if you start as a teacher/coach, whatever, that's only a starter gig. Use your time to network smartly and to learn the language and within a few months to a year tops, you can easily leverage your network/contacts and existing skills to get a better, more lucrative gig if that's the route you want to explore. For me, I'm happy with my sweet coaching gig and on my free time, I'm learning Chinese and building my ecommerce biz. The money I make with my coaching gig is enough to cover my living expenses.
I am very tempted to get either that part time teaching gig or that marketing gig and use that as a stepping stone to bigger things. Using the success of getting that first company to new markets and then going to Shanghai, with some Chinese under my belt within a year and approach bigger companies and secure a juicy and cushy international marketing consultant type of gig with a Chinese or foreign company. Or I may focus fully on the biz if the biz takes off. Lots and lots of options! That's the beauty about China. There are options and opportunities everywhere. It's just a matter of picking one, focusing on it and not get sidetracked and distracted by other "shining objects" as they will be thrown at you every single day. Multiple times a day!
All in all, coaching football is THE ideal starter job in China for me. I LOVE football, it's like my 2nd religion to me. Plus, one of the goals I had initially for my return to Asia was to get in shape. With this job, I'm getting paid to get in shape basically doing what I truly love. Can't really ask for anything better.
I'd like to once again repeat and emphasize to guys who are currently stuck in soul crushing and mind numbing dead end J.O.B. in North America or Western Europe/Australia/NZ, you do have options! China is happening, it's a land of unlimited opportunities. Whether you're just starting your life after college or you've been working for a few years in the corporate grind, there's a better option and that is to build a real life here in China. As my good friends Nick and Tim from the Elevatorlife.com's motto is, "Lose the Ladder, Take the Elevator" to success in life by coming to China. In China, even as a relatively young and inexperienced guy, you can get access to or walk your way to interesting and fulfilling positions and career within a short time. Within 2-3 years you can achieve things that you could not even dream of achieving in 2-3 decades in the West. Why? Because China is happening and they are hungry for Western minds, ideas, creativity, expertise and experience.
You don't even need a big phat wad of cash to come here. 5K is more than enough to get you going. If you come with a job lined up, they will take care of everything. As soon as I arrived in my city, the company picked me up at the bus station and put me in a hotel in downtown for 2 nights until my apartment was ready. They helped me with all the basic necessity such as opening a bank account, getting a local phone number, getting all the medical tests done and getting registered at local police station and to have the proper visa paper work. That's the easiest and smoothest way to get in China and get going running as soon as you hit the ground. You will have people to help you from the get go.
Or you could come here on a tourist visa, check it out, use your time here (1-2 months) to get a good gig on your own and then have the company sponsor your visa. You may need to leave China for the visa process but it's not prohibitively expensive. I'm not sure but I imagine just going to a nearby country to get your visa sorted out without having to fly back to your country of origin would do it. Russia, Japan, Korea, Phils, or further south, Thailand and Vietnam are within very easy and very affordable reach from China.
So guys, don't sleep in on China! China is a happening place where things happen very fast here!
What are my goals for my first year in China?
- Being able to speak conversely in Chinese by the end of it.
- Having an ecommerce biz generating at least 5KUS$/month in profits by end of June 2016.
- Having built the foundation of a fulfilling lifestyle doing what I love doing.
- Being in the best shape of my life by next summer at the end of my coaching gig.
- Being surrounded by like minded guys, who are ambitious, masculine, entrepreneurs and all around well travelled guys.
- Girl wise, I'm not in China to rack up a huge number of notches. I'm at a stage in my life where I prefer quality over quantity. I want to find a quality girl and keep her as my main girl to go explore and travel around China together. A girl who's pretty, sweet, feminine as well as smart, a girl who's going to be an asset.
My main reason for being in China is to learn Chinese and to build a lifestyle, the way that I want. The last thing I want, is to have to return back to Canada to work in the oil sands (even tough the $ can be great, but the conditions can be brutal) and definitely not returning to the soul crushing Corporate grind! So I have no choice but to make China work for me and with me.
