这些人无奈逃离美国:我到中国后生活变得好多了,为什么要回去?(组图)
现年39岁的美国男子查得·奥尔布赖特(Chad Albright),8年前(2011年)买了张单程机票,从宾夕法尼亚来到中国广东中山。把他当时欠下的3万美元学生贷款,抛在了身后。
(图 viaFacebook)
当时年届三十的奥尔布赖特,从宾夕法尼亚州米勒斯维尔大学公共关系专业毕业,已经有3年了。
由于2008年爆发的次贷危机,奥尔布赖特在2007年毕业后的几年中始终无法找到稳定的工作。
He told the Record that during interviews he would hear the same thing:'Sorry, there's someone who's been doing this for 10 years and just lost their job. I have to go with someone who has 10 years' experience.'
他在接受《纽约每日纪事报》采访时表示,在面试中他总会听到同样的话:“对不起,有个人做这行已经10年了,刚刚丢了工作。我得找一个有10年工作经验的人。
▲Public relations graduate, 39, who fled to China in 2011 to escape his $30,000 student loan debt claims the U.S. is a 'debtors' prison' and says 'college ruined my life'(viadailymail.co.uk)
由于无法获得持续的收入,他因而无法偿还上大学期间欠下的3万美元学生贷款。巨额贷款把他的生活逼入窘境。
而奥尔布赖特当初在25岁大龄拼命考入大学的初衷,可是为了改善生活啊。
父亲是铁路工人,母亲是美容师,从未上过大学的父母,认为他们的儿子奥尔布赖特要是考上大学,便会有唾手可得的工作机会,前程似锦的快意人生。
Albright said he worked full-time at a local pizza place after high school in order to save up to go to college and, at age 25, he enrolled at Millersville University in Millersville, Pennslyvania. Being older than most students, Albright said he was ostracized by his classmates and found it difficult to balance coursework and continuing to work full-time.
奥尔布赖特说他高中毕业后在当地一家披萨店做全职工作,攒钱上大学,25岁时,他进入了宾夕法尼亚州米勒斯维尔大学。由于奥尔布赖特比大多数学生都年长,他被同学排斥,也很难在学业和继续全职工作之间找到平衡。
Once the bills began piling up, he took out student loans and thought he would find a job after graduation and be able to pay the loans back.
账单开始堆积,他于是申请了学生贷款,并认为自己毕业后会找到工作,有能力偿还贷款。
"I wanted that diploma, and I was willing to work for it. Everyone always told me it would be worth it," Albright told theRecord.
“我想要那张文凭,我愿意为之努力。每个人都告诉我这是值得的,”奥尔布赖特告诉《纽约每日纪事报》。
Instead, Albright said he continued delivering pizzas and applying for jobs in public relations. He moved back in with his parents and fell behind on student loan payments.
然而,(大学毕业后的)奥尔布赖还是继续送披萨,并应聘公共关系方面的工作。他搬回父母家,拖欠了学生贷款。
"I was expected to make a $400 loan payment every month, but I had no money, no sustainable income. College ruined my life," Albright told the newspaper.
“我每个月要偿还400美元的贷款,但我没有钱,没有持续的收入。大学毁了我的生活,”奥尔布赖特告诉这家报纸。
▲WITH $30K IN STUDENT LOANS AND NO JOB, PENNSYLVANIA MAN JOINS OTHER GRADUATES BY LEAVING U.S. TO AVOID DEBT(via newsweek.com)
查得·奥尔布赖特2007年12月从米勒斯维尔大学毕业(图 viaydr.com)
2007年奥尔布赖特毕业时,他欠下的学生贷款有3万美元。而根据福布斯的数据,2017年,大学毕业生欠下的学生贷款人均达3.71万美元。
Student loan debt statistics, reported in the first quarter of 2018 by the Federal Reserve, indicate that $1.52 trillion is owed from individuals who borrowed money for college. Over 44 million people owe money on their student loans and 10.7 percent are in default on their loans, meaning payments are over 90 days late.
美国联邦储备委员会公布的2018年第一季度学生贷款债务统计数据显示,美国有1.52万亿美元的债务来自为上大学而借钱的个人。超过4400万人欠下学生贷款的债务,10.7%的人拖欠贷款,这意味着他们拖欠还款超过90天。
▲WITH $30K IN STUDENT LOANS AND NO JOB, PENNSYLVANIA MAN JOINS OTHER GRADUATES BY LEAVING U.S. TO AVOID DEBT(via newsweek.com)
转机源于奥尔布赖特偶然看到的一段CNN采访。采访中,一位女士向CNN谈论她在中国香港教孩子英语的经历。
“She said, ‘I have no desire to return back home,’” Albright recalled. “That’s when I started looking into teaching overseas.”
“她说,‘我不想回家,’”奥尔布赖特回忆道。“从那时起,我开始考虑在海外教书。”
With his parents’ blessing, Albright decided to make the big move in 2011, when he was $30,000 in debt, and began teaching English in the city of Zhongshan.
2011年,在父母的祝福下,他做了一个大决定,到了中国在中山市教英语,当时他负债3万美元。
He only earned about $1,000 a month, he said, but it was enough to cover his rent and he was still able to enjoy his income because the cost of living in China is so low compared to back home.
他说,他一个月只挣1000美元左右,但这已经足够支付房租了,而且他仍然能够凭借自己的这份收入享受生活,因为与美国相比,中国的生活成本太低了。
“Things I never got the chance to do in America because of my student debt,” Albright said. “My life was so much better once I left. Why would I ever go back?”
奥尔布赖特说:“由于欠了学生贷款,我在美国时很多事情都没机会尝试,在中国我有机会做了。我离开美国后,生活变得好多了。我为什么要回去呢?”
