Latest / bit of a Rambler / 019 How I Got Started

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019 How I Got Started · bit of a Rambler

• 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,800 Hello, my name is Kai and I am a bit of a rambler. 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,600 I like to travel, learn and tell stories. 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,520 Today I want to talk about how I got started. 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:17,720 I have a lot of stories obviously, and I think it would seem that I planned some of this, 5 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,560 like the businesses I owned and started, how I ended up in China in the first place as 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:28,800 a English teacher in a school that was already functioning well. 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,440 But I did not. 8 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:37,440 I just kept my eyes open for opportunities, and I definitely did not do this myself. 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:41,400 People helped me start out and helped me continue on. 10 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:48,000 Infrastructure was there, the networks of support were there, and opportunities were there 11 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:54,440 that I hoped would help me get closer to what I wanted to do, which I hadn't even clearly 12 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,560 defined yet. 13 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:08,000 I knew I wanted to work less and still enjoy my life, my life, the way I wanted to live 14 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:09,000 it. 15 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:15,440 So I want to get into how I did get started because it's a funny story, and I think it does 16 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:22,160 show you exactly how important it is to keep your eyes open for opportunities, especially 17 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:26,680 if it's such a low cost to you to investigate that opportunity. 18 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,640 Check if it's real, if it's not, whatever, if it is, great. 19 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,320 So I did not need a huge push because of how my life was going. 20 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:43,760 I was very dissatisfied with the work culture and the environment of business in the United 21 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:44,760 States. 22 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:46,120 It just didn't feel right to me. 23 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,080 So when the opportunity did present itself, I took it. 24 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:57,840 I hope this podcast helps provide a little push in addition to all the other help and research 25 00:01:57,840 --> 00:01:59,600 you can do by yourself. 26 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,240 I hope that by me sharing this story, you can see that you don't really need to plan 27 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:10,520 that much as long as you have a general idea of what you want or what you don't want, 28 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:15,200 which was my case, and are willing to keep an open mind. 29 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,440 During this time, I was basically working at a sandwich shop that I had been promoted 30 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:26,720 in very quickly and I was beneath the assistant manager and then the manager. 31 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,240 And I was doing well. 32 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:33,440 And after a while, I asked for a raise and he explained to me that he couldn't give me 33 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:39,200 a raise because I was almost making as much as the assistant manager already, which shocked 34 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,560 me because I was making barely above minimum wage. 35 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:49,360 And then he explained to me that as the manager, he was barely making more than that. 36 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,800 He was making like a dollar more per hour. 37 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:57,680 And that was depressing to learn because he was a very earnest guy. 38 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,680 He really wanted the store to do well and he really threw his all into it. 39 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:07,360 And he's making like a book fifty more than me who has no responsibilities. 40 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:13,160 It was disheartening to find that out, but also very important. 41 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,240 Talk with your coworkers about how much you make. 42 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:23,800 Because as soon as I realized what the actual pay scale was in total for a franchise sandwich 43 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:32,440 business, I realized that I was not going to participate in that work culture indefinitely. 44 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:39,960 It was insane to me to realize that if I got through all of that and worked as the manager 45 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,160 of a franchise operation. 46 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,200 I was going to be making barely more than I would now and I'd still be working the 47 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,040 forty plus hour weeks. 48 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:56,240 That was not by any measure the only moment, but it was a clarifying moment where I realized, 49 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,400 oh, this work culture is wrong in some way. 50 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,720 Something is wrong with American service culture. 51 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:08,280 If this is what American work ethic rewards dedicated people with. 52 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:14,440 The bare minimum of survival and in some cases not enough to survive. 53 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:21,800 That manager must have also realized what a poor deal he was getting and he decided to 54 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,880 quit eventually. 55 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:31,640 And this is kind of when things started kicking into you have to do something else, 56 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:33,160 territory. 