Expat, Sexpat, Racist, Loser! That's what this video is all about Now this video is not some kind of reaction to, people calling me these names Because that happens hourly on my channel This is really for you guys who live here, or plan to live here Or just about anyone, doesn't matter who you are or what your race is or what your culture is Anyone who's living in a culture other than their own I'd like this video to hopefully serve as Some kind of an Insight as to what you can expect when you live in a different culture And maybe how to deal with some of these issues that do crop up quite often when you do live in a different culture from your own. Let's quickly knock off a few definitions here. the first one of course being, an Ex-Pat. There's quite a lot of controversy around this word (Expat) because "expat" is usually used when someone from, say the UK, or someone from America moves overseas and stays in another country for a long while But, if you have, for instance a Chinese person moves to the U.S. You generally term them an "immigrant". There's a lot of hoo-ha around this, and I say bollocks to that hoo-ha, call yourself whatever you want I say if you're a Chinese person living in U.S. you're an expat I say I'm a South African person living in China, I call myself an Expat I can call myself an immigrant too, but you know I prefer "expat" because, to be honest in China you can't really immigrate So, I can't become a Chinese citizen You may have read something in the news about, "ooh, like, one thousand six hundred green cards given to foreigners in China" Yes, but look at the foreigners they're giving them to Athletes, people at the top of their game in When it comes to being scientists, or something like that, or an investor It's not for the average Joe like me or you the kind of person who comes here to carve a life out So, I won't classify myself as an immigrant ever I will always classify myself as an "expat" - an "expatriate". Okay, so let's get that out of the way. Next thing, "Sex-Pat" What is a Sex-Pat? It's very very simple. You see them all over the place right. They're a specific group of foreigners, who, well... Their main goal of coming to Asia in particular, to be honest but also poorer Eastern European countries and so on Basically, a "sexpat" is someone who's coming from a country that is usually first world, so they've got some money they go into a very poor country specifically because they're looking for sex. so in other words, (Sex-Pats are looking for) prostitution, brothels And, it's very easy to see this If you travel to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia Phillipines, places like this. There are usually special areas in these different countries Where people fly in there, and that's all they do. They go to these girly bars, and get drunk, and pick up prostitues And for them it's cheap as chips, and they can have a lot of fun And you know, do their thing, and that's what their life is all about. They have a bad reputation, and it's very well earned I'll say that I do know a couple of foreigners here that you know, English teachers here, they save up so that every year they can fly off to I think it's Clark Air Force Base in the Phillipines just to go on a "Sex-Pat" adventure You know, you get people of low moral standards (SerpentZA trademark cough) low moral standards all over the world but I just wanted to give you guys an idea of what the "Sex-Pat" label is I would NOT consider myself a Sex-Pat because that's (sex) not my primary reason for being here in China and, I don't usually hang out with those types of people but I do know a couple of them and, I don't approve of their behaviour but they're not always as bad as people make them out to be. They're just taking advantage of an easy situation. "Racist", okay, I get called racist daily on my videos and for me, it's, well I'm a white South African if there's a day someone's not calling me racist I think it's strange in fact I think I'll feel empty and hollow inside if people took away my birthright like that. So, by people calling me racist it actually makes my day because it just reaffirms who I am So I'm very happy, in fact, if somebody didn't call me racist it would be the same as the sun not rising in the morning So, thank you very much guys, I appreciate it a lot ;) But, this term racist gets thrown around a lot especially towards expats and actually towards Chinese as well because Chinese people are inherently very very racist remember to hit that spicy comment thread c; if you ever meet them, and by "racist" I mean they discriminate by colour of skin very clearly And anyone who's lived in China, or has Chinese family or friends will know that if a black person walks past they will say "woo-ooh" 黑鬼(HeiGui = Black Ghost) or or, *chinese phrase*, or there's all this nonsense because they're afraid of things that are different Basically, being such a homogenous society they are afraid of difference, so it's not only black people white people they're incredibly racist towards sometimes in a positive light I walk on the