关于真的爱中国的穷外国哲学家(Geser Kurultaev)
英文和中文的:
我:Since my childhood I started to like China and I learned a lot about the Chinese culture, socialism and so on. When I had the opportunity to find my first job (in 2004) as an English teacher I decided at once to come and to teach English (regardless of that I'm a philosopher with Master's degree and I preferred to work something more related to my major). For me it was enough to be in China and I really hoped that I can get a Chinese citizenship and become a Chinese (something like the minorities from Xinjiang because one of my forefathers are coming from there, thousand years ago, when they migrated to East Europe). Well, recently I hoped that if I can't obtain a Chinese citizenship, at least I can get a Chinese green card because I'm already completing the necessary conditions...
The only problem is that recently I can't find a work visa as an English teacher (because I'm not a native English speaker and the new law is limiting the non-native speakers), I can't start my own business because I'm not that rich (no enough initial capital and I can't find anybody from my relatives, friends and ex-students who wish to invest in my business ideas) and I even can't find an ordinary job with work visa (I don't mind to work as a cleaner, a waiter or anything else like this because I'm not picky when it comes to job). I'm an educated person, I'm a good person (protecting animals, giving charity, collecting bottles to help the environment, never pick fights, do not insult people, every time helping people when it's possible, never drink hard alcohol, never smoke; also I like reading and I do write some e-books and articles). Even though, no company can give me work visa (because they can't hire foreigners and/or because they don't need foreigners). I feel more and more desperate and unwelcome because I just can't stay like this forever in China -- I need a legal job... Is there at least one person who can help me to achieve my China dream?
(My short resume: a philosopher (East-European university Master's degree) who speaks several languages, an author of a few e-books, a poet and an amateur webmaster who also graduated in some sport disciplines recently. 46 y. o.) Any kind of job with a work visa is going to be okay for me.
Andy: You can start a consulting company and offer adult English courses, for example. Foreign invested companies do not need to have their share capital paid in right away. You have time for this. Don't give up!
David: @G you can speak to HB
Da Ge Zi: Lots of Chinese export oriented companies need web hosting with an English profile - since you have webmaster skills
Randy: in Haikou it costs max 2,000 yuan and 2 weeks to open a company
JGI: +1, opening a company isnt expensive. Teaching normally is a no no. And many companies opened this way were closed. You can't do "low level" job in China, there is a list of what you can't do. Opening one isnt too complicated now but still take times to get all the paper for the visa. I post here a guy you can ask question about opening company. It cost will cost a bit more than 2000 as you need an accountant and a proper place for business but frankly its doable. @G
+
I think Umberto can help u too (guess he is here)
Da Ge Zi: What is his profession?
JGI: both of them helps foreigner to open company, not sure if he does other stuff too
Da Ge Zi: Accountant?
JGI: u need one for your company, dont even try to do yourself. Giving yourself a salary is already a pain in the ass haha.
我: I just have no capital to open a company, dear people. Even a small one. @Da Ge Zi , are they going to provide me with a work visa? (And also I think my webmaster skills are not good enough because I can deal only with HTML and BBcode.)
JGI: About doing website, without php / java / css and especially python nowadays, no need to even think about it.
Yes, you're right. In China I can't become even a cleaner or a seller in a shop... no matter that I spend so many years here, I speak the language, I do not do illegal things and I'm comparatively well educated... So, I just wondered if there is at least 1 person who is able to give me a legal job opportunity (because I can't see I have some problem except I am poor and a non-native English speaker)...
David: He's the go-to guy for business consulting
Norbert: Umberto is here, I saw him at the show last week.
Yes. The website expectations are higher and higher. And there is even a joke about the average costumer: "You'are a webmaster, huh? OKAY, I WANT A WEBSITE! JUST SOMETHING LIKE GOOGLE BUT a bit better!"
Da Ge Zi: Check if any companies from your native country want 'boots on the ground' in China for imports/exports, since you are fluent in Mandarin, know the culture etc
If you feel overqualified for Hainan, search jobs in Guangzhou or Shenzhen
@Da Ge Zi thank you for the idea but I tried it long time ago. My country is from the poor ones and it's difficult to find somebody like that. Also they can't provide me Chinese work visa for sure (what I hope to have now). But thank you, anyway!
我: And thanks to all of the others who spent some time to communicate with me and to give me some chance! I am touched! (我很感动!)
Da Ge Zi: Where are you from?
我: Bulgaria (保加利亚共和国) -- the poorest member of the EU.
Da Ge Zi: Bulgaria has nice agricultural products. I bet it imports various things from China.
Bulgaria has about the same per capita GDP as China
Don't let past failures discourage you. Keep fighting
PM me
我:
GDP means nothing when most of the people there are wondering how to pay their electricity bills... You know, it's about the GINI index: 基尼系数(英文:Gini index、Gini Coefficient)是指国际上通用的、用以衡量一个国家或地区居民收入差距的常用指标。除了收入基尼系数(Income Gini)之外,还有一种财富基尼系数(Wealth Gini)。
The problem is that GDP, when it goes only to a small group of the people, means nothing special. Many people over there are around or under the poverty line.
