How does one up and move to a foreign country?

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by il_colonnello

Just like "colour" is a misspelling of "color", isn't it? ...
No, it isn't. Its more like the misspelling of douchebag instead of douche bag. You're familiar with that word right?

Originally Posted by holymadness

This thread delivers. Rambo, you sound about 12 years old.
I only look 11. Good genes.

Originally Posted by legorogel

water is not more expensive in europe than in the US, it just comes with less chlorine.

Originally Posted by oman

rambo stop being a shithead your life is in a hole, these people have information that you NEED, now stop pissing them off
That is some impressive realisation you've come to.

 

[il_colonnello]

Originally Posted by CMD.EXE

You're absolutely right about one being more comfortable in a setting he is used to. If you take particular elements of that comfort however, you do see certain things to be certain ways in some places.

One of the largest issues is space. Personal dwellings in Europe and often much of the world ie Japan, etc are on average far smaller than average American dwellings. The answer I got from a lot of people in Europe asking what American lifestyle is was "big car, big house". I'm not saying big cars and big houses are the "right" way to go, but if you're used to them you might not be comfortable elsewhere where that comfort is not a standard.

I will take a wild guess that you are Italian. I can tell you that most likely food-wise, the US is not a comfortable place to live unless you like the food there. The same can be said for many other europeans. On average our bread is horrible compared to Euro bread especially from countries with bread traditions. In the US bread is usually made in a factory setting, in Europe at a local bakery. I liked the average quality of the produce better in Italy than US, it was also cheaper usually. I like that in Italy you can get an espresso for 1/3 of the cost of starbucks.

So, what I am saying is I think he will be more comfortable in America. What I am not saying is America is any better or worse than any other country. If he chooses Japan I think that will be a great experience to understand the "big house, big car" thing in a radical way. Also, the Japanese are probably the most honest people I've encountered.

lol- I am German not Italian. I've been to both Italy and the US often enough though to agree with your observations on houses, bread and coffee.

One of the comforts I have come to appreciate about my own country is health coverage. We don't have socialised health care in the same sense as the British with the NHS (although from what I read in The Economist, that system is not without its flaws), but we have statutory health insurance, meaning anybody who has employment has coverage. When you get a job, your employer is legally obliged to stop a percentage from your monthly wages in insurance premiums and forward it to a health care provider of your choosing. The good thing about it is 1) no state-authorised health insurance company can reject you, regardless of how low your wages may be (since the percentage is the same for everybody the insurers obviously make less money from low-income families), and 2) it doesn't matter if you are perfectly healthy or drastically ill - even if you develop a serious, chronic illness, the treatment of which far outweighs whatever you pay in contributions, your insurer can neither kick you out nor raise your contributions - they stay the same forever unless the government decides to raise them for everybody.

Actually if you lived in Berlin and in Munich you are probably aware of all this. Students of politics or economics can well argue over whether this kind of system is ideal (or even fair) but the fact remains that if you were born in Germany, you grow up taking health coverage for granted. There are plenty of things I like about the US but I don't know I could get used to a precarious health insurance system. Although I'll admit I'm a little unclear as to what has changed since Obama's health care reform.

 

[il_colonnello]

Originally Posted by Rambo

No, it isn't. Its more like the misspelling of douchebag instead of douche bag. You're familiar with that word right?

You are either being deliberately obtuse or you're really just a moron. I don't know which is worse.

"realise" is a British English spelling of American English "realize". "Chalk full" is not an AE spelling of BE "chock-full", it's just false. Try relying less on your spell-check plug-in and more on what they taught you in school.

 

[CMD.EXE]

Originally Posted by il_colonnello

lol- I am German not Italian. I've been to both Italy and the US often enough though to agree with your observations on houses, bread and coffee.

One of the comforts I have come to appreciate about my own country is health coverage. We don't have socialised health care in the same sense as the British with the NHS (although from what I read in The Economist, that system is not without its flaws), but we have statutory health insurance, meaning anybody who has employment has coverage. When you get a job, your employer is legally obliged to stop a percentage from your monthly wages in insurance premiums and forward it to a health care provider of your choosing. The good thing about it is 1) no state-authorised health insurance company can reject you, regardless of how low your wages may be (since the percentage is the same for everybody the insurers obviously make less money from low-income families), and 2) it doesn't matter if you are perfectly healthy or drastically ill - even if you develop a serious, chronic illness, the treatment of which far outweighs whatever you pay in contributions, your insurer can neither kick you out nor raise your contributions - they stay the same forever unless the government decides to raise them for everybody.

Actually if you lived in Berlin and in Munich you are probably aware of all this. Students of politics or economics can well argue over whether this kind of system is ideal (or even fair) but the fact remains that if you were born in Germany, you grow up taking health coverage for granted. There are plenty of things I like about the US but I don't know I could get used to a precarious health insurance system. Although I'll admit I'm a little unclear as to what has changed since Obama's health care reform.

So much for my perceived sense of user-name interpretation

My favorite thing about Germany food-wise was the meat. Excellent quality meat. Obviously the beer as well, and on occasion the Riesling.

I am very familiar with Germany's health care system and I think its one of the better ones. NHS is a house of cards just as medicare/medicade is in the US, it is destined to collapse. I think Germany and Austria probably have the best quality health systems that are actually somewhat sustainable. Without getting into economics and philosophy, there is no free market in healthcare in the US. Even when services and medicines are cheap, the plan administrators bill excessively, creating enormous fraud. So, you end up with people who bill too much and insurers who don't want to pay for anything.

I read in a US newspaper the impressions of a German film maker who came to the states and needed health care. He thought the quality was great but found it incredibly strange that one of the first questions he was asked was if he can pay, instead of what is wrong with him.

 

[Matt]

wow, what an inane topic to degenerate into a **** fight.

Look - for all who are concerned, here is the answer:

The first thing you need to up and move to a foreign country is the balls to actually do it rather than just post about it online. This is not negotiable.

Second, you need a skill that is not otherwise available in the local market. Simple. If you have that, you will not have visa issues - and this is pretty much a universal truth. That skill could be neuro surgery, it could be native English...either way, it has to be a skill that is otherwise unavailable in the destination country.

Third - the availability of skill in the market will be inversely proportionate to the level of market development. This is why I - a PR person of 12 years experience - finds it extremely easy to get work in Asia, but would never be able to get a job in the US. The US is a developed market with lots of people every bit as good as I am and every bit as qualified as I am, and therefore, they get the jobs first. This is perfectly fair. The same applies even for English teaching....Laos would take anyone who knows where to put a comma and was willing to stick around a month and treat them like a god, Japan will lock you into a contract, demand all kinds of certs, and chances are, will treat you like crap.

Fourth - it is preferable to find a job before you arrive, however plenty manage to swing it the other way around. Visa juggling is required then (eg Vietnam only gives out three months, which means that people have to renew their visas at tour cafes, or take a bus to Cambodia for a couple days and get a new one). Doing it this way involves lots of networking, showing up at lots of functions, meeting lots of headhunters, and eventually most people manage to get there in the end.

Done.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by Matt

with lots of people every bit as good as I am and every bit as qualified as I am, .

nobodies as good as you, Matt.

 

[Matt]

+1