I'm always curious when people land in different places. Aren't you from Germany?
Yeah, I'm from Germany but left the fatherland first in '96 and have since spent the vast majority of my adult life abroad. I wouldn't want to ever move back for good but would love to spend some more years in Berlin sometime in the future, as far as nightlife goes I don't think there's any other European city could compete.
Grafwritah said:
What took you to Costa Rica?
My wife asked to be transferred here... after dj-ing parties with me for over a decade she went and joined the diplomatic service some years back so now we get to move someplace new every 4 years or so which is great but experiencing all these different places makes it real difficult to decide where to invest in property to eventually settle down. Right now we're pretty much torn between Vancouver Island, mainland BC, NOLA, Southern Arizona, Costa Rica or the South of France. Definitely out in the country though... my favorite neighborhood is no neighbors.
Grafwritah said:
What do you do there?
I spend most my time hiking, surfing and riding horses, the possibilities for all three are just amazing down here. And then of course I buy and sell records, right now it's a buyers market and Costa Rica is a bad location to ship records from so I'm mostly just buying... also doing the odd dj gig and tours to Asia and Europe when the rainy season her in CR is in full swing.
It seems weird to be able to just show up and start working and make a living wage in cash, and all for doing nothing more than speaking English.
I've met Brits, Aussies and US Americans in West Africa, South East Asia, Japan, Europe an Central America who managed to do just that but of course you also need to be fluent in the local language... Language skills today can be more important than a college degree, especially when going abroad.
The Spanish economy isn't great but Barcelona is the most prosperous part of the country, helped by a massive tourism industry. As an English teacher I find work reasonably easy to come by as most Spaniards/Catalans see English as an essential professional skill and the younger generation are increasingly expected to have an English qualification (Cambridge Entrance Exam or equivalent) as well as a degree.
I mainly teach Doctors & nurses as English is the international language of medicine.
I often feel guilty that my native language has granted me a career with opportunities all over the world... this feels un-earned, but there you go.
As English is currently the world's lingua franca (HAHAHAAHAA, take that Frenchies ;-P), outside of the professional sector people working in bars, cafes, restaurants etc also need some English, although their lower pay bracket makes it [em]raerer[/em] for this group to attend classes in institutions - they are more likely to look for cheaper one-to-one lessons, paid in cash.
Which reminds me, a friend of mine who has been here for 9+ years thinks that although Spain's economy is officially very shaky, he's certain that there must be a massive *black* economy (under-the-counter, un-taxed) in effect, and my own observations bear this out to some extent; many smaller businesses will not run cash payments through the till and give a receipt unless you ask for one, and my friend earns an untaxed, cash-in-hand living wage and is surely not the only one to do so - there are many Americans teaching English (pffffttttt!) in Barcelona, and as 99% of them will not have a work permit, they must be working illegally too.
That's interesting. Isn't Barcelona somewhat expensive compared to the rest of the country as well? It seems weird to be able to just show up and start working and make a living wage in cash, and all for doing nothing more than speaking English.
There's a little more to it than just speaking English, but yeah, it's an extra to file alongside white guilt, male guilt, Western guilt, and Duder-gilt.
EDIT: having read what Frank said, and thinking about, yes, in many parts of the world just being a native English speaker is all that's required for teaching. I did some teaching in Bangkok when I was 21 with zero experience or qualifications. Well, I think I entertained the kids, but I'm not sure that I taught them anything!
I'd counter that being fluent in the local language isn't necessary either. I speak very little Spanish for instance.
Comments
My wife asked to be transferred here... after dj-ing parties with me for over a decade she went and joined the diplomatic service some years back so now we get to move someplace new every 4 years or so which is great but experiencing all these different places makes it real difficult to decide where to invest in property to eventually settle down. Right now we're pretty much torn between Vancouver Island, mainland BC, NOLA, Southern Arizona, Costa Rica or the South of France. Definitely out in the country though... my favorite neighborhood is no neighbors.
I spend most my time hiking, surfing and riding horses, the possibilities for all three are just amazing down here. And then of course I buy and sell records, right now it's a buyers market and Costa Rica is a bad location to ship records from so I'm mostly just buying... also doing the odd dj gig and tours to Asia and Europe when the rainy season her in CR is in full swing.
I've met Brits, Aussies and US Americans in West Africa, South East Asia, Japan, Europe an Central America who managed to do just that but of course you also need to be fluent in the local language... Language skills today can be more important than a college degree, especially when going abroad.
There's a little more to it than just speaking English, but yeah, it's an extra to file alongside white guilt, male guilt, Western guilt, and Duder-gilt.
EDIT: having read what Frank said, and thinking about, yes, in many parts of the world just being a native English speaker is all that's required for teaching. I did some teaching in Bangkok when I was 21 with zero experience or qualifications. Well, I think I entertained the kids, but I'm not sure that I taught them anything!
I'd counter that being fluent in the local language isn't necessary either. I speak very little Spanish for instance.
And yeah, Barna is the "expensive" part of Spain.
Worse (if that's possible).
Google Plans New Headquarters, and a City Fears Being Overrun
:dominoes:
I've lived on two of the streets that appear in the slide show.