HA forum members: Where are you currently living?

[Everdred]

I've been wanting to make this thread for a while, but I just never got around to doing it for some reason. I did a quick search to see if this kind of thread had been done on Happier Abroad before, but I didn't discover anything, so I feel I should create it myself. I apologize in advance if this has already been done before. The point of this thread is to let all of the readers out there know which country/city you are currently living in. It would also be useful and interesting to know which countries/cities you have lived in in the past and which countries/cities you hope to live in in the future. The more details you can give, the better (such as city names, dates, etc.). I'll start this off by answering these questions myself.

I introduced myself before back in June 2012, so if you want to know more about me, just read my introductory thread:

Young American guy living in Asia for the past 3 years


From birth until 2009, I lived in the southeastern United States - Arkansas to be exact.

In late 2009, I moved to Dalian, Liaoning, China. Dalian is a second-tier coastal city in northeastern China (quite close to the Koreas) with an estimated metro population of about six million people.



Dalian was was also the first place I ever visited in Asia. After living thirty months in Dalian, I then moved to Bangkok, Thailand in early 2012, which is where I've been living for the last ten months now. Obviously, Bangkok needs no introduction. I hope to stay in Bangkok a minimum of three years total, and I'll release an extensive thread comparing Dalian life to Bangkok life in about two months or so (when I hit my one year mark).



Whenever I feel I've lived in Thailand long enough, I have plans to move to Taiwan, South Korea, or Japan. I've haven't quite decided which one yet, but I'm leaning towards Taiwan. This is mostly because of how much time I've put in to learning Mandarin Chinese, and also because of my deep interest in Taiwan. And I don't prefer to move back to China... just yet.

So, what about the rest of you? Where are you living now? Where have you lived in the past? Where do you hope to live in the future? I'm really hoping this thread can be successful and last a long time, and that it doesn't just die out after only one or two posts. I know many forums members have already mentioned their current location before, but it would nice to have all that info organized together into one single thread. And if there are any other forum members in Bangkok out there, I'd be interested in meeting up.

[clowny]

I live on the west coast of australia. I want to move somewhere else, but I have no idea where to go. Despite all the problems in australia, I seriously don't think life is going to be better for me anywhere else. In terms of the women, sure...there are many other countries where quality women are more plentiful and easier to meet. But aside from that, all the other countries in the world would be a huge step backwards for me.

Think about it:

USA/canada/UK/new zealand/aus - feminist hellholes

south america: poor countries where you get mugged and raped, language barrier

europe: many of these countries are in complete economic ruin such as italy, spain, greece, or on the brink of it, the only euro country that is really strong economically is germany, and there's no way in hell I would move there because
a) I speak no german whatsoever
b) the women there are SOME OF THE WORST IN THE WORLD

africa: LOL

middle east: LOL

southeast asia: would be too much of a culture shock for me, plus too many scammers, too much crime, too much police corruption, too much depravity and human filth

japan: looming economic crisis due to the labour shortage caused by the ageing population, plus there must be something really wrong with the dating scene over there, with the emergence of these f***ing "herbivore men"

china: communist f***s who torture their own people, already an unbalanced ratio of men to women would make it extremely difficult to meet single women

korea: f***ing weirdass people

So where am I supposed to go? Is there actually a developed nation in the world, with a strong economy, that is english-speaking, and doesn't have an anti-male culture?

I feel suffocated by this place. I don't belong here.

[Banano]

been everywhere man

Some 30+ countries,

Conclusion is: everywhere you go looks, money / status , social skills aka 'game' will matter...





average or bellow average in some of these key areas will not cut it

[xiongmao]

UK man, just over 40 years old. Guess what? I quit my job and I just moved to China. It was either that or stay in my job, put on ever increasing amounts of weight, and weight for my first major health problem.

Don't believe what you read about China. It's a great country if you play by the rules. Stay out of politics, don't scam the locals, be streetwise and you'll be fine.

As for gender imbalance - there's a shortage of women yes, but there's an even bigger shortage of well educated and sophisticated men.

A Western man can date very hot women here. No other women age as well as the Chinese do. Cellulite is a rare thing here. Some of the hot women here are in their 50's!

