A few weeks ago we had a discussion panel with former IES alums.  Their goal was to share their experiences as expats and how to navigate through the interesting world of post graduation China life.  It was exhilarating. 

All four alums were now well into their young adult lives, making a decisive choice to come back to China in order to start a new life.  One was an “IT” guy for the IES program, another worked with the US Department of Energy, another worked on micro financing in China, and the last was an manager for the China’s Groupon.  (For those of you who don’t know what Groupon is, put those well developed googling skills to work and start saving moneys!)

They discussed their difficulties.  When they returned to America after their initial study abroad experience, a lot of them had a tough time.  Reverse culture shock, so to speak.  People would label them as “the guy who went to China”, but this wasn’t the worst of it.  I am to expect the same exact questions of “Oh, how was China”, which I imagine to get old.  But as I proceed to explain all the cool and exciting things that I did or that happened while I was in a completely different country, I am also to expect their eyes to glaze over within the first twenty seconds… because in the end all they are looking for is, “Yeah, it was cool”. 

A lot of ties and connections will be lost.  As Marc, an RA here explained, living in China for a half a year will pretty much knock all my friends down a tier in our friendship.  Besides maybe family and the best of friends, the people who I stop and chat with on campus may become people I just give the old head nod to instead.  The people I give the old head nod to may become total strangers.  But for these young professionals, that’s a way of life.  As one put it, “That’s them now, this is me.  And I may not be able to make it to their weddings or the birth of their first child, but it’s a path I chose”. 

Everything is possible in China but nothing is easy.  We entered a discussion about visas and the headaches that they often cause, switching from student to tourist to business to government services.  How often you must renew the passport (usually every 6-12 months) and whether it is single entry or multiple-entry are all factors to consider.  The terms and processes and even the fees for the visas change almost biweekly, and unless the company you work for has special connections, it might be fairly troublesome.   Having electricity may be easy in America, but perhaps not in China.  I hear you can buy a driver’s license here without going through the arduous process if you’re willing to pay enough for it.

But in the end, if opportunities are what I seek, China has a wealth of it.  We can also make a living teaching English.  We can spam our resumes to the expat community.  Fulbright Scholarships and post-back programs galore!  Everyone who is anyone wants a piece of that China pie, but I feel lucky that I have a step up over everyone else that I have taken the initiative to be here in person and see the excitement and growth myself.  I cannot help but imagine a garden flower.  The “United States” part of that garden has many beautiful flowers.  But competition is fierce for them; people crowd over the garden.  The “China” part of the garden has several times the area of the United States one, yet no one is there.  Why?  The flowers are still buds.  But very soon (and the whole world knows this), they will blossom.   

Location: IES Activity Room, Beijing, China