‘Random opportunity’ leads to Asia
Arriving in Yangshuo, China, to start a job at a Chinese language school, Sarah Williams wondered what she was in for. ‘‘I felt like I had made a really crazy decision,’’ the 27-year-old, from Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty, says.
‘‘Everything in China is so different to any other country I’d been to, I felt like a complete alien.’’
Williams had just graduated from the University of Waikato when a ‘‘random opportunity cropped up’’ to take on the role of international marketing manager for the language school in Yangshuo, a resort town in the southern Guangxi region.
She’d been planning to teach English in Asia but hadn’t considered China, largely because she didn’t fancy living in a polluted, concrete metropolis.
‘‘But when I googled Yangshuo to find amazing karst limestone mountains and quaint countryside scenes, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.’’
The culture shock set in immediately and didn’t let up for about three months. She describes the settling in process as one of the biggest challenges of her life.
Living in a ‘‘basic’’ six-storey apartment block with the mountains ‘‘poking above the roofs in every direction’’, Williams’ five-minute bike ride to work took her past townsfolk lighting incense for their ancestors, pounding chillies with garlic, smoking homemade sausages and practising tai chi in the park.
At weekends, she’d cycle in the opposite direction and, within 10 minutes, would find herself among fields being ploughed by farmers and buffalo.
‘‘I loved spending my weekends cycling through the countryside, discovering hidden villages and practising my Chinese with friendly locals.’’
Some of those friendly locals – her Chinese colleagues – became firm friends, and she was constantly meeting students from around the world. And saying goodbye to them.
‘‘It did get exhausting after a while as the students would eventually return home and I would have to make new friends.’’
When her Chinese visa was close to expiring, Williams booked the cheapest flight out of the country she could find – to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
There, she experienced her first Songkran (Thai New Year) – often likened to a giant water fight – and had so much fun she started considering work in Thailand. She backpacked solo around the country and into Malaysia before finding her way back to Chiang Mai, where she landed a job as the marketing manager for a local adventure tourism company.
Settling into Thailand was ‘‘a piece of cake’’ compared to China, she says.
‘‘I loved the balanced lifestyle. I also noticed that Thai people put great value on enjoying life, which resonates deeply with me.’’
Williams has since moved to Bangkok, where she works in content and communications for a travel company and, while she misses being easily able to escape into nature in her free time, is very happy there.
One of the best things about living in Asia, she says, is that it’s never dull and routine.
‘‘I guess the most noteworthy would be meeting my Chinese fiance in Thailand. We met at a Chinese New Year event and have communicated mainly in Mandarin since we met.
‘‘If I had never lived in China and developed a connection with the culture and language, it’s unlikely I would have attended such an event, so I don’t know how our paths would have crossed otherwise.’’
Williams has found learning the local language to be a ‘‘gamechanger’’ in China and Thailand.
‘‘It provides great insight into the culture and national psyche and enables me to interact better with the locals and feel like part of the community.’’
In Bangkok, Williams lives in what she describes as a mini oasis ‘‘away from the concrete jungle of the central business district’’.
Close to one of the largest open-air markets in the world, Chatuchak, and home to a smaller market with craft beer and live music and innumerable restaurants and street food stalls, it’s still decidedly urban. But big city life is growing on her.
Weekends are spent exploring new neighbourhoods in Bangkok or to different parts of Asia.
‘‘In New Zealand, we’re so far from any other country so I’ve been taking advantage of the opportunity to travel to nearby countries when I can.
‘‘Since my initial arrival in Asia, I’ve travelled to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia.’’
The best things about living there, she says, are the low cost of living, being immersed in a ‘‘mentally stimulating’’ foreign language, and the excitement that comes with living in a socalled developing region where she feels there are more opportunities.
The pollution gets her down in Bangkok, however.
‘‘I’ve taken to wearing a mask outside but, with the hot weather, it feels quite suffocating.’’
She does miss New Zealand – particularly its ‘‘clean air, incredible nature and wine’’ – but feels she has a better quality of life in Thailand.
‘‘With the cheaper cost of living, I have more disposable income and more opportunities to travel. Also, I love that you can never predict what’s going to happen.
‘‘One of my mottos here is ‘expect the unexpected’.’’
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