57 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:39,320 They hired a terrible, ridiculous manager instead of promoting the assistant manager who knew 58 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,400 the store inside out and would have made a great manager. 59 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:53,120 And I gave the new manager a shot, but I think because I was in charge of so many responsibilities 60 00:04:53,120 --> 00:05:00,040 in the store, he tried to demean me in front of the other employees to make it clear that 61 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,640 he was in charge and not me, even though I was doing all of the responsibilities of the 62 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,120 store manager and he didn't know what to do because he was new. 63 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,160 There was no reason he would know anything. 64 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,400 So he tried to make me look bad in front of the other employees. 65 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:18,200 And so after he did that a few times, I told him that I was quitting because he was treating 66 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:20,960 me disrespectfully in front of the other employees. 67 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,760 And I said that to him privately in his office. 68 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,920 And he asked me to stay and then he offered a raise. 69 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:34,000 And then he said if I ever wanted to come back, I could that the job economy was terrible. 70 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,640 And I was like, well, you're way more terrible than any economy I'm going to face. 71 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:46,080 And I left a coworker later told me that he spread the rumor that I had talked bad about 72 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:47,720 everybody in the company. 73 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:52,640 And then he had to fire me because I was so rude about my coworkers. 74 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,960 So that was definitely a good situation that I left. 75 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:01,720 And I worked for another place that it didn't work out at after two weeks. 76 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:07,440 It felt a lot like the last job, even though it was in a completely different type of restaurant. 77 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:13,640 It felt dead end to me and I didn't even realize that it was dead end because it was just another 78 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:15,520 service job. 79 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:21,720 And that same morning that bad manager from the sandwich shop fired another coworker without 80 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:27,160 telling him and that guy showed up for work and the manager was like, oh, sorry, you fired. 81 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:32,840 Didn't tell him why didn't give him any notice, just kicked him out of the store. 82 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:38,160 So me and this guy were talking and he called me up the same morning that I was actually 83 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,720 let go from that two week probationary period where maybe I wasn't giving in my all because 84 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,400 I couldn't find the will to care. 85 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:52,480 And he asked to come over and I said, yeah, let's play Mario Kart. 86 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:53,960 And I only had one controller. 87 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:59,080 So I needed a second controller immediately before that I decided I needed some meat, 88 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,400 which I was making a lot back then. 89 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:07,840 And so I was enjoying a glass of meat and I popped onto Craigslist searched for an N64 controller 90 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:12,720 in between Donkey Kong 64 and a packet of five toothbrushes. 91 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:17,040 I found the following apparent job listing. 92 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:18,760 Are you looking for a new career? 93 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:20,440 Do you want to live overseas? 94 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,640 Are you excited about other cultures? 95 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:24,600 Beijing English teacher needed. 96 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:26,640 Female teachers preferred. 97 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,040 And I was like, perfect. 98 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,800 Obviously, I didn't know if I was really what they were looking for or if the job was real 99 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,680 at all since it was obviously in the wrong section of Craigslist, but I thought, why not 100 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,000 try it out? 101 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,760 So I clicked on the ad and there was a longer paragraph asking if I liked languages, ready 102 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:49,800 for adventure, how about different cultures, and most importantly, was I a female teacher. 103 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:55,640 And after I read the offer like a few times, I was like, well, it seems like a real person 104 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,120 wrote this. 105 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:58,120 So I figured, what the heck? 106 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,040 Why not write back to this? 107 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,200 Maybe it is a real job offer. 108 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,280 And I wrote back and this is a quote, I am not a woman. 109 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:07,640 Sorry about that. 110 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:12,460 But coincidentally, I am an adventurous person looking to travel overseas and learn new languages 111 00:08:12,460 --> 00:08:14,760 while appreciating different cultures. 112 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:20,440 I thought that was a funny opener, and after that I wrote a more normal, human adult paragraph 113 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:25,400 afterwards, and told them that I was interested in the job. 114 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:30,760 I sent off the email, I successfully applied for the job, I resumed my video games and 115 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:32,960 mead drinking. 