working and living in Beijing
“Hi, my name is Jiang Wan Quan, my western name is Kevin Johnson, so just call me Kevin please!”
This is 17 year old Kevin, the security guard of my apartment building. He is a very diligent door boy and every time foreigners enter the building, he uses his few words English to talk to them. That is how we got in contact and how I learned more about his life…
Being a security guard is a tough job, he has to work 12 hours a day, 30 days a month, no weekend, no day off. His monthly pay is 1.000 Yuan which is around 100 Euro. Kevin lives in an "apartment" together with the other security boys in the underground level of that building complex - four guys in each room.
His biggest dream is to become an interpreter, that is the reason why you always see him with an excercise book in his hands. For undisturbed studying he likes quiet night shifts the most. If there is time he also watches English TV, to learn more about western cultures.
Kevin’s family lives in a distant province on the countyside, which is 12 hours away by train. He has got four sisters and one twin brother and doesn’t get to see one of them very often.
The parents and his one sister work in a factory and also take care of the small piece of acre they have. Two sisters are married and his twin brother attends the high school.
I can imagine his parents were quite happy, when they received the offer from the recruitment company to give their son a job in Beijing. For them it meant one person less to feed and to take care of. Though I also think they miss him madly!
I admire Kevin’s sunny mind, how he deals with his live’s circumstances and goes straight forward with his English studies to become an interpreter. Every day I see him, I encourage him to keep up with his dream!
btw: If you want to tell him something personally, just leave a comment (with your name, country and city) and my friend Chen Guang (who lives there, too) will let Kevin know about your message…
am 9. December 2007 um 21:32 Uhr.
[...] a security guard earns 100 EUR a month (to work 84 hours per week). An assistant General Manager of an international [...]
am 26. June 2010 um 22:38 Uhr.
Hi Kevin, how are you? Did your dream come true meanwhile? Its almost 3 years ago Johannes wrote this article about you. Please hold on with your dreams and work fulfilling them. Its worth it, I can tell you, based on own experience :-).
My name is Anschela Sellschopp and I’m living in Solothurn, Switzerland and am originally from Germany. If you have internet access and want to learn more about me, I posted a portrait on orkut.
It would be nice to follow your progress. So if you can send me a message, feel free to do so.
Kind regards
Anschela