給V的一封信

Dear V,

Sorry to write an email here, but I just realized that I don't have your personal email. :P

I miss you guys so much and so sorry that I haven't contacted you guys for such a long time.
You wouldn't believe what had happend to me since the day I left you guys.
It's a long story, so you probably need more free time to read this, maybe have a cup of coffee and some popcorn. :)

So as you know, I got this so-called perfect job from this guy, J.
Well you know the position, a manager job in London office to handling the shipping and buying in Europe.
The payment was perfect as well.
I lived in school's accoumadation at that time, and it was due around end of Aug.
So I asked him whether this job is for real to start or is there other things to be done so I probably just went back and wait till things is done.
He told me to stay over there and find a place to live.
So I got one, next to the Thams river which is so beautiful and nice.
Then he kept changed his schedule to London over and over and over.
(Remember the time he said he wanna buy those shoes and then he changed his mind? All these reminded me that. Just this time, in steading of getting shoes, I am those shoes.)
Till Oct, (yes, Oct. see, that's one thing about having a job and not sign a contract, but in Taiwan we don't do that), finally
this Mr. Boss arrived. He came about for a week, and at that time, I only knew that the office is not ready yet.
I meant the office he was going to rent was not ready yet, the solicitors from both sides were still working on contract.
(He could have told me so that I wouldn't have wasted all those rent by just waiting all for these. Oh, and he didn't pay me at all during all these time.)
(I was so blinded with this perfect job for me...)
After meeting everyone, and talked like a chitchat. He left again and asked to start to prepare decorate the office and arrange stuff.
(Finally feel like a strat.)
Unfortunately, my flight ticket is months long, so it is due at the end of Oct.
I told him and the price for expanding the ticket costs like 800 pounds!
So he said: "okay so you came back then."
This coming back to Taiwan somehow stops my starting date for him, so he didn't think all those works in Oct is work.
Then he is always busy and has little time for everything, even for something like opening an office in London and having a serious business talk with his employee who is going to run an office for him
somewhere far far away.
My visa was about to expired. So we planned to apply visa during my stays at taiwan.
I had waited for like 3 weeks, nothing happened. So I wrote him a very serious email about this situation which kind of pissed him off.
But somehow, he agreed to pay me NT$30000 (about 500pounds) per month for the time I was in Taiwan, and pay me 3000pounds once for like a load or something.
(All these money goes to my rent of course, I haven't got my depost back at this stage, cause I kind of left the flat out of blue.)
So finally I got someone from his company to help me with the visa and documents.
So finally again, I flied to London on mid of Nov, the date my parents went to have a body exams.
Back in London, he already found someone to kind of working for the office, whom is his girl friend in London.
To be honest, I didn't really like the idea, for one, I'm working as a manager who managing my boss' girl friend? two, he has another girl friends and I either know one of them or heard of them.
Anyway,
two days later, I got a call from my brother that my father has a cancer and it's quite serious.
I email J about this situation and told him that I couldn't work for him (even I hadn't really started to work yet)
He was really kind and supportive. He told me to come back as soon as possible and as he told me during this time, he would pay me NT$30000 every month.
So I booked a flight back home as soon as possible.
I worked like a dog to do as much as I could before I flied back to Taiwan.
It was one week later.
The situation was not really good at home, but we all know that we will work on this all together.

Somehow, after a month time, J started to feel uneasy about my staying in Taipei.
And my family started to realize that there are nothing we could do more about the situation but be supportive and be a backup for my father.
So I decided to fly back to London and do what I should do and work this 'perfect' job.
J flied one week earlier to London and I told him my deicision before he left for London.
There were some goods he wanted me carry for him to London.
The day I told J that I am back in the team, my family has a different decision on the issue which drove me into a nightmare since I just
informed J that I could be back on board.
And he already sent stuff from KaoHsing (a city in south Taiwan, I live in Taipei, a city in North) to me.
So I told my family that since I have told J that I am going back, I should., and he has been very supportive during this time, I believe it's
better I resign my job in person if I really have to.
All the goods were deliveried about two/three days before my flight, it's 7 BOXES!!
Two of them are about the height to my chest.
I called him tell him that there are no way I could bring all these, and he called me not a nice manager person.
(I guess that's what all bosses would do.)
I brought as much as I could and sent back the rest back to the company.
I flied to London on Tuesday before Xmas, arriving 1930 in London time.
I went to office directly to meet him and accountant in London.
After we worked, J insisted us to go out for fun.
It was about 2330 when we were about to go.
I had to leave earlier cause I was gonna stay a night over my friends' place.
Plus J already booked euro star for me at 0530 the very next morning to Paris for us.
So I left the party at 0130 and prepared the stuff and everything.
Arrived Waterloo before 0500.

