I remember that the earliest TV series about living abroad should be "Beijingers in New York" broadcast in 1993, which tells the survival story of a group of Beijingers struggling and struggling in New York.
When watching this TV series, it is very strange, why should I go abroad to suffer? Isn't it okay to stay well at home?
I want to make money abroad, but because I am not recognized by foreign society and have no academic certificate, I can only earn a barely subsistence living expense by brushing the dishes in the back kitchen of the restaurant.
What is even more tragic is that I am afraid of being found and can only stay at home all the time, and I dare not even go out of the door. If you want to have an economic breakthrough and achieve a class transition, you finally have to compromise and marry a foreigner, which is quite a bit of a money transaction.
So why do you have to go abroad? Of course, it is undeniable that there are many examples of going abroad for further study, successfully gilding turtles back to China, and reaping fame and fortune.
But now with the rapid development of the economy and the improvement of living standards, even immigration seems to have become an easy thing to go abroad, whether it is work or study or tourism, and precious turtles have slowly become cheap kelp.
So what about Chinese life abroad? Is it really like the film and television drama rendered, foreign countries are a mysterious world, gold rush rich is easy?
Or as advertised by a certain music and a certain hand, there is a large villa with a large garden swimming pool, and if there is nothing to do, go to a solo exhibition or ride a horse, it is more common to take a vacation, and life is comfortable everywhere?
Is life abroad really so good? Is money really so good to earn?
As I gradually learned about the life of Chinese abroad, I found that going abroad was a siege.
"The people who are surrounded by the city want to escape, and the people outside the city want to rush in. Marriage or career. Most of life's aspirations are like this. ”
People who are trapped inside will not say, even if they have suffering, "It is not beautiful to be inside."
Because to say it is to throw self-esteem into the ground for ridicule and trampling, but people outside want to come in, but they are also restricted by layers of thresholds for going abroad.
Look at these four Chinese living far away in Europe, and you will know how real life abroad is, whether it is as colorful and gorgeous as neon lights, or whether it is just an illusion of life in vain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="7" >01 Chinese restaurant operators go around</h1>
Eight years ago, with unlimited imagination for the future of life, his wife and wife came from Xingtai City, Hebei Province, to Rome, the capital of Italy.
Due to the lack of improvement in their careers at home, under the trend of going abroad to dig for gold in the 1990s, the couple decided to go abroad to work hard to pan for gold.
Those who have watched the variety show "Chinese Restaurant" will surely understand that opening a restaurant abroad requires various audits and complicated procedures.
After many visas and formalities, after three years, the couple finally came to Rome and opened their own Chinese restaurant.
Because they are not willing to spend money to hire people, the restaurant can only be managed by two couples, and the state of non-stop for many years is not much different from the domestic mom-and-pop restaurant operation.
Because international friends do not accept Chinese food as enthusiastically as they do on a certain tone, many people do not eat Chinese food much.
Therefore, the main consumer group of the couple's restaurant is still a compatriot of the Chinese, so the unit price of the customer is not high, and the money saved every month by hard work is not much.
Every month, the money saved, the couple quickly sent back to China, because there are still four parents and two children in the country to support.
Making money - sending money - making money again - sending money again, is the life mode of the couple, the work of the two people to feed six people except themselves, so the work of the couple can not be slackened.
Leisure and entertainment life? It's been 8 years here, but the couple hasn't really traveled.
It's not like coming from a small town to the north, Shanghai and Guangzhou, wanting to work hard to earn money and run for life, but in the end, I haven't even been to the famous attractions of the Forbidden City, let alone the surrounding reservoir scenic area camping barbecue.
Because there is no such comfortable heart! The rent has not been paid, there is no overtime pay, and the key is that there is no car in the garage camping.
The happiest thing for couples is the video with their families, and seeing the smiling faces of parents and children can give the couple some comfort in their tired life.
However, the couple is also very depressed, although they can send money to their parents, but they cannot do filial piety around their parents, after all, their parents are getting older.
The companionship of the two children is also missing, watching them shouting with joy to their parents and mothers, the couple only feel very guilty.
But now if you return to China, your accumulation here will be in vain, and you will be able to start over in China, and your time and energy will not be able to keep up, so you can only continue to stay here.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="9" >02 Zhang Xiaochun, an import and export foreign trade company</h1>
So why wander away? Zhang Xiaochun, who runs an import and export trading company in the Netherlands, said that coming to Europe is all his dream.
At home, if it fails, then everyone can see it, and it will be an extremely undignified thing.
But as long as people are abroad, their families at home will be proud of themselves, and they will wear a dazzling aura on their heads.
