Odd thing happened at a Chinese resteraunt...

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Bantam

Member
May 23, 2003
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I love Asian food, and I go to an asian resteraunt of some kind on almost a daily basis. Tonight, I got up the nerve to ask the waitress about herself. She is 23, came from southeast China just a few weeks ago, and is working in a chinese resteraunt in the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin. She learned English in China (not very good at it yet, but good enough to communicate this much), and plans on going back to China.

She became anxious when I began asking about her visa/green card/whatever, or how she found out about a job opening in the middle of nowhere ("My friend" she replied).

Knowing this much about the communist Chinese government - that emmigration and immigration are strongly controlled, that they generally don't like anyone leaving the country for any reason, that the people they do allow to leave have to sign papers to the effect that they're part of the Red Army (thus claiming amnesty in any country would be useless, as military personnel are sent back) or their family is kept behind and would be hurt or killed if the person leaving the country tried anything funny - why is she here? How did she get here? Why isn't she staying? Why do I ALWAYS see her, along with the rest of the staff of that resteraunt, there, any time of day, every day? Why is every chinese resteraunt in this blasted town like this?

I've known alot of Chinese people at my university here on educational visas - they always acted really weird when I asked more about their situations before their enrollment in school. One of them I considered a close friend, and he still wouldn't share that much about the time.


So what's the deal? Can anyone shed any light at all? Are these workers being mistreated, amongst other things?


Thanks
 
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Amorphus

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2003
5,561
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maybe they have personal matters, eh? you're a STRANGER, asking about PERSONAL INFORMATION.

emigration/immigration isn't that strictly controlled, dude. have you been reading 60s literature, or what?
 
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Bantam

Member
May 23, 2003
36
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Additionally, it's not like I was asking if she was married or had kids or anything else. And this still does not solve the riddle of my friend at the university.

Instead of making pointless posts, try posting something useful, please?
 
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dighn

Lifer
Aug 12, 2001
22,820
4
81
immigration isn't really that tightly controlled. the government just doesn't like people coming to north america then disappear and claim "refugee" status by lying that they are persecuted by the government - it happens often.
 
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OulOat

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2002
5,769
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Um, it's not nearly as bad as you make it out to be. No one I know is sensitive to that info. I've asked plenty of immigrants, both from Russia and China, and they have no trouble spilling the beans. And no, they were not required to signed docs saying they were a part of the Red Guard. They do talk mention a lot of bad stuff in their homelands, mostly deriving from poverty, but the interesting thing is most of them want to go back once they are rich.
 
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AvesPKS

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2000
4,729
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Heh...I'm taking a city planning course with 26 chinese students/bureaucrats. It's always funny to hear "how they do it in China." We were talking about how new road building is planned, and what models are used to predict population shifts. Their solution: "In China, we tell the people where to move, and then we build the roads there."

Back on topic, though, I keep wondering which student is the spy and is checking up to make sure the others aren't getting to Westernized. I have my suspicions.
 
J

JoeKing

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
10,641
1
81
they might be smuggled immigrants brought across the Canadian border via fishing ships, forced to work off debt from the trip. Sort of like indentured servants <-just watched the Traffic mini series. But it's a possiblity
 
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Bantam

Member
May 23, 2003
36
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0
Originally posted by: dighn
...that they are persecuted by the government - it happens often.
Click to expand...


I guess refusing the freedoms of speech, religion, keeping and bearing arms, reproduction, and the long list of other rights the Chinese government infringes upon isn't persecution, then?

 
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dighn

Lifer
Aug 12, 2001
22,820
4
81
Originally posted by: Bantam
Originally posted by: dighn
...that they are persecuted by the government - it happens often.
Click to expand...


I guess refusing the freedoms of speech, religion, keeping and bearing arms, reproduction, and the long list of other rights the Chinese government infringes upon isn't persecution, then?
Click to expand...

you make it sound like most chinese people actually care. you know something, the only thing ppl care about is money. that is the only reason why most chinese want to immigrate to north america - more money therefore better life. just an example, my dad had a friend who remained here by claiming refugee status saying he was persecuted by his religion or some bs like that, it's laughable. i'd say most of the so called political refugees from china are illegitimate, just taking advantage of the system and common misconceptions.

oh btw my family immigrated here just fine, we didn't have to sign any papers saying we were part of the red army..
 
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IamElectro

Golden Member
Jul 15, 2003
1,470
0
76
Maybe she has a visa but is not allowed to work and was scared when you asked. My girlfriend works at an asian resturant around here and several foreign students work there. They have student visas and are legally not supposed to work.

Then again maybe shes not supposed to be here at all.
 
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fredtam

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2003
5,694
2
76
Indentured servants is likely. They could possibly be repaying a the cost to come here. They may also choose the restuarant out of a lack of other skills and an the inability to speak english.

I hired a guy from Guatemala a few years back. He spoke no english. Luckily I speak a little spanish and my foreman spoke it fluently. Turns out he had entered into a contract to pay back $10000 for his trip to the US. If he did not keep up his end of the contract his family would be harmed. They required him to live in a trailer with 7 others in the same situation and he had to pay $650 a month to live there. The trailer rented for about $500 a month so the guy that supllied housing made a killing. He also had his wife cook for them and acted as a job scout. He never complained once about the hours we worked (12-16h/day average) because he really needed the money.
 
0roo0roo

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
Originally posted by: Amorphus
maybe they have personal matters, eh? you're a STRANGER, asking about PERSONAL INFORMATION.

emigration/immigration isn't that strictly controlled, dude. have you been reading 60s literature, or what?
Click to expand...

bingo, stalker, weirdo, etc all come to mind. at the very least overly nosy. enough to clam up most peep.
 
rh71

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
If I were any of the people you were asking, I'd tell you to mind your own business. I mean, you just started talking to her and you ask how she got here like some suspicious person. What kind of reaction would you expect a foreigner to give ?
 
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TommyVercetti

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2003
7,623
1
0
Originally posted by: Bantam
Originally posted by: dighn
...that they are persecuted by the government - it happens often.
Click to expand...


I guess refusing the freedoms of speech, religion, keeping and bearing arms, and the long list of other rights the Chinese government infringes upon isn't persecution, then?
Click to expand...

I must have met 1000 people who have migrated from various countries. NOT a single one ever migrated for those reasons. They migrate for one thing, money, which brings a better life. Someone has been filling you with bogus propaganda along the same lines of "They are attacking us because they hate our freedom"
 
Analog

Analog

Lifer
Jan 7, 2002
12,755
3
0
She comes from a repressive regime where you never know who you're talking with and how it will be used against you. No wonder she didn't!!
 
Pliablemoose

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
0
56
She's probably doing the indentured servant gig. The long hours prob don't bother her because she's accustomed to them from China, & she's prob happy cuz she's not doing manual labor & she's living in the US.



Why do I ALWAYS see her, along with the rest of the staff of that restaurant, there, any time of day, every day?
Click to expand...

Dude, you stalk Chinese restaurants? She's prob wondering why you're stalking her:Q
 
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