street and hear people all the time, "look at the foreigner" "look at his big nose" you know, "wow" "look at the foreigners, they're so fat" "look at the foreigners, they this, they that" all this nonsense But, sometimes it can be positive racism, as in They see you as white, and think you have some sort of prestige So they will invite you to go and have tea with them, or maybe treat you to a meal because they see you as being different. [people in background inviting them for a meal] As for me being racist I think it's quite funny because I'm actually married to a Chinese woman so My challenge to all the people who like to call me racist is if I was racist which I clearly am not would I marry someone from a different race? Would I fall in love with someone from a different race? [bg: Sasha, SerpentZA's wife] I have to be very clear here My wife is a very intelligent, very capable human being And I had to win her just like I'd have to win any kind of foreign girl there was a lot of courting involved, a long period of falling in love the whole dating process, getting to know each other I had to steal her away from another guy she was currently dating at the time make sure to type *foreigners steal our girls* in comments It was the usual thing you go through when you meet someone you really like and fall in love So, there was no cheap "oh look, here's an Asian" "I'm white, boom, relationship" No, it was a full on, hard won relationship And so, you know For those guys constantly commenting about how I went for an Asian wife because it's easy Take a hike guys, she's a doctor! Do you think you can land my wife? Good luck! You just come here because you're white and think you can land a wife like my wife? forget about it! It takes work! Just like in the West. Next thing we are going to talk about - Loser. Now, there's a term thrown around a lot in China, "LBH" "loser back home" And yes, I can apply this to a lot of people I know What it basically means is You've got somebody who didn't do well in their own country couldn't find a stable job couldn't find a girlfriend you know, that kind of thing So, they come here to China because especially English teaching, it's easy enough for them to do It's easy enough for them to get a job, find a girlfriend ...But, that's not actually true. I've met lots of people who've come here with that idea in mind and have a lot of difficulty finding a girlfriend and who have a lot of difficulty holding a job. You know, English teaching is not as easy as people think. I've done it myself, in fact there's a video (now on) ADVChina Where C-Milk (laowhy86) and I talk about our entire employment history in China including all the English teaching jobs and the progression from small to big and all the different things we did And that video will explain everything for those of you who are curious as to the kind of work I did in the past. Now I do YouTube full-time. Anyway, it's actually a very difficult job (English Teaching) *Impromptu SerpentZA fan meetup* I'm on Youtube Now! Fan: Hi You've been watching my videos for a while? Fan: a few months Fan: I just searched about the foreigners' view of China Oh, that's great man *fan proceeds to go to a huge electronics district, covered previously on SerpentZA* "Village Crawl - Electronics Market" - SerpentZA Video (August 2015) Okay, let me get back into what I was saying. With the loser back home thing. I've met many people with the idea it's going to be easy. And they've failed, and had to go back However, The idea that people are these massive losers and, the only way they can succeed is to come to China is, a myth, because you have to think of it this way. It takes a hell of a lot of courage for someone to leave the country they grew up in were born in, and all the familiar surroundings, and then go sometimes halfway across the world to another country, another culture where they don't know anyone and they don't understand anything, you know. and try to start a new life. I'd like to say to those people harping on about the "loser back home" thing Put it into a bit of a different perspective. I say these people are courageous to start something new. And especially if they WERE a loser back home for them to get the courage to take such a big step is something I think is quite commendable. So, I call them, at heart anyway, winners. If they come here and flaunt it, and say "ooh look, I can have all these Chinese girlfriends and stuff" that's a different story, you know. Or people that, and these are the real losers, the people that come here and are constantly drunk they teach kindergarten or something, which they can do, which still takes effort, by the way they go in, play with the kids and stuff, then straight away after work start hitting the bottle out there drinking, using prostitutes, all that kind of nonsense next day come in hung over, roll around, do their thing kindergarten thing, rinse and repeat these guys really are losers. But I think they'd be losers back home and also here So they're basically just losers in general (not just LBH). Which, if you