Expat Stories: An Ecuadorian in Harbin

Expat Stories: An Ecuadorian in Harbin
Jul 07, 2015 By Malgorzata Modlinska , ShanghaiCityGirl.com

Q:Where are you from and why did you decide to leave your country for China?

A: I’m from Quito, Ecuador. I was looking for a change so I decided to leave, it happened that China was the right option at the moment; I mean what better change than going to the other side of the world, right?

I was dealing with annoying parents, annoying boyfriend, annoying lifestyle, annoying studies, existential crisis. By that time I was studying Chinese language besides my major, so I knew at some point I would want to go to China and do something there. I remember I just went out of a very bad exam, feeling all blue and “ah f*** this crap,” driving home the radio commercial asked me “You want a change?” “Wanna learn about a new culture, study a new language, and have time and money at the same time?”after almost yelling “Yessss!” to the radio, I did what I had to do and by the next week I was signing a contract [to become an au pair] in China for a year. Pretty random, huh?

Q: How long have you been here and what keeps you here?

A: May 17 was my third anniversary. I lived in Beijing for a year and a half, and then I moved to Harbin for my studies. I’ll stay here for another two years, when I’ll finally graduate.

Q: What are you doing now and how has your life been changing here?

A: Right now I’m studying Chemical Engineering. My life in China changed sooooooooo much, that’s why I decided to stay after my au pair program. I discovered myself and realized what I wanted to do with my life, I think everyone living abroad for the first time experiences the same. So because of it I’ve became more confident, happier, and a better person in general.

Q: What was the most difficult obstacle for you at the beginning and how did you adapt?

A: Well, as an au pair, it was kinda hard to adapt to someone else’s demands, the rules, the schedules… it's different from when you live at home, you gotta realize you’re here doing a job, not to chill, so you gotta behave in such way. They say communication is the best way to deal with stuff, but that comes after you complained for hours to your friend about how things are not going the way you expect, and finally when your mind is clear, you can communicate.

But in general for me adapting to China was not a problem, I got here because I wanted, because I knew it was better for me, so that encouraged me to keep things the best way possible. China is not for everyone though, so if you’re a complainer, don’t think about coming here.

Q: Do you feel at home here now and what helps you feel this way?

A: Beijing is my home. Just recently I started to feel more comfortable about living in Harbin, but honestly sometimes I miss Beijing more than Ecuador. Beijing means freedom and independence to me, Beijing is my polluted paradise.

Q: Is there anything China does better than your country?

A: Haha! Well, in terms of what? China does better than many countries, that’s why is the number one economy in the world. More specifically, China is better at safety than Ecuador and other Latin American countries in general. I remember when I came here holding my purse, not using my phone in public, being aware about everything around me… and then I got in the subway and everyone’s sleeping or playing with their iPhones and iPods. You can’t do that in my country, that’s asking to be robbed in a bad way. I love China for this, it took away one of my fears, some people take safety for granted, for us is something we would love to have.

Q: Is there any food typical for Ecuador and can you find it here? If so, then what is it and where do you find it?

A: That’s the thing I miss the most about Ecuador - food. The only times I have typical food here is when my awesome embassy has an event. Ingredients from Ecuador are impossible to find in China, not even on Taobao, and that place has everything. You can find bananas though, we have the best ones in the world, so smile and buy a bunch every time you see “Product from Ecuador.”

Q: What was the craziest /weirdest thing that happened to you here?

A: I was spending Chinese new year with my host family in this place I named Hell Town, a horrible city in northeast China where even God forgot its existence. Typical, small Chinese developing city, with ugly infrastructure, and the only “fun” thing to do was going to the mall to get pearl tea. I hated that place.

Anyways, the Chinese New Year ’s Eve, the family did this huge dinner, with a lot of beer and baijiu. The uncles of the kid I was taking care of, asked if I drank alcohol, I said a little bit, so after giving me a beer, they handed me this baijiu. I took a shot…. Then another one… and I ended up drinking with four men, like three bottles of this baijiu myself and a lot of beers, ganbei-ing, because once you started, Chinese people won’t leave you alone and basically force you to drink if they see you can handle it.

The last thing I remember from that night was saying to the kid “Ok! Now let’s go play!” then blacking out, and when I sobered up I found myself sitting in the living room next to grandma, watching TV. Apparently, during my blackout we danced, I called the guy I liked to say things I don’t even wanna remember, and set some fireworks. Gotta love drinking with Chinese people! Even though I have no memory of this night, I have a lot of pics of my moment of shame. And whatever thing I said on the phone, turned out good because he became my boyfriend when I came back in Beijing. Ha! Crazy night drinking like a villager with a Chinese family!

