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Expats  Interview with Liudmila Baksheeva

To help you, expats, I publish these interviews, revealing personal stories, tips and advice.

Arriving in a new country is such a change, and how to feel ‘’at Home’’ can be a challenge.  Or not?

This month I introduce you to Liudmila.

Mila

Original country: Russia

Expat countries: China, Hong Kong

Current country:  Hong Kong

Your story in a nutshell:   I am coming from a small to middle size city in Russia, the capital of Zabaykalsky Kray – Chita. Cold winters, hot summers, beautiful nature and all year round sunshine is a signature of our place. After my graduation in 2011, I decided to make probably the biggest decision of my 23 years old life – moving abroad. I studied Chinese language in the University, so there was no questions of where my next home will be. After 4 years in China, I found myself in the heart of Asia – in a beautiful city of contrasting light and constant movement, city of Hong Kong.

Your Biggest challenges:

Probably I wouldn’t be any different from other expats to say that challenges are all the same everywhere if it is a new city or a country for you. I would highlight those:

  1. Housing problems. You need to know all about prices, sizes, location, the rental law, etc. Be prepared.
  2. Unfamiliarity with local legal processes and requirements

In my case I needed to know everything about how to get the visa, rent a house, and get the job. Taxes, law and many more. Once again, be prepared.

  1. Earning money.

HK is one of the most expensive cities in the world, You really need to work here to survive and live the life of your dreams. Earning money is never easy and it a challenge. Not for everyone, but I still would highlight it and wouldn’t forget about this one.

  1. Finding new friends

You are all alone. You need friends and once you are not 15 anymore it is getting more and more difficult to find your “brother from another mother”. BTW you will not get this problem in HK.

Did you integrate and adjust smoothly? I integrated quite easily. After studying Chinese culture & language it was very easy to do. No cultural shock for me, I was fully prepared for everything.

I also moved with my best friends and we were supporting each other as much as we can.

What is your current job? Now I work for a translation company and helping business to globalize in many many languages. I am glad that due to my work I am still connected to all these different countries, languages and cultures.

Was it difficult to start your job in a foreign country? It was difficult but not impossible. If you are healthy and not lazy, I believe you will find a job, if you are smarter than average, you will open your own business.

 

How you stay motivated: When I imagining myself back into a small city of Chita, that scares me off and keeps me motivated very well  🙂

What are your words of Wisdom? 
I would quote Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do”.

And don’t forget about Neale Donald Walsch’s words as well: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”

china

 

What is a misunderstanding that happened to you as an expat?
 Funny story about local Chinese traditions. It’s hard to explain but I will try: In china, they have their own believe in kind of “Gods” – “Chinese gods”. Each local restaurant, small shop, night club, a business have a place for a small place for a statue of Chinese God which in their believe keeps the place safe and brings luck for this business. To keep these gods happy, they always need to feed them with real fruits and vegetables, give them money, etc.  

My friend and I were in a Chinese nightclub, when we saw good looking fruits and cherry tomatoes on the table. We couldn’t resist to take some tomatoes as we were hungry and thought it is for club  guests. While eating it, a worker of the night club was looking at us scared and confused. He asked if it “haochi ma?”, which means tasty in Chinese and showed us a small Chinese God inside the wall, which we hadn’t seen.

 It was difficult to finish the tomato, as of course we know that you cannot eat fruits which were given to the gods. Gods will get angry and we believed it as well, so we were afraid something bad happened to us too.

Problems were not that long to wait, next day my laptop got burned and my friends ATM card stocked in the ATM machine, so she had to call the Chinese police to get it out and get through a whole procedure. We decided to go back to the club next day and ask the Chinese god to forgive us. We bought oranges, tomatoes, apples and went back.

 It was hard to do, because foreigners don’t go into the club during the week. Chinese people seeing us would not look good.  We tried to hide ourselves as much as we can, put out our fruits and each of us gave a little speech to the God to forgive us: “ Sorry dear god, we didn’t know it was for you, we will not do it again, please forgive us…”. And we think he did forgave us. Once we finished, all our problems solved one by one.

Just a reminding for all of you – respect other cultures traditions & religion.

Please tell us your important TIPs when moving to a new country:  
Pack light, Give yourself time to settle in, learn the local language, and make friends. Be prepared for your new life.

 

Thank you very much and Merry Christmas J

Picture taken in Hong Kong with SintaClaas and Zwarte Peat in 2017.

Interviewed by Rachel Smets

Who is Rachel:
Rachel is TEDx Speaker, Author and Trainer.

Hot New release: Living Abroad Successfully: What, Where, When, How: small 3D-MAShttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B076F9Z9FP/

Book: “Awaken Your Confidence: 15 People Share Their Journey to Success”, available onAwaken your confidenceAmazon: http://amzn.to/2cl425Q

Don’t hesitate to get in touch:
Website: https://www.rachelsmets.com/
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https://www.udemy.com/tools-to-overcome-fear-and-take-control/learn/v4/overview

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Life changes, and so can YOU!!!

 

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