"There is no free lunch"
"Like you interview me, take up my time, in the United States is to pay, because of the 'time is money' this sentence, to the United States after the most profound experience! ." The candid Mr. Zhang Qiong got right to the point.
In October 1995, Mr. Zhang Qiong and other 11 people on a company in Beijing and a farm in Hawaii signed a labor export agreement "fast boat", sailed away from the motherland, to the Pacific island of Hawaii to work. They were accompanied by 6 people from Shanxi (the remaining 5 were from Hubei). Three of them returned to their home country after the expiration of the agreement because they could not endure the harsh working environment and living conditions. Staying behind, Mr. Zhang Qiong, Xiang Jun, Tong Jun 3 people after more than 10 years of hard work, now in a foreign country are successful.
"Before returning home, just returned to Hawaii from San Diego, because the boss there is a new store opened, the need to train new employees, the boss transferred me over to teach experience."
"The boss is Jiangsu Yangzhou people, in 1982 went to the United States soon after the disk of a restaurant, renamed 'Panda', operating fast food, to now has developed into a chain of more than 800 stores, with more than 24,000 employees of the medium-sized enterprises. It has stores in all 50 states in the nation, except Alaska."
"There are 13 chain stores in Hawaii, and all 12 are making money except one, which closed at a loss. HQ's intention this year is to open at least four more chains locally, so that means 'Panda' is still doing well."
"'Panda' management staff of high quality, mostly master's degree, PhD graduates, management is very systematic, standardized, a variety of assessment indicators are very strict. The store is so bright that you can't see a trace of debris, unlike some restaurants in China, where the staff's overalls are greasy and dirty and the kitchen is cluttered, which are unimaginable in the United States." Talking about his experience in the U.S., Mr. Zhang Qiong was effusive.
"America is heaven and hell"
When he first arrived in Hawaii, Mr. Zhang Qiong worked on a chicken farm. "On average, he worked more than fifty hours a week, earning $450 a month. there were only seven people on the 1.2 million-bird chicken farm. On the first day of training, Mr. Zhang started work on the second day, and he had to pick up more than 30,000 eggs every day. One day down the body and scattered like. Domestic enterprises are much inferior compared to it. I used to work in the provincial city of a chicken farm, the same scale of chicken more than 100 people. The more you eat, the less you work, the more inefficient you are."
With most of the money they made taken by the agency, the restless Mr. Zhang Qiong and his companion Tong Jun decided to make their own money after three months on the farm. The two contracted 5 acres (about 30 acres) of land, planting vegetables, became a U.S. "farmer". Hawaii's favorable climate, coupled with the ability to work hard, the vegetables received a bumper harvest. "When I saw the fruitfulness, I felt that it was worthwhile to suffer even more. However, the excitement was only short-lived. Because of the language barrier, unable to communicate with customers, coupled with the unfamiliarity of life and no sales channels, as a result, the vegetables are rotting in the ground."
The duo lost several thousand dollars each and went into debt. "There was no place to live, so they had to live in an old racing car that they bought for 500 dollars when they chartered the farm." The car was parked on the beach, less than 3 square meters of space is the whole life of the two, the seat is put down is the bed. One night in the middle of the night, they were so hungry that they couldn't stand it, but all they had left to eat was a can of Coke and a packet of instant noodles. The two of them lit a campfire on the beach, heated up the Coke and then cooked instant noodles and ate them. "Alas, that flavor can not be forgotten in this life, sticky teeth and sour."
Hawaii's temperature is high, around 28 degrees Celsius all year round, and a day without a shower makes you feel sticky. "Welfare facilities there are very complete, beach baths have free shower rooms, and you can also wash dirty clothes." This went on for three months.
Apprenticeship experience touches people
Before going abroad, Mr. Zhang Qiong had a pretty prosperous life at home. Working in the aquaculture business, he was making tens of thousands of dollars a year. "Just wanted to go out and make a go of it, I believe in myself."
"The United States is full of opportunities, depending on whether you are willing to do." When gardening didn't work out, Mr. Zhang Qiong had to go to work at a Japanese-owned restaurant for $1,800 a month. "Starting from washing dishes and bowls, working at least 14 hours a day, gyroscopic, there is no respite." In the domestic cooking noodles are put into the cold water pot, Mr. Zhang Qiong, at this time, only from the restaurant's most basic work to learn.