Q: Can you speak Chinese and if yes – do you have any advice for those who would like to learn?

A: My Chinese is conversational only, I’m studying my major in English, so I focus more on my engineering related stuff than the language itself, I keep learning it though, we get Chinese language as a subject at the university, but at slower pace.

If you are interested in really learning the language: 1) avoid big cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou or Beijing, too many foreigners and too many distractions; 2) come to the north, the more south you go, the weirder Chinese gets. Proper putonghua is spoken in the north (especially Harbin), you can ask any Chinese, standard Mandarin is spoken in this part of the country.

Q: How is dating in China for you?

A: The best! You meet all these people from everywhere in the world, and you get special attention since you come from this far, is not the same saying as “I’m from Ecuador” in France and say it in China. In my case, I’m the only Ecuadorian living in the PROVINCE, which makes me feel pretty cool. You get to improve your language; in my case I improved my spoken English a lot by dating native speakers. The only thing that sucks is when you have to say goodbye, just like you, many people is just passing by figuring out stuff, so be all molo molo (go with the flow), and don’t get too attached.

Q: Do you have any advice for other Ecuadorian girls coming here, or generally to girls from any country?

A: Girls from Ecuador, the moment you pack, get:

1) Clothes for two days, you can get aaaaanything in China, and even clothes can be incredibly cheap, even brand named clothes are cheaper than in Ecuador, so no need to fill your luggage with that. But bring a t-shirt from the soccer team, even if you’re not into “fútbol”, just buy it, you’ll see later.

2) Gifts from Ecuador (bracelets that says Ecuador, little handcrafts, etc), you’ll meet a lot of people when you come, will make a lot of friends, and you will want to give little presents for them to remember you. I didn’t do this the first time and regret it a lot.

3) Food, the rest of your luggage must be filled with food. Bring chocolate, coffee, many many many bags of chifles (banana chips), tuna cans (we have the best tuna), tostado, chulpi, and anything you might like. As I said, it will be impossible to find these things here in China, so better be prepared.

I think this also applies to girls from different countries.

Q: What will be your next destination and do you think your Chinese experience will help you when you move to another country?

A: Europe to continue with my education. I really want to move to Krakow, when I went there, that place gave me almost the same feeling Beijing gave me the first time, I see myself living there, but let’s see how things go. For sure it will help me; I got the experience of living abroad and dealing with a different culture. And it’ll be awesome to party with Polish people!

Malgorzata Modlinska is a writer living in Shanghai. Her blog focuses on Chinese Netizen slang, healthy living in Shanghai, and where to find great deals in the city. Read more from her at ShanghaiCityGirl.

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Keywords: Expats in Harbin Ecuadorians in China

22 Comments

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Guest14335250

Love this story! Can't wait to go!

Jul 15, 2015 07:47 Report Abuse

Guest14250002

Hey , dear foreigners here ! I can see your thinking is true about China, the same as I think too, but this girl is the type of "child" who was spoiled by that "annoying parents" I guess, so she just see the good part of things in everything. And now, because she is here, study here ???Don't tell me that from a Au pair job you can pay your university study here ! Just see how much cost to study in China per year , per semester, and make a calculation then to see how much can you afford with a Au Pair salary, which would not be more than 5000 yuan a month in Harbin, maybe less, keeping in mind the living is free and food also , depend of the family you working for ! She should say thanks to that " annoying" parents for keeping her study here , and say honest that from her salary, she only buy some bikini maybe, for her "night job" possible ! All foreigners here, or almost all, know that China is not an option to change your life in something so perfect as this woman say here . Is easy to say some beautiful words about life in China, but who met the real hard life in China, who has not any help or money to be so fake happy as she is, I don't think so can say the same things about China. I live in China since 10 years, I met all kind of peoples and the horrible thing than I cannot adapt with it, is how pretty the Chinese peoples lie.... I will never accept lies and so, how can you trust someone here ? Don't tell us the best date you can have in China ! I can say , the worst ! Oh, she refer to meet someone for sex maybe one nigh stand, maybe that is the best for her ! But how about if you want settle down here with marriage ? This will bring a big headache to a foreigner girl and most of them get hurt here because the Chinese man really do nothing if his family don't accept you to be his wife ! Why no say the negative things here ? Is easy life in China ? Is happy life here? No way ! Maybe is easy and happy for such spoiled kids as this girl and who has some "annoying parents "....

