Oral/Written by Xiao Fenghuang (pseudonym)
/Lyra
3 years ago, at the age of 22, I took off from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, preparing to fly to Australia.
It was summer in the northern hemisphere and it was quite hot. Many of my friends came to the airport to see me off. They all gathered around me and said farewell words such as wishing me good luck and a speedy return. The plane arrived at Melbourne . As soon as I stepped out of the cabin door, I was greeted by the sunny winter weather in Melbourne. It was early in the morning, the sky was dark blue, the air was extremely fresh and cold, and a blast of cold air hit me like the refrigerator door had been opened.
I still remember the feeling that came to my heart at that moment: Is this it? In this way, I came from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere and landed in a strange country. That year was my first time going abroad. I didn’t know it at that time, but my life would change.
Departing from Guangzhou, the students came to the airport to see them off. The woman in red in the middle is me.
At that moment, I did not expect that a child born in a small 18th-tier county in southwest China would really have the opportunity to live all over the world. html I am over 01 years old. In the photo taken at the kindergarten in Jinchengjiang, my hometown in Guangxi, I am the only little girl holding a baby in the first row, fourth from the left.
Going out means everything.
The college entrance examination was resumed in 1977, and my father was the first student to take the college entrance examination after the resumption. In the first year, he was very ambitious and applied for the Chinese Department of Peking University. As a result, he failed the admissions process. It is said that my father just missed out on Peking University by just a few points. The next year, my dad continued to take college entrance exams. He abandoned literature and studied theory and switched to science. That year, my dad was admitted to a University of Science and Technology in Guangxi, becoming the first college student in his family.
Because he went to college and studied science, after graduation, my dad successfully entered the factory and became an engineer.
It can be said that my father single-handedly used knowledge to change destiny and achieved the first leap of the family. Although it can’t be said that he has prospered since then, at that time, this university degree certificate brought my father out of new possibilities in life.
At that time, Guangxi was too poor, and everyone wanted to go out to Guangdong. In the eyes of my parents, this is the memory of a generation of Guangxi people, which is too common.
html In the 1980s, my parents took me as a baby on a tour of the Yangtze River.
In 1988, my dad got an opportunity to "go to Guangdong". Because his academic background and work experience are good, several units in Guangdong are willing to accept him. But at this time, a bit of a thorny problem arose - the old club refused to let him go. If the file cannot be adjusted, my dad will not be able to leave. At that time, when there was a job transfer, the original unit had to be willing to let go before the files could be transferred to the new unit.
I was only 3 years old at the time. I only remember that my mother carried me behind her back and kept going to the leader of my dad’s work unit to plead for mercy, hoping that the leader would let go and let our family live in Guangdong. Seeing how hard my mother was working, I told my mother when I was only two years old: "I must be a factory director when I grow up!"
In the end, my father moved our family to Guangdong to work and live as he wished. Leaving Guangxi and coming to Foshan, Guangdong was a very, very big change for our family.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Guangdong’s economy was taking off, and reform and opening up first started here. I remember that when I was a child, there were always all kinds of adults coming to my house, including my parents’ relatives, friends, classmates, alumni, etc. It was always very lively.
html When I was 06 years old, our family was playing in a park in Guangzhou.
After living in Guangdong for a few years, someone told my dad that he could go to Australia if he had the chance. At that time, my dad had almost everything prepared, including money and procedures. But just before departure, my dad suddenly hesitated.
At home, we rarely talk about these family past events. We only occasionally hear our parents talk about them.I guess that at that time, my dad may have had a trace of fear or hesitation in his heart. Maybe it was because he was in his early thirties, had a wife and daughter, and didn’t want to be too turbulent. Maybe it was because he was in a strange country and had a strange language, and it was difficult to adapt quickly. Maybe... In short, he turned down the opportunity to go to Australia.
html In the 1990s, I was traveling in Hainan. This was the first time I took a plane to go on vacation. I used to take trains or buses.
Of course neither my father nor I would have imagined that his daughter would study, work, or even get married and have children in Australia in the future.
I am the only child in our family, and they do their best to provide me with the best educational resources. My parents never interfere in any of my decisions. They always believe that the farther you go, the more capable you are, and they let me try and do everything by myself.
They never thought that their daughter would stay and take care of her in old age, keeping her daughter tied up. Even when planning for retirement, they are all aiming for self-reliance. They have taught me since I was a child: What do you think is suitable for you and the best way for you, then live in that way! Don't worry about anything else.
My parents’ philosophy has influenced me to this day.
was in school when I was in junior high school. The picture was so hazy and I was so confused at the time.
When I was in junior high school, the book "Harvard Girl Liu Yiting" was very popular. I also watched it. At that time, I really wanted to go to the United States. The seeds of wanting to go abroad were planted at that time.
In 2003, I was admitted to a university in Beijing and went to Beijing from Guangdong. I didn't have any other ideas, I just felt it was time to leave and go out for a try.
After graduating from college, I chose to go abroad. This incident was the decision that changed the trajectory of my life the most. During my junior year of college, many of my friends were thinking about going abroad and were making preparations. So, I studied TOEFL and IELTS with them, and talked about which country to go to.
was traveling while studying at university in Beijing.
Australia is relatively easy to immigrate to and was a popular study abroad destination. In fact, I have not decided whether to immigrate or not. If you go to the UK or other countries with low immigration opportunities, you will almost have to return to your home country after studying and graduating, and there is no other choice. If you go to Australia, "staying" is also possible. On a certain beach in Sydney, my husband and I took wedding photos.
We both studied in Melbourne, and he graduated half a year before me. My husband's first job after graduation was in Sydney. So, we moved from Melbourne to Sydney, and I started frantically looking for job opportunities in Sydney.
