In the ten years abroad, too many stories have happened, and I have nothing to do, so I will share one or two.
Ten years, not long, not short, appreciate the tropical style of Southeast Asia, experience the blazing yellow sand of the Middle East, but more than that, it is the reluctance to cling to the wild continent of Africa.
I am a person who likes freedom by nature, and after I was discharged from the army, I couldn't stand the rules and regulations in the system, so I resolutely embarked on the road of going abroad, and also started my different life.
There's really not much to say about Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Southeast Asia is relatively close to home, and there are not many cultural differences, so I spent more than a year in a dull way;There is nothing to say about the Middle East, although I went to the UAE, Qatar and other tycoon countries, and did not experience any waves, the real story started from setting foot in Africa.
The first acquaintance with Africa started from Mozambique in the southeast, a Portuguese-speaking country, before the departure did a lot of strategies, from food, clothing, housing and transportation to customs and etiquette, but also raided Portuguese for a period of time, taking a Qatar Airways plane, the long journey was only excited, without a trace of sleep, until the landing did not appreciate the poverty of this country.
The airport in Maputo is not even as prosperous as the long-distance bus station in my hometown county, and the bribes demanded by customs officers, the backward airport facilities, and the language barrier have put a big question mark on my trip to Africa.
I was picked up by Matteo, the person in charge of Party A, who briefly greeted me in English and asked, "Dear sir, didn't the customs officer ask you for a tip?""I was about to ask him the same question, why did I see that all the white people in Europe and the United States were unimpeded, but only the Chinese were stopped?He gave me a meaningful smile and said, "Because you Chinese are afraid of trouble, all problems are solved with money, which has developed the habit of asking for tips when they see Chinese."
In fact, I knew this answer through the Internet in China, but I didn't want to confirm it, but it turned out that I might as well not ask. Anyway, I didn't give it, I spread my hands, I don't understand, they see that you really can't do anything if you don't give, and move on to the next goal.
My job is to install the automation equipment of the farm for the local customer, the construction period is almost two months, before I came to the customer to communicate with the customer to prepare the tools, the customer full of promise, and so I arrived at the site only to find that nothing was prepared, I had to buy the tools first, and then start the installation work, and this is also the real beginning of my nightmarish African first experience, which also experienced a test of life and death.
I don't need to explain much about the lazy work attitude of African employees, I believe that people who have been stationed in Africa have unforgettable experiences, what late and early departure, off-duty chatting are commonplace, obviously one second is still dangling in front of you, the next second I don't know to go **, and when you can't help but get angry, it will appear in front of you "boss, i am going to eat".
In desperation, I had to set a daily workload for them, and they could leave work early after completion, which improved efficiency, but it was impossible to complete it in two months.
I deliberately found the customer to explain the situation, but what I didn't expect was that he didn't care at all, and came with a "don."'t worry my friend, because this is Africa", since he said so, I can only sigh helplessly.
The rest of the days were spent in such helplessness and entanglement, until the moment that almost killed me appeared.
Africa's modernization is relatively backward, infrastructure construction is seriously backward, Mozambique is even more difficult to explain, power outages and water outages are commonplace, so I also cherish every day when there is water and electricity, after all, once there are too many water and power outages to work, and there are many such moments.
The frightened moment appeared when I debugged the equipment, that day there was no power outage, I thought about quickly debugging the system of the equipment, save the trouble in the future, when I was standing on a broken oil drum wiring, is following, suddenly feel numb all over the body, electrocution, professionals know, electric shock is not free, I want to call people, let them know that I was electrocuted but opened my mouth but could not make a sound, I thought it was over, to stay here.
At that time, a few thoughts flashed through my mind: My son is still young, what if I die of him?My mortgage, how will my wife pay it if I die?My parents are old, how can they stand me when I die?Just as my consciousness was blurring, suddenly my hands let go, and I fell off the oil drum, the back of my head hit the ground hard, and then I didn't know anything.
When I woke up in the hospital, the client was anxiously by my side, and when he saw me wake up, he was so excited that he cried, I patted his hand and told him not to worry, and after calming down, I told him what happened, and he said that he would figure out the reason.
After I was discharged from the hospital, I didn't go to work immediately, but I had to do an important thing, which was to write a will, yes, a will.
I explained what I said to my wife and children, my regrets, bank card passwords, and the location of my private money, and sent it to my lover's friend on WeChat, telling her that if there was a case, I would convey my will to my lover.
The next day I went to the construction site to understand the situation I knew that I had picked up a life, when I wired the workers outside was also wiring, they did not have insulating tape, they threw it away, the bare wire was thrown on the edge of the oil drum under my feet, and just the sole of the shoe was worn out to expose the sole of the foot, and there was just no leakage switch, all the factors that triggered the electric shock were available, but also because their wiring technique was too clumsy, and the line was disconnected when working, which allowed me to pick up a life.
Since then, I have to wear protective shoes when I work, and when the objective conditions cannot be guaranteed, I can only take measures to protect myself.
The days of going on to work passed quickly, and the day of the end of the project was coming soon. Parting is sad for everyone, and before leaving, I invited them to a meal, and although I couldn't understand what the other person said most of the time, I could feel their reluctance. There is no such thing as a feast, and I am about to leave for my next stop, Nigeria, West Africa.
But what I didn't expect was that the most dangerous journey of the African trip was waiting for me, it was a test 10,000 times more dangerous than in Mozambique, terrorist groups, robbers, landmines, howitzers, escapes from death, a journey more exciting than the movie was about to begin.
To be continued.