Jul 14, 2015 10:19 Report Abuse

q8chine

Nuts... I was really hoping that you were gone.

Jul 11, 2015 15:46 Report Abuse

q8chine

creating a resume Poor brother wang. This temptress has ruined his life.

Jul 08, 2015 18:46 Report Abuse

q8chine

So you honestly believe that we married folks should work on a Q visa? yes yes I know many do and I hope they never do get caught, so my question is what will happen if they get caught?

Jul 08, 2015 18:40 Report Abuse

Aylin35

They will send you back to your country and 5 or 10 years you will can't enter in China again ! So, be prepared for a divorce ! haha

Jul 14, 2015 10:23 Report Abuse

Robk

Well, props for sticking it out and drinking with the alcoholic shu shu's... Trust me, I know that isn't easy task... it is tough on so many levels: 1) Drinking crappy Baijiu (most baijiu is horrible in flavor) 2) Not wanting to be outdone, so you push your limits 3) Chinese constant pressure when you feel like it is time to stop I haven't heard too many foreign girls go through this process... I think you may be the first.

Jul 07, 2015 22:41 Report Abuse

sorrel

yeah, but Chinese guys come out as super creepy. Uncle gets foreign woman drunk, she has a black-out and wakes to find she has a boy-friend. every girls dream that is.

Jul 07, 2015 23:24 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

That's just so wrong man, plus the foreign lady would probably have a hard time getting charges filed

Jul 08, 2015 00:13 Report Abuse

Guest14306758

sorrel -> Haha, yeah I call BS on the Chinese boyfriend thingy, none of my female foreign friends here want to go with Chinese guys. I only know 2 Russians who did and it was probably out of desperation, only to break up soon after and say "never again". Local men are just creeps, can't change that.

Jul 12, 2015 11:45 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

Well if she likes it, then good for her

Jul 07, 2015 22:28 Report Abuse

kuntmans

Great interview and interesting stories.

Jul 07, 2015 19:02 Report Abuse

Guest2301262

Chairman Cow was commenting above, not Chairman Mao, wumao.

Jul 08, 2015 07:33 Report Abuse

kuntmans

Let me guess, you got refused entry because of lack of education?

Jul 09, 2015 18:29 Report Abuse

coineineagh

With a body like that, I'm sure her blog will become very popular. And I'm not referring to the body of text she wrote. Trust a Latina to show the Chinese how to wear a Kimono/Tang dynasty outfit.

Jul 07, 2015 15:36 Report Abuse

Chairman_Cow

"I was dealing with annoying parents, annoying boyfriend, annoying lifestyle, annoying studies, existential crisis". Lol...you've come to the wrong place if you don't like "annoying" things.

Jul 07, 2015 14:41 Report Abuse

Spiderboenz

Nuts... I was really hoping that you were gone.

Jul 07, 2015 10:38 Report Abuse

Guest2301262

LOL "China is not for everyone though, so if you’re a complainer, don’t think about coming here." Even an Eucadorian foreign student in china says "China is not for everyone", those smart enough to read between the lines would laugh. As a foriegn student the next to nil info on her superficial interaction with locals is excusable to a certain extent, her credibility diminished a lot though. The whole article smells wumao.

Jul 07, 2015 09:13 Report Abuse

Spiderboenz

Read some of the other stuff written by this moron.

Jul 07, 2015 10:39 Report Abuse

Guest14274740

"...if you’re a complainer, don’t think about coming here." Frog in a well (Chinese idiom), have a good laugh when reading the part about frog's friend the turtle, who has seen the ocean can't get into frog's well. http://answers.echinacities.com/question/does-photo-really-represent-china-dream?type=alatest#lastcomment

Jul 07, 2015 13:04 Report Abuse

Guest2368048

Everyone knows expats normally refer to foreign workers. Why is the term used when she is a foreign student, titling the article Expat Stories?

Jul 07, 2015 01:19 Report Abuse

coineineagh

If she was an au pair, she arrived on a contract. Nothing wrong with this description. The rest of the article is a bunch of poorly veiled flattery. That's probably why she got an article, assuming her character and words are authentic.

Jul 07, 2015 01:42 Report Abuse