[Sasha] - Welcome to another video.
[Winston] - I've spent a third of my life in China.
So... What do I have to show for it?
What have I learned?
Well, I just turned 37. In fact, today is my 37th birthday
and I worked it out. Yes. It's not exactly 1/3. I mean...
Apparently, 1/3 of my life would be 12 years.
I've been about 11 and a half so...
Whatever.
About a third.
I thought I'd go through some of the highlights
some of the disappointments
and um....
Hopefully, there's something in here for those of you
who are curious
about China because
I do understand that they're not that many
people like me who,
you know, would come out here and actually
spend their whole....
heh...
well... at least a third of their life here.
But there are those of you who are interested in
coming in for a short and middle term
or perhaps you just curious about the country.
Anyway, I'm waffling on
let's get into it.
Let's talk about some of the biggest things that I've
realized and the epiphanies I've had.
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The first and probably most disappointing thing
that I've come to realize is that
although I've been here for 11 and a half years,
I've worked for
most of the time I've been here
and I say this one company in particular
for over five years.
You know, all legally, proper work visas and all that
kind of thing.
I've been married twice.
Once to a Hong Kong girl, so
that doesn't really count because
Hong Kong although it's
theoretically part of China
in for all intents and purposes, it's a different country.
Different law systems, different regulations and
if you get married there doesn't
really mean anything over here
Um...
But I've also, of course,
been married here in Mainland China
and the thing that annoys me the most is that
literally...
there's nothing different
at least as far as
the perception of all the people around me,
there's absolutely nothing different between me
and somebody who just
hops off the plane on a tourist visa.
This is probably the hardest pill to swallow because
people will treat me exactly the same
as they would
like I said any "newbie" that just comes off the plane.
And... you know,
it doesn't matter that I've been here for so long
or that I've worked here for so long
or that I'm married here.
I get treated the same by the locals.
I get treated the same by the government.
I get treated the same by the police.
I get treated the same by everybody
which is rather disappointing and
probably the most disappointing thing about
having spent so much of my life here.
However...
That's the negative.
Let's move on to the positive.
Now the biggest positive that's come out of me
living in China is of course, meeting my wife.
I know that might sound a bit cliché,
but it's absolutely true.
I've been here, of course,
since I was about 25 years old
and you know how it goes.
When you're a young man,
you're not interested in getting married.
You're just interested in having ah... you know,
having a party and
drinking and just letting life
carry you forward and not really thinking about the future
not having any real goals in mind.
I... I honestly didn't know if I was going to stay in China
long-term or not.
I never really...
I kind of had this idea that I'd be here
for the rest of my life.
Maybe if the things worked out.
Anyway...
Meeting my wife was the most positive thing
because you know, I'm just blown away.
She's such an amazing person, such a lovely woman
and you know,
you can't help who you fall in love
with that's the thing in life
and...
it's proven to me more than anyone else that
Cross-Cultural relationships
um....
cross...
Cross-Cultural Marriages and Cross-Cultural
stuff just works.
[laughs]
The next positive thing is across the sheer adventure
that I've had here.
China is completely cut off from the rest of the world
I mean, it's changing, of course.
It's getting more and more sort of "international"
but...
it is actually quite cut off.
If you come here fresh off the boat
I mean, just look around me.
There's not a single other "whitey" anywhere near me.
I mean, it's just the way it is. You walk around
you're a...
curiosity.
People stare at you, and they stop and stare.
I can ah... people stopping and staring
and so I'm turning around.
um...
People stop and stare at you.
They're very, sort of, curious as to what you are
and what you're doing.
You cannot access the internet
because it's all blocked here
pretty much
70 to 80 percent of all the internet
that you know overseas doesn't work here.
But never mind that just the
fact that things are so different.
And that's what to led me to do these motorcycle trips
around the country.
That's what's led me to do my
documentary, you know, "Conquering Northern China", "Conquering Southern China".
You know "Conquering Northern China" is coming soon,
end of October.
"Conquering Southern China", if you haven't seen it
you should go check it out.
