Haha...My Japanese classmates are all govt officials! They just have to go back no matter what:)
We are asking for a lot too haha. Like what you said, who knows what will happen...We'd better not think too much about it then...

That's definitely good for you...it's pathetic that we overseas chinese students have to consider so many factors before making a decision of returning back or not...since China's societal system is still very incomplete and unstable which can cause lots of trouble to individuals...while for Japanese students, they usually don't need to think much before going back since 1)english is too poor to enable them to communicate regularly 2)Japan has a comparably attractive working/life environment for them...

We always have to compromise this or that no matter we choose to go back or stay....is there any place where we can both have America's good/neat social system/structure and have East Asian/Confucius culture ...the place that really fits our demand/background/condition so that we can fully leverage our strengths??? :)

gougou, I am sure your experience in the US over past two years has been really rewarding..I would love to hear your stories when we get a chance. I think life is really about experiencing:)

Liwen, I can see why you feel constrained here...However, I do appreciate the work ethics and professionalism more here. Better for your kids too haha. For me, I don't have that many choices...I will just probably have to go back next year...

Thanks girls:) I am leaning towards staying here again...
Reasons are: 1) I do get to practice English a bit more, which is surprising/pathetic coz I didn't feel much so when I interned for Tudor. 2) My personality, which probably needs improvement no matter where I work, still suits here better. 3) I get easily contented by any interesting cultural experience I encountered here. 4) I call home more when I am here. I am thinking my family/relatives will all be able to come if I settle here a bit more. 5) although I will have comparative advantage of speaking English after I go back, my English is probably not good enough to actually make it really valuable; primarily coz my writing is not that good. However, my Chinese is mediocre enough to make it my comparative disadvantage.
The only thing is that I do feel lonely here after my friends are gone one after another.

I kinda agree what Gougou said...but life/work here might be more balanced (actually not..I worked till 1am last night..holy cow)..peer pressure is much less in this country...with similar range of salary (not in absolute amount), life in the US can be much more decent than in China...but in the US I always feel I can only work on a tiny bite of the whole corporate machine..and I cannot leverage all of my strength and interest and passion due to 1)language 2)gap 3)personality...but who knows things will change in China...there is always trade off here and there...in China you might be able to work on sth you are really good at but have to confront complex interpersonal relations etc. ... but since dw is here I'll simply keep status quo...
who knows what will happen tomorrow? Sometimes just follow your heart and insist what you believe is true...
For me, I think if I am really really aggressive and wanna work on sth I am really passionate and good at, I must go back to China.... Life/work here will gradually transform me to be a passive person who just accepts the reality ... opportunities in the US are much less than in China..and language/culture/personality are just killing ppl who look for passion in work....

跟你相反诶，我觉得这阵子我有强烈的想回国的愿望（表征不明显，更多的是潜意识里的）。说想回国也不准确，确切的说我是需要一个vacation。突然意识到来美国两年多了我一点儿都没停下来过，累了，很累很累（尤其是身体，老了）。我现在同时在作两份工，可能还要再接第三份，且平时还见缝插针地跟两边学校代课（即便这样也是勉强make a living,完全谈不上make money）。我不是不想争取留下来，但我现在唯一坚持熬下去的动力就是1月中opt到期后我可以休息一下。。。。
另，像我现在的状态，说白了没有啥生活质量可言，回国了不出意外条件肯定比在这儿好，想留下来纯粹是为了给自己多一些经历和锻炼。那些抱着回去作威作福心态的人士，难道留在这儿就能轮着他们鱼肉别人啦？在这儿混和回国跳楼哪个更高尚一点？
我觉得对我来说，回国最大的挑战是价值观的不同，貌似我的价值观已然不符合国内的形式和majority的想法了。不是说我的价值观和美国人民就一致了，也差大发了，关键是这里自由，少有人会用他们的价值观value你甚至要改造你。
anyways，我觉得想要磨练的话，哪里都一样，关键还是心态，我不care majority，做自己想做的就好。

哦，朱晶你也是在一家咨询公司吧？还是很多人回去的，毕竟国内机会多，但是也有人说形势一般。我其实也没啥选择，还是得做好回国的打算。。。其实是件好事，我必须回国磨练一下哈哈。

你肯定能找到的，放心。加油！

国内还是有很多机会的……我现在的公司很多小海归的。

我迷惘的说，我是随缘型的，没啥计划。呜呜。还是要为你加油。

加油！你行的！