Cost of living around the world

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ladislav
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Post by ladislav »

Chinese women tend to be pragmatic, materialistic, and controlling. Plus men and women in China tend to be emotionally stunted unless they have been exposed to a good education and a decent social environment. The reality is most Chinese people would look down on a woman marrying a foreigner unless of course you're talking about the lower working class type people. From what I gather from the posts on here most expats seem to be dating the blue collar or lower-middle class women. I have no experience with these types but I assume there's probably less scrutiny about what they do in daily life. I imagine the family probably wouldn't like it much because they expect to be taken care of in old age and there's this rather justified belief that if their children marry a foreigner it's likely the "foreign" son or daughter in law won't give two shits about them.

For the middle/upper middle class Chinese it's definitely taboo in a lot of ways unless the foreigner in a substantial occupation like business owner, doctor, lawyer etc.. The attitude is similar to Thais in some ways which isn't surprising since the middle/upper middle class in Thailand is made up of people from a Chinese-Thai background
One of the reasons I have left the US is to get away from the racism there. So, I do not think it would be a good idea to go a country that seems to be even more racist.
One good thing about the RP is that it has a lot of poor and educated people- teachers, nurses and all that. They have BAs and have completed studies of other kinds and they are just like me- and I can date them. Unlike in Thailand. Or China as you have described. I think it will not be on my list any time soon.
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Repatriate
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Post by Repatriate »

ladislav wrote:
Chinese women tend to be pragmatic, materialistic, and controlling. Plus men and women in China tend to be emotionally stunted unless they have been exposed to a good education and a decent social environment. The reality is most Chinese people would look down on a woman marrying a foreigner unless of course you're talking about the lower working class type people. From what I gather from the posts on here most expats seem to be dating the blue collar or lower-middle class women. I have no experience with these types but I assume there's probably less scrutiny about what they do in daily life. I imagine the family probably wouldn't like it much because they expect to be taken care of in old age and there's this rather justified belief that if their children marry a foreigner it's likely the "foreign" son or daughter in law won't give two shits about them.

For the middle/upper middle class Chinese it's definitely taboo in a lot of ways unless the foreigner in a substantial occupation like business owner, doctor, lawyer etc.. The attitude is similar to Thais in some ways which isn't surprising since the middle/upper middle class in Thailand is made up of people from a Chinese-Thai background
One of the reasons I have left the US is to get away from the racism there. So, I do not think it would be a good idea to go a country that seems to be even more racist.
One good thing about the RP is that it has a lot of poor and educated people- teachers, nurses and all that. They have BAs and have completed studies of other kinds and they are just like me- and I can date them. Unlike in Thailand. Or China as you have described. I think it will not be on my list any time soon.
Less or more racist is just all in the eye of the beholder. I don't think it's more racist than an asian person trying to date, let's say.. a Russian in Russia..who may face death or daily verbal abuse in certain circumstances whereas in China the most you'll get is an annoyed or dismissive look. Most families from at least a working class background would grow to accept it which is much more than I can say about a lot of countries in the world including the U.S. I do think western countries are way worse about this especially when the shoe is on the other foot so to speak.
The_Adventurer
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Post by The_Adventurer »

I would love to know where in Korea one pays $1000 a month for an apartment. That should have you living like a king in the top of a sky rise!

In Suwon City (about 30 minutes from Seoul) You could get awesome places with awesome city views for $300 - $400 and groceries were cheaper than in the Philippines (at least for real foods, I don't know about over processed, package shit as I don't eat it anymore)! In fact, for a foreigner looking for a certain quality of life, it is overall much cheaper than the Philippines. The reason being, at least in Cebu City Philippines, the more western you try to make your life, the more exponentially expensive it gets because the prices begin to target foreigners. Prices never target foreigners in Korea because they likely don't want them there anyway. ;)

You can get an awesome, luxury sky rise apartment or condo in Cebu City Philippines for $300-$400 a month, but if you pay that in Korea you will get a much more awesome place with electronic security, voice activated lights, Gbit internet and more. The difference is, if you're willing to make some cuts and live further from the city, in the Philippines, you can get an awesome place for $100 a month, which can't happen in Korea.

Los Angeles: $80,000 to live in LA would be good. Even working in the studios there I didn't quite get that high, but I did find myself paying $1000 for a run down shit hole built in 1954. I had a much better place in the Philippines, better in every conceivable way, for about $150 a month. Imagine that. I had to work in a big time studio in LA. I could live of my little website in the Philippines.
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globetrotter
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Post by globetrotter »

Terrence wrote:I would love to know where in Korea one pays $1000 a month for an apartment. That should have you living like a king in the top of a sky rise!
Tell me about it. That is 6,800 Yuan a month. In Shanghai that is what dual income, westernised, Ivy League degree foreign placements pay. They are looking for a cool, Manhattan style place with all the modern stylistic conveniences. Oddly enough that sort of gratutious attempt to live like people do on TV costs the same anywhere on the planet. You can pay 12,000 to 25,000 per month Yuan rent if you want a huge, luxury apartment in a hirise with a view in the cool neighborhoods and all the trappings required by cool, hip, 20-somethings.

