Becoming Version 2.0

By Kai E Yaniz and Robert Yaniz Jr.

The next day after I stood in the restroom stall quaking in anger, I was asked a question that would change everything. This isn't the tale of what happened before I left for China. This is the story of what happened because of China. This is the story of how I became version 2.0. This is the true telling of living in China and traveling in Australia and how the experiences and the people I encountered enhanced my life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kai E Yaniz
• Release date: Mar 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781912924110

Book preview

Yaniz

Dedicated to my husband: the one who was with me from the beginning of this journey and encouraged me to write about it.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE

COPYRIGHT

DEDICATION

PRELUDE

CHAPTER 1

The Journey to China

Wuhan, China

I Dream of China

Don’t Yank Me From the Yangtze

Getting My Teach On

Chapter 2

Isolation

Chinese Lessons

Emerging Shock

Watery Field Trip

Hilarious One-Liners

Wuhan Adventures

My Health vs China

Chapter 3

Beijing Exploration

The Opposite Sex

Swan Song

Post-Departure Blues

ASSUMPTIONS

Cold Within My Bones

Choosy Selection

Winding Down

WWE (Withdrawal from Western Entertainment)

Saying Thanks

Holidays and Homesickness

Pretty Little Packaging

Replacing China

Chapter 4

Escape From China

Chapter 5

Paradise Found

Risky Business

HOSTELLING IT

The Road More or Less Travelled

New Year, New Beginning

Inhabiting Habits

Chapter 6

Broke and Happy

Waiting It Out

The Great Dive

Surviving and Playing Internationally

Bussing It

Dingoes and More

Wrapping It Up

Beach Me

EPILOGUE

Image Gallery

About the author

Prelude

I was in the restroom quaking in anger. My body was directly in front of the door as if to block someone from coming in and seeing me in my weak state. As soon as the stall door closed, I was sobbing. My eyes began to hurt once the tears poured down. I couldn’t believe it. I was crying at work again. It had happened before but not like this. I knew the time had come for me to leave.

The frustration began at my desk earlier in the day when poor departmental organization, an overworked and underpaid staff, and subtle corporate torture drove me into the restroom, which would drastically transform the remainder of my year, my friendships, and my life.

I was asked to take on a task which I found ridiculous and a waste of my resources. It wasn’t related to any of my specific job functions. In fact, I hadn’t had specific job functions for a few weeks. The management didn’t know what to do with the increase of new departmental work. So employees had been randomly assigned responsibilities with little point or structure in the meantime. I believe I was asked to do these tasks because my attitude at the time (I was in the bathroom crying, for goodness’ sake) was irritable, sarcastic, and not acting as a team player. Ultimately, this convinced my supervisors I should take on minute jobs with no regard to my skills or capabilities. To be fair, I now readily admit I was not a good person to work with. I would contest points simply to be difficult, came across as demanding, and behaved as what can only be described as a complainer. However, my feelings for my work has remained the same for years, regardless of the actual position I was holding. This particular department had yielded some of my most aggressive reactions to date, especially compared to the passive, agreeable persona I had adopted over the years. I was tired and could no longer pretend I was pleased with what was going within corporate management and customer service relations.

With hot tears streaming down my face and the certainty that someone would notice the red rims under my eyes, I decided I was quitting. In that moment, so many thoughts stirred around inside me. The guy I was dating who insisted on keeping the relationship casual, possibly indefinitely. The general sense of discontentment with my life as a whole. Rather than just a piece or two missing, I realized the puzzle that my life had become had been almost completely thrown off course. It was out of balance, and it needed to be changed. Fast.

Plastering a fake smile on my face, I finally exited the restroom ready to plunge into the remainder of my day. It was easy to act like nothing happened. After all, it’s an act I had all but perfected. This is the skill of compartmentalization. The more miserable a person is, the easier it is to compartmentalize. This was my reasoning, at least. It was a Thursday, and I had that Friday off. So, after work, I went to the bookstore, convinced that all my problems could be cured.

That’s when I spied the book Escape from Cubicle Nation. Well, I decided to purchase it after skimming the first chapter. It described every emotion I was experiencing towards my work. Reading it, my hand almost burst in the air in ferocity like a silent protest. In hindsight, that’s truly what it was: a protest from early-morning wake-ups, bitter coffee, office politics, and an egregious lack of integrity in customer relations.