want to use the term "loser", which, yeah, I can use it There are people who are really losers. Anyway, as for me being a loser back home, which I get accused of that's absolutely not true I mean, I had relationships back home one of my ex girlfriends is a playboy bunny for goodness' sake it's not like I couldn't find a girlfriend in South Africa. I had plenty, and they were all top notch. That's usually the number one thing people say, "ooh, SerpentZA can't find a girlfriend back home" Number two: they say I couldn't find a job at home. that's nonsense, I ran my own companies in South Africa. You just gotta understand that everybody has a different story. I've got those stories, the next guy you see over there kind of looks out of place and you might think he's a loser back home, but you don't know The guy could have run a successful online company, been something special back in his country Not to mention, especially recently with the stricter visa laws In order to even get legally an English teaching job, you need a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree You need to have TEFL, so go through a TEFL course And you need to have two years' work experience Although they are, I think getting rid of that The thing is, in order to come here and legally teach English you actually have to be well educated And you have to be a reasonable bloke you can't just be a drunken fool that rolls off the boat. Those days did exist, but they're slowly disappearing Now, China has been a very difficult place to adapt for a foreigner, a very difficult country, I've spoken about it many times And also in the ADVChina channel we have talked about it in length Especially in "You will never be Chinese" (Video, ADVChina) And there's a video I will like you all to watch, if you're considering to come to China on whether you will survive in China. C-Milk (laowhy86) and I discuss some of the stories of people who came here and failed, it's an eye opener for people considering to come make a life in China (link down below.) But I want to switch gears a little, and move over to an Asian person who grew up overseas like America or South Africa because I know quite a few We call them ABCs, in America that's "American born Chinese" We call them bananas, you know, yellow outside white on the inside ABC in South Africa too, you know, African Born Chinese And these people often find themselves in bit of a limbo, stuck between two cultures, especially if they were born in the other country those who moved when they were a bit younger, they're kind of ok that's like me, I moved here, tried to adapt to Chinese culture, but I still keep my original culture, my heritage But people who grow up, some of them grow up without even knowing their family and ancestral language so I know quite a few ABCs who can only speak English yet all their family, grandparents and stuff, all speak Chinese they're used to celebrating Chinese holidays, and that kind of thing A lot of them, I've had conversations with them, and they feel very conflicted because they feel Western, but they're never accepted as fully Western especially in places like America where they will always be the Chinese guy and expected to do Kung Fu and stuff. And I feel for these guys, and I feel for them because I'm in the exact same position here, you know. Being a British South African, and a lot of people give me shit for this because, whenever I'm talking to people in China and they ask me where I'm from, I always say I'm British "I'm from England" which is not true, I'm South African, I was born in South Africa The reason being in China I would say, 99.9% of the local people are very ignorant about geography and history. Outside of the Asian region Which makes sense, I mean, in Africa do you really, or in America, do you really In fact, yeah, in America do you guys know about all the countries in Africa I bet you can't tell me what the capital of, I don't know, Namibia is can you? You know, that kind of thing, so If I say I'm from South Africa the first question they (Chinese) ask me is it's a statement, actually. They say "But you're not Black" So, after a couple of years of me every single time explaining to them why I'm not black and why there was a history of European settlement in South Africa I got tired of it. And since my parents are from British ancestry - my mother has a British passport but because she's second generation I can't get one which is frustrating, um My father has a South African passport but his parents and so on before him had German passports I grew up in an English speaking home, with a British background my grandfather being a Royal Air Force pilot who flew down during WWII So I'm used to the whole, cucumber sandwiches and that kind of nonsense I'm used to high tea and all this useless British culture which I grew up with. So for all intents and purposes I'm British but I grew up in South Africa. So, for me to say I'm British is not very far from the truth. So I don't feel like I'm conning anyone, or lying to anyone. Anyway, I'm in the same sort of boat as a lot