One thing I just realized I forgot to mention so far, is that as soon as you walk the streets in China, you notice an air of excitement around you. You sense the same kind of feeling of excitement that settlers in the New World must have felt at the beginning of the 18th century upon landing in what is now Canada and the US. A land filled with unlimited opportunities where dreams can and do come true. I have rarely been as excited as I am now and I've rarely felt as alive as I have been ever since I arrived in China almost 2 weeks ago. The excitement is very palpable. Not just in me but in anyone who's got any ounce of ambition in life.
I will keep this thread as a way to document my journey in the City known as Heaven on Earth, Hangzhou, a city that made the Great and Legendary Marco Polo fell in love and call it home for most of his adult life. I will share here my thoughts on living in China, working in China, dating in China, thoughts on experimenting the very diverse and at times challenging Chinese food, starting and running a business from China and anything else China related that I will experience along the way in my journey.
Guys, I invite you to join me, on my Journey in the land of Endless Opportunities, CHINA!![[Image: banana.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/new/banana.gif)
(thread-15175...uangzhou), I landed back in the Middle Kingdom in Shanghai on a tuesday afternoon 2 weeks ago. The flight was once again on the same route that last time around as explained in my GZ thread, through the East, flying over Greenland, then the Arctic and finally Siberia and Mongolia before descending towards Shanghai.
I was once again, glued almost the entire duration of the 14 hour flight to the window, taking in the fantastic scenery along the way. After an uneventful flight, where once again, I was lucky to have an empty seat at the back of the plane besides me. Which for a long flight to Asia, is a lifesaver!
Upon landing in PVG, I had to locate the bus station to get on the bus to my destination, Hangzhou, the city where Marco Polo labelled as the Most Beautiful City In the world in his days. In my short time here, I can confirm that this is indeed a pretty city with loads of pretty sights, both in scenery and in girls! More on that later...
So why China?
Well, there are many reasons for that.
China is THE land of opportunties par excellence, in every aspect. Work wise and not just any boring life sucking job! I'm talking about exciting jobs that young guys can have a realistic shot at, at the contrary of back home. I've also been wanting to learn Chinese ever since I first got there 3 years ago. However, trying to learn Chinese on my own, outside of China has been an exercise in futility so far. Thus, the necessity of being immersed into the culture, where it's a matter of survival on a daily basis to learn to speak it.
Not wanting to return to Corporate and since Oil has been down, I started looking at what I really wanted to do. In the meantime, ever since my first trip to China, my goal was to return but this time, not for a couple of weeks but rather, to spend a year or 2 if not 5. China, is no secret, is where it's really at opportunity wise. China is a mid-long term investment (think 3-5 years) that will yield very handsome dividends for anyone willing to put in the time.
Well, after being laid off from my job in the oil sands towards the end of January, I went back home to Toronto. Got a finance job right away in downtown wearing a suit and tie, but I could only take it for 3 weeks. Walking in among a sea of zombies and being stuck in a cubicle for 8.5 hours a day, not to mention 2 hour commute each way costing me 30 bucks a day on commuting alone! definitely wasn't for me.
At the same time, for over a year now, I've been chatting and talking with a fellow RVFer from Toronto who's been living in China for a few years (Nonpareil). Big shout out to you brother! Another guy who's been helping me and giving great feedback and tips on China has been my good friend Badwolf whom I had met in GZ in my first trip. Even tough he's no longer a member here, I still keep in touch with him. He's a great guy. Pity he got banned as he is a very experienced China guy. Both Badwolf and NonPareil have been giving me great feedback and dropping an ungodly amount of tips and been filling me up with how it is living in China. They've been telling me how chill and fun it can be to come teach English in China.
Over the weeks and months, and in light of me having not the slightest desire to return to Corporate, the prospect of teaching English in China started to sound quite alluring. So finally, around mid-end of June, being uber bored in Boretown, I pulled the trigger and started the process of getting a job in China. Nonpareil introduced me to an agent that he knows and while talking to this guy on Skype about the type of jobs available given my background, the conversation somehow turned into football (soccer). He asked me if I like football, I told him it's like my 2nd religion! He then asked me if I can coach football. At first I thought nothing of it and answered that yeah I've coached before, first in high school and also in college and that I played to a decent level while in France (up to under 15 nationals).
