Argentina Experience Record

I have been in Argentina for almost five years. As for what I do, I adhere to the fine traditions of the older generation and that is to open a supermarket. What you may not expect is that in this country with a very low international presence, there are more than 200,000 Chinese immigrants. And these are those who have obtained a residence certificate. As for those who do not have a residence certificate, the number of Chinese we call "blacks", I estimate, will be doubled. So the Chinese are really a hard-working nation. If you travel to this country one day, you will find that it is easy to find your own compatriots, and the Mandarin they speak with a Fujian accent will make you feel more at ease.

Why is this country, which was among the top three economies in the world at the beginning of the last century and whose GDP was second only to the United States and the United Kingdom in 1910, no sense of existence? In recent years, it has become a laggard due to foreign debt. country? I think if we compare Argentina to a person, he is like a declining and conservative farmer. He has land, mines, and resources, but he has no intention of making progress. While everyone was sowing seeds with drones and spraying pesticides, he still held his rusty hoe in his hand. So, Argentina is like this, conservative but unwilling to bow its head. Every day, it remembers the glory of the last century and anesthetizes its soul with alcohol. To outsiders, especially the Chinese, it has a sense of superiority, but it has never thought about it. Their ancestors, whether they came from Spain or early immigrants from European countries such as Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom, were just like the Chinese. They took root step by step, generation by generation, so that they could call themselves "locals."

Because supermarkets hire some locals to work in supermarkets, we Chinese actually learned most of our Spanish through them. Once, I asked a few workers why you people are so lazy. You worked all day today, got your wages, and immediately squandered them in the evening. Most of them were beer, or vodka mixed with energy drinks, and you drank so much that you got drunk. Now, you won’t come tomorrow and will just be absent from work. Do you plan to live like this for the rest of your life? Then most of their answers were very consistent, "We don't know what will happen tomorrow, or I will die tomorrow, why not enjoy today?" This, I feel, is the source of ideological differences between Chinese and foreigners. . Chinese people believe in the concept of family and state, so we work hard to make money, buy a house and repay the loan. We can only complain online about 996 and so on. When the alarm clock goes off the next day, we still have to face reality. And these are incredible in the eyes of Argentines, just like we are incredible to them. What they admire is the individual, so there is a saying that people should break away from the old people at the age of 18. Even if a mother and son work in the same place, shopping is AA, and each has its own business. Maybe this is the origin of the word "freedom" in Western countries.

Argentina is a country that relies heavily on imports. Because of the backwardness of local industry, many things are imported, especially electrical appliances and cosmetics. So dependent on the U.S. dollar, most things are actually priced according to the U.S. dollar exchange rate converted into pesos here. Therefore, it is normal for the world's largest country to fleece it. It is also important that it is heavily in debt and the national economy collapses. one of the sources. But in fact, if you calculate according to the exchange rate, the price of the product is converted into US dollars, and then converted into RMB. Then you search on Xbao and find that it is so cheap, almost 30% less, and some even only half after promotions. Nike, Adidas, DIOR, Chanel, and even cars are all much cheaper than in China. Therefore, if Chinese people do not consider sending money home, but earn money here and consume it here, every one of them will be a rich person. No wonder the old lady next door got drunk and called us robbers and thieves in front of the supermarket for stealing their money. Chinese people rarely spend much money here, and they save money and send it back to China. Then my hometown built a very beautiful multi-story villa, which was luxuriously decorated, but ended up being occupied by an old man and an old woman, and some of them were even left empty like that. I continue to work hard outside and follow the fine tradition of "making big money and building a big house" along the coast of Fujian.

Argentina’s e-commerce industry is extremely underdeveloped. Personally, I feel that the fault is still due to express delivery. I once bought a tempered glass film for mobile phones online. Good guy, the express delivery fee is more expensive than the glass film. That day I watched the delivery person get off the TAXI car. Of course, this is an exception. Because of the epidemic, transportation is inconvenient, which is understandable. But in normal times, the same is true. Delivery is slow, shipping costs are high, and it is normal for most areas not to deliver. The year before last, Mr. Ma from Alibaba visited here. I thought something would happen here, but nothing happened. It seemed that Mr. Ma was at his wits end.

The two most famous things in Argentina are football and barbecue. Of course, when most Chinese people hear this name, they associate it with football, Messi and Maradona. As a non-player, I only know how to eat. So let’s talk about barbecue first. Argentinians have a habit of grilling meat during festivals and weekends. At this time of year, the streets are filled with the smell of burning charcoal fire and oil dripping into the charcoal. The best barbecue in Argentina is called ‘asado’, the word itself means barbecue, but it’s beef short ribs. Then grill beef intestines, beef blood sausage, and beef tenderloin. Argentinians rarely eat fish, but some eat salmon, grilled or fried. They don't eat anything with thorns. Apart from the beef ribs on top, there is really nothing else to eat with bones, and there are very few internal organs.

This is very cheap for us Chinese. Pork belly, chicken feet, large intestine, etc. are really cheap. There is a kind of crab in Argentina called king crab, which comes from Tierra del Fuego. The taste is really amazing.