It's got something like a 9.4 on IMDb.
But you know, these things wouldn't have happened
anywhere else.
If I settled anywhere else in the world
or gone anywhere else in the world
like let's say for instance, I've gone to England.
You wouldn't have a like a "Conq....
"Conquering Birmingham"
or something like that it just wouldn't happen
because there's nothing to conquer.
There's nothing new
and by "conquer" obviously
I mean "explore" and
ah...
you know...
"experience" because you know the rest of the world
is at our fingertips.
You can, sort of, watch your lonely planet video,
or you know read a guide about going to
Peru or you know Paris or whatever and
there's nothing interesting.
There's nothing out-of-this-world
something that makes you say
"Wow! That's crazy."
"That's different."
But China is one of those places,
and you know if you see my documentaries you'll see.
I mean...
where else in the world you get to eat
cows shit hotpot and live bees and
even worse things that's coming in
"Conquering Northern China".
Just nowhere else.
Now if I'm honest...
You know other than my wife,
the most positive thing that has come out of me
living in China is you.
[chuckles]
I mean you like the person right now watching me
this online community
my YouTube channel
all the things that, you know,
have happened as a result and
And although, it's only been fairly recent
that it's really started to pick up.
um...
All the things that have kind of carried my life
forward have been due to
this community of people who are either interested in China.
Who... ah.
live in China.
Who.. um.
Maybe just interested in my exploits
and my adventures.
You guys have been such
an amazingly big part of my life, and of course, is are
such a big part of my life.
That is really the most
positive thing, other than my wife.
heh...
"Disclaimer" have to always say that.
That has happened to me.
from this whole living in China,
sort of adventure.
So what is there to conclude
from my "third of life" here in China?
Quite simple. China is not a place to immigrate to
ah...
pretty much
You know like I said I get treated exactly the same.
I have to get back to that point again
because it is such a big thing.
It's something everybody who has anything to do with
China has to realize.
I speak the language, you know?
I've put the time in.
I've done everything however.
I still get people asking me the same questions.
"Are you used to Chinese food?"
"Oh. Your Chinese is so good."
you know, the typical stuff.
That the first person who learns
how to say Nǐ hǎo (你好)
who...
comes here on a backpacking tour
or something will get so it gets tiresome.
It gets tiresome always being the novelty of the
how should I say... the funny,
weird foreigner,
but then again you know that's part of the experience
so...
Whatever the case is, don't expect China to be a
place to immigrate to but do you expect China to be
a completely different, very interesting adventure.
And I can recommend it to anybody
who wants to come over here and just experienced a
massive, big change in their lives.
Thank you for all of you who have been following my
journey over the years and thank you to
the new guys who've just sort of come on board
and started to follow.
Still a lot to come.
Still many more things to discover
and...
once again guys
You're the reason why I do these videos.
You're the reason why this "Serpentza" thing exists.
Thank you for watching
and I'll see you in the next one.
You know the drill. In fact,
Let me get some of
you guys
to sign off on this video
[crowd] - Stay Awesome!
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[Winston] - Oh and one more thing
For all the haters out there,
especially the glass hearted,
little, $0.50 Chinese guys who leave all these
Ultra-Nationalist comments down in
my comment section
you guys don't realize how much damage you're doing
to the image of China
because I do love China.
I've been making videos about China for
so long
[chuckles]
and they're neutral and
I do point out the things that I don't like about China
from time to time of course because I live here.
I've got family here.
I'm married to a Chinese national.
And so that's just the way it goes.
I know you guys can't accept any criticism,
but that is of course just
a sign of your insecurity and weakness.
And I just got to tell you to lay off because
when people read my Comments section,
people that like China.
People that are interested in China.
They read my comments section and they see this
glass hearted
piss and vinegar. You know? All these
disgusting comments that you guys leave.
You know what? Doesn't make me look bad.
It makes you look bad. It makes China
look bad, so knock it off because
all you're doing is making yourselves and China
look bad you stupid little twat.
[chuckle]
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Signing off.