Happier Abroad Forum Community

Hi, so I would first like to say a little about myself. I am a 22 year old college student from San Diego and I want to get the hell out of this country. I find that Americans (particularly young Americans) have become far too superficial, materialistic, and self-absorbed. This is clearly expressed in the culture, from rappers to hipsters, everywhere all anyone cares about is being the center of attention and buying whatever new thing is popular. It's ridiculous. I could go on (really I could go on) but the thing is that there are just no values left in this country anymore and it is down right sickening. For this reason I want to go abroad. I want to find a place where people still treat one another decently, where mass consumerism isn't the norm, and where people still place value in relationships and not just on money and things.
I have been lurking on this site for about the past six months and I can say that it has been a great help but I still cannot decide where I hope to one day relocate too. That said, there are a few things that the place must have:

- There must be jobs for engineers. My degree is in Electrical Engineering and I would like to work in that particular field. I have been interning at a local power plant here in San Diego county for the past 6 months and I have some experience building components so I do have some real-world experience.
- There must be a good culture. By that, I don't mean the superficial culture of mindless indulgence that is the United States but an actual way of life with its own traditions and customs.
- Nice girls. To be clear, I am not talking about the kind of loose sluts that hook up with frat boys that you see walking around so many college campuses in the US. I am talking about girls with good morals and values but are also willing to be sexy for their man (if such women exist anywhere).

I still have one more semester of college until I am done with school. I will be graduating with around 20000 in debt but I have a job lined up for as soon as I get out and I should be able to pay off all the debts in 2 to 2.5 years. I plan to use this time to study the language, culture, and history of the place I plan to go to and to save up some funds for the trip.

So, just to sum this all up, if anyone has some ideas about where would be a good place for me to go or if there is something I ought to be doing now to help me plan for going abroad, I would like to hear them.

Maybe try Poland or Slovakia if you're interested in Eastern Europe. Those are the more religious and conservative parts of Eastern Europe (since this sounds like what you're looking for). I've never been to these countries, however.

You definitely DON'T want to go the Czech Republic because the girls there seem to love stoner/hippie or biker dude or wigger types of guys there.

Mexico is just a short trolley ride away if you live in San Diego. Volaris flights from Tijuana into southern Mexico can be as cheap as $30 one-way if you book early enough. So why not give it a try?

The hard part, though, would be getting a decent job there. A good option would be to continue living in Southern California, but spend lots of time Mexico.

I got a job in the Netherlands through the Monster board. Go to the country England and you will find job listings for all of Europe and they will be typically posted in the English Language. However, realistically, you won't convince someone to send you to Europe unless you already have several years of work experience in a specialty that the country can't fill with its own people. However, it is worth a try. When the economy was good, the Netherlands was a good country because they are a small country they always have shortages of people in various specialties. However with the bad economy in Europe, it makes it even tougher for a foreigner to get a job. Also, if you live in San Diego, many people live in Tijuana and commute to work in San Diego every day. So it is possible to live in Mexico and work in San Diego. However, you need to get a Sentri Pass to make this work.

MrPeabody wrote:I got a job in the Netherlands through the Monster board. Go to the country England and you will find job listings for all of Europe and they will be typically posted in the English Language. However, realistically, you won't convince someone to send you to Europe unless you already have several years of work experience in a specialty that the country can't fill with its own people. However, it is worth a try. When the economy was good, the Netherlands was a good country because they are a small country they always have shortages of people in various specialties. However with the bad economy in Europe, it makes it even tougher for a foreigner to get a job. Also, if you live in San Diego, many people live in Tijuana and commute to work in San Diego every day. So it is possible to live in Mexico and work in San Diego. However, you need to get a Sentri Pass to make this work.

It's true...I agree with you..

Thanks for the responses. I have dated Mexican girls and met a few Eastern Europeans at my college here. They were all very sweet but I was actually thinking of going somewhere in Asia. I have been interested in East Asia for a long time and I've heard that there are plenty of good jobs over there. I would if possible like to live in a big city like Hong Kong, Bangkok, or Kuala Lumpur. What do you guys know about these places? Sorry, this response is so short but finals are in a week and I'm buried in work.

EE's are in demand in the natural resource extraction industry -- Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, etc. I looked on Shell's web page and immediately saw this:

http://www.shell.co.uk/home/content/gbr ... ering.html
Electrical Engineering Graduates wanted
We are searching for a talented graduate to join us as Electrical Engineer at our Joint Venture complex in Atyrau

If you put some effort into searches, you can probably find good opportunities to kick off your career abroad.

I've spent some time in KL Malaysia, but the petro & gas wells are over in Sarawak. I've had experience working as indirect materials consultant with Shell and Suncor in Canada (Athabasca oil sands / Ft. McMurray), but no experience with Malaysian operations, so you'll have to ask others/elsewhere. Don't work in Ft. McMurray unless if you can handle -40C temperature in the winter.