我的海归求职经历(双语版/原创）
How did I get my US$185K/yr. expat job in China

(Laozhong, July 11, 2001)
老 中
(2001年7月11日)

Translated into Chinese 英译中 by Laura Lei (April 16,2004)

I went to US on Jan. 28, 1981 and I got my green card from a US consulate in Canada on Jun. 16, 1989. I then went back to US and got my permanent PG&E job back on Nov. 1, 1989, the date I thought I eventually survived.
1981年1月28日我到了美国，并于1989年6月16日从美国驻加拿大领事馆领到绿卡，之后回到美国，1989年11月1日被PG&E（太平洋电力）公司再次录用，我认为自己终于在美国站住脚了。

I was fighting for the card for more than 8 years and it has become the goal of my life. Now that I got it and LOST MY GOAL OF LIFE.
为了这张绿卡，我奋斗了八年多。这8年多里，绿卡就是我生活的目标，现在我拿到了，却失去了生活目标。

With my green card, I visited HK and South Korea in 1990, Taiwan and Japan in 1991, and finally Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing in early 1992. China has changed SOOOOOO MUCH!!!
拿着这张绿卡，我于1990年到过香港和南韩，1991年去过日本和台湾，随后又去过深圳、广州、上海，最后于1992年初来到重庆。然而，这时的中国已发生了巨大变化!

I FOUND MY GOAL: COMING BACK TO CHINA!
我终于发现了自己的目标：回国!

I started to pay attention to all the possibilities to find a job in China. I even wrote a personal letter to my company''''''''''''''''s #1 (PG&E was the world''''''''''''''''s 75th largest company and THE LARGEST utility company in US at that time.) to suggest PG&E to invest in China''''''''''''''''s power industry.
于是，我开始竭尽全力地在中国找工作，甚至给我公司的一号人物写过私人信件，建议他们投资中国电力业(当时的PG&E已是世界第75强企业，美国最大的电力公司)。

In early 1994, I took a 3-day vacation to attend a San Francisco forum on foreign investment to the power industry in China because I have been in power industry since 1968. To avoid the US$1500 registration fee, I recommended myself as an interpreter to the forum organizer (an American) from Texas.
自1968年以来，我就一直在从事电力业。1994年初，我请了3天假参加在旧金山举行的关于投资中国电力业的国外投资研讨会。为了省去1500美元的会议费，我向研讨会的组织者(一位来自德克萨斯州的美国人)毛遂自荐，任会议翻译。

In the forum, I met 7 top government official from the power industry in China. I also met many US/Canada developers, Western bankers, lawyers, equipment vendors, EPC contractors as well as Chinese brokers who were trying to get everyone together to WIN power projects.
在会上，我结识了中国电力业的7位高层政府官员，同时还结识了美国/加拿大的许多开发商、银行家、律师、设备供应商、工程承包商及华人中介等，这些人都试图联合起来赢得中国电力项目的开发。

With my thick skin, I contacted all the possible leads I got from the forum. As a result, I got an interview from AES, which later became the Microsoft in the world''''''''''''''''s power industry.
我厚着脸皮与会上所有可能对我回国有帮助的人交谈，结果，我获得了与AES公司的一次面试机会，该公司后来曾一度成为世界电力业的美国微软公司。

I got the job, but I did not immediately accept it because I do not think I should simply quit my PG&E job, which was very secure due to the power industry being monopoly, and join a venture company with all the uncertainty.
面试后，我被录用了，但是考虑到不能轻易地辞去我在PG&E的铁饭碗工作，我没有立即答应。当时，在我看来在PG&E上班非常稳定，因为电力业是一个垄断行业，而进入AES却带有风险性。

I took a 2-week vacation (extendable to 4 weeks) in Beijing to test the water. AES agreed to pay me salary for the testing period because I said AES could also test me at the same time to avoid hiring a mistake.
我请了2周假(后来延长到4周)到北京进行试聘。因为我对AES说，在我进行试聘期间，他们同时能对我的能力进行测试以防聘错人，所以他们同意，试聘期间也付我薪水。

