i always ask them (the chinese) why do they live in china?  the answers range from being outrageously funny to china bashing.  try it out, its funny.  but when someone that i care about my reputation with asks me, like my girlfriend's family or co-workers, i always pull the culture and history card.  i always say, "i know my father's family history in america and europe, but never learned about my chinese side."  that usually goes over well with them. 

  I've always had a fascination, a lifelong obsession really, with noodles.

I did something really really bad in a past life

While I was student at the university (sounds so far away), I felt in love with a Chinese student, and we had a really nice story together... that had an end. But before breaking-up, we traveled in China together.  That girl, that trip, it gave me a positive light on China and its people. Latter in my life, I was in Vietnam, very happy, but I felt I could not do the work I wanted to do (scientific research). So I went on the hunt for a post-doc fund. I got an interesting offer... by the Chinese Academy of Science. Because of my previous positive experience, I gave it a go. It went mostly well. I got a hint of the good and bad of life in China, but the fund and living on a large campus sheltered me from the most grinding aspects. I could have stayed in China, I came back to Vietnam... but again, I couldn't move my career in the direction I wanted. Went back to China.

When I was young, about 16-17 years, I have made my first money. Where did I spend them ? On the outside market, where Vietnamese business mans sell all the Adidas, Nike, stereo with 300W speakers, and all the Queen, AC/DC albums on cassette tapes. Than I worked more and bought more those stuff. Years passed, Vietnamese people bought most of the houses there and flood the market with the chinese cheap stuff. It was not anymore good as before, the t-shirt start fall apart after 3rd washing cycle, the stereo work 2 weeks only before fire and the empty CDs with poorly photocopied covers .... So I decide, flew to China,  to find that gready bastard who make this to us and clean the world of the cheap shit. I still did not find him though ....

 To be continued ...

i m a looser in my country and came to china and steal some girls

on a serious note:

because of my future wife. no more no less. if we would break up i would be gone within 24h

This:
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/economy/2013/12/20/worst-economies/4.html

made me do it. I have always had some fascination with China, but never came here until I met a woman.  I ended up staying because I stumbled into a new career I found I enjoyed.  I don't mind living in a two and a half world country. I make enough to live like I live in Canada most of the time.

Met my Chinese wife in Korea and she told me we'd be better here in her home town of Shenzhen, and we didn't want to raise kids in Korea, so here we are, it was a good choice, Korea is nice but I do enjoy all the traveling we can do around China and near by places.

Came here 6 years ago and loved it so I returned 3 years later to come and study Chinese and now I've been here since then. I was asked once, by a group of middle aged people who have been in China for 20 to 30 years I am in China now. I said that I liked the convenience and the expat community. They did NOT like that, they said it was a shallow answer. MY opinion though. Where else in the world can you find an integrated expat community like the one in China???!!!!

2008..aged 19...Summer internship 

oh i forget the fun part about my story:

i learned japanese in my free time since i was 18 because i just love japan, the culture, people, food, history, cities, animes etc.

its now really bothersome that i ended up in a country that hates japan. i dunno what i did wrong, seems i went left when i had to turn to the right.

fuck my life

I came to China four years ago because I (wrongly) thought I could further my education and experience enough to land me a job in Japan. Changes in visa rules and it's not looking very likely... sooo I'm still here, just trying to figure out my next move.

two things:

insanity and a sense of adventure 

I myself lived in Japan for two years while I was in the US Navy but a rejected application to the American University in Cairo, Egypt led me to China in 2003. I studied at Xiamen University for 4 months and also did some English teaching during the semester. I've been to China 9 times and each time has been challenging and rewarding.

Before coming to China I had a great job..... for a 24 year old.  I was a manager of a large construction supply company  with a new Audi and cash to travel the world.  The company was cool about me running away for 3 or 4 months at a time to go explore. Ive always wanted to travel, been to around 20 countries. Anyways, life was good...... but I didnt see a future. I had pretty much hit my salary limit at 24. My boss was the owners son ...and 4 years older than me so no promotions down the pipeline.  My experience didnt really translate to another company, so any job i looked at I would have to take a significant paycut.  The salary was fine, but not enough for nice cars, and travel, and a wife and kids and a nice house.... So I felt stuck.

My grandfather worked for the United Nations  and then went into the private sector abroad and got filthy rich.  Then became an extremely high level diplomat. I grew up hearing his stories and seeing pictures and them my mom would go travel when I was a kid. To Africa and Europe. So i had always wanted to live abroad.

I knew i didnt have 5% of the credientials my grandpa had but I felt stuck anyways and figured I would rush out and make my way.... I studied a tiny bit and China seemed like the easiest transition for a dude with no credentials. So here I am.... Making my way. It sure took longer than I expected to find my riches, and I am not there yet. But I am finally on my way.  No looking back now I guess.

I always wanted to see Asian countries and never thought that I would, it's so far away. China always interested me but China wasn't what I thought it would be. I originally came when my life was a mess, I had a long series of crappy things happen in my life and decide to get away, far away, so I went to China. I usually don't like travelling, after a couple of days and drinks, I want to go home, bored and I want my bed. I loved China from the minute I first walked out on a street. I found China to be so different and very liberating. I still do.

 The first thing that I noticed was that everyone was Chinese, thats weird to say but seeing it was a shock and the amount of people, they looked like rivers flowing. Then I noticed all the women, a sea of women. I like a more delicate looking, slim woman, hard to find at home. I haven't had a GF with thin arms since I was a teenager, or thin fingers. No more man hands. Heaven.

 Then I went home and I saw really fat people, again like I never noticed this before. OMG those thighs have to have a gerth of 40''

I was asked by a former work mate who was consulting for a new international research lab to come for three weeks to help train research staff how to handle and do research on NHP (monkeys). He was hoping to land a full time gig with the company. I took 3 weeks vacation and came to help him. 8 days in they offered me a full time gig running the place. I refused and went back to the states, but they kept increasing the offers until I could no longer refuse.

That was 5 years ago.