The next question that J (let's call him J) asked me, was one that would change everything. It made me go from "ok, that's interesting" in regards to getting an English teaching gig, to "are you for real? Where do I sign?" when he mentioned if I wanted to coach football in China?
After asking him several times if he was serious or just playing with me, J reassured me that he can get me a football coaching job within a day or 2. True to his words, less than 24 hours later, he had an offer in my inbox to coach a middle school, part time, with free apart, work visa and airfare refunded at the end of the contract at the end of June of next year.
My gig is 20 hours per week of coaching at a middle school, with lots of free time to learn Chinese and just chill. The school is a small one, the field is brand spanking new with synthetic grass. Everyone has been very nice and very helpful so far. The students have been good too. I was and am blown away by the level of discipline displayed by the Chinese kids and how obedient and respectful they are towards the teachers! Each time they see me, they do like a bow almost like a Thai wai but without the hand gesture. Incredibly refreshing! The complete opposite of kids in schools in North America who don't give a damn about a teacher...
1. Land of Opportunities: Cool, Interesting and Fulfilling Jobs Galore!
That's obvious that China is THE hottest market in the world right now and for the foreseeable future. The locals spending power is exploding, their thirst for foreign goods and everything exotic (read not Chinese) is insatiable. The Chinese have money and they are looking to spend it on foreign goods and foreign expertise. This is where it's GREAT news for us, foreigners in China. I've had way more job offers thrown my way in the 2 weeks that I've been here and even before I got here than in the past 6 months in Toronto! And mind you, these are not just boring, mind numbing, soul crushing cubicle J.O.B.S!
I've had teaching gigs paying 150RMB/hr (31$/hr) for a guy with no prior teaching experience like me. The guy who offered me this gig said after each 100 hours worked, I'd get a raise of 20 RMBS (4 bucks)! So within 3 months, I could be making over 40 bucks an hour just to teach basic English to Chinese people! Looking at my resume, he said he could even get me gigs doing corporate training teaching business english charging a "LOT more than 150/hr".
Anyone in here knows how much is the going rate for corporate business training/teaching for both oral English and helping them draft business letters?
Other jobs I've been offered so far:
Got approached by a Chinese company to work for them. Upon meeting with the Marketing VP, and after he explained to me what their business was, which I liked, I told the guy that currently, his company is only exposed to the English speaking market. With my language skills and marketing and business experience, I can get his company and services into markets that he currently doesn't have any exposure to, that is the French speaking market, comprised of 4 of the richest countries in the world (France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium), not to mention half of Africa. That is a market of about almost 400M people! With Portuguese and Spanish, I can get him into a market of half a billion people in Latin America! Combined, these 3 markets represent a whopping billion people potential new clients! Not to mention the Italian market, another 80 or so million!
As I was explaining this to him, I could see his mind going crazy and his eyes getting bigger and bigger! He said he's very interested and wants me to work with them. His initial offer was a peanuts base salary plus 8% commission on any sales I'd generate. As hard as I wanted to laugh in his face and just walk away, I liked the company's services and I saw an immense opportunity so I tactfully counter offered what I thought was a fair deal. Which in hindsight, I realize I short changed myself! Lesson learned! I told him that with what I'd bring to the table, that is opening new untapped lucrative markets for him and his company, if they provide me with the marketing materials, I'd want at least 20% and if they want me to create the materials in those languages (French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish), then 30% would be my minimum. He said he'll run it over with the owner first. A day later, he called me, saying the boss accepted and wanted to meet with me to sign the contract!
Another guy, foreigner, based in HZ for a few years, with his own import export company, approached me to help him expand his company into new markets using my skills. Since the guy flaked on me the day minutes before I was supposed to meet him, I've relegated him to the back of the queue for now.
The craziest thing is that I've had these offers without even trying other than just doing a short introduction on the expat wechat group in HZ through a contact from the Enter China private community! I can't even imagine what I'd get if i were to actively start looking or even better, started attending networking events! It simply is mind blowing!