I arrived at Beijing early May, 1994, my first time since 1981. However, I stayed in Landmark Hotel across from Sheraton Great Wall Hotel for the two weeks without going anywhere else. AES was in Landmark''''''''''''''''s penthouses at that time.
1994年5月初我到了北京，这是1981年来的第一次。不过，我只在亮马大酒店呆了两周，这期间哪里都没去，对面是喜来登长城饭店，当时，AES就在亮马大酒店顶楼办公。

I got up 6:30am every morning and took my breakfast with my co-workers, then started my working day before 8am. While I was reviewing some projects'''''''''''''''' preliminary feasibility studies prepared by various Chinese entities, who were looking for foreign investment, it seemed to me most others were making phone calls trying to set up dinners with key Chinese official.
每天早晨我6：30就起床，与同事一道吃完早餐后，8点钟开始工作。那时，我收到过一些正在寻求外国投资的中国公司准备的项目预可研报告书，在我看来，好象其他大部分同事都在打电话，试图邀请重要的中国官员一道共进晚餐。

We, 3 Caucasian and 10 Chinese, had work lunch everyday in the same local restaurant, which was cheap, but you had to watch for flies.
我们共有3名白人和10名华人，每天都在同一家苍蝇飞舞的廉价小饭馆一起吃中午的工作餐。

We went back to work immediately after lunch. No nap.
吃完午饭后，我们又马上回来工作，连盹儿都不打一下。

In the evening, we mostly had formal dinners with all kinds of Chinese official. No business was discussed. Straight eating.
到了晚上，大部分时间是与各级中国政府官员一起吃正式晚餐，没有谈及业务，纯吃饭。

We then went to Karaoke near Yansha Shopping Center (very expensive) for fun because "fun" was one of AES''''''''''''''''s four missions. During the two weeks, I did not see any Chinese official going with us. I did not see any of us asking for female companion either.
随后，又去燕莎购物中心附近的卡拉OK厅“玩”(价格很贵)，因为“玩”是AES四大信条之一。这两周里，我没有看到任何一位中国政府官员与我们一道“玩”，也没看见我们中的任何人找过女伴。

I went to bed at midnight EVERY NIGHT. Next morning at 6:30, the rolling started AGAIN. IT RAN LIKE THIS EVERYDAY, SEVEN DAY A WEEK!!!
每天晚上我午夜才开始上床睡觉，第二天6点半又得起床，重复着昨天的生活/工作。几乎每天都是如此，每周都是如此!!!

As a sit-back utility engineer since 1968, I simply could not take this grinding. I excused myself to AES and went back to PG&E.
我1968年以来，一直在电力部门做悠闲的电力工程师，简直受不了这种折磨。于是，我向AES提交了辞呈，又回到了PG&E。

Two minor reasons for my retreat:
1. AES paid me more, but my PG&E pay plus my consistent casino winning would be more than that.
2. My younger son was still in high school and I was a single parent.
之所以离开AES，还有两个微不足道的原因：
1、 尽管AES付给我的薪水比在PG&E多，但是在PG&E的薪水加上我在赌场持续赢钱就比AES多了。
2、 我的小儿子还在读高中，而我又是单身父亲。

Ironically, AES became one of the 10 world stocks recommended by TIME magazine at the beginning of the new century.
令人感到讽刺的是，因时代杂志的推举，新世纪伊始，AES居然跻身世界最有价值10大股票之列。

If I had stayed with AES, my 5000 share stock option would have made me three quarter million US$!!!
如果我还在AES的话，我AES的5000股股权就能值75万美元了。

Frankly, I did not regret much because my casino winning has made me financially independent anyway.
坦率地说，我并不为此感到有多遗憾，因为我在赌场的成功已使我获得了经济上的独立。

I went back to US, but I did not forget my China dream. I was keeping my eyes on the foreign investment in China''''''''''''''''s power industry as well as communicating with the few Chinese expats in China''''''''''''''''s power industry.
虽然我回到了美国，但仍然没有忘记我的中国梦，因此一直关注着国外对中国电力业的投资情况，并与中国电力业领域的几个海外华人一直保持着联系。