116 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:37,600 After crushing a few rounds of Mario Kart, I saw little flicker in my peripheral 117 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,320 vision, which was a reply email. 118 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:46,640 I saw that the person who had written that job offer had written back to me already. 119 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:54,200 This email was way less formal than a slightly informal job offer already, but he asked, hey, 120 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,320 when can you meet for a Skype interview? 121 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:01,680 Since he had answered me immediately, I answered back immediately and said, anytime after 9am 122 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:06,920 tomorrow morning would be best, and I could meet according to his schedule. 123 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:11,760 I would have said immediately, but I had been drinking mead for like an hour, and I was 124 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,360 anxious about job interviews at the time. 125 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:19,440 I included my Skype name and the email, sent it off, and waited for a response. 126 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,720 And then he didn't get back to me. 127 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:27,520 So by that evening, I was like, oh, maybe it was just a weird fishing email, or maybe it 128 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,800 wasn't a genuine job offer, because he had answered so quickly the first time. 129 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:37,440 I was just like, oh, thanks a lot, China, very ungraciously. 130 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:42,640 The next day I went for a run, and then I looked for other job listings, but they all looked 131 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,400 the same as stuff I'd done before or stuff I was not interested in, and then I checked 132 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,160 all the wines that I was fermenting. 133 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,920 This was in Portland, Oregon, and I was going to make beer at first, and then I went to 134 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,760 the beer store, and he was like, hey, just make wine, it's way easier, and you can make 135 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:58,680 every flavor, and it's great. 136 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:05,360 So I had Blackberry, Cherry Wine, Paralline, Apple, and I had to sterilize some equipment and 137 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:11,120 make some adjustments and put in some new stuff, make sure they all still tasted good. 138 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:16,680 And so it wasn't really until 4pm that I was able to get back to Mario Kart. 139 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:23,480 So I sat down, started playing, and a few minutes later, Skype started ringing on my computer. 140 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:25,360 Bill was calling. 141 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:29,760 And my brain clicked real quick, and I realized it was the guy I had emailed with yesterday. 142 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:34,320 He had an email me back with a time or anything he was just calling because he had the Skype 143 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:36,120 username I guess. 144 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:37,760 So I'm wearing a t-shirt. 145 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:42,800 In my pajama pants, the t-shirt says, "Reading, this shit is awesome." 146 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:44,320 Holding an N64 controller. 147 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,520 I threw the controller to the side of the room, pulled on a button down shirt, with that 148 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:53,920 I put like the first three buttons on, and then sat down at the chair in front of my 149 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:55,600 laptop. 150 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:56,600 Only three bloops in. 151 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,520 I moved real quick in case this was a real job offer. 152 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,800 I said a few practice sentences out loud so my voice wouldn't crack and make it obvious 153 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,240 that I hadn't talked all day because I was playing video games and drinking wine. 154 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,000 And then I relaxed my shoulders. 155 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,320 Lean forward on the desk, one elbow up, sort of propped my cheek against my fist, clicked 156 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:22,160 except, and said very casually, "Hey, there, Bill from Enlightenment English? 157 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:27,520 If I had dozens of interviews to get through, but I remembered his name and the name of his 158 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:28,520 school." 159 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,640 He affirmed that he was. 160 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,000 He apologized for not getting back to my email. 161 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,440 We exchanged pleasantries. 162 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,120 He explained that he just had to fire a teacher and needed a new one. 163 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:44,920 He told me a whole story about how that happened and it was a well-deserved firing. 164 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:50,600 And after that story, I asked about flight reimbursements, how the pay worked, how the hours 165 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:51,600 worked. 166 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,760 And by that point in the interview, which is like five minutes later, it was pretty clear 167 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,240 that I was interested and he was interested in hiring me. 168 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:04,560 And after that, he said, "So, do you want to come to China?" 169 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:08,640 And I said, "Yeah, sure. 170 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:10,560 When do you need me there?" 