It is just so difficult. There are a few reasons why and i really don't know which one to begin with. Well, I am married with a two year old son born on mainland, and I have been living and working here for quite a long time. My western as well as local experience do not seem to count as much anymore and my qualifications do not cut the mustard at all as, apparently, new white faces with less experience are more welcome, not to mention some hostile rules, regulations or attitudes of locals. About 6 years ago, my wife (my girlfriend then)and I tried to move to Taiwan where I found an employment then, but that all turned in dust as the local police office on mainland did not allow my wife to follow me there. A couple of other opportunities i had later went wasted 'cause of my wife's, at that time girlfriend, nationality and her difficulty to follow me. Now, I have got old (er) here and I am worried I am soon neither going to be hireable here nor where I've come from. My wife, a local, has not worked for almost a decade and she seems to have troubles getting any reasonable job and that even though she's got some previous experience and college qualifications. We've bought a home and I've put the down payment for it, however, we've got a loan that as it looks I AM to pay off..in ten years. Agreeably, I am a loser and I should have saved throughout the years of working. But I didn't as I mostly enjoyed my life...until my son was born. No, I still enjoy my life for my lovely son, but it's just so tough. My wife isn't as lovely anymore and her homeland is becoming a hell to me. Recently, I have tried to persuade my wife and her family to sell our (or the bank's) home, but to my amazement, and after they agreed, we could not find a buyer. To add to my misery, we could not even possibly get out of this country because the local authorities have refused to provide (renew) my wife with a traveling document, a passport. According to them, my wife's ID card is old, even though it'll only expire next year, and her picture not clear enough. I wonder why they could not possibly accept her old passport picture, but I am not the authority, am I? I thought my wife could go to some other police station to inquire, but this is China and you've got to go where your residency is. And, my wife's residency has been in a place where she worked before. To move elsewhere on mailand, she'd have to go through a few painful steps and so we've opted to wait until we get the property license which may take some time. But once we get the home ownership license, my wife will be able to get her so important ID card renewed which'll hopefully "qualify" her for the so privileged traveling document called Chinese Passport. Untill then, I am hoping all will bear with me and learn from me. It's somewhat uneasy to tell what anyone could learn from me, but one thing is for sure that you should try saving some money at an early age rather than on your old knees. Again, agreeably, it could be worse elsewhere, but I funking hate when someone suggests to me that since I do not like it here I should go home. Darn, I can't even imagine what would happen to my son if I did go and without him. Yes, without him as he's got no permit to cross the fine mainland borders either.
Cheers and beers to my prison that could be much worse than it is :)