ESL094 - 102 10/20/2004
Everybody has a dream for the life. My dream is to go abroad. When I was very young, I wrote my dream in my diary that I wanted to study in European countries one day. But, my dream wasn’t realistic in China ten years ago. In that moment, The Chinese government didn’t allow people to have passport except some privileged people. Until three years ago, some of the travel agencies started going abroad programs. The cheapest one was the trip to Thailand, only needed four hundred. You could apply your passport with the receipt from the travel agency. When I heard this news, I applied right away. It was not because I wanted to go to Thailand, but I wanted to have my passport. I didn’t know what the passport could do for me at that moment, but I knew the passport was the first thing I needed to reach my dream.
I was working for Volkswagen in Fujian branch office as marketing manager when I scheduled my trip to Bangkok. And I wasn’t happy with my job----too much office politic. It wasn’t long after I went back from Bangkok, I was fired. I was very frustrated during that period. I told myself that if you were not satisfied with a big company like Volkswagen, you wouldn’t be satisfied with any company in China. Going abroad seemed to be the only way out. It was the decision I made while I felt so desperate.
Base on my condition, to apply for a student visa was the only option. Among the varied student visa, studying Hotel Management in Switzerland was the cheapest one. But it still cost fifteen thousand for one year tuition and three thousand for the agency who helped me to apply for the school. It was huge amount in China. But I was desperate. I told my mom: “I don’t care. You have to help me to borrow the money I need.” By then, all my saving was barely enough for the agency fee. So, I paid the 50% agency fee and one hundred registration fee first. The following day, I started the marathon of borrowing money. It wasn’t easy. I was rejected again and again. Because people were very sensitive with money and they were afraid that the money would be gone after they lent out. I almost lost hope. I was crying and begging on the phone to my aunt: “It’s not easy for me to have such opportunity. Please, please help me.” Finally, my aunt borrowed six hundred from her best friend without interest; my niece borrowed six thousand from her best friend who was saving this money for buying an apartment, with 20% interest; my mom borrowed six thousand from one of my step-father’s relatives with 35% interest; I borrowed one thousand from two of my friends with no interest; and my mom lent me one thousand. I deposited all the money to get a certificate from the bank to prove that I had enough money to pay my tuition and support my life in Switzerland.
In the same time, I was looking for a new job, just to be prepared in case I didn’t get my visa. I was very lucky that I found a job in a big private company as Assistant General Manager. I still remembered the day, I was on my way home after I accepted the job, my new boss called me and asked me if I had my passport. I said: “Yes, I have.” Then, he said: “This coming January I have to attend a global meeting held in Hawaii and I want you to go with me. So, give me your passport and let me apply the business visa for you.” My early days in this company was very lucky and happy. My boss was appreciated to my intelligence and I was enjoying my job very much.
I waited about one month, then received my visa appointment in Beijing. My interview was in an early Friday morning. I flew to Beijing the night before the interview because I didn’t want to take too many days off. One of my Japanese friend let me stay in his double beds hotel room to save one night hotel fee, and he paid my breakfast as well. We took the same taxi because we were going to the same direction. Before he got off the taxi, he gave me six dollars for the taxi fee. I wanted to refuse, but thinking about the heavy debt, I accepted the money with embarrass. I stayed in Beijing for one more night because I couldn’t buy the same day train ticket. I took train home because it was ten times cheaper than a flight and it was ok if I spent whole weekend on a train. (It takes 36 hours from Beijing to Fuzhou by train; and 2 hours by airplane.) I spent the night on a cheap hotel room located fourth level of the basement where supposed to be a parking place, people converted it into cheap hotel rooms, which cost me six dollars for one night. A real hotel room might cost me forty dollars for one night. I just wanted to save as much money as I could. The reason I didn’t call the Japanese friend because accepting the six dollars embarrassed me, and I also didn’t want to bother him again. After bumping whole day long, and also seeing the other people stayed in the same awful room as I did which made me feel better, I fell in sleep without much pity to myself.
A couple days later, the agency informed me that I had obtained the visa.
A couple weeks after my Swiss visa interview, I got my American business visa appointment. The funny thing was that my boss only gave me the appointment number and time, invitation for the global meeting and a piece of paper for affidavit for the interview. I didn’t have much confidence to get the visa because the document didn’t seem to be fully prepared. Anyway, my interview day came. On my way entering the embassy, a man stopped me:
“Where is your application form?”“What form? Nobody tell me about any form.”“Ok. Go out to fill out this form, then come back.”
So, I went back to the crowd among flight ticket dealers, currency dealers, and agents who helping applicants to fill out the forms. I found a clean place to sit down and filling out my form. Then, a mid-age woman approached me.
“Do you need money order?”“What money order?”“The money order is for the interview fee. It is $50. And I only charge $5 for the service fee. I think you need the code for your name as well. I will charge $2 for that.”
I was lucky that I brought enough cash for all the fees. (Can you believe that my boss didn’t mention anything about these stuffs?)
After buying her service, I asked whether she knew anything about how to get the visa. She said, “You should find an officer with kind face. There are totally five of them behind the counter. I heard that a man with heavy beard was nice.”
I thanked her, and then headed to the embassy. There was still a long line inside the embassy. While we were waiting, we saw people coming out time by time. And you could tell whether they got visa or not from the faces. The smile one definitely got the visa; the one with the eyes looked the floor, absolutely a loser. Finally, I got into the real waiting room where I could see the officers behind the counter. I didn’t find the officer with heavy beard. But I did find two nasty women behind the counter. So they were out. I kept looking and eventually targeted a fat officer with kind face. I believed in my instinct and I took my chance.
Then, here I was. I started with “good morning, sir” and then handed my paper work in. I asked the glue from him to stick my picture on the application form.“I can help you to glue your picture on the form. But I can’t guarantee you to issue you the visa.”“It’s ok. I understand that.”What a good start!My interview was quite influent. When he asked me “why you will come back from the United States after the global meeting?” I said:“Because I will have a better life in China. My company is going to send me to Korea to handle a deal with Korean company next year. And I’m recently handling the business with Lucent. Do you know Lucent?”“Yes. I know.”“We have dealership with Lucent. But what can I do if I stay in America? Wash dishes? NO. That’s not the life I want.”“You know if you illegally stay in America, the only job you can find is washing dishes, right?”“Yes. And that’s not what I want.”“Were you rejected by Swiss embassy?”“No. Actually I already got my student visa from Swiss embassy. Because I needed my passport for this interview, they gave me the stamp to prove I had applied the visa on that day.”After this, he was working on his paper work. I wasn’t sure whether I passed or not, so I asked:“So, did I pass?”He nodded his head and handed a piece of paper to me.“Thank you so much, sir.” I thanked him with surprise.
Now, I have two visas in hands. Which one I should choose?On the one hand, I needed to bear heavy debt if I studying in Switzerland; on the other hand, I had a good job, and my boss gave me the opportunity to obtain an American visa that I never expected, I couldn’t just leave like that. So I decided to go to Hawaii with my boss.
This is my amazing story, which tells us life is full with surprise. And when the thing can’t get any worse, it might be the new point of departure.
P.S: Recalling the moment of borrowing money still make me cry during the writing.