Looking for a job in Australia is very stressful. First, identity is a difficult problem. My "temporary resident" status prevents me from working with almost all major companies. And once I don't find a stable job within one and a half years, it's hard to say whether I can stay in Australia, let alone become a permanent resident. In addition, there are many people in the financial industry around me, and I have been influenced by it. I only want to join a bank, but the reality is that almost no bank will want me. Their recruitment requirements are very clear, and the applicant must have permanent residence. ’s first job in Australia, a photo with my colleagues during induction training. I am the third one from the right.
The interview went well, but something unlucky happened. For the position I applied for, the branch manager had just resigned and a new manager would not be available until the next two weeks. HR told me that I passed the phone interview, but I have to wait for a new leader to take over and then have another round of interviews.
I finally got a little excited at work, so of course I had to hold on to it. During the two weeks of waiting, I lived like a year. I called HR every two days. In the end, HR may have been scared by me. Normally, the call is always answered in seconds, but later he didn’t dare to answer my call when he saw it.
After these two weeks, the new manager finally took office. The result was good, the interview went very smoothly, the leader shook my hand with me on the spot, gave me a verbal letter of appointment, and even upgraded my position by one level.
You can see the Sydney Opera House outside the company window.
That company belongs to Australia's largest banking group and a Fortune 500 company. I was deeply impressed. At that time, more than 20 new employees were chatting during the new employee training, and I discovered that everyone else was introduced, and I was the only one who got in by submitting my resume.
After I joined the company, I talked to HR again: "Why did you want me at that time? I don't have permanent residence. I usually can't pass the resume test and I'm sent away. HR said to me, "You are really the most persistent person I have ever seen. people! At that time, I felt that you were definitely a good sales prospect. Academic qualifications and experience are OK, and English is also very good. Of course he is a very suitable candidate. ”
Although I am not a finance-related major, my advantage is that I have done a lot of part-time jobs. When I was studying for my master’s degree in Melbourne, I worked three part-time jobs during one holiday. It was quite tiring, but it was very exercising. Most of them They are all jobs that require communication with people. When I was an undergraduate in Beijing, I also went out for internships as a TV reporter and a middle school English teacher. In addition, I had to work in China, , Malaysia, , and Australia. My study, work, and life experience across the Asia-Pacific region, even without experience in a "sales" position, may have already demonstrated my abilities.
The company had just emerged in Australia at the time and was beginning to expand and recruit talents. It was also very ambitious. I was able to prove myself with my strength and eloquence, and for the company, the ability to adapt to the position may be more important. Strength is much more precious than a piece of "permanent residence".
In my eyes, Australia is rich in resources. , it is very suitable for human beings to live here. Even an ordinary person can live very well here. And I am used to traveling to different places and want to change every few years.
In 2016, because of my husband’s job transfer, we. A family of three moved to the United States and stayed there for two or three years.
In 2017, we looked out from our residence in New York, where we were living in Manhattan, the most prosperous financial center in New York and the world. When I arrived in New York, all I saw were high-rise buildings. When I looked up, it looked exactly like the movie. When I looked down, I saw that the ground was so dirty and there were so many beggars.
The United States has great cultural output. Everyone looks at the United States. Movies, music, etc., and American politics, so everyone is actually very familiar with the United States.
It’s still New York. At night, the lights are bright.
New York is bustling, crowded, and the gap between rich and poor is very large; Australia is comfortable, laid-back, and very beautiful. Liveable. My husband and I have traveled from China to Australia and Australia to the United States. We have found that each of these places has its own beauty and characteristics. There is no one good or bad, but the characteristics are very different.
I personally like to experience them. All kinds of different things and meeting different people. The small differences between each country and each place make me very excited.
In 2018, my son and my husband traveled in Canada.
After comprehensive consideration of employment, asset allocation, children’s education, etc., we returned to Australia. But he doesn't plan to stop there.
Two days ago, my husband and I were still discussing which country to live in next. He wants to go to England, and I want to go to Japan or South Korea. My husband works in the financial market. After visiting New York, he naturally wanted to go to London. He wanted to experience several major financial centers one by one.
I am curious about the differences in each region, want to see the cultural differences, and want to learn from others’ good points. For example, Japan and South Korea are both Asian countries and have similar cultural origins to China, but they are very different overall.
In January 2020, my husband and I took our son to visit New Zealand. My son is 7 years old and has traveled to more than 20 countries and cities so far.
Every step of the changes in our family is inseparable from the accumulation and breakthroughs of the previous generation.
I am luckier than my dad. They worked hard, provided me with a good education, supported my study abroad, and gave me the courage and foundation to make changes, so I seemed to be more adventurous. I went abroad to give my son a broader perspective since childhood.
Maybe it seems difficult to imagine that you want to change to a completely different environment, and there is no way to start. But now I find that changing countries and moving my family is not as difficult as I thought. It is not difficult to operate by finding the target and preparing step by step. Every time my husband and I think about and plan for the future, we always come down to very, very detailed issues: How to get a visa? How to find a job? How to deal with the real estate here? How to apply for your child's school? And other trivial matters like that. Mark down all the difficulties you can think of and overcome them one by one, and many problems will be solved easily.
At the beginning of 2020, my parents came to reunite with us and vacation together in New Zealand.
I don’t think that studying in one school or one area will be very good at cultivating children’s character or life growth. Usually you stay in one place because you have no choice. When you have a choice, there is so much you want to see and learn. This makes so much sense to him. I don't really care about my children's academic performance. Their adaptability will definitely be more useful in their future lives.
Maybe my son can immigrate to Mars in the future.
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