Albright did eventually go back to the US, but only to visit his mother.
奥尔布赖特最终还是回了趟美国,但只是去看望他的母亲。
And after a few years teaching in China, he moved to Ukraine, where he now is a permanent resident and working in sales.
在中国教书几年后,他搬到了乌克兰,现在是那里的永久居民,从事销售工作。
▲College grad flees US to avoid crippling student loan debt(via New York Post)
(图 vianypost.com)
而奥尔布赖特并非唯一一个为了躲避学生贷款欠下的债务而逃离美国的人。美国高昂的生活成本,加上偿还学生贷款,对一些人来说负担太重了。
"I have a higher standard of living in a Third World country than I would in America, because of my student loans," Chad Haag, a Colorado native who moved to India, said.
“由于我的学生贷款,我在美国的生活水平比不上我在第三世界国家的生活水平,”搬到印度的科罗拉多州人查德·哈格说道。
Haag graduated in 2011 with $20,000 in debt. Though he told CNBC he knows his debt is less than most Americans, being unable to make a living wage meant that the debt he accrued is "devastating."
哈格2011年毕业时负债2万美元。尽管他告诉CNBC,他知道自己的债务比大多数美国人都少,但他入不敷出,那这债务就是“毁灭性”的了。
Katrina Williams, another graduate who currently lives in Japan, said her $700 a month student loan bill required her to take on multiple jobs.
另一位目前居住在日本的毕业生卡特里娜·威廉姆斯说,她每月700美元的学生贷款账单要求她从事多份工作。
"I was working every day. I had enough money left over to put gas in the car," Williams told CNBC, adding that she lived with her mother and couldn't afford health insurance.
“我每天都在工作。我剩下的钱只够给汽车加油,”威廉姆斯在接受CNBC采访时说道。她还补充说,她和母亲住在一起,买不起医疗保险。
Williams moved to Japan to teach English in 2015 and said that she has considered moving back home, but knows that if she does she will be hit with wage garnishment and collection calls. Her student loan debt is now over $100,000.
威廉姆斯在2015年移居日本教授英语,她说她考虑过搬回美国,但她知道,一旦她回去了,她面对的就会是工资遭扣押还有不停的催款电话。她的学生贷款债务现在已经超过10万美元。
Albright, who now lives in Ukraine, said he doesn't think about his student loan debt and told theRecordhe hasn't checked his loan balance in eight years.
现在住在乌克兰的奥尔布赖特说,他不曾考虑自己的学生贷款债务,并告诉《纽约每日纪事报》,他已经八年没有核对过自己的贷款债务了。
"I miss a lot of things. Of course I miss my family, I miss the country I grew up in, I miss watching football with friends. Everything American, you know, I miss," Albright told CNBC, "The only thing I don't miss is our stupid educational system."
“我错过了很多东西。我当然想念我的家人,想念我成长的国家,想念和朋友一起观看足球比赛。你知道,我怀念美国的一切,”奥尔布赖特告诉CNBC,“我唯一不怀念的是我们愚蠢的教育体系。”
▲WITH $30K IN STUDENT LOANS AND NO JOB, PENNSYLVANIA MAN JOINS OTHER GRADUATES BY LEAVING U.S. TO AVOID DEBT(via newsweek.com)
(图 viaReuters)
不过,尽管奥尔布赖特没有打算回到美国,但他仍旧希望学生贷款体系可以有所调整,还希望他的案例能在美国引起关注和讨论。
“I want this to get the attention of my congressional and Senate leaders,”Albright said.“This is a huge issue, and it seems our government would rather go to war with Iran than fix a serious issue that’s affecting 50 million Americans. That’s what disgusts me.”
奥尔布赖特说:“我希望这能引起国会和参议院官员们的注意。这是一个很大的问题,我们的政府似乎宁肯与伊朗开战,也不愿解决一个影响5000万美国人的严重问题。这就是我讨厌的地方。”
▲‘Like a debtors’ prison’: American who fled to CHINA from $30k in student loans(via rt.com)
对这些为躲避学生贷款债务而逃离美国的人,网友是批评有之,同情有之,“一言难尽”亦有之。
@JoelW164
But it is known to be that way, so right or wrong, this person WILLINGLY took to loan so is 100% responsible for repayment. Its called being an adult. Nobody forced anybody to take any loan.
但大家都知道,不管对错,这个人愿意贷款,所以他有100%的责任偿还。这就叫成年人。没有人强迫任何人接受任何贷款。
@Soramata634
If I were a candidate for the next president of USA, I would make their loan debt "zero."
如果我是美国下一任总统的候选人,我会让他们的贷款债务清“零”。
@Fatback33
My son witnessed many fellow students that bought gaming systems with loan money. They enrolled in the minimum hours to be considered a full time student and didn't miss a party or spring break trip. Most did not graduate and the ones that did were on the five to six year plan. My son worked during school and full time during the summers graduating in four years. I feel for these loan students but I would feel really bad for my son who worked his rear off and graduated in the least amount of time to lower the cost of the degree.
我儿子看到很多同学用贷款购买游戏系统。他们勉强修完全日制学习要求的最低学分,却不错过任何一场派对或者春假旅行。大多数人没有毕业,而那些毕了业的都用了五到六年时间。我儿子在校其间也工作,暑假做全职工作,在四年内毕业。我很同情这些被贷款所累的学生,但是我也为我儿子难过,他拼命工作,为了少交点学费,他在最短时间内就毕业了。
您怎么看这些为躲避学生贷款欠债而逃离美国的人?欢迎留言分享你的观点~