At this time, my main focus is to learn Chinese asap. This would open a whole new world of incredible opportunities, work wise and business wise that I can't even imagine in my wildest dreams.
Not to mention, the calibre of girls that would become available to me with speaking Chinese! More on that later...
2. Land of Opportunities: Business Central!
Well, is there any need to expand on that any more that hasn't been done ad nauseam in here both by me and others? Check my thread from my first trip to China 3 years ago as I mention a few of the guys I met who have been building incredibly successful businesses while living in China. Whether it's importing foreign goods into China, building lucrative ecommerce businesses from China or taking advantage of the incredible opportunities that manufacturing in China affords us or becoming a connector between Chinese companies and foreign companies or foreign companies getting into China, the sky really is the limit here.
I've had offers in other cities but the main reason I chose Hangzhou was 2 folds:
- its proximity to Shanghai, only 1 hour by the high speed train. Shanghai is not only THE financial heart of China but one of the top 5 biggest business hubs in the world. Not to mention, the Greater Shanghai is the biggest metropolis in the world with over 40 Million people! And it's a pretty cool city too! For anyone who aspires to make killer connections with other foreign expats and also Chinese hot shots, no place better than Shanghai. Even more so and especially once you speak some Chinese!!!
- Hangzhou is where the HQ of Alibaba and Taobao is located and that was one of the main deciding factors for me. I do want to manufacture my own products and the area around Hangzhou and Shanghai is one of the most dense regions in terms of sheer number of factories. And I do fully intent on taking advantage of those killer logistics right in my backyard!
3. Endless sea of super sweet, feminine, sexy Chinese girls.
A major benefit of living in Asia and China in particular, is the endless sea of very sweet, uber feminine, sexy and pretty chinese girls. They are very caring and nurturing from what I've seen. My experience with Mainland Chinese girls is pretty limited as I just arrived and haven't had much experience with them directly, so for anything girls related, I can only direct you guys towards the phenomenal Chinese girls dating guide by Kai:
thread-38876.html
It is the most comprehensive and most complete guide on understanding Chinese girls and dating girls in China on the net bar none! Must read for anyone planning a trip to China or even better, already living in China.
I will post my comments about my own personal experiences with Chinese girls in this thread over time.
So far, I've been having a blast. People have been very friendly and nice to me, both at work and the people I meet every day. Every day, every little normal and mundane task is an adventure in itself.
Even tough teaching English is a very good option, this is not the only option for guys who have real work experience in the west or any valuable skills (like marketing, language skills or any other skills). If you are fit and sporty type, look into getting a coaching gig. Whether it be basketball, football, boxing, martial arts (looking at guys like Fisto or Rio Nomad in particular), you have that option and it is a very sweet gig. In my case, I just teach the basics of football such as passing and controlling the ball to kids aged 12-15. Most times I have a chinese assistant who helps with translating things and keeping the guys under control. But even when I have to do it all by myself, just with body language and showing them first what the exercise is they understand it as they're not dumb. Gotta admit that their football skills are very very basic but they're good kids, they want to learn and are open minded.
So guys, you do have other options! Always keep that in mind!
Another thing that's important to keep in mind, even if you start as a teacher/coach, whatever, that's only a starter gig. Use your time to network smartly and to learn the language and within a few months to a year tops, you can easily leverage your network/contacts and existing skills to get a better, more lucrative gig if that's the route you want to explore. For me, I'm happy with my sweet coaching gig and on my free time, I'm learning Chinese and building my ecommerce biz. The money I make with my coaching gig is enough to cover my living expenses.
I am very tempted to get either that part time teaching gig or that marketing gig and use that as a stepping stone to bigger things. Using the success of getting that first company to new markets and then going to Shanghai, with some Chinese under my belt within a year and approach bigger companies and secure a juicy and cushy international marketing consultant type of gig with a Chinese or foreign company. Or I may focus fully on the biz if the biz takes off. Lots and lots of options! That's the beauty about China. There are options and opportunities everywhere. It's just a matter of picking one, focusing on it and not get sidetracked and distracted by other "shining objects" as they will be thrown at you every single day. Multiple times a day!