On Jun. 30, 1996, I was permanently kicked out by all the Vegas casinos where I could win. While this is the 7th time since 1986, it was a fatal one because I never fell in love with anyone during my 10 years in Vegas until Spring 1996 (Please wait for my 40-page story on this 28-years old dancer from Dongfang Singing & Dancing Troupe.)
1996年6月30日，我被拉斯维加斯赌场永久性地驱逐了。1986年以来，这已经是第七次了，但这是最致命的一次，因为到1996年春季为止，在拉斯维加斯的这10年里，我还从来没有爱上过什么人(以后我会将一篇关于一位来自东方歌舞团的28岁女舞蹈演员的长达40页的故事奉献给大家)。

I then restarted my campaign for coming back to China
于是，我重新开始我为了回国的奋斗。

At that time, China was starting to have surplus electricity and, therefore, no hope to find a job in the foreign power-related companies in China.
那时，中国开始电力过剩，因此，要在中国的与电力相关的外国公司里找到工作是不可能的。

Nevertheless, I took a 3-day vacation again to attend a Las Vegas forum on foreign investment in China''''''''''''''''s power industry and made many new connections (This time, I became a forum consultant to have the US$1500 fee waived.)
无论如何，我又请了3天假参加在拉斯维加斯举行的关于在中国投资电力业的国外投资研讨会，并得到了许多新的信息(这次是作为研讨会顾问出席的，因此再度免去了1500美元的会议费)。

Following up the leads, I e-mailed and faxed my resume to MANY foreign power-related companies in China (incl. HK) but received very few responses, which were all negative. I thought I had to be there knocking their doors. Otherwise, even if you were the right person, how many employers would be willing to fly you from US to China for interview?
通过从会上了解到的信息，我向国内(包括香港在内)的许多与电力相关的外国公司电邮或传真了我的个人简历，但收到的回音非常少，而且都持否定态度。为此，我认为自己必须亲自登门造访，否则，即使你是合适人选，又有多少雇主愿意出钱让你从美国飞回中国参加面试呢？

One of my graduate school classmates was among the early owners of now-famous Datang Telecom, whose chairman promised at the Company''''''''''''''''s website that he would hire Chinese expats and pay them whatever they make in their US companies. I called him and paid all travel expenses to have an interview with them in San Jose, which led to a site visit to their Xi'an factory when I went back to China thereafter.
我的一位读研时的同学是现在比较出名的大唐电信公司前期的老板之一，该公司总裁在公司网站上承诺，他会雇用海外华人/海归，并会给他们在美国公司的相同待遇。于是，我给他打了电话，并自己掏钱飞往硅谷参加了与他们的一次面谈，随后，他们提出让我下次回中国时到他们在西安的工厂参观。

Few weeks later, my father passed away and I called Datang after the funeral. I flew myself to Xi'an and was accommodated in a 5-star hotel. The GM there was a visiting scholar I met in US before. From talking to him, I realized the #1 guy hiring Chinese expats at the US rate was to get support for him in the war between Chinese and Western cultures because most factory management were from the state-owned enterprises. My impression was that the factory was also quite in the style of typical state-owned enterprises (In contrast, I was interviewed by Mr. Ren, Zhengfei, Shenzhen HUAWEI''''''''''''''''s #1 and HUAWEI Telecom, maybe the largest private enterprise in China, looked very differently.)
随后不久，我父亲去世了，葬礼后我给大唐打了电话。然后，独自飞往西安，被安排在一家五星级酒店。这里还有一位我以前在美国结识的访问学者，通过与他交谈，我意识到这位总裁之所以要以在美国的待遇聘用海外华人的原因是：要他们提供打破中西方文化差异上的支持，因为大部分工厂管理层都来自于国营企业。我对该厂的印象是感觉它的风格还是典型国营企业的风格(相比之下，任正非先生，深圳华为的总裁面试了我，也许华为当时是中国最大的私营企业，看起来就大不相同)。

I was then fully aware of what I would be getting into if I took a position there and the GM did read my mind. He flew me to Dalian at my request.
我很清楚：如果我留下来，我将会是怎么一个处境。总经理看出了我的心思，根据我的要求买票飞我到大连。

