Care and Feeding of Sea Turtles
November 20th, 2008 | by This is China! |My latest column “Challenging China” came out in the November 2008 issue of Eurobiz Magazine came out a couple weeks ago. Eurobiz is a publication of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. This month’s column focuses on Sea Turtles, and tries to get to the root of what they’re on about when they return to China. Sea Turtles is a translation of the Chinese expression used to describe Chinese that leave the Mainland to return years on as prodigal sons and daughters of the Motherland. Problem is, “You can never go home,” as the expression goes.
Of course, you never know that until you try. I based the article on experiences colleagues and I have had with Sea Turtles in business. Many of the experiences have been disappointing at best; downright bankrupting at worst.
“A Shanghai Chinese, Jeff, had lived in Japan nine years and then in Canada for two years before returning to China. He once explained to me, ‘When you live outside the country you have all these experiences that no one cares about when you return to China. When you’re back in China it’s like you have this big hole in your life. And strangely, you feel like you simply paused your life in China while you were abroad. When you return, all the old requirements and expectations that you had and others had for you come back into play, as if you took the ‘pause button’ off. The problem is, though, you have less time to do what you’re expected than you had before. The pressure to show off why you were away for such a long time makes you impatient for results.’”
Life isn’t a Beach for Sea Turtles.
