Oddbean

Well, it was a series of events that led to to stay for so long in Shanghai. You know, life. Can share though that when I arrived something just clicked. Recall my father saying when I was young that in life you have two homes. The one you were born into and the one you make. Shanghai, for me, was the latter. As for what keeps me here, well that would just be the environment. China is honestly a meritocracy in terms of what you put in you get out. And I’ll stress, #China is far more than what is contained in the headlines. I actually agree with nearly all the critiques leveled against China. It is also true, however, that those critiques are woefully incomplete. Not sure if I’ve answered your question.

You mean 10 years from now if I’m still in #China? That would be unlikely. Getting up there in age and don’t plan on remaining here into retirement. What I would say though is that if I were in my 20s today, China provides tremendous opportunities for this with a work ethic and personal responsibility. Covid led to a mass exodus of foreigners and that led to a ton of opportunities.

You did! Thanks for sharing. I know the view from outside is incomplete... That's true of anywhere. I just find it interesting to hear about choices like yours because it's so far afield from what I would be comfortable with. Cheers 💜

Well then, let me provide more specificity. Was working on Wall Street in the early 90s and hated my job. #China was just coming into the zeitgeist and I detested the idea of having to get my MBA. Knew that labor is a commodity so decided instead to begin learning Mandarin. After years of studying my teacher mentioned that there were a ton of English teaching gigs and asked if I would be interested. Being young and having zero responsibilities I said “absolutely”. Was meant to be an 18 month contract. It was but I stayed and began working for different American companies which needed a local rep. Zero regrets.