of the ABCs so I understand you guys. You know what you gotta do to make your life easier? You just gotta stick to who you are. I mean if you have to invent someone, something whatever you need to do, you need to make it solid. Something that you can fall back on. I call myself a British South African, which I think really does describe me very well British upbringing, in South Africa, I have a bit of both infused So if you're a Chinese Born American you call yourself a Chinese-American nothing wrong with that. you've got the best of both worlds. And, don't let anyone take that from you because that's exactly who you are. and because of that, you are stronger you have an infusion of two different cultures in you you have an insight that most people around you don't Which is something quite fantastic to be honest You'll be able to see things from different angles and when certain people around you have a single mindset stuck on one thought train you'll be able to see it. You'll be able to say, hey this person is ignorant, they don't understand what other cultures are like. So, use that as a strength, a way forward. It's definitely something that will always play in your favour. And don't worry about fitting in because that's the last thing you'd wanna do Who wants to fit in? I don't wanna fit in, I don't wanna be one of these guys who watch football, and you know, shout for Manchester United I don't care about that stuff that's not me, so I just don't do it. Anyway, totally on a different tangent there. I hope this has explained to you guys a little bit of what goes on here. And what it's like to live in a different culture. You're going to constantly be labelled different things. And you basically have to build yourself up, Okay, and define yourself and be true to yourself because somebody can call me racist and I could just say, well, they're ignorant because I'm not a racist. And somebody can call me a sex-pat and I can say to myself but I'm not a sex-pat, I have a beautiful wife I've never cheated on her and I don't ever plan to I don't go playing around Sure, every young man has a little phase where he goes around and does all sorts of nonsense but that's just part of nature I'm not a loser, why am I not a loser? because I've achieved what I want to achieve in life and that's to be able to make YouTube videos for a living and to have people like you watching me And, what else? Sex-Pat? No. Ex-Pat? I am an Ex-Pat and I define myself as that Racist? Not a racist. Loser? Nope, not a loser. and that's pretty much it So guys, you know the drill. I can't wait to see you in the next video. and, until then I'm gonna leave you with a gratuitous drone shot, but until, we all know the drill, as always Stay Awesome. I'd like to quickly take this opportunity to say a massive, massive thank you to each and every one of you who watch my videos honestly, all of you guys, every one of my subscribers, even the casual watchers But especially a huge shout-out to my Patrons you know, you guys are what make this channel a possibility and I really just wanna say thank you to everybody for joining me on these adventures that I've been having for the past eleven years now Because it is pretty much to the day eleven years since I arrived in China for the first time These videos are just gonna be continued to be made, you know and as long as you guys keep watching them, I'll keep making them. I hope you found today's topic interesting, I know it's maybe a little serious but It's just someting I wanted to get off my chest and, the whole purpose of this channel really is to to try and help people who are trying to come here, and it really is, so rewarding when I meet my subscribers For instance, yesterday I met 3 subscribers, you saw when I was filming one came up and spoke to me, but also another guy ran into me in the subway and I went to dinner with my friend Brown Eye and the chef at the restaurant actually recognised me so I'm going to put that little clip here at the end I know I'm straying a little bit from the formula, with the VHS and the music and so on in this video but don't worry it's coming back in the next one I just didn't feel like it suited this topic, so, anyway thanks so much for watching! I'm going to leave you guys with that little clip and I'll see you in the next one. SZA: So, I'm here with a subscriber! Is that right? Chef (Mediterranean Accented): Exactly! I'm a really big fan, I follow the channel and he really taught me a lot Chef: about, anything about Shenzhen. Chef: mainly, the suggestions about, I remember about, Dongmen was really interesting (sic.) Chef: a lot about the ruler, and the expectation which Chinese have with foreigners (sic.) Chef: I would like exactly to thank you really (sic.) SZA: Oh man, it's such a pleasure. SZA: This guy works in one of the most amazing places in Shenzhen SZA: we're at the top of the KingKey100 (tower) at the "St. Regis" SZA: Absolutely stunning. Man it's so nice to meet you. SZA: And I'm so happy my videos reached you.
I love Winstons SerpentZA check out his other channel ADVChina