Zašto sam se preselila u Kinu?

Još uvek imam osećaj da nemam u potpunosti odgovor na ovo pitanje, iz razloga što nije postojao samo jedan razlog već više stvari koje su se u tom momentu uklopile.

Moram da priznam da Kina, kao država u kojoj bih ja započela svoj novi život nikada nije bila moja ideja. Da se nije desilo to da je moj momak otišao tamo da živi ja bih verovatno razmišljala o nekim drugim državama.
Dugo sam se predomišljala pre nego što sam se odlučila da otputujem. Imala sam dobar posao i to je bilo dosta teško napustiti, ali i pomisao da neću biti blizu svoje porodice i prijatelja je delovala po malo strašno. Smatrala sam da su ovi razlozi dovoljni da ostanem ali sam uvek imala osećaj da nešto nedostaje.  

Uvek bih pomalo zavidela ljudima koji se nisu rano zaposlili, jer su imali priliku da odu na “Work and Travel” programe ili završe studije u inostranstvu. Koliko god da putujete, nikada nije isto kao kada živite u nekoj drugoj državi. I onda kada sam se već pomirila sa tim da to jednostavno nije bilo nešto što će se desiti meni, odlučila sam da to promenim.

Bila sam svesna da je Kina drugačija i da je to država o kojoj ne znam mnogo, ali nisam mogla ni da pretpostavim kolike su razlike. Možda da sam tada znala kolike su razlike u kulturi bilo bi mi teže da se odlučim da odem, ali danas sam svakako veoma zahvalna što sam to uradila.

Koje su prednosti života u Kini?

 

Ono što ja smatram da je prednost života u Kini je to što imate priliku da upoznate, ne jednu već razne kluture. U Kini žive ljudi iz raznih država, i baš zato što je kineska kultura veoma različita od naše lako je zbližiti se sa ljudima iz raznih država.

Drugi razlog je to što vas u Kini kao stranca veoma poštuju. Oni stvarno imaju nešto što mi kroz šalu zovemo “obrnuti rasizam”. Baš zbog toga što nemaju mnogo kontakta sa drugim kulturama, uvek će se obradovati kada vas vide ili popričaju sa vama. Ovo, na žalost, nekada može biti i malo naporno jer će vas često posmatrati kao nekog sa kim žele da se druže, slikaju i slično, ne zato što ih zanimate baš vi, nego više kao stvar nekog prestiža, da kažu da imaju prijatelja koji je stranac.

Još jedan razlog zbog kojeg ljudi dolaze u Kinu iz Srbije, ali i drugih država je svakako to što su visoke plate. Ovo veoma varira od mesta u koje se preselite ali svakako je moguće zaraditi više nego kod nas pa je sve češće da vidite ljude iz Srbije u Kini.

Ono što je meni glavni od razloga zbog kojeg sam još uvek ovde je vreme. Imate mogćnost da se oragnizujete kako želite. Ja sam imala sreću da nakom 6 meseci posla ovde, nađem posao koji je “Full time” ali ne očekuju od mene da radim “office hours” tj sate u kancelariji. Što bi značilo da na posao idem samo kada imam zakazane časove. Ovo mi pruža mogućnost da radim dodatne časove, ili koristim svoje vreme kako želim, što svakako u Srbiji ne bi bilo moguće. Mnogo češća situacija je ta da imate sate u kancelariji, što podrazumeva sastanke ili jednostavno da provodite vreme u školi iako se od vas ne očekuje da nesto radite za to vreme, pa je opet moguće koristiti ga da naučite nešto novo, čitate ili bilo šta drugo. Ovo ne treba da shvatite kao da tako mora biti, ali to je moje iskustvo koje sam stekla ovde u poslednje dve godine.

Kada pogledam sve ove razloge, srećna sam što sam se odlučila da se preselim u Kinu i neko vreme svog života provedem ovde.

. . .

Why did I move to China?

I still have a feeling that I don’t fully have an answer to this, because there was not only one reason for it. It was more things coming together that made me make that decision.

I must admit that China, as a country in which I would start my new life, was never my idea. If it had not happened that my boyfriend went there to live, I would probably have thought about some other countries.

I was thinking about it for a long time before I decided to go. I had a good job and it was pretty hard to leave it, but the thought that I would not be close to my family and my friends was a bit scary too. I thought that these reasons were enough to stay, but I had the feeling that something was missing.

I would always be envious of people who did not get hired young because they had the opportunity to go to „Work and Travel“ programs or to finish their studies abroad. As much as you travel, it's never the same when you live in another country, and when I've accepted that it just wasn’t something that would happen to me, I decided to change it.

I was aware that China is different and that it is a place that I don’t know much about, but I had no idea that there are so many differences. Perhaps, at that time, if I knew how different the culture is it would be more difficult for me to decide to leave, but today I am certainly very grateful for the fact that I did.

What are the benefits of living in China?

What I consider to be one of the biggest benefits of living in China is that you have the opportunity to get to know not only one, but many different cultures. People who live in China are from all over the world, and because Chinese culture is very different from ours, it's easy to get close to people from different countries.

Another reason is that you are highly respected in China as a foreigner. They have something that we call "reverse racism" through the joke. Just because they do not have much contact with other cultures they will always be happy to see you or talk to you. This, unfortunately, can sometimes be a little annoying because it will often look like the want to hang out with you, take a picture with you, not because they are interested in you as a person but rather as a matter of some prestige, to say that they have a friend who is a foreigner.

Another reason people come to China from Serbia, but from other countries as well, are good salaries. This varies from city to city, but it's certainly possible to earn more than back home, so it's becoming more and more common to see people from Serbia in China.

What matters to me a lot and the reason why I am still here is the time. You have the ability to organize yourself as you wish. I was fortunate that after six months of work here, I find a job that is Full Time, but do not expect me to do office hours. Which would mean that I go to work only when I have scheduled classes. This gives me the opportunity to work extra hours, or I use my time as I wish that certainly would not be possible in Serbia. A much more frequent situation is that you have hours at the office, which means you have meetings or simply spending time at school, although you are not expected to do something at that time, so you can again use that time to learn something new, read, or anything else . This should not be understood as it must be so, but this is my experience I have gained here in the last two years.

When I look at all these reasons, I am happy that I decided to move to China and spend some time of my life here.