Moving Up in the World

A Tale of Vision, Visas and Very Small Victories

In late 2017, I left my comfortable and stable job as a teacher for the blockchain industry. I had, quite frankly, become extremely bored with teaching and wanted to explore the world a bit. I could transfer my visa from being a teacher to the new company, I was told.

Super easy, I was told.

No problem at all, I was told.

Blockchain was the future, I was told.

Not so easy. My teaching company forced me to pay a massive, illegal fine for them to release my contract. They even spoke to my landlord and cancelled my housing so I had to find a new apartment.

As it turns out, blockchain wasn’t the most reliable industry in the world — in fact, it might have been the least stable choice possible. When I left the company, they still owed me about three or four months of salary. I’m typing this on the computer I stole from the office, on the day I left.

It was the same day I met my wife. June 1st, 2018. A day to remember.

However, by this point my finances were running low, and because the company was going under I couldn’t transfer my work visa there, and it was almost expired. I had to go to Hong Kong to get a tourist visa, but I was told that my passport was “too damaged” — it was eight or nine years old. So, I had to go to the consulate to get a new passport, but the nearest appointment was about two weeks away.