My name is Ajie, a native of Shanxi born in the 1990s. I dropped out of junior high school to work. I’ve done laborious jobs, chased debts, traveled from north to south, and eventually became a chef.
By chance, I ventured abroad to Turkey to teach locals how to make dumplings. From then on, I couldn’t stop, traveling to Cambodia, Dubai, Malaysia, and the Czech Republic. My salary has risen from just enough to make ends meet to over ten thousand RMB per month.
Life was tough, but I believed hard work would pay off. Along this journey, I gained not only money but also many unexpected things.
I was born in Yuncheng, Shanxi, in 1993, with an older brother three years my senior. Our family’s conditions weren’t great. Four of us squeezed into a small house with no electricity, relying on kerosene lamps. Winter meant huddling around the stove, toasting bread, a memorable childhood.
My mother, hardworking and strong, managed household chores while looking after my brother and me, a tough job. She was strict, teaching us to be independent.
Her biggest dissatisfaction was with my often drunk father. Because of this, my mother returned to her parents’ home several times, considering divorce.
Their arguments terrified me, sometimes making me want to leave home to escape.
I wasn’t particularly fond of studying during my school days. I even repeated two grades in primary school. Seeing my lack of interest, my parents didn’t force me. So, after one semester of junior high, I started working.
I was only 15 then, while others were still fooling around with classmates in school, I had already tasted the hardships of life. To survive and earn money, I tried many methods, walked many winding roads.
I worked as an electric welder, assembly line worker, credit card debt collector, and even worked at Foxconn in Shenzhen. Those years, I traveled across the country but didn’t earn much.
If you asked me what I felt back then, I could only say, I had to keep going down the path I chose, no matter how tough it was.
Sometimes I couldn’t sleep at night, wondering what I really wanted, what kind of person I wanted to become, what kind of life I wanted.
Deep down, I still had desires, a desire for a better life, a desire to see more of the world.
Several years later, I finally encountered my first turning point in life. Through a friend’s introduction, I joined a restaurant in Beijing and embarked on the path of learning to cook.
There, I met the person who changed my life, my mentor. I learned from him for a year, from vegetable preparation to running the kitchen independently, all taught by him.
One day, he told me about his experience of going abroad. It was the first time I heard someone around me talk about going abroad, the first time I realized that cooking could also take you abroad and earn higher income than in China.
Hearing my mentor’s story, I was immediately inspired. I realized mastering a skill was crucial. Regardless of your education, as long as you had a skill, you could make a living with it. So, I made up my mind to learn cooking well.
A year later, I packed my bags again and traveled across the country. Working in just one restaurant would limit my culinary skills, so I needed to learn various cuisines.
I learned Sichuan cuisine and specifically went to Guangzhou to learn Hunan cuisine. At that time, I had no friends or connections, so I could only search for opportunities in chef groups.
My main goal was to improve my cooking skills, so whenever there was an opportunity, I would seize it. Gradually, I went from prep cooking to working at the stove.
For me, being able to travel around the country, working along the way, was also a kind of gain. But at that time, being young and immature, I didn’t save much money, spending it as soon as I earned it.
In 2014, at the age of 21, an opportunity to go abroad came.
My first destination was Turkey. My mentor had friends abroad, and upon learning that locals needed two Chinese people who could make dumplings, he recommended me.
My first time abroad, I was both excited and curious, wondering what the foreign country would be like, whether it was better than China. Would they find dumpling making difficult?
Upon arriving in Turkey, I didn’t even have time to look around. I started working right away. The locals thought Chinese dumpling skins were too thick. Although they learned the method, the finished product didn’t meet expectations.
Nevertheless, our task was completed, so the restaurant owner promptly sent us back with plane tickets.
My first time abroad, I was completely bewildered, but the different life abroad aroused my curiosity. This short overseas experience made me determined to travel more if given the chance.
Next, I continued seeking opportunities abroad through friends and various job groups. In 2015, I found an opportunity to work in Cambodia.
Cambodia is a tropical country, hot and humid in June and July, with almost daily rain in July.
The restaurant I worked at had a very small kitchen, mainly preparing Sichuan cuisine side dishes. I was constantly choked by the fumes every day. Coupled with the damp and hot environment, my rhinitis flared up, making me sneeze and have a runny nose every day, making it difficult to rest well and affecting my spirits. Eventually, I couldn’t bear it and returned to China.
Once you start working abroad, it seems like you can’t stop. Although I worked continuously in domestic restaurants during breaks, I never gave up on working abroad.
Apart from the higher income, another reason for going abroad was my liking for broadening my horizons through this method, hoping that my overseas experiences and knowledge could help me grow quickly.
In October 2019, I arrived in Dubai. It’s said that Dubai is full of gold everywhere, but in reality, making money still requires a certain skill. Chefs in high-end restaurants like star-rated ones are specially hired from abroad; ordinary chefs can only work in ordinary restaurants.
When I first arrived, I earned about 8000 RMB per month, working 10 hours a day. The boss thought I did well and promised a raise, but it was just empty talk. I worked there for a year and a half without a pay raise, so I quit.
Soon, I found a second restaurant where I worked 9.5 hours a day, with 2 days off per month. Although it was a bit hard, the salary was finally a bit higher, about 12,000 RMB per month.
The boss was quite satisfied with my cooking, and just when everything was gradually falling into place, something regrettable happened.
At the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. One day, my family called to say my father was seriously ill. I wanted to go back, but due to the pandemic, immigration controls were strict. It wasn’t until November 2021 that
my father passed away, and I couldn’t make it back.
Not being able to see my father one last time is the biggest regret of my life. For everyone working abroad, parting with loved ones is also a painful reality.
Time slowly healed me, and in the blink of an eye, I’ve been in Dubai for almost three years. With Chinese supermarkets around, life is not a problem, but you must understand the local culture; otherwise, you might get into trouble.
