Laowai Life: Adjusting To New Realities- 大数跨境

首页

Laowai Life: Adjusting To New Realities

Baopals

2020-08-18

导读：Where has the COVID-19 pandemic left you?

GO TO BAOPALS

In our Laowai Life article series, we speak to different expats around China to learn more about their lives abroad. More than four months have passed since our last article that dealt with the initial impact of the lockdown on expats and the travel ban implemented on March 28. We decided to check in again with some expats and learn more about the different situations they have found themselves in during these unprecedented times.

Many foreign nationals that decided to stay in China have been able to return to their normal lives, while others ended up in their home country without any option of returning to China, leaving behind friends, pets, apartments, jobs and more. We spoke to a variety of people: someone who stayed working in China, a few displaced expats currently in their home countries and one local business owner to hear about how their business fared.

Marina works for an international corporation in Shanghai and stayed in the city during lockdown. Her plans to stay in China for another few years remain unchanged.

“I have been back in the office since late February and besides having larger meetings via Skype for a while, it hasn’t really changed. The biggest problems were a delay in deliveries, lack of social contact and feeling a bit isolated. Also, the regulations are sometimes a bit hard to understand knowing little Chinese and, in the beginning, they changed a lot. Getting the Health QR codes is pretty difficult without the help of a Chinese speaker. Travel, only domestic of course, is also more complicated than before.”

While many, like Marina, just made the best of the situation, one business even experienced growth in the last months by providing a crucial service to stranded expats: pet care.

Erin Leigh’s business Spare Leash launched in 2016 and offers cage free pet care throughout China. The business has two sides to it, pet owners and pet sitters.

“Since the borders have closed, a lot of people were stuck here in China with extra time on their hands. This allowed us to gain more pet sitters. Spending your free time with cute pets? It doesn’t get much better than that. And then on the flip side, due to this growth we were able to help more pet owners both in China and those locked outside. For example, pet owners that have been unable to return have booked Spare Leash pet sitters and made extensions if needed. We have a handful of pet owners that have booked sitters since February. All pet owners continue to receive daily photo and video updates from the pet sitter, so they can relax knowing all is okay.”

Things have managed to return to normal for the most part within China, but the global situation remains serious. The borders have only opened for business travellers, and even with good news such as South Korean citizens being issued work and study visas again or some schools in Beijing being able to get their international teachers back, many stranded former residents are either in limbo, waiting to go back or have changed their plans completely.

Claire H. was working as a primary school teacher in Chengdu and was already back home in Northern Ireland when the travel restrictions were put in place.

“I continued working for a few months and then my workload and pay was reduced. Working remotely despite the time difference has been challenging, but the biggest issue has been the lack of information available about the future. I have plans to return to China for the next academic year and for now, my plan remains the same as it was originally.”

As in Claire’s case, many companies that employ expats have been able to adjust to working abroad, however others have not been able to make the transition smoothly and their employees have suffered as a result. Darryl H. was working for a middle school in Wenzhou before flying to the UK to avoid the lockdown in China.

“I still have my job but have not worked for several months, so I have not received my salary. The real benefit of being home is less worry, both for the safety of my family and my family worrying about me. I am planning on returning as soon as possible. Had I known that China was shutting the border, I never would have returned to the UK.”

Some companies are willing or in a position to keep their stranded expat workers on, with reduced pay or a promise of a job when they return. Other expats have not been as lucky.

Chrissie D. had been working as a middle school ESL teacher in Suzhou and was suddenly unable to re-enter China from her holidays, necessitating her return to the UK.

“I lost my job teaching pretty much after I arrived home. The biggest problem has been my possessions. You cannot currently ship electronics outside of China, so my laptop along with my other things is still in China. I have also struggled finding Union Pay cash points in the UK to withdraw my savings. The final issue was not being able to say goodbye to people, like my Chinese teacher, my students and friends I made along the way.”

However, Chrissie sees a few positive aspects in being home. “For one, it is really easy to be vegan again. It’s also nice to be in the same time-zone as most of my friends and family. The whole lockdown situation has made me realise that in difficult situations it is nice to know what is going on and know what to do exactly, even if there has been less effective action taken here than in China."

For now, Chrissie says she has applied for scholarship to study Chinese language in Beijing.

“I want to do this, because I realise how much enjoyment I got from learning the language. However, it’s due to begin in a month and the borders are not budging so it looks as though I am in the UK for the foreseeable future.”

Marlyn was back home in Indonesia when China closed the border and lost the job she had at the time, with a company in Shanghai.

“I really couldn’t say there have been any benefits since leaving China. Especially because it was against my will to leave like this. But being so negative will not make the border reopen. However, being at home is not so bad, because I can learn about the things that I have always wanted to learn about but had no time to before. And I do not have to pay rent and food is free, so I really can’t complain.”

Marlyn is not intending to move back to China when the borders open back up. “I will only return in the future as a tourist once they open the border. It’s definitely very different from my original plan, but you just have to go with the flow.”

Where has the COVID-19 pandemic left you? Sound off in the comments below!

MORE FUN!