Remember there are many China's though - the main part is the size of Western Europe, and that's excluding the far NW and Mongolian/Tibet parts (where borders are not well defined). Hopefully Everdred will fill us in with what Dalian's like. I only know the Chinese navy are there and that it probably gets horribly cold in Winter.

I'm in Guangzhou which is a monstrously large metropolis. There are HUGE opportunities for foreigners here. Today I met three foreigners who are all improving their prospects by working or studying here. Plus when you return home you'll have something great to put on your resume.

You can get by here without speaking a word of Chinese, but learn Chinese and doors will open for you.

What else can I say about this place? It's totally mad, and also a very exhilarating place to live. NYC in the 20's must have had the same buzz about it.

[WorldTraveler]

UK man, just over 40 years old. Guess what? I quit my job and I just moved to China. It was either that or stay in my job, put on ever increasing amounts of weight, and weight for my first major health problem.

Don't believe what you read about China. It's a great country if you play by the rules. Stay out of politics, don't scam the locals, be streetwise and you'll be fine.

As for gender imbalance - there's a shortage of women yes, but there's an even bigger shortage of well educated and sophisticated men.

A Western man can date very hot women here. No other women age as well as the Chinese do. Cellulite is a rare thing here. Some of the hot women here are in their 50's!

Remember there are many China's though - the main part is the size of Western Europe, and that's excluding the far NW and Mongolian/Tibet parts (where borders are not well defined). Hopefully Everdred will fill us in with what Dalian's like. I only know the Chinese navy are there and that it probably gets horribly cold in Winter.

I'm in Guangzhou which is a monstrously large metropolis. There are HUGE opportunities for foreigners here. Today I met three foreigners who are all improving their prospects by working or studying here. Plus when you return home you'll have something great to put on your resume.

You can get by here without speaking a word of Chinese, but learn Chinese and doors will open for you.

What else can I say about this place? It's totally mad, and also a very exhilarating place to live. NYC in the 20's must have had the same buzz about it.

It sounds great. What kind of work do you do?

[Contrarian Expatriate]

Somewhere in deepest, darkest Africa. Stay away, stay far away.

While I am here by choice, this location was not my choice. The financial rewards make it bearable however.

[WorldTraveler]

Dalian was was also the first place I ever visited in Asia. After living thirty months in Dalian, I then moved to Bangkok, Thailand in early 2012, which is where I've been living for the last ten months now. Obviously, Bangkok needs no introduction. I hope to stay in Bangkok a minimum of three years total, and I'll release an extensive thread comparing Dalian life to Bangkok life in about two months or so (when I hit my one year mark).

What kind of work do you do in Bangkok?

[WorldTraveler]

I live on the west coast of australia. I want to move somewhere else, but I have no idea where to go. Despite all the problems in australia, I seriously don't think life is going to be better for me anywhere else. In terms of the women, sure...there are many other countries where quality women are more plentiful and easier to meet. But aside from that, all the other countries in the world would be a huge step backwards for me.

Think about it:

USA/canada/UK/new zealand/aus - feminist hellholes

south america: poor countries where you get mugged and raped, language barrier

europe: many of these countries are in complete economic ruin such as italy, spain, greece, or on the brink of it, the only euro country that is really strong economically is germany, and there's no way in hell I would move there because
a) I speak no german whatsoever
b) the women there are SOME OF THE WORST IN THE WORLD

africa: LOL

middle east: LOL

southeast asia: would be too much of a culture shock for me, plus too many scammers, too much crime, too much police corruption, too much depravity and human filth

japan: looming economic crisis due to the labour shortage caused by the ageing population, plus there must be something really wrong with the dating scene over there, with the emergence of these f***ing "herbivore men"

china: communist f***s who torture their own people, already an unbalanced ratio of men to women would make it extremely difficult to meet single women

korea: f***ing weirdass people

So where am I supposed to go? Is there actually a developed nation in the world, with a strong economy, that is english-speaking, and doesn't have an anti-male culture?

I feel suffocated by this place. I don't belong here.

Have you ever traveled to SEA or other places that you are writing off? You'll never find everything in one place. You'll have to decide what is important to you.

[xiongmao]

I work in IT, but I've enrolled at a Chinese University to study Mandarin.

I make money online from hustling, and I have a few customers. Also I think I'll be able to teach English here. It helps that I'm a native speaker and also a graduate, but it's not essential. I met some Middle Eastern guys here who are doing OK for themselves.