For example, there’s a taboo about not staring at local girls; otherwise, they can report you, and you might end up in jail. Also, Dubai has very strict traffic light regulations, with fines of up to tens of thousands of RMB.
While working in Dubai, I met a Chinese restaurant owner in Sweden through a friend. He told me about Sweden’s welfare system, which made me realize that my current income and job benefits were not as good as I hoped. So, I decided to resign.
However, I didn’t find an opportunity to go to Sweden, so I went to Malaysia first. Those days were some of the happiest in my overseas working career because I found love and met many kind-hearted people.
The lifestyle and cultural mindset in Malaysia are quite similar to those in Fujian and Guangdong, with many Chinese ancestors coming from there, so communication wasn’t much of a problem.
I worked in Ipoh, where there are many Chinese people, the largest among all ethnicities. Many celebrities come from there, such as Michelle Yeoh, Wu QiXian, and Guang Liang. Moreover, the temperature doesn’t vary much throughout the year, and the cost of living is not high, making it a good choice for working abroad.
After starting work, the boss and his wife asked me to showcase my culinary skills. They invited Chinese friends to taste my dishes. After the meal, everyone was quite satisfied with my cooking.
The next day, the boss asked me, “Ajie, do you have a girlfriend?” I was a bit stunned and had to tell the truth, that I didn’t. Hearing that I didn’t have a girlfriend, the boss immediately said he wanted to introduce me to someone, the daughter of the friend who came to dinner the day before.
That’s how Xiao Qi became my girlfriend. Xiao Qi is a year younger than me, fair-skinned, with big eyes, and has a gentle smile.
With her company, life became much better, and I had someone to share both joys and sorrows. Like all couples, during our rest time, we would go out together to play, watch movies, and eat. After getting paid, I would also buy her some small gifts.
Her family also supported us and didn’t mind my financial situation.
Although Xiao Qi and I liked each other, we had different views on work. I preferred working hard and striving for success with my own hands, hoping to have someone to progress with side by side. However, her family preferred her to stay at home and not work, fearing hardships and dangers outside.
Our differences grew, leading to arguments and cold wars, ultimately ending our relationship. But looking back, I’m still very grateful for her companionship during that time.
After the breakup, I felt a bit sad and decided to return to China. Because of the pandemic, I hadn’t been back for a long time and missed my family terribly.
However, just as I was preparing to return, my passport had problems and needed a visa transfer. I was at a loss; without a visa, how could I return to China? I wanted to go to the immigration office myself, but I didn’t speak Malay. At that moment, the only ones who could help me were Xiao Qi and her family.
I’m still very grateful to them. When they learned of my situation, they immediately asked their Malaysian friends for help. They helped me make appointments at the immigration office, acted as translators for me, and guided me through the visa transfer process, finally allowing me to return to China smoothly.
Perhaps because of years of wandering abroad, I’ve grown accustomed to being a citizen of the world; perhaps it’s the European dream in my heart, longing to experience it; or perhaps it’s just for that saying: the world is so big, I want to see it.
After working in China for a while, I learned about job opportunities in the Czech Republic through job websites and contacted them proactively. Because of my experience working in multiple countries, I easily got this job opportunity, finally realizing my dream of going to Europe.
I work in a small town called Boleslav, north of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
But unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived in the Czech Republic, I ran into trouble. Because there are few Chinese here, language became the biggest problem. Although I learned some basic English, traffic and shopping were not a big problem, but other communication was difficult.
Once, I needed to get a phone card, so I used a translation app on my phone to communicate with the staff, but a machine is still a machine, and soon we found ourselves at an impasse, both sides feeling embarrassed.
After arriving in the Czech Republic, I still kept in touch with Xiao Qi’s family. I wanted to ask Xiao Qi for help, but I thought she must be busy, so I contacted her mother instead. Subsequently, I, Xiao Qi’s mother, and the merchant started remote phone calls, and finally, we managed to get the phone card sorted out.
Although we couldn’t understand each other’s language, luckily, I had excellent cooking skills, which were well-liked by the boss and customers, giving me the confidence I needed.
I work in a restaurant that combines Chinese and Western cuisines, requiring me to adapt traditional Chinese dishes to the tastes of foreign customers.
Now, I work 12 hours a day without breaks in between, with 4 days off per month, earning about 15,000 RMB per month. Although the work is hard, as I had imagined before, the world is indeed so vast and fascinating.
April 1st was the first day after Easter, a public holiday in the Czech Republic. My colleagues and I went to Prague, the capital, to visit.
Prague has many unique buildings, full of European charm, giving a fairy tale-like feeling. It’s one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
My language skills are limited, and I can’t describe that beauty in words, but you can listen to Jay Chou’s “Prague Square” to feel it. Having seen so many beautiful sceneries, I think it’s worth it to travel around.
Looking back on my years of working abroad, there were hardships and gains, loneliness and moving moments. Sometimes lost, sometimes regretful, sometimes hopeful. Anyway, it’s been a wonderful journey.
For those who want to work abroad, I suggest setting clear goals first, not blindly going out. You can first understand the salary and local customs and then make
a decision.
Working abroad may not be as good as you think. Because once you come abroad, everything starts from scratch. You need to adapt to a new environment, new colleagues, and many things depend on yourself.
Having worked for so many years, I’ve gone from barely making ends meet each month to earning a monthly salary of over ten thousand RMB, experiencing disappointment, confusion, pain, and loneliness…
As for the future, there’s still a lot of uncertainty, but the Czech Republic is not my final destination. Maybe I will return to Malaysia, open my own Chinese restaurant, or go to Sweden or another country.
I’m still young and want to continue exploring and then, with my own hands, create a better life for myself.