And nearly 1/4 of the population already lives abroad because just can't stand the crisis there (political, economical, cultural, etc. crisis)
Da Ge Zi: Please PM me
我:Bulgaria was a very good and developed country till 1989. (We had FREE hospitals, FREE schools and universities, CHEAP medicines, etc. We had a real DEVELOPED Socialistic society) Later -- no more USSR, no more socialism... but: capitalism, "democracy", NATO... and now it's where it is...
OK, I will, thank you!
Added.
Andy: Well, China also does not have the "iron rice bowl" mentality either. You'll have to adapt, friend, and maybe review your outlook on life. Just reading this chat, I notice that most of your replies are "can't" rather than "yes, I can"...
王宛之:
@Andy 🇨🇭 Yes. He is:
He is kind of hopeless
...
我:
@Andy 🇨🇭 the "can't" is objective. It's not that I can't -- the objective reality is CAN'T. For example, the current Chinese law about the English teachers.
I was a legal English teacher years ago. Then, suddenly, the law changes and said -- well, you're not from a native English language country, so you can't teach kids anymore...
About that the economy in Bulgaria isn't so good and there are a lot of poor people, it's also something OUT OF MY CONTROL.
Andy: @G I didn't mean to attack you personally, apologies. Hope you can find a positive outlook to life and become successful in your business ventures
我:So, if it's about Chinese laws or Bulgarian economics, I am not the one who can CONTROL it. My "locus of control" isn't what you think -- I am a hard-working man and I do agree to be even a cleaner. It's just not that easy for a non-native English speaker from a poor country who is poor himself.
Also, as a philosopher, I am able to control my optimism/pessimism levels and to be objective (what I really can and what I really should do)... but try being me -- even no money to go to cinema, restaurants... eating 3 onions (for lunch and breakfast) and begging for jobs around (I even don't want more than 3000-4000 yuan salary)...and you'll see that it's not only "an attitude" problem.
Adapt. This is what I do since 2004 here... And that's why I am still alive, even with my poor diet... I somehow survive. For example, I do sell empty bottles and cans... NO OTHER FOREIGNER IS SELLING this and the Chinese ask me: "Wow?! You also sell it?"... but I do. Believe me, I do adapt 100%...
Marian: Unfortunately for you, China doesn't want poor foreigners who are going to sell empty bottles and cans
我:"find a positive outlook to life": Sure. I do. You see -- now I ate my 3 onions and I drank a cup of green tea. My dinner is going to be something like 1 cucumber... And during this time I will do sports, I will learn Chinese... I am a positive person. I don't go to fight or to curse... I just hoped that someone will help me with an ORDINARY job... It's not an attitude problem. Otherwise I can't be a philosopher who speaks several languages and have published some books + a person who is still living in China even without enough food and other things... (and who is often blamed for "你这个老外怎么那么穷?!" I do my best, trust me.)
(Marian) , yes. BUT don't pigeonhole me.
pigeonhole
英[ˈpɪdʒɪnhəʊl]
美[ˈpɪdʒɪnhoʊl]
n. 信件格; 开口文件格;
vt. 将(某人)轻率分类; 主观划分(某人)为; 搁置; 将…束之高阁; 不予处理;
[例句]The whole expansion plan is pigeonhole.
整个扩建计划被搁置起来了。
[其他] 第三人称单数:pigeonholes 复数:pigeonholes 现在分词:pigeonholing 过去式:pigeonholed 过去分词:pigeonholed
Marian: here are plenty of "loopholes" for people with advanced degrees from their home countries to teach those subjects but, and I say this as a native English speaker who chooses not to teach because I'm a shit teacher, there really isn't any reason for the country to want a random non-native to teach English when a Chinese person can fill that role
我:
I am not ONLY a poor man who sells bottles and cans. I am also a: 1) Author of 4 e-books, 2) Master's at Philosophy, 3) a poet, 4) a polyglot, 5) a socialist, 6) a webmaster with some websites... 我知道他们会以为这个不够。可是呢,我不是只有个“穷人”。
I don't want to comment the new English (English language education) laws. I just wanted to say that if I can be at least a teacher or a cleaner, I will do it. The problem is there are NOT enough jobs for people like me (I am well educated and I am an honest man, but still... not good enough for China. Right?)
And I meant that to one period to be an English teacher was a good option to me; not it's already not... so I beg the people around if they can help me. Some already tried... that's all.
Marian: You keep saying you are educated. Masters Degree or PhD?
我:你们,看来,大多数是有钱的,成功的外国人。很好。可是我不是的。所以,我就求求人家,如果有合法的机会给我这个机会,因为我真的爱中国,社会主义,等,可是没有收入的话,很困难。
Marian: You keep mentioning the e-books. So what? Last year one of my clients paid me CNY 50k for a vanity press translation of a science fiction novel that he has since decided not to publish.