171 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:13,480 And Bill said, "How quickly can you get here?" 172 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:14,960 "Two weeks?" 173 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:20,880 I offered because I had never moved before and I had to cancel my apartment, sell all 174 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:24,200 my stuff that I had no idea how to do. 175 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,280 Bill said, "Yeah, great." 176 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:30,920 So like two and a half weeks later, my plane touched down in Beijing and I lived there for 177 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,880 the next three and a half years teaching English and having adventures. 178 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:40,520 I got my passport earlier that year or like six months ago something because I just figured 179 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:41,880 I would use it eventually. 180 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:46,080 I eventually wanted to travel, although I didn't want to go to China specifically because 181 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,560 I heard about all the smog. 182 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,480 And of course, that's the first country I traveled to. 183 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,880 So I already had my passport. 184 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:55,160 I went back and forth with Bill. 185 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,480 He explained I could just mail it to a company who would give me a Chinese tourist visa and 186 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,320 once I was in the country, they could get me my work visa. 187 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,440 It didn't happen, not a big deal. 188 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:11,000 So during the last week, I found two other people to get into the apartment that I was renting. 189 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:16,480 I knew the land property guy so I was able to talk to him and I said, "Hey, these guys 190 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:18,600 are I just on contract right now. 191 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,280 Can I get my deposit back?" 192 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,320 He actually agreed after giving it some thought for a few days. 193 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:27,720 I deposited that in my bank so that now I had the money to get back from China. 194 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:33,160 These were my last pennies that I was flying over to China on. 195 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:41,360 And I got the ticket and then I realized that I didn't have the visa back. 196 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:48,400 I had mailed my passport off to New York and I had like three days left to get it back because 197 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,960 I needed to get on the plane to go to China and I didn't think about those timetables at 198 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:52,960 all. 199 00:13:52,960 --> 00:14:00,120 And I just got lucky and the afternoon before the morning that I left the next day, my 200 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:05,120 visa arrived right before evening dropped in Portland, Oregon. 201 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,720 So plan that part a little bit better. 202 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,920 Make sure you have your passport in hand with an approved visa. 203 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,200 But my landed the day before I needed it. 204 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:18,160 I had sold all of my stuff on Craigslist the previous week, moved everything or sold everything. 205 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:19,480 Really I just sold everything. 206 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:28,440 I took one suitcase that was half empty, got on my plane and made it to Beijing. 207 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:34,480 So this last week we hadn't talked a lot but I had arranged for Bill to pick me up at 208 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:35,960 the airport. 209 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:41,280 So I landed in Departures, did not have a cell phone, did not have local currency for the 210 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,680 pay phone, nobody spoke English. 211 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:50,480 Everyone was speaking Mandarin and I just stood around looking confused for a while because 212 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:51,480 Bill wasn't there. 213 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,000 Nobody was there to pick me up. 214 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:58,000 And I was like, well, what do you do when you're in Beijing? 215 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,920 Nobody speaks your language and you don't have money to use the phone even though you 216 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,200 do have a phone number. 217 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:10,520 And a guy from Hong Kong actually walked up to me and asked if I needed help and put 218 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:17,880 in the five cents so that I could use the phone at the pay phone and saved my bacon. 219 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:23,600 I couldn't believe it but that was the first amazing miraculous kindness I experienced 220 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,160 while traveling that have never let up. 221 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,040 People are always kind to travelers. 222 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:30,640 It's fantastic. 223 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:35,160 So I called the number of the school that I got somehow dialing a Chinese phone number 224 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,360 that I did not understand at all. 225 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,000 I was so confused at this point. 226 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:45,000 And I hear after a couple of rings, "Uh, hello?" 227 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:46,600 And I knew that sound. 228 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,400 Like I didn't know the voice but that is the sound of a drunk person. 