Achiever of the week: Ongeziwe Giwu

             Sep 09, 2020 | By Nqobile Mdima 

This week’s feature is Ongeziwu Giwu from South Africa. Ongeziwe holds a BSS degree from Rhodes University. She is teaching English in China. She works for a company called York in Shenzhen city. Ongeziwe moved to China because she struggled to find good paying jobs in South Africa and she has been working in China for two years. Ongeziwe doesn't regret moving to China because this opportunity has allowed her to save, take care of her dependents and travel. 

Ongeziwe shares with us how she balances working full-time, entrepreneurship and motherhood, and also how working abroad has positively impacted her life.

What made you decide to work abroad? 

Due to a lack of good paying jobs.

 Why did you choose China over the other countries? 

I was desperate for whoever would take me first, lol.  

Where did you apply for jobs?  

Teach away and Daves Cafe, those looking good recruiters can feel free to add me on WeChat (username: O_T_Giwu).

Moving abroad can be quite expensive, did you pay for all the costs yourself? How long did it take you to save for this big move? 

I was very fortune to find a school that was willing to book my flight to china, I made sure that I slayed that interview. I continued to work until I think 3 days before I left SA to ensure that I could fund the rest of my move.

 Do you regret moving to China? 

No, I will never regret coming to China. Words fails me when I try to express my  gratitude. 

 What do you wish you knew before moving to China? 

My former school’s management  was very Stella at the time, I was told everything, from strangers staring and taking photos, the crazy weather in my former city, the importance of bringing my own spices and the mannerisms here (a lack thereof)  eg: chewing and spitting. 

However, we could blog about such challenges but being here is a different story. My first month in China was a living hell all because of the culture, something I thought wouldn’t get to me because of my outgoingish personality.

How did you deal with the pain of leaving your son in your home country and moving abroad without him? 

I still battle as I often get reports that he battles too. I video call him regularly and watch him perform Bruno Mars songs and the works. He often sends me voice notes and songs, lol, it’s the cutest thing ever but it does leave my heart aching at times.

Would you ever consider moving to China with your son? 

Not a chance. While I understand people who take that step, I’d never subject him to the challenges I’ve faced here, especially at such a tender age, He’d also be super lonely when he home schools while I’m at work. And just generally lonely. He’s a social butterfly and I know that it would be very hard for him to cope here, he needs to socialize and run around. He also tends to be very sensitive and I’d probably lose it if my kid started crying because someone stared and laughed at him and that doesn’t look good for us Africans.

What have you been doing consistently to check on your son and make sure he is doing well? 

Video calls and home tasks together via video call during quarantine which allowed me to take part in his school life for a change. I also spoil him a lot (at a healthy level) to ensure that he benefits in every way possible from my stay here. 

How do you overcome homesickness and loneliness? 

I actually do not call home in those moments as I don’t want to cry over the phone and have my family sad and worried. I listen to South African music. I also cook meals that feel like home such as pap, wors (you can get them here) and home made chakalaka. 

Which APPs have been valuable to you ever since you moved to China? 

My VPN as it gives me access to all my favourite APPs, such as Quora, REddit and Facebook for Memes and keeping in touch with my friends.

You travel quite often and most of the time you travel solo, how do you plan your trips and how do you budget for everything? 

I plan everything through trip.com, as a frequent traveller I’ve unlocked a lot of hotel discounts and earned points that I can also use as discounts. I also review hotels and trips on the app and I get points for every review. There’s an option to also post pictures from my destinations and with every post I receive points.

You work full-time and earn a competitive salary, but you also have a side hustle as a Herballife Distributor. Why did you decide to have more than one stream of income? 

I love money, haha. I’m in China to save, take care of my dependents but also, explore. I’d be miserable if was only here to take care of home and merely save. I’m passionate about travelling and I had to find ways to make everything work as experiencing Asia is also very important to me. I’m also focused on building even after China so my side hustle will allow me to go home with a peace of mind. China is temporary and laws change and in some cities, those who don’t hold a degree in Education or English cannot get a work VISA. My previous city changed its by-laws in just 6 months of my stay and I knew that I had to look beyond ESL. Luckily, I could stay with my previous school as long as I wanted but I just couldn’t change schools and stay in the same city.

If someone is interested to join Herbalife as their full time career or as a side hustle, what steps should they take?

They should call me, lol. They should join herbalife as a distributor, get trained and work very hard to reach their targets as herbalife is very rewarding.

How do you manage to juggle between working full-time, managing a business and being a mother? 

You’ve probably heard this a billion times but it’s all in the sacrifices. Some sleep, that awesome party everyone is going to. Having lunch while placing orders and responding to requests and sleeping at 2AM which is 10pm in South Africa because of meetings and inquiries and just trusting in the process while you’re at it. My son is in boarding school, so I can only talk to him on the weekends.

Please list advantages and disadvantages about working abroad

Advantages

Lower crime rates in most cases, higher quality of life and the experience “A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions”. 

Disadvantages

The language barrier, different hangout/party scenes, I miss jamming to deep house at a park while braaing. 

Please list advantages and disadvantages about living in China

Advantages

Great pay, cheap travel, and the experience - “A mind that is stretched by a new experienced can never go back to it’s old dimensions”. 

Disadvantages

The culture here, needing a VPN for everything and how everyone tends to gain weight, ai!

What would you recommend as the best hacks for surviving in China as an expat, especially to those who will travel to China alone? 

Earphones everywhere you go, lol.  Should you have introverted personality traits find an escape when you get overwhelmed by the crowds. I listen to music. Be kind to yourself and treat yourself to a DiDi (uber) from time to time (should you be living in a tier 1 city where taking a DiDi is expensive). Alone time is very important as the streets tend to be always crowded. Find a new hobby, I rent and ride bikes around the city late at night.

Go home often - once or twice a year. Take an empty suitcase (fill it up with mostly presents) and come back with your SA favourites. Don’t let loneliness fool you, befriend like-minded people so that you’re not dealing with being away from AND other people. Keep busy, make money and you’ll have a healthy bank balance and eagerness to do another year as time would’ve gone by fast and you’ll become addicted to the benefits.

Go for a Monday to Friday job if you can. So that you can enjoy your weekends and be able to attend ‘foreigner-hosted’ events. I’ve also found that these people seem to be more focused and making more out of their time here in terms of business.