The Wandering Monkey

The time is 2006, April.  I am going back to America in one week from today.

My time here in Shanghai has come to and end, for now.  I have created something from nothing, introduced a dance style, and created a dancing social group.  The group will continue in my departure. I have appointed a manager, and I have two local Shanghainese instructors who are now promoted to full instructors.

 

I, for myself, am going back into Business-to-Business e-commerce.  It was a painful readjustment, that.  It had been like a seed in my head for a long time, maybe longer than one year.  Then, finally, my girlfriend, tired of me saying "I got to get a job", laid down a proposal.  She was also unemployed, and it was no good for both of us to be sitting around, no jobs.  So a deal was struck, for our mutual incentive: She shall get a job by the end of April, and I will do so by the end of May.  If either party fails to live up to their obligation, the other party may tickle them for 2 hours and they are not allowed to resist.

 

Now, I don't know why, but imagine getting tickled for 2 hours and not being able to resist.  That's a long time!  So, the job search began in earnest.

 

It took only one job interview to discover a painful fact of the average expat living in China.  They are getting paid for shit.  There's two types: 1) the foreigner who has been brough here by a foreign company.  They're getting paid foreign salaries, and usually their house and car and driver and maid are all paid for.  It's a sweet deal.  2) the foreigner who is 'arleady here'.  They get paid just a little better than the Chinese people.  Actually, quite better.  A Chinese office worker doing full time work can be expected to get 4000rmb/month.  A foreigner can expect to get 10,000/month, or 15K or 20K for a good position, like branch manager.  What's that in dog years?  Thats $6000/year for the Chinese, and up to $28,000 for the 'well-paid' local expat.

 

I think every expat goes through a gnashing of teeth, and pulling of hair, and scratching of eyes, and frothing at the mouth upon realizing this situation.  The only people getting well paid out here are expats who were hired in America (or anywhere BUT here).  And those guys typically don't know the language, the culture, or anything. 

 

The options at this point now emerge: become an entrepreneur.  Well, I've been an entrepreneur for 2.5 years.  I'm 'entrepreneured-out'.  Plus, that takes capital, and my capital has been spent.

 

So that leads us to look at the other options.  What about that old career?  Any jobs in that right now?  When I last left, the salary offers had dropped 40%, and the demanded skills had increased dramatically.  It was a good time to leave.  Go to Shanghai, teach swing dancing, wait out the high-tech recession.  And how, apparently, it's over.

 

730 jobs posted in the last 30 days on "The Home" for technical profesionals, DICE.COM.  Of those, perhaps 25% I may be qualified for.  Thats still almost 200 job listings.  So post the resume.  Every day, 2-3 new email inquiries are sent to me, 10-20 new jobs are posted on the website.

 

So now the game has changed.  Now it's not a matter of IF, but HOW. 

 

Do I feel sadness in leaving my life here?  Yes.  But it is not as fun as it had been.  Plus, I was living on such a tight budget that my daily enjoyment had been reduced very much.  I was living just to promote the swing club, and getting tired of this, too.  It was time to hand off daily operations. 

 

I also considered one thing.  Shanghai Swings and Jimbo had been synonimous for 2.5 years.  If I, Jimbo, did take a local job and tried to get other people to take over the responsibilities of swing dancing, they probably would not do it.  From their point of view, it would be "Oh, Jimbo's getting a day job.  Well, he can still do the swing thing."  So people would not step up and deliver, contribute, etc.  But, if I'm leaving, the message is perfectly clear.  If anything exists, it must come from YOU, the swing dancer.

 

That does lead us, however, to the personal issue.  I say singular, because there's only one person who has issues with me leaving.  That's my girlfriend, dance partner, and so forth.  It has taken first a lot of talking to explain to her that this is a step I must take.  She is a smart girl.  She acknowledges that even though she's not happy with it, this really is the best -- and indeed only -- thing for me to do right now.

 

She's very young.  And her feelings are very strong.  But this separation is going to bring around a very large element of chance.  For us to remain together, there must be a path that each of us individually would want to take.  There's got to be a good job opportunity / school opportunity in the same place at the same time, and so forth.  I think it's possible, but I feel tremendous pressure when faced with the idea of having to plan my life around this.  I've planned my life around swing for 2.5 years.  For a certainty, now I must plan my life around my work.  Anyhow, I think many of these things will find their own natural path. 

 

As far as it goes with my friends, theres a truism about Shanghai Expats: Everyone Leaves.  Only 1% of the people stay for their whole lives.  I've made and said goodbye to so many different friends out here.  After about a year and a half of that, I stopped making friends for the avoiding of that constant separation.  It's a bad plan, in the end, but you just don't have the enthusiasm to meet new people.  Whenyou see someone, and they say "I've been here six months", you think, ok probably they will be here 3-6 more months.  Then they go.

 

When I was first, first here, I'd meet some folks.  How long are you here?  Three months.  Cool - lets go party!

Three months seemed like forever.  That's because every 24 hours out here was like living a week back home.  Everything was new, everything was exciting.  I was on fire.  I met everyone.  Everyone, it seemed, got to know me.  Even today, a very large percentage of the social expats in town have at the very least heard of me.  Jimbo the Swing Dancer.  Well, how many are there like this?

 

But when the first three-monther left, and I realized I'd never see them again, I felt like I was back at square 1.  No one to hang out with.  No one who understands what's going on, or knows my friends and peoples.  Then I looked to people who at least declared their intent to stay a year or more.  And then, sure enough, a year came to pass, and they left, too.  Those people who stay in Shanghai say the hardest part of living here is saying goodbye to the friends you make.  And now, finally, it's me who is leaving.

 

But for the money, the experience has been a gain in every area.  In many ways I wanted to do more or accomplish more.  Sometimes, it was the environment which prevented me from accomplishing my goal.  Sometimes, it was my own lack of motivation or determination.  But in the end, a great deal was accomplished.  And my singular primary purpose was achieved -- create swing dancing in Shanghai.

 

Also now, I am a citizen of the world.  If I can pick up and go to a city like Shanghai and have the ability to handle it, I think I can go anywhere.  People used to say that about New York City.  Maybe I'll go there next!  Considering it, actually.

 

Well, so swing fans, and loyal readers.  Thus comes to an end an era of swing dancing and wandering monkeys.  I think this experience would make a good book.

 

Peace, Love, and Happiness,

Jimbo