229 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:53,440 I was very sure. 230 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,440 Hey, it's Kai. 231 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,640 Oh, hey, Kai? 232 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,040 Yeah, I just landed. 233 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,040 I'm in the waiting area. 234 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,360 Oh, you're in Beijing. 235 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,920 Yep, I'm in the waiting area. 236 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,160 And he says, "Cool man, Aaron and I are like almost there. 237 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:11,160 We're in the taxi now. 238 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,360 He's fucking traffic's bullshit." 239 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:19,160 And then I heard a chair scrape and so I was like, "Okay, so they're not even in a taxi 240 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:26,440 and not at all near to where I am an hour later after I landed." 241 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:28,080 But whatever. 242 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:32,280 I said, "Great, I'll be under this huge sign that says departure waiting area." 243 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,280 Number five. 244 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,440 And he says, "Great, we're like almost, you know." 245 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,960 And then I heard more chairs scraping. 246 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:40,960 Be right there. 247 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:41,960 We'll be right there. 248 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:42,960 Okay, great. 249 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:43,960 See you soon. 250 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:48,000 So, I hung up and then realized he wasn't going to be able to call me back. 251 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,480 And so I just had to wait and hope he found the departure waiting area. 252 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,960 That I know I should have been the arrivals waiting area, but I had to walk around for 253 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:02,000 a while and a Hong Kong person had to find me to help me make this call, which is even 254 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,640 crazier because Hong Kong is at the bottom of the country and I was, you know, 1,600 miles 255 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,760 away at the top of the country. 256 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,800 Thanks, man, whoever you were. 257 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:12,800 So I'm waiting. 258 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,880 I don't recognize anyone that is not Chinese. 259 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:23,960 And then after, I don't know, 40 minutes or something, 45 minutes, a six foot three baggy 260 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:36,760 pants, Hawaiian shirted, bold red bearded man walks in, puts his arms behind his hips, 261 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:42,360 like a Naruto run, but he's not moving and shouts out, "Kai!" 262 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:47,960 And I was like, "Oh, yeah, I guess that's probably the people that I'm waiting for." 263 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,080 And someone else walks in right behind him. 264 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:55,680 The shouting man was Aaron and the guy who walked in behind him was Bill, who I'd been talking 265 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,440 to via email. 266 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,480 Bill saw the only white person in the airport. 267 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:06,200 Aaron didn't and started shouting my name again, but followed Bill when he headed over to 268 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,200 me. 269 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:12,080 They were both not sober, but very friendly, very happy to meet me. 270 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,760 Aaron especially was so glad to see a new face, he said. 271 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:17,960 And then Bill asked me, "I couldn't find you forever. 272 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,840 I thought you said you were at gate number five?" 273 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:25,160 And I looked over and pointed at the giant five painted on the wall. 274 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,000 And I was like, "Yeah, I saw that five." 275 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,520 And Bill squinted at it. 276 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,520 And I was like, "Yeah, we thought it was a different five." 277 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,720 And I was like, "Yeah, okay." 278 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,320 Because the situation was already crazy, so who even cares? 279 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:41,240 And I was in my first foreign country, so everything was new to me anyway. 280 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:46,240 I wasn't that concerned that they were too inebriated to find the number five painted 281 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:48,720 12 feet tall on a column. 282 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,360 They were both surprised that I didn't have hardly anything on me. 283 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:58,320 I had a backpack and a suitcase, and both of those were not by any means full. 284 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:02,120 And they asked me how much Chinese I knew that I was willing to move to China. 285 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:08,120 And I said, "Lansa," which is blue in Mandarin, "Hongsa." 286 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:11,760 They were both ecstatic and clapped and whooped. 287 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,560 Aaron was like, "I didn't know that when I came over." 288 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:20,080 And then I said one, two, three, but I couldn't count past three in Chinese. 289 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:26,680 But I had six Chinese words and my two escorts and we made our way through the city. 290 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:31,480 Bill gave me money out of his wallet, 300 quai for the first few days, and just told me 291 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:33,360 to pay him back whenever. 