All in all, coaching football is THE ideal starter job in China for me. I LOVE football, it's like my 2nd religion to me. Plus, one of the goals I had initially for my return to Asia was to get in shape. With this job, I'm getting paid to get in shape basically doing what I truly love. Can't really ask for anything better.
I'd like to once again repeat and emphasize to guys who are currently stuck in soul crushing and mind numbing dead end J.O.B. in North America or Western Europe/Australia/NZ, you do have options! China is happening, it's a land of unlimited opportunities. Whether you're just starting your life after college or you've been working for a few years in the corporate grind, there's a better option and that is to build a real life here in China. As my good friends Nick and Tim from the Elevatorlife.com's motto is, "Lose the Ladder, Take the Elevator" to success in life by coming to China. In China, even as a relatively young and inexperienced guy, you can get access to or walk your way to interesting and fulfilling positions and career within a short time. Within 2-3 years you can achieve things that you could not even dream of achieving in 2-3 decades in the West. Why? Because China is happening and they are hungry for Western minds, ideas, creativity, expertise and experience.
You don't even need a big phat wad of cash to come here. 5K is more than enough to get you going. If you come with a job lined up, they will take care of everything. As soon as I arrived in my city, the company picked me up at the bus station and put me in a hotel in downtown for 2 nights until my apartment was ready. They helped me with all the basic necessity such as opening a bank account, getting a local phone number, getting all the medical tests done and getting registered at local police station and to have the proper visa paper work. That's the easiest and smoothest way to get in China and get going running as soon as you hit the ground. You will have people to help you from the get go.
Or you could come here on a tourist visa, check it out, use your time here (1-2 months) to get a good gig on your own and then have the company sponsor your visa. You may need to leave China for the visa process but it's not prohibitively expensive. I'm not sure but I imagine just going to a nearby country to get your visa sorted out without having to fly back to your country of origin would do it. Russia, Japan, Korea, Phils, or further south, Thailand and Vietnam are within very easy and very affordable reach from China.
So guys, don't sleep in on China! China is a happening place where things happen very fast here!
What are my goals for my first year in China?
- Being able to speak conversely in Chinese by the end of it.
- Having an ecommerce biz generating at least 5KUS$/month in profits by end of June 2016.
- Having built the foundation of a fulfilling lifestyle doing what I love doing.
- Being in the best shape of my life by next summer at the end of my coaching gig.
- Being surrounded by like minded guys, who are ambitious, masculine, entrepreneurs and all around well travelled guys.
- Girl wise, I'm not in China to rack up a huge number of notches. I'm at a stage in my life where I prefer quality over quantity. I want to find a quality girl and keep her as my main girl to go explore and travel around China together. A girl who's pretty, sweet, feminine as well as smart, a girl who's going to be an asset.
My main reason for being in China is to learn Chinese and to build a lifestyle, the way that I want. The last thing I want, is to have to return back to Canada to work in the oil sands (even tough the $ can be great, but the conditions can be brutal) and definitely not returning to the soul crushing Corporate grind! So I have no choice but to make China work for me and with me.
One thing I just realized I forgot to mention so far, is that as soon as you walk the streets in China, you notice an air of excitement around you. You sense the same kind of feeling of excitement that settlers in the New World must have felt at the beginning of the 18th century upon landing in what is now Canada and the US. A land filled with unlimited opportunities where dreams can and do come true. I have rarely been as excited as I am now and I've rarely felt as alive as I have been ever since I arrived in China almost 2 weeks ago. The excitement is very palpable. Not just in me but in anyone who's got any ounce of ambition in life.
I will keep this thread as a way to document my journey in the City known as Heaven on Earth, Hangzhou, a city that made the Great and Legendary Marco Polo fell in love and call it home for most of his adult life. I will share here my thoughts on living in China, working in China, dating in China, thoughts on experimenting the very diverse and at times challenging Chinese food, starting and running a business from China and anything else China related that I will experience along the way in my journey.
Guys, I invite you to join me, on my Journey in the land of Endless Opportunities, CHINA!
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