David: The source of your problems isn't China's rules.
The bar for obtaining a work permit/RPw is 'a foreigner with skillsets and qualifications who can fill a gap in the Chinese labour market that cannot be readily filled by a Chinese citizen'.
Almost all countries have the same kind of requirements when determining whether or not a foreign citizen can work in their country.
Do you have the skills and qualifications that make you viable to fill a role in the local labour market that cannot be filled by a local resident?
You mentioned that you want to apply for Chinese citizenship/green card and that you meet the conditions for applying for a green card, so why don't you?
我:I keep saying it because you understood only the part about I sell cans and bottles. Yes I HAVE TO emphasize that FIRSTLY I am a philosopher(Master's) + many other things... My "sell empty bottles and cans" is not what I am in the first place. 你就不会随便说:“你就是个乞丐,所以中国不要你了。”我除了”乞丐“也是个哲学家,诗人,做网站的人,写书本的人,等。拜托。
Marian: So get a job teaching philosophy at a University?
王宛之: True
Marian: And stop whinging about how you aren't allowed to legally teach English as a non native with a masters in philosophy.
Anyone can publish an ebook. Anyone can make a website. These aren't special skills.
David: Because they don't need you.
我:
"You mentioned that you want to apply for Chinese citizenship/green card and that you meet the conditions for applying for a green card, so why don't you? " -- Still didn't complete the "money in the bank" part and the work visa (stable income) part.
THAT'S IT! So, I wanted in this group to ask EXACTLY this: if someone may need me. Because I know what they need... and I am not something like: very rich foreigner, an AI master, a rocket scientist, a nuclear weapon scientists, etc. I am just an ordinary philosopher who write some things online and have some knowledge... I know it's "not enough for China". And still, I do love China and the Socialism, so I try to the end to be in China.
David: Sorry, I'm not being mean, it's a fact.
As the founder and general manager of a company that hires people, I can tell you that I will always try to hire from the local labour force first.
Hiring a foreign employee is a headache. If you were to start your own company (which is still an avenue for you), you would be able to experience the process first hand.
If you started your own company, went on 抖音 to talk about how much you love China, I'm sure you could be the next Nathan Rich (a.k.a. 火锅大王)
What skills do you have and what role do you think you could fill in the labour market?
我:"I can tell you that I will always try to hire from the local labour force first." -- It makes great economics sense. Of course, usually, people do so because the locals are cheaper and more convenient. For example, they don't need so high salaries and they do not visas and so on. As you said "hiring a foreigner is a headache"... (And here come the laws/rules too... Objective factors, no way to avoid them.)我真的爱中国。无所谓谁爱不爱我,我不会骗人我爱中国。I really love China and I can't say "because some guys hate China, I will hate it too". No way. China is my childhood love. Well, now I see I was too idealistic about it, but I am still a Chinese fan.
"What skills do you have and what role do you think you could fill in the labour market? "
1. Understand many languages: Macedonian, Russian, Chinese, English, Bulgarian, Tatar, etc. Learning more.
David: I believe you're imagining the EU with its freedom of movement and the (often illegal) immigration of people from central and south American countries to the USA/Canada. Those are the two scenarios I can imagine where foreigners fill roles like janitors and wait staff at restaurants.
2. Have some own little discoveries and ideas about the philosophy and politics, human nature (probably not useful for the most of the businesses).
3. Able to write long articles and books; poems... literature oriented person. (It means I can write ads too, to be a PR of a company...)
4. In good shape (not fat, some muscles, training martial arts) -- not a figher or a bully - I mean I can edure hard labour job like "move the table and the sofa" and "bring the cement and the stones here"...
5. Not alcohol drinker, no drugs, no smoking -- not going to cause troubles in the office or to insult the female stuff.
6. Already worked in many places: TV, newspapers, restaurants, schools...
That's it. An ordinary person.
David: I think you could be an asset to a language service provider, if you have the requisite language skills and evidence backing up those skills (certificates etc.)
"I believe you're imagining the EU with its freedom of movement and the (often illegal) immigration of people from central and south American countries to the USA/Canada. " -- NO! I imagine Japan, Cambodia,... You see a guy from Bulgaria is a bar worker in Japan. Another one is a teacher in Thailand... third one is a cleaner in Macao (SAR Macao)... this is what I imagine. I don't like the West that much, I am an Asian oriented person.
Maybe. Thanks. All depends of the good luck. There was a study which proves that even the most gifted people without good luck are nothing special... I'll share it with you, people. (And once again --- thanks a lot for the time and the attention! I am touched and I don't want to insult or to say bad things to anybody. I don't know why one guy said that to respond here is wrong and stuff. I just respect you all.)
maybe this one:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2018/04/02/what-role-does-luck-play-in-success/There were some similar studies that just found out that it's not only "hard work + study" and you're okay... It depends who will give you the job, what kind of parents you'll have, how good is the country you're in, are there risks on the streets and so on... In a word: "A lucky not very skillful" > "Unlucky skillful".
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To be continued...