292 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:37,040 It was about one in the clock in the morning when we stopped in front of a neighborhood 293 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,320 that looked like everywhere else I had seen since I was completely unfamiliar with everything. 294 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,160 And Beijing is like 20 miles wide at this point already. 295 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,680 It's 30 miles wide now, 10 years later. 296 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,880 So we get out, start walking down alleys. 297 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,680 They beeline toward the open 7/11. 298 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:01,960 We get six beers and crack them on the walk back to the school, which is like two minutes. 299 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:06,080 So by the time we got there, I had a couple of sips kind of nursing my beers and both of 300 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,920 them were halfway down with their beers already. 301 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:12,320 But when I knew we were there, I just glugged it down. 302 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:19,160 Oh, but a very prophetic cultural thing happened in China that like let me know what this adventure 303 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:20,640 was going to be like. 304 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,680 I opened the second beer. 305 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,360 It's a pull tab. 306 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:29,360 And instead of opening the beer bottle, the ring tab, the ring itself just popped right 307 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,680 off the can and it was still closed in everything. 308 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,640 And I just happened to pull off the tab just wrong. 309 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:42,320 This new foreign thing broken away that I was utterly perplexed by. 310 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:50,720 So I used the school's screwdriver to pop that puppy open and we drank and talked about 311 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:56,280 how I was here and how weird it was even though it discussed exactly when I was coming and 312 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,200 when I would arrive. 313 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,720 Aaron and Bill lit up some weed. 314 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:06,620 I smoked a very little because my mind stops when I smoked. 315 00:21:06,620 --> 00:21:08,840 That doesn't work anymore. 316 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:13,220 After hanging out for an hour or two with these people, I knew nothing about but who seemed 317 00:21:13,220 --> 00:21:16,480 very friendly and were giving me a bunch of free drugs. 318 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:21,460 Bill said he was about to head back and he could take me back to the apartment and I didn't 319 00:21:21,460 --> 00:21:25,240 understand anything because of my very short puffs of the weed. 320 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:29,060 So I just said something like, no, and he's like, are you sure that's going to be your 321 00:21:29,060 --> 00:21:30,060 apartment? 322 00:21:30,060 --> 00:21:31,060 So I can just take you there now. 323 00:21:31,060 --> 00:21:33,020 Didn't understand what he was saying. 324 00:21:33,020 --> 00:21:37,820 So I just said something like, no, no, me table funsies and he's like, okay, we'll see you 325 00:21:37,820 --> 00:21:40,400 tomorrow then we'll come back here tomorrow morning. 326 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:41,400 Okay. 327 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,400 And they left and now I was alone in the school. 328 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:46,880 I realized where we had been taken to. 329 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:53,720 We were in the conference room drinking a bunch of beer and there were tables in the classroom. 330 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:59,520 I pulled them together, fell asleep and passed out until the next morning. 331 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,200 I woke up and indeterminate amount of time later. 332 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,040 The sun had risen. 333 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,040 There were people shouting in the streets. 334 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:13,080 I looked out and saw the 7/11 that we had bought beer from the night before half a block 335 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:19,800 away and there was Chinese writing over all of the stores and everyone was yelling and 336 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:27,240 mandarin and everything looked different than anything I had ever seen before. 337 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:28,720 Everything. 338 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:34,840 And I thought to myself, holy shit. 339 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:40,880 And that's how I got to China. 340 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,040 And then I lived there for three and a half years and I was very passionate about my work. 341 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:51,320 I was never drunk on the job or under any kind of influence when I was working or teaching. 342 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:57,620 None of us were actually which was encouraging to see after such a debauched introduction 343 00:22:57,620 --> 00:23:01,740 that everybody was very professional on the premises. 344 00:23:01,740 --> 00:23:08,980 After class, totally different story, but pre-enduring class, everybody stayed professional 345 00:23:08,980 --> 00:23:11,400 and did not take anything. 346 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:16,880 We all cared about our students a lot and we wanted them to do well and we wanted to be 347 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,700 able to teach them well. 348 00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:26,500 And it became this amazing adventure that defined a huge part of the rest of my life. 349 00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:28,380 I'll get into that more later. 350 00:23:28,380 --> 00:23:36,780 I just wanted to throw it out that it's certainly not a direct path that's planned out that 351 00:23:36,780 --> 00:23:45,180 you have to follow to start traveling and begin creating your own life. 352 00:23:45,180 --> 00:23:47,140 I took a gamble. 353 00:23:47,140 --> 00:23:49,100 This one worked. 354 00:23:49,100 --> 00:23:55,980 Despite their unprofessional demeanor, those two guys were very nice and helped me start 355 00:23:55,980 --> 00:24:00,940 my new life and they helped me every day for years. 