So far, I hadn't slept for like two days.
Then I heard from J that there was a rubbery happened in the office.
Most of the goods he brought to the office was gone.
Anyhow, we still travelled to Paris for shopping (for the company)
This is the only day I really feel like this is the job I have been waiting for.
We were too busy to eat, so we didn't eat and we were leaving at 1915 the same day.

Oh, one thing I need to tell you first.
J posses a passport from Portugee which he told me that he got by investing some properties in Portugee.
So when we were passing the custom in Paris, the custom officer didn't believe his passport from Portugee is geniue.
I waited there with him for like 2 hours and as you know J's English is not good.
So while he was trying to talk to the customer and they asked him something,
he looked confused and turned to me.
As an employee and travelled with him, I helped him in case they had miss understanding because of the language.
After a long waiting, they told him that they believe it's a forge passport.
And they believe that I have full knowledge of this so they refused me to enter UK.
So J and I stuck in Paris, I told him we should go to the embassy of Portugee tomorrow since he insisted that
it's not a forged one. Then maybe they could give you a paper or ID or something to prove that you really poss a legal citizenship of Portugee.
About 2350 that night, I was finally bit calm and about to get some sleep in two days.
He called me and told me there is something he wanna tell me.
He said he doesn't think that I would have a problem entering UK, so he told me to try again tomorrow.
And he has a really important meeting in Taipei on 26, the coming Monday so he had to leave as soon as possible.
Due to flight, he decided to leave the very first tomorrow, and so he did.
I went to Gare du nord and tried to enter again, and I got my visa cancelled this time.
He left me 500 euro in case, but I somehow felt abandoned in Paris.
My friends there came immediately to be with me.
I tried to get a flight like J did but the company back in Taipei was not really helping.
They refused to get me a new ticket like my boss did (well he is the boss), and the flight company refused to change my flight from London Taipei to Paris Taipei.
I had to called the office in Paris to explain everything myself, and then due to the Xmas is coming (it was Friday) so I had to call Taipei and arranged everything.
They even questioned me whether my visa got cancelled because I did something illegal.
It is the most humilated thing ever happened to me.
Finally I got back to Taipei on Monday.
I feel really sad and helpless there, and since there is nothing I could be functional in Taipei.
So I told J that I don't think I should work since there is nothing to work untill the visa issue is solved.

I was so worried about my visa and back to UK issue, because even I already handed in my thesis to my supervisor.
I still need to do a viva.
J was like all the big man/ big boss talked that he will find a solicitor to deal with the appealing and everything.
He told me that the accountant in London knows a very good solicitor and he will ask him to do this for us.
He is busy as always, and I heard nothing more since.
The accountant in London was so worried that he asked me what's now.
So I told him about this, and sent him the letter I got from home office and asked about the solicitor.
I asked C.C. to J, and I was worried about J's own situation as well.
So I asked both of them, what's his situation now and what's the solicitor gonna do.
NO RESPONSES about this part.

The solicitor told me the situation and he believes it's gonna take at least 6 months to 1 year to solve this.
However, he has ground confident that I could have a success appealing.
At the same time, he believes that I could try a fresh application of the visa.
For all doing this, it's gonna cost a fortunate and he needs 1000 pounds to be paid in advance for him to start working on this.
J had no reponses at all about this issue, till like the date of appealing is due soon.
I couldn't take any longer, so I called and called. He is busy as always to talk about this.
Finally, I emailed him and told them. This is serious and we need to act soon.
He called and yelled at me, calling me selfish and only care about appealing and everything.
He said he could have abandoned me in Paris, (well he did) but he gave me his support and 500 euro.
He told me that he paid me 3000pounds already, (I told him that's for the rent I was there to wait for him) and he didn't tell me to stay. I could have come back.
then he started question about the money he gave me for the company, and for the trip in Paris.
He hung up on me when I was about to say.

So now, I am back in Taiwan.
I don't know what's next, but I think I'm gonna take a time off to think about all this through before I make next move.
That's my story of all these time.

How are you guys?
I'm really sorry that I haven't contacted you but I'm sure you could understand I was stuck with all these crap.

Regards me to everyone please.
I really miss you guys.

All the best
Mike