Why Dalian?
为什么选择大连呢？

When I was searching DESPERATELY by all possible means before I came back to China for the funeral, I found from internet a Canadian high school in Dalian. The school is owned by a fortysomething former Chinese MOFTEC official, who made enough money to move to Canada. He was gambling day and night there and asked himself: Would this be the rest of my life? He then came back to China to build the school and his 17 (now 40) Canadian teachers are all paid by the Canadian rate plus free boarding and round-trip air tickets for the teachers'''''''''''''''' immediate family members (while 99% foreign English teachers in China are paid few thousand RMB per month).
在我回来参加葬礼以前，就绝地求生般搜索过所有可能在中国的工作机会，并在网上看到大连办了一所加拿大中学。学校是由一位四十多岁的，前中国外经贸地方官员开办的，挣足钱后他去了加拿大，在那里一天到晚地赌博，并反问自己：我的晚年就这样过吗？于是，他又回到中国，独资成立了这所学校。他的17名(现在40名)加拿大籍教师的薪水都是按加拿大的教师待遇标准支付的，外加免费食宿和回国探亲的往返机票费(可是，99%的中国外籍英语教师的工资每月不过几千人民币)。

The school is located in Golden Pebble Beach, China''''''''''''''''s first NATIONAL resort authorized by PRC National Travel Bureau, which is 50 miles from downtown Dalian.
学校坐落于金石滩，这是中华人民共和国国家旅游局授权的第一家国际级度假胜地，离大连市区50英里。

On the interview date, I was picturing the resort would be somewhat like the Caribbean resort I went in 1989 and planned to have my breakfast in one of the fast food places there.
面试那天，我在脑海里勾画着，这个度假胜地可能与我1989年去过的加勒比海度假胜地差不多，并计划着在那里选一家快餐店吃早餐。

When I got there by taxi, I saw rural countryside with a few fancy buildings scattered. I had my breakfast in a typical countryside "restaurant" and walked to the school.
当我乘出租车到达那里时，映入我眼帘的是点缀着几家西式建筑的乡村。在一家乡村饭馆吃过早餐后，我步行到了学校。

The interview was good because the school owner and I shared the same mentality. When he asked me how much I would like to get paid, I said if I am giving up my US government job (I did work for Nevada State Government at that time.), why should I care?
面谈结果满好的，因为董事长和我在思想上有共同之处。当他问及我想要多少薪水时，我说：既然我打算辞去我在美国政府的工作，我又何必在乎薪水呢？(那时，我在美国内华达州政府任职)

I was given RMB$3000 per month plus the same living condition as those Canadian teachers, which means I have my own apartment in the best residential area in the Dalian New Economic Development Zone, which is 30 miles from downtown Dalian.
于是，我每月的薪水为3000人民币[当时的工资单我已扫描到网上]，外加与加拿大教师相同的生活条件，也就是说我当时住的是位于大连经济开发区豪华居住区的个人公寓，离大连市区30英里。

So I became a Foreign Affairs Assistant to Chairman of Board. My co-workers are the following:
我成了董事长的外事助理，以下人员是我的同事。

1. Canadian teachers
2. School management made mainly by the owner's former MOFTEC co-workers and, therefore, the management style was mostly in the fashion of the state-owned enterprises.
3. Chinese teachers recruited from all over China. Since ALL teachers had to pass an English interview, most of the teachers were young girls. I did dream of "February, Early Spring" (a 1960's famous Chinese movie) and I did have my target, but I left the school shortly (I called the girl a few days ago and she already has her baby. We made a dinner appointment for next week. -- I wrote this article when I was in Dalian.)
1、加拿大教师。
2、学校的管理层. 主要是老板以前在外经贸的同事，因此，学校的管理风格很大程度上还是国营企业那种模式。
3、来自全国各地的中国教师。由于所有中国教师都要通过英语面试，所以他们大部分都是年轻女孩。我梦想着“早春二月”(中国60年代一部非常出名的电影)，也找到了目标，然而，不久后我离开了这所学校。(几天前我给那个女孩打过电话，得知她已经有了小孩。我们约好下周一起吃个晚餐。)

未完待续