No regrets ninety-two

Chapter 784 Heaven or Hell?

It is not an easy task to find someone in the huge New York City.

Especially when Mi Li still only has a mailing address half a year ago.

In order to help Ma Li, Wu Xiaozheng had to ask He Shiyuan for help again.

In terms of finding people, no one should be better than him.

"This address is in the Harlem district in the north of Uptown, Manhattan Island. It's one of the messiest places in New York! How about it, I'll send someone to take you to find it together."

After reading the address, He Shiyuan first told the two of them some bad news.

Manhattan is a long and narrow island, which is divided from south to north into three large areas: Downtown (lower city), Midtown (midtown) and Uptown (upper city).

The most famous one is naturally Downtown.

Downtown is the financial and business district of New York. Most of the headquarters of American financial institutions and major consortiums are located in this area.

The famous Wall Street and Chinatown are all in this area.

Midtown (Midtown) is the business district of New York.

For example, the famous Times Square is in this area.

The Columbia University where Ma Li went to is also in this area, but the contact address shows that her classmate does not live in this area, but in Uptown (uptown).

Uptown (uptown) in the northern part of Manhattan Island.

The commercial atmosphere of Uptown is not as strong as that of Downtown and Midtown. The functions of this area are mainly residence, leisure, education and so on.

Also, this is a more complex area.

On the east and west sides of Central Park in Uptown, it is divided into two areas, called "Upper East Side" and "Upper West Side".

This is one of the famous wealthy residential areas in New York.

From the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and further north, is the Harlem area that Ma Li is looking for.

One step back is heaven, one step further is hell.

This sentence can't be more appropriate to describe Uptown (uptown).

This is because the Harlem district is one of the famous slums in New York, and it is only one step away from the Upper East Side and Upper West Side where the rich live.

Harlem is also famous for being one of the birthplaces of American street culture.

This also means that Harlem is one of New York's black enclaves.

He Shiyuan said that this place is a little messy because of this.

For the convenience of Wu Xiaozheng and Ma Li, He Shiyuan not only sent someone to lead the way for him, but also specially arranged a Lincoln car.

"Uncle Wu, my name is Lin Kun, you can just call me Xiao Kun."

One of He Shiyuan's apprentices was in charge of leading the two of them.

In terms of age, he should be a little older than Ma Lidu, but in terms of seniority, he has to be honestly called Uncle Wu Xiaozheng.

Ma Li asked curiously: "Xiao Kun, is Harlem really that messy?"

"It's really messy."

Xiao Kun began to introduce the two of them.

"Harlem is where blacks and Latin Americans live, and some international students with relatively poor conditions will also rent houses there."

Foreign students with relatively poor conditions?
Could it be that my classmates are not doing as well here as they said in the letter?
Ma Li remembered that her classmate bragged about New York as a paradise in the letter, and she lived a very happy life here.

But now that Xiao Kun said this, Ma Li couldn't help but mutter.

"You know, the education of blacks and Latinos is very problematic. A considerable part of them are very ill-educated."

"Also, the attitude of blacks and Latinos here towards Asians is very problematic, with strong hostility. It is fine during the day, and generally there is not much security risk, but at night, the streets are full of You're a rambunctious little bastard, you should be more careful when you go out alone."

This made Mary even more uneasy.

She began to worry about the safety of her classmates.

She asked again: "Isn't there a Chinatown in the lower city? Why don't those foreign students live in Chinatown?"

Even Wu Xiaozheng could answer this question for her.

After all, he went to Chinatown with He Shiyuan and learned a little about the living conditions of Chinese in New York.

In terms of living conditions, the current Chinatown is not as good as Harlem. The houses are small and old, and they are expensive.

Basically, the Chinese who came earlier, those with better conditions, such as He Shiyuan, have already moved out of Chinatown, leaving only some industries there.

The reason for this is still related to the past Chinese in China.

In this era, there is a hot word called "smuggling".

The main reason for the smuggling craze is naturally the craze for going abroad.

In this era when everyone is proud of going abroad, actually going abroad is not an easy task.

Especially for those from ordinary families who do not understand foreign languages, it is basically impossible to get a visa to go abroad.

Therefore, for those who sharpen their heads and want to go abroad, the only way to get out is to smuggle.

In the area of ​​Guangdong and Fujian, people from whole villages often smuggle out through smugglers.

The days of smuggling out were not so easy.

Because they are smugglers, these people belong to black households without identity. Once they are found by the police on the street, they will be sent back to the country immediately.

Therefore, Chinatown has become a sanctuary for these people.

These people hide here and live with difficulty.

If you are lucky, you can find a low-paying job in Chinatown, and then you can live a little better.

Those who are unlucky or have a heavy burden live a miserable life. Some people rent a balcony, which is about one or two square feet, and some people can only sleep on the street.

In this era, mess, noise, and indifference have become synonymous with Chinatown.

Therefore, the Chinese with good conditions moved away, and the regular international students were unwilling to rent here.

After listening to Xiaokun's introduction, Mi Li was stunned.

Before that, she was also one of the members who sharpened her head and came up with it.

She kept thinking that once she got the visa and prepared the travel expenses, she would run out immediately and start studying while working part-time so that she could survive here.

But now it seems that I have taken it for granted.

If the conditions are not good, it is really not easy to survive here.

But she still didn't give up, and asked again: "Is it easy for foreign students to work here?"

"As far as I know, international students generally get F1 visas. According to the laws of the United States, F1 visas are only allowed to work on campus, and the working hours are limited to 20 hours per week and 40 hours during vacations. Once violated , will most likely be deported back to the country.”

"Of course, students who hold a legal student status, have been enrolled for more than 9 months, and have achieved certain standards, can apply for approval to work outside the school at the international office of the school, so as to obtain employment from the immigration office or a labor-certified company, but the working hours are long. Also restricted."

"As a result, many students can only secretly go to work illegally, and then accept the oppression of unscrupulous bosses, relying on a low salary to barely support themselves. Some international students even gave up precious learning opportunities in order to survive."

Mary: "..."

It is said that the United States is heaven, but after a little understanding, why do I feel like I am in hell?

(End of this chapter)