IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

What's your story? Discussions your reasons for going abroad.
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anthonymilano1
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IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by anthonymilano1 »

S>O>S
Last edited by anthonymilano1 on April 17th, 2018, 11:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Man With a Plan
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by Man With a Plan »

I might be able to help if you're mentally stable (i.e. in the HA minority), but if I put you in contact with people who can help, you'd better be on your best goddamned behaviour. You get me?
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Winston
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by Winston »

Simple.

1. Go to a temp agencies. Sign up. Tell them you want to work a few months only. They usually always have work available.
2. Work a few months. Save up money. Cut out unnecessary expenses. Live frugally. If you can, live with your parents so you don't have to pay rent.
3. When you save up around $2,000 or more, then buy a plane ticket overseas to the country you want.
4. Try to get a job before you arrive, such as applying online to teach English, etc. Otherwise, just go and wing it. Meet people and make friends and tell everyone you're looking or work. Have faith in God or your guardian angel. Pray for help and guidance. You'll get an answer if you are sincere.
5. For some good advice, get our ebook or book "Expatriation Apocalypse" in our bookstore at: http://www.happierabroad.com/ebooks.php . It's only 2 dollars and written for the broke and young expat wannabe. It's nearly free. No excuse not to read it.

Good luck.
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Wolfeye
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by Wolfeye »

Winston (and/or anyone else that can answer): How to people keep afloat after their visa/Schengen runs out? I know A LOT of people do it, but how? I'd prefer to do things above-board, especially as a foreigner, but sometimes things can't be helped & you have to make ends meet. If America goes belly-up real quick like Argentina did, I think I might have to make things short notice or outright criminal.
MrMan
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by MrMan »

You will work for room and board? Let me see if we need anyone else to shovel out these sewage ditches and to hand scrub the inside of septic tanks. Just kidding, but be careful what you ask for.

Do you have a bachelors degree?

I don't know what it is like now, but if you do, you can probably get a job off of Dave's ESL cafe. I got a job over 20 years ago in Korea probably before that board was started, and later found a job in 1997 on eslcafe.com in Indonesia. The last I checked the deal in Korea was about $2000 to $2200 a month plus an apartment. The apartment could be a room in a shared apartment with other English teachers. When I was there, another option was an apartment to yourself. A friend of mine had a room in an 'OfficeTel', a building that could serve as an office, apartment, or hotel, in Kangam, too, but I never saw him do the Kangnam style dance. That was back in the mid '90's. A good job should also include some kind of insurance.

The deal in Korea when I was there was generally you either did a split shift, getting up for a 6:30 or 7 AM class, and returning in the afternoon and working until 9:30, or you taught kids. Those who taught kids usually just taught afternoons, but had to add a Saturday morning shift. The split shift was really bad for me for jet lag since I could rarely sleep in the day time, and sometimes I did not have 8 hours before my last class at night and the first class in the morning. I think teaching hours were between 20 and 25. You should also prep for classes. The books they gave us made it easy most of the time.

Back in the mid 1990's, I came back with about $6000. I think I was making $1600 a month. If the current salary is $2200, that probably doesn't even keep up with inflation, but it's not that bad. I paid off the student loans in my name and bought a used car from a year's work in Korea. I had an agreement with my parents to pay off some PLUS loans. I traded the car for the remainder on the loans and I was debt free. College was cheaper back then. I did work when I was going the university, too.

I don't know if there are any countries that will just take an online teaching certificate these days. Around 2000 a friend of mine from Singapore who did not have a degree taught for a while in China, but they are always raising their requirements in these countries.

A good thing about getting a job like this is that the job in Korea flew me over. They paid for a hotel until they got the apartment ready, a kind of local hotel, nothing fancy, but okay. When I was doing it, the countries in Asia that I might consider for money when I first started were Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Japan had a crazy high cost of living but the salary did not offset it and I did not know how to find the jobs. I ended up going to Indonesia, which paid low, but had a lower cost of living. Try to do some research on cost of living. The dollar amount for a job in China may be lower, but if you pay less for food than in Korea, or if you just want to be in China, it may be worth it for you.

If you do not have a degree, I don't really know what the options are. You either need a degree or a practical marketable skill that a company overseas will actually pay for and go to the hassle of hiring you and not someone local or someone else.

You could also try the Peace Core if you just want to leave the US. I don't know if they require degrees. I don't think they pay salary per se. I do think they take care of you, kind of like the military does, and give you a stipend. If you ever wanted to be a Peace Core employee, you'd have an advantage over non Peace Core alumni.

If you are business minded and have a degree in the field, you could go teach English in China, and then try to see if you can put your education, knowledge and training to work. I met a Brit once who lived in Hong Kong and did business in China. He didn't have to pay income tax anywhere. He went to China on a business visit visa and consulted with factories there. If you could figure out how to set up an import-export business or something like that in China you may be able to earn an actual decent living there. Maybe you could teach finance or something along those lines.

There are also some European colleges where you can get US student loans and study there.
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Cornfed
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by Cornfed »

We realize things change people. This isn't a generation ago.
MrMan
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by MrMan »

Cornfed wrote:We realize things change people. This isn't a generation ago.
What do you mean? This is cryptic. Do you mean people don't change things and we are all just ping pong balls, being bounced around with no ability to change anything?
Last edited by MrMan on November 7th, 2017, 4:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Cornfed
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by Cornfed »

MrMan wrote:
Cornfed wrote:We realize things change people. This isn't a generation ago.
What do you mean? This is cryptic? Do you mean people don't change things and we are all just ping pong balls, being bounced around with no ability to change anything?
This stuff about temp agencies, parents, teaching English etc. It may still work for some, but in general it is advice for a generation ago.
MrMan
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Re: IMMEDIATE NORTH AMERICA EXTRACTION

Post by MrMan »

Cornfed wrote:
MrMan wrote:
Cornfed wrote:We realize things change people. This isn't a generation ago.
What do you mean? This is cryptic? Do you mean people don't change things and we are all just ping pong balls, being bounced around with no ability to change anything?
This stuff about temp agencies, parents, teaching English etc. It may still work for some, but in general it is advice for a generation ago.
Why do you say that? Btw, I did not bring up temp agencies.

Probably a generation ago, the salaries though less in nominal terms were probably more in real terms because of inflation. But getting a job teaching English overseas is probably a good solution for someone whose alternatives are less appealing. A fresh college grad with a humanities degree who has a choice between working part time in retail, bagging groceries, washing dishes, or running a cash register....or an adventure teaching English in Asia where he could earn enough to live on, save some money and get free housing may be better off taking the English teaching job. It is not a great career option, long term, for a lot of people who go into it. I did it. I eventually got a job in the training department in one of the world's largest companies. Then I went back to grad school. Teaching English kept me alive and provided for my family in the initial stages, though it did not seem to have the potential to meet the needs of my family as it grew, and I went back and got retrained to do something else.
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