From Bali to China

I would define my life as “an unpredictable movie”. I live without any plan. I don't know what I'm doing next Saturday, I buy a ticket to a new country one week ahead, I look for a hostel after I land, most of my decisions are spontaneous like fireworks.

What do people normally do before they resign a job? Right, they (not me) find a new one. Last time the circumstances made me write a resignation letter after the first working week. That’s how “patient” I am when I’m in a wrong place with wrong people.

Of course at that time I had no clue what I would do. Complete emptiness in my head. I decided to let it go, I went to the beach, gave myself 2 days break for doing nothing. (A good idea, don’t you think so?). My after-stress therapy–the sun and the sea.

When I’m lost, I think of a few options and the possible outcome of each one. At that moment the best one (due to many reasons) was…..going back to China. Yes, I know I wanted to escape from China, but life is life…. I’m trying to adjust to life waves no matter how puzzled and contradictive my roads might be.

So I bought a ticket to Hongkong. I had 5 days to find a job and accommodation. Nobody was waiting for me in China…. The problem was that before Chinese New Year is the worst time for a job search. But after Spring festival recruiters will chase you! (In reality it meant that if I didn’t find a job during 2 days after I arrive in China, I had to wait for at least 2 weeks until Chinese people finish celebration).

The time was very tight. While in Bali I checked websites, the only suitable job was a family tutor. They wanted to start immediately. Perfect! (I considered it also because they were supposed to provide a room in their house and meals). It was my backup plan. (Do you want to know if it worked? NO!). Meanwhile I continued checking other jobs. (Can you start in February?– they asked. No, I can’t wait so long!– I replied).

We buy Xmas trees, here they buy flowers

One day I gave up on search.

Suddenly I got a message from my friend in China, that my laptop (which means life for me!) was stolen by a driver (while she was moving to a new apartment). “How much does it cost? I’ll give you the money”, she said. Whaaaat? My head was about to explode. I was in Indonesia. What could I do??! Who could help me?!...(Don’t ask me why I left my laptop in China!). So when I landed in China I had to solve two problems: 1) the laptop 2) a job.

I won’t tell you that whole “crime story”, how much stress I had, and how I got my laptop back in the end…. I’ll just tell you, that it was probably the worst experience in my life. ​ I believed in good when there was almost no hope. I didn't give up until I did all I could. (If you want to meet a stubborn girl, here’s me!)

Going back to the job issue, after I signed a contract with a recruiting company (it was on the second day after my trip), I met with a host family (and actually I was going to move there, but surprise– they required a native speaker, and another thing, they already hosted an exchange student from Belgium), that's why I heard: “we have to discuss it with our family members”. After 20 minutes I got a reply from them and thought “whatever happens, happens for the best". (In spite of having no job, no place to live, and no time to find a new job, I was positive!). And what happened then? My company offered a job at their center (they have English classes) and a shared apartment with my Chinese colleague. I had no time to hesitate. I accepted it. It was a gift from the heaven. (Yes, I do believe it was!). The next day we discussed my schedule, and I moved into my new home…

Sometimes looking at a successful story we might think “she/he’s so lucky”. But we never know what that person had to go through. I got what I wanted (fortunately you aren't me, so you don't know what I feel while overcoming all the troubles). I’m safe now and so grateful; prayers, vitamins and friends help me to calm down…….and yes, my window view from 24th floor.

"Everything is going to be fine in the end. If it's not fine, it's not the end".

My window view