Six months later, one day, a Japanese tourist to his part-time restaurant meals, meals after the handbag forgotten in the restaurant, which has more than 3800 U.S. dollars and credit cards and other valid documents. Mr. Zhang Qiong picked up and kept it properly, and eventually handed it over to the owner. His behavior, deeper the boss's impression of him, soon gave him a long 200 U.S. dollars in salary, and arranged for its rest two days a week.
Because he had suffered a great deal from not being able to communicate with others, Mr. Zhang Qiong paid special attention to learning English. After a year, Mr. Zhang Qiong could already communicate with customers in English proficiently. "Learning English is mainly about listening and speaking more, and memorizing if you don't understand in daily life, once not twice. You have to speak often, and you can't be afraid to speak out for fear of not being standardized. So down, 'dumb English' will also become 'speaker English'."
Because of the prolonged exposure to seafood, Mr. Zhang Qiong got nail groin infection, all ten fingers were inflamed and ulcerated, and had to rest. "Although the Japanese boss was very nice to me, I felt that my future here was not very bright. After taking a break for half a year, I applied for a managerial position at a Panda fast food restaurant in 2003. After 45 days of training, I was in charge of a store because of the experience I had gained over the years. The work was like a fish out of water and I didn't need to work hard all day like before." Mr. Zhang Qiong decisively chose to jump ship, but also chose a colorful life.
Leisure life as much as anything
"The island I live on is called Oahu (O??HAU) Island. Hawaii is made up of 234 reefs and islands. There are only 5 islands that are habitable except for one US military base and one private island. It's not that I'm a foreigner, any street there is neater and prettier than our Yingze Park in Taiyuan, because people know that the environment is part of survival, and environmental awareness is deep in people's blood." Mr. Zhang Qiong, who does not want to be nostalgic, "introduced" the reporter to his new environment.
"Oahu is about 500 square kilometers or so, but the island has a lot of sports facilities, very good. There are 52 standard golf courses, thousands of basketball courts, tens of thousands of swimming pools, basketball courts in front of almost every building, and countless fitness centers, so it's very easy to work out."
"In Hawaii, all kinds of sports facilities are basically free. Golf although charges, but has become a kind of civilianization of the sport, playing the standard 18 holes a down is only $ 12. Unlike domestic golf is an aristocratic sport." For domestic and international fitness places, Mr. Zhang Qiong contrasted.
"The work is intense, but the rest is very relaxed, diving, swimming, fishing, playing golf, basketball ...... I once caught a dozen pounds of eel, the feeling of elation is to visit the seafood market can not be experienced." In the country is the sportsman Mr. Zhang Qiong, on his spare time as a family.
Americans no longer discriminate against Chinese
Around the world, where there are Chinese, there must be Chinatowns, and Hawaii is no exception.
"Because of Hawaii's special status (tourist paradise), it gathers people from all over the world, and the number of Chinese people takes the third place among the local outsiders, the first is Japanese, and the second is Filipinos. Cantonese used to be the 'standard' national language spoken in Chinatown, but after 1998, standard Mandarin replaced Cantonese. And food from all over the motherland is available there, changing the monopoly of food from only Guangdong and Singapore in the past."
"The motherland's economy is developing rapidly, and its voice in the international arena is also pivotal, and we know it well abroad. 10 years ago, Americans said that China could not catch up with the United States in 200 years. Nowadays, in my opinion, it won't take a hundred years to overtake the U.S. no problem." Speaking of the growing status of Chinese in the United States, Mr. Zhang Qiong is very proud.
"It's legal* in all 48 states in the US, but the Chinese who gamble their way to the bottom are after all a minority. Most Chinese are still hard-working and law-abiding, there are almost no drug addicts, and although pornographic places are all over the place, they are rarely patronized by Chinese." Mr. Zhang Qiong countered certain inaccurate reports from abroad with people and events around him.
After all, "being in a foreign land is a foreigner". It's a good place to be, but it's not a place to stay.
"Now, I also have the ability to invest in their own restaurants, but in the United States is particularly focused on the celebrity effect, like our restaurant on the third floor is Jackie Chan opened the restaurant, a few years did not see him show his face once, but business is still very hot. In foreign countries, to prove their ability is one aspect, but their roots in the motherland, relatives in the motherland, parents of the grace of raising has not been repaid, especially now the momentum of development in the country is very good, attracting many shrewd Chinese and foreign investors. Perhaps before long, I will come back to develop."