That very night I tore through my newfound guidebook, making sure to do every exercise and soaking in every word with renewed zeal.

The next day, my mom and I were driving over to visit my sister, and I couldn’t resist the chance to share my thoughts toward work and my exhaustion with the corporate game. Thankfully, I had more than enough in savings to support myself for a certain amount of time, in the event that  I didn’t find an alternative source of income. I tossed around ideas, such as creating my own website to spotlight  my writing. My mom -- and ultimately my sister -- gave me their honest feedback, both fearful but supportive of the crossroads I found myself facing.That’s when my mom asked me a question that would change everything.

Kai, remember when you wanted to be a teacher? What happened to that?

And so it begins.

Chapter 1

The Journey to China

Timing is everything. A domino effect that falls as fast as it starts. The relationship you don’t start, the friend you don’t meet, and the plane you don’t catch. This isn’t the tale of what happened before I left for China. This is the story of what happened because of China.

One month exactly after I quit my corporate job and only two days after my going-away dinner, consisting of twenty friends and family, the day arrived to step onto the tarmac.

The airplane pulled up to the runway in Wuhan, China. I dashed out as soon as I could. I was grateful I made it, even though I was terrified simply being there.

A mere 48 hours earlier, I felt nauseated the night before the big trip. The length of the flight, the uncertainty of going international and the world of change ahead of me coalesced to create an overwhelming dread and even self-doubt. To top it all off, I have never liked Chinese food.

The journey started at Orlando International Airport, where a string of layovers would send me to exotic places like North Carolina and New York before the international leg kicked in. The weather was terribly rainy in North Carolina, delaying my first flight and creating a domino effect that threw off my entire itinerary. There was still a chance I could make it on time, were it not for the complexity of international travel through John F. Kennedy International Airport.

When my flight finally left the JFK tarmac, I had only one hour until the international flight. For some reason, I thought there would be enough time to exchange my United States dollars for Chinese yuan before takeoff. Clearly, I misjudged my ability to manage the life of an global jet-setter, seeing as I had only just become one. To this day, I wonder why I chose an airport with particularly horrible exchange rates. Maybe subconsciously I was procrastinating before the Big Bad flight.

At JFK, the international flights are across the street in an entirely separate terminal, with airlines traveling in seemingly every direction around the world. As I walked into the unknown space, it was overwhelming, and I had no clue where to go. The line for security was unbelievably long, as people everywhere hugged their loved ones goodbye.

By the time I spotted my airline, the ticket counter had closed. My heart sunk in despair. This wasn’t a good start to my travels. Of course, I had missed flights before, but with domestic flights, the stakes weren’t nearly so high.

My arrival was delayed by a day, all because I was 10 minutes late. On the bright side, my cell phone service was kept on for one day longer than I expected. This silver lining allowed me to update my family, speak with friends one last time, contact my soon-to-be employers (more on that shortly), and become that much more self-sufficient. Was it worth the extra costs involved? That’s another matter entirely.

One of these costs involved spending the night in a shady motel right near the airport, though that wasn’t the original plan.

While on the phone with my dad, I explained my approach.

So I missed my flight. To make sure I catch the plane, I am going to sleep at the airport, I said, awkwardly leaning up to sole available plug where my phone was charging.

You are going to sleep at the airport? he reasoned with me. I will tell you that JFK Airport is very restless. Spend the money for a motel. You do not want to sleep at the airport. Trust me.

A few minutes after getting off the phone with my dad, I decided he was right and dragged my two bulky suitcases to the closest motel within shuttle distance.

The winning motel was about as decent as I could find a night before my flight for $99 a night in New York City. Although the hotel clerk was nice, I did worry that there was a slight possibility that I would be murdered in my sleep. I turned on the television, and there was the Playboy channel. I turned the channel as fast as I could.

Okay, I left it on for a couple of minutes out of curiosity.

The next morning, I headed promptly to the airport to ensure I would be ready to board my flight. On time, for once.During my flight delay, I had reserved a whole new trip, found my way around the airport, and made some new friends. Everything was starting to come together at last. Really, as long as the end goal is met, it isn’t worth stressing about the minor obstacles you’ll encounter along the way.

As I waited, well ahead of schedule, for the second round, I felt more ready than ever to board the plane that would forever change my life. The 13-hour flight  to Shanghai that I initially