356 00:24:00,940 --> 00:24:08,340 So however things ended up when I left, I certainly can't begrudge these people for helping 357 00:24:08,340 --> 00:24:11,620 me begin the best part of my life. 358 00:24:11,620 --> 00:24:14,260 What has become my favorite part of life? 359 00:24:14,260 --> 00:24:18,340 Not being afraid to take opportunities and living abroad. 360 00:24:18,340 --> 00:24:23,020 I as soon as I was in China that first night before I even got to the school when I was 361 00:24:23,020 --> 00:24:29,380 waiting in the airport, I loved it more than I loved anything in the past couple of years 362 00:24:29,380 --> 00:24:31,740 in the United States. 363 00:24:31,740 --> 00:24:34,980 I had this sinking feeling while I was still in the States. 364 00:24:34,980 --> 00:24:37,580 I was like something is wrong. 365 00:24:37,580 --> 00:24:42,140 And then I found out like it's this American work culture. 366 00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:45,380 It's this country that is the problem. 367 00:24:45,380 --> 00:24:50,340 It's this confining national perception of reality. 368 00:24:50,340 --> 00:24:51,340 It's the work. 369 00:24:51,340 --> 00:24:52,340 Something's wrong here. 370 00:24:52,340 --> 00:24:54,220 None of this works for me. 371 00:24:54,220 --> 00:24:58,700 As soon as I landed in China and I was just surrounded by new words and new shapes and 372 00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:03,300 new cultures, new walking habits, new, everything was different. 373 00:25:03,300 --> 00:25:05,140 I was like this is correct. 374 00:25:05,140 --> 00:25:06,540 This is where I should be. 375 00:25:06,540 --> 00:25:09,460 This is exactly my zone. 376 00:25:09,460 --> 00:25:14,260 And life, despite the language barrier, despite the new culture, life for those three and a 377 00:25:14,260 --> 00:25:22,260 half years was so much easier and more comfortable than what I had experienced 378 00:25:22,260 --> 00:25:24,260 up until that point. 379 00:25:24,260 --> 00:25:27,580 I'll get into those stories in other episodes of course. 380 00:25:27,580 --> 00:25:32,620 But again, I just wanted to say this was a very unconventional opportunity. 381 00:25:32,620 --> 00:25:33,660 I took it. 382 00:25:33,660 --> 00:25:34,980 It worked out. 383 00:25:34,980 --> 00:25:39,940 If it sounds too risky just answering a job offer that's obviously in the wrong place on 384 00:25:39,940 --> 00:25:42,100 a website, don't take that job. 385 00:25:42,100 --> 00:25:43,980 That's totally fine. 386 00:25:43,980 --> 00:25:48,380 Your opportunity, you might be able to recognize an opportunity that I wouldn't be able to 387 00:25:48,380 --> 00:25:49,380 see. 388 00:25:49,380 --> 00:25:55,340 I can recognize opportunities between N64 cartridges and toothbrushes on Craigslist. 389 00:25:55,340 --> 00:25:57,620 That makes sense to my... 390 00:25:57,620 --> 00:25:59,460 Swirly, whirly brain. 391 00:25:59,460 --> 00:26:02,380 However, you find opportunities? 392 00:26:02,380 --> 00:26:06,420 Take them, the ones that you're comfortable with, or at least pursue them. 393 00:26:06,420 --> 00:26:11,220 They will afford you chances to get out and do what you want or stay in and do what you 394 00:26:11,220 --> 00:26:12,700 want, whatever you want. 395 00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:18,620 But unless you pay attention to opportunities as they show up and give them a real 396 00:26:18,620 --> 00:26:24,500 chance, it's very difficult to follow the life that you want. 397 00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:28,180 Like you can't start a journey without taking that first step. 398 00:26:28,180 --> 00:26:33,420 If you were looking for starting something completely new, yeah, head to China. 399 00:26:33,420 --> 00:26:34,580 It's very safe. 400 00:26:34,580 --> 00:26:35,860 The food is amazing. 401 00:26:35,860 --> 00:26:40,020 The people are kind, even though they're abrasive. 402 00:26:40,020 --> 00:26:44,060 According to our sensibilities, they're very warm-hearted. 403 00:26:44,060 --> 00:26:49,740 The language is fascinating, the mountains, the landscape is fascinating, and beautiful. 404 00:26:49,740 --> 00:26:53,580 The cost of living is 90% cheaper than the US. 405 00:26:53,580 --> 00:27:01,300 I was living with a dull heart, and getting jumps started like this was exactly what I needed. 406 00:27:01,300 --> 00:27:08,540 It doesn't have to be China, but if you're living with a dull heart, traveling might be exactly 407 00:27:08,540 --> 00:27:10,540 what you are looking for, too. 408 00:27:10,540 --> 00:27:14,040 Or it might be adjacent to what you're looking for, and traveling will lead you to what 409 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,120 you're actually looking for. 410 00:27:16,120 --> 00:27:19,160 In any case, I'll close this out. 411 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:24,400 You can message me a bit of a rambler at gmail.com, and let's see how much the flights 412 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:28,200 are for Beijing from the US this week. 413 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:41,600 Okay, flights, straight to Beijing 394 from LA, 433 from New York, 466 from Las Vegas. 414 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,320 You can buy those in a couple days from this recording that I'm doing. 415 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:50,700 It's cherry blossom season, so all the prices are hiked up 150, because last month the tickets 416 00:27:50,700 --> 00:27:53,880 to Japan were 200 bucks. 417 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:58,640 But you can fly directly to China for less than 400 bucks, or around 400 bucks from wherever 418 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:03,920 you are in the US, and just start this great adventure at the drop of a hat. 419 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:09,640 Jobs are available for native English speakers in a safe country with great food and nice 420 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:10,640 people. 421 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:14,920 If you have any questions about any of this, I have talked about this stuff to hundreds of 422 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:15,920 people. 423 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:17,600 I still love talking about it. 424 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:24,840 Shoot me an email at bit of a rambler at gmail.com, bit of a rambler at gmail.com. 425 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,400 And I will respond to you if I can. 426 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,560 I will definitely read all of your messages. 427 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:32,800 Thank you, and I will talk to you on the next time. 428 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:42,800 [MUSIC]