Also since I met my first Chinese gf in 2009 I made long term plans to quit my job and move here. So I stopped buying anything apart from food and saved a warchest of cash. In the final couple of months I sold anything of value that I could buy again in the future. Now I have a 20Kg suitcase containing my worldly goods.

When you quit your fairly comfortable existence then there will be drawbacks. Mosquitos, crazy drivers, dark sidewalks, questionable electrical wiring and men selling stun guns are just some of the hazards here. This is the wild East.

[WorldTraveler]

I work in IT, but I've enrolled at a Chinese University to study Mandarin.

I make money online from hustling, and I have a few customers. Also I think I'll be able to teach English here. It helps that I'm a native speaker and also a graduate, but it's not essential. I met some Middle Eastern guys here who are doing OK for themselves.

Also since I met my first Chinese gf in 2009 I made long term plans to quit my job and move here. So I stopped buying anything apart from food and saved a warchest of cash. In the final couple of months I sold anything of value that I could buy again in the future. Now I have a 20Kg suitcase containing my worldly goods.

When you quit your fairly comfortable existence then there will be drawbacks. Mosquitos, crazy drivers, dark sidewalks, questionable electrical wiring and men selling stun guns are just some of the hazards here. This is the wild East.

Sounds great. I'm in the process of moving to Asia too. I sold my house and am now in the process of selling everything I own. Have you been able to get an IT job? I have an IT background too. What percentage of the girls speak English?

[Andrewww]

@clowny, you are way too paranoid man. You can get mugged in some of the safest cities on the planet and even if you do it's not the end of the world.

I live in Canada, on the East coast, in Montreal to be exact. I also lived in Ottawa and Toronto for a short while.

I was born in Constanta, Romania and since I still have friends and family there I spent most of my high school and college summers with them. I'd go back right away if I could make enough cash to live confortably.

[xiongmao]

There may be IT jobs here, but you often need to speak the local language. HK or Singapore are good if you have in-demand skills and like hard work.

I think I've lined up some English teaching work - it helps that I have a good degree and I'm a native speaker. Also my last employer has a relationship with my school here. If you can't use your connections, it's easier to find this kind of work in smaller cities where there are fewer foreigners.

Very few women speak good English here. Up here in the suburbs there's practically no English signage at all.

However, all schools teach their students English, so a lot of girls know a few words. Girls who work for Western companies (e.g. McDonalds, Pizza Hut) usually speak a bit.

I need to find out how to meet more girls. I guess the key here is that Chinese people consider each other to be strangers until they're introduced. So really you need to network in order to find girls to meet.

[djfourmoney]

I currently live in the Los Angeles area. But my plan which the details are still being worked out is to find my woman and live on the beach in Mexico for a few years. Then we'll spend some time exploring Central and South America. From there, who knows? I do not wanna put my future children in an America school where I have to come out of pocket. Education is a community investment, not a profit center. So I figure we'll get 2-4 years of travel in before we decide where the children will be educated (likely Europe).

I recently found a love letter a German woman I knew sent me a few years ago and that convinces me I am doing the right thing.

[djfourmoney]

There may be IT jobs here, but you often need to speak the local language. HK or Singapore are good if you have in-demand skills and like hard work.

I think I've lined up some English teaching work - it helps that I have a good degree and I'm a native speaker. Also my last employer has a relationship with my school here. If you can't use your connections, it's easier to find this kind of work in smaller cities where there are fewer foreigners.

Very few women speak good English here. Up here in the suburbs there's practically no English signage at all.

However, all schools teach their students English, so a lot of girls know a few words. Girls who work for Western companies (e.g. McDonalds, Pizza Hut) usually speak a bit.

I need to find out how to meet more girls. I guess the key here is that Chinese people consider each other to be strangers until they're introduced. So really you need to network in order to find girls to meet.

I found some jobs for English speakers that know Electronics or Radio Control at a few places in Hong Kong. Likely pays enough, may consider it. We'll see.

[Billy]

i am living in turkey - ankara. i lived my life in germany now it´s time to get out and watch what life has to offer.

maybe i am going to find a nice place and join a dance school. oh yeah baby. or just be lazy and stay at home...