By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: When I Grow up I want to be an?
This one is for you and not your students. I am at a time in my life where I need to either change career or take what I do to the next level .Up until 10 years ago China was never a consideration but these days it seems( for me anyway) a easy way out. How did you end up in China ? Was it a Career choice or maybe a getaway from life , or just a good idea at a time ?
10 years 26 weeks ago in Business & Jobs - China
After 5 years of drifting I have decided what to do.
I am going back into the Royal Navy.
I served from 2000-2004 and nothing I have done since has left me with the feeling of satisfaction and pride that the Navy did.
China has focused me on that goal. I have been here for more than four years and it's taken that long to see the light.
I am now in the gym five days a week to shed the flab and next summer I am back in.
philbravery:
Why go back to the RN when you could join the RAN ? immigration for you and your wife is easy and the weather is better you should come have a look before you go home. I am sure there will be somebody that understands your accent 
For me it was not so much a getaway from life, but more of a realization that my home country is in such a financial mess that pursuing my dream job is almost impossible, with a lack of jobs and an exponential amount of new graduates in that field..Coming to China to live a complete different life for a year seemed a lot more interesting than moaning for a year about the deficit. I saw a camel on the way to school yesterday so i do not regret this decision to date.
After 5 years of drifting I have decided what to do.
I am going back into the Royal Navy.
I served from 2000-2004 and nothing I have done since has left me with the feeling of satisfaction and pride that the Navy did.
China has focused me on that goal. I have been here for more than four years and it's taken that long to see the light.
I am now in the gym five days a week to shed the flab and next summer I am back in.
philbravery:
Why go back to the RN when you could join the RAN ? immigration for you and your wife is easy and the weather is better you should come have a look before you go home. I am sure there will be somebody that understands your accent
It was a quick getaway, really.
When I grow up, I want to be a WUMAO / OBAMAO.
For me it's been a career opportunity. After the first 6 months in the company I was working after my university graduation, I realized that I either had to raise my elbows to make my way through or I would have been just a number forever. So I applied to go to China (via Bangladesh at first). Then once here, I worked my career out.
Now, 10 years later, I have the same urge. Career wise I can't stay here forever (neither I want), and I feel the need to give a swirl to avoid fossilization.
Currently dealing with my company (luckily is a good one from HR management standpoint), for a relocation in the mid term.
ASTRONAUT!!!!!
Nope, this is a step up for me. From lifting boxes and dead-end jobs to teacher in 14 hours (flight time). Free-time, job satisfaction, pay's good (for China) and i'm my own boss. Got no complaints.
China has killed my ambitions.
philbravery:
Really ? at the very least it should strengthen your resolve to escape ....I mean move forward with you Endeavors
Scandinavian:
what's the point, the world will become 100% Chinese soon, they will dominate the planet and it will all start to resemble a movie which title I've forgotten
Scandinavian:
@andy, read the thread about lack of queue-culture. Believe me, they will.
philbravery:
Becoming more Chinese is in my opinion the less of two Evils unless you like your women dressed as a Mystery prize
Never too late to be or do what you want to be or do. If I could turn back the hands of a clock, yes, I would do things differently. Regrets? I have a few, but my life took the road not taken (to cite Robert Frost). When I was 18, I wanted to be an architect, a concert guitarist, a historian, a marine biologist, a lawyer, a writer.
Years later, I am none of the above. I am only a money-maker. However, my lifestyle does touch upon each and every youthful dream and passion I once had: I am an architecture buff, a damn good guitar player with 4 guitars in my home studio, a reader of lengthy histories, a fish-eater (haha), a critical thinker, and an eChina writer of bullshit. So, I spin the wheel at the karma carnival and my number always turns up.