At first, because of poor management, Zhang Xiaochun's import and export trading company often lost money, and when his savings were about to be lost, Zhang Xiaochun thought of simply giving up and returning to China.
After returning to China, Zhang Xiaochun was very unwilling, and chose to return to the Netherlands, learning lessons, and Zhang Xiaochun's import and export trading company finally turned a loss into a profit.
After years of operation, Zhang Xiaochun has now bought a house in the local area, and has married and had children, which is a firm foothold in the Netherlands.
It's just that business will inevitably have ups and downs, and life will be stretched, and it is necessary to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall.
But whose life isn't like this? Therefore, Zhang Xiaochun also did not know whether he regretted going abroad, after all, he was alone at that time, and it was a desperate thing to fail to start a business abroad in an unfamiliar place.
Zhang Xiaochun will also want to stay in China at that time, life will not be different, and if he faces failure now, he will definitely not use courage to start over.
However, Zhang Xiaochun said, "I can't go back to China, and once I return to China, I will admit that I have failed." And it has been here for more than ten years, and I will not live that peaceful life when I return to my hometown, and I can't go back. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="11" >03 Barbershop owner Xiaonan</h1>
Five years ago, Xiaonan came to Rotterdam in the Netherlands from Qingtian County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province.
Speaking of the reasons for going abroad at that time, Xiaonan said that he had always had a dream of the Netherlands, imagining a close look at the windmills and seeing the tulips on the ground.
Because he had studied beauty salon techniques in China and had practical work experience, xiaonan opened a barber shop in the Netherlands in order to make money.
Because the rent in the Netherlands is expensive and the tax is high, Xiaonan, who does not have any economic accumulation, can only extend the business hours in order to earn more turnover, and often opens a shop until one or two o'clock in the morning.
Because there are more statutory holidays abroad, employees must rest as soon as they arrive on vacation, and employees are not willing to work overtime at all, and are only willing to work eight hours a day.
Coupled with the high overtime costs, Xiaonan is not willing to do it, so she can only see the store by herself, which is very busy.
Xiaonan said, "If you want to make money abroad, you have to work overtime, just like the workers who work on the Foxconn assembly line, if you want to pay high wages, it is all spelled out of overtime hours." ”
Because the foreign systems and regulations are different from those in China, Xiaonan is very troubled by this, and there have been cases of being punished.
Xiaonan's foreign language is not good, but the spirit of not accepting defeat makes Xiaonan unable to give up lightly. So Xiaonan ran his own shop while learning English, and a lot of difficult things happened in the middle, but fortunately they were all carried over.
Fortunately, after five years of hard work, Xiaonan's shop business is getting more and more prosperous, and Xiaonan is willing to ask two employees to help look at the store, so that he can relax a little.
"If you ask someone, you will definitely earn less, but I also have to learn to live not and enjoy the slow life." 」 Xiao Nan said with a smile.
For future life planning, in addition to running the store well, Xiaonan will also devote time to the education of her children.
For XiaoNan, going abroad by herself, her children can follow them to receive a better education, which is a gratifying achievement abroad.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="14" >04 Foreign restaurant chef Ah Guang</h1>
Ah Kuang has been working as a chef in London, England for eight years, because Ah Guang does not understand the language, plus he does not want to go deep into the local life, only wants to work to make money.
Therefore, Ah Guang's life abroad is relatively simple, and he is mostly nodding friends with colleagues, and he has his own life after work, which saves his colleagues money such as marriage and children.
In addition, he rarely shops and consumes, so in addition to basic expenses and sending money home, Ah Guang has accumulated more than a million.
In the face of family, relatives and friends, Ah Guang proudly said this sentence, "I made a million." ”
This is a large amount in a small village in Anhui, and the year before Yesterday, Ah Guang returned to his hometown to build a house and buy a car, which is something that the locals do not dare to think about at all.
Ah Guang's return to his hometown caused a great shock, after all, when the people who went out to work in the same village were still looking for the contractor for money to ask for wages, Ah Guang was already a millionaire in the village.
Images are taken from the web
For Ah Guang, working abroad is a fortunate thing.
After reading the above story, did everything really go smoothly and perfectly abroad?
Not always, life abroad, there is the pain of homesickness, language barriers, social barriers, these will make people sad, life abroad, cold and warm self-knowledge, some people are happy and some are worried.
Whether you can have a good life is related to whether you have the courage to work hard to create a life, it has nothing to do with where you are, if you just want a good life, you can not go abroad.
Of course, if you want to see different customs and customs, like the unique local culture, you want to stay there, of course, it is all up to your personal choice.
Going abroad is like a siege, no matter which way you choose, you will regret it in the end, willing to be in the siege or outside the siege, all by personal will, not entangled, choose to live well.