If you must have that then moving to Asia to live better on less is not one of your values. You want to live like on Sex in the City.
globetrotter
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Post by globetrotter »

ladislav wrote:
Chinese women tend to be pragmatic, materialistic, and controlling. Plus men and women in China tend to be emotionally stunted unless they have been exposed to a good education and a decent social environment. The reality is most Chinese people would look down on a woman marrying a foreigner unless of course you're talking about the lower working class type people. From what I gather from the posts on here most expats seem to be dating the blue collar or lower-middle class women. I have no experience with these types but I assume there's probably less scrutiny about what they do in daily life. I imagine the family probably wouldn't like it much because they expect to be taken care of in old age and there's this rather justified belief that if their children marry a foreigner it's likely the "foreign" son or daughter in law won't give two shits about them.

For the middle/upper middle class Chinese it's definitely taboo in a lot of ways unless the foreigner in a substantial occupation like business owner, doctor, lawyer etc.. The attitude is similar to Thais in some ways which isn't surprising since the middle/upper middle class in Thailand is made up of people from a Chinese-Thai background
One of the reasons I have left the US is to get away from the racism there. So, I do not think it would be a good idea to go a country that seems to be even more racist.
One good thing about the RP is that it has a lot of poor and educated people- teachers, nurses and all that. They have BAs and have completed studies of other kinds and they are just like me- and I can date them. Unlike in Thailand. Or China as you have described. I think it will not be on my list any time soon.
China, Russia and the USA all share some qualities. They are all mostly cold, northern countries with a winter and paranoid/compressed sense of time. If you don't store food for the winter you die just the same in all 3 countries. They all have been or aspire to being empire-like, global leaders, whatever you want to call it. China and America share a great deal in common in everyday interactions, more so than the USA and Mexico, although Mexicans look like NA's. Body language, much social interaction - it is all very familar and makes getting around without L2 fluency much much easier. Cultural misunderstands are not as bad as one would think.

I look forward to visiting Russia, The Ukraine, Belarus and other FSU nations to see if there is the same simlilarities.
globetrotter
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Post by globetrotter »

ladislav wrote:
Chinese women tend to be pragmatic, materialistic, and controlling. Plus men and women in China tend to be emotionally stunted unless they have been exposed to a good education and a decent social environment. The reality is most Chinese people would look down on a woman marrying a foreigner unless of course you're talking about the lower working class type people. From what I gather from the posts on here most expats seem to be dating the blue collar or lower-middle class women. I have no experience with these types but I assume there's probably less scrutiny about what they do in daily life. I imagine the family probably wouldn't like it much because they expect to be taken care of in old age and there's this rather justified belief that if their children marry a foreigner it's likely the "foreign" son or daughter in law won't give two shits about them.

For the middle/upper middle class Chinese it's definitely taboo in a lot of ways unless the foreigner in a substantial occupation like business owner, doctor, lawyer etc.. The attitude is similar to Thais in some ways which isn't surprising since the middle/upper middle class in Thailand is made up of people from a Chinese-Thai background
One of the reasons I have left the US is to get away from the racism there. So, I do not think it would be a good idea to go a country that seems to be even more racist.
One good thing about the RP is that it has a lot of poor and educated people- teachers, nurses and all that. They have BAs and have completed studies of other kinds and they are just like me- and I can date them. Unlike in Thailand. Or China as you have described. I think it will not be on my list any time soon.
China, Russia and the USA all share some qualities. They are all mostly cold, northern countries with a winter and paranoid/compressed sense of time. If you don't store food for the winter you die just the same in all 3 countries. They all have been or aspire to being empire-like, global leaders, whatever you want to call it. China and America share a great deal in common in everyday interactions, more so than the USA and Mexico, although Mexicans look like NA's. Body language, much social interaction - it is all very familar and makes getting around without L2 fluency much much easier. Cultural misunderstands are not as bad as one would think.

I look forward to visiting Russia, The Ukraine, Belarus and other FSU nations to see if there are the same simlilarities.
globetrotter
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Post by globetrotter »

Terrence wrote:I would love to know where in Korea one pays $1000 a month for an apartment. That should have you living like a king in the top of a sky rise!
Tell me about it. That is 6,800 Yuan a month. In Shanghai that is what dual income, westernised, Ivy League degree foreign placements pay. They are looking for a cool, Manhattan style place with all the modern stylistic conveniences. Oddly enough that sort of gratutious attempt to live like people do on TV costs the same anywhere on the planet. You can pay 12,000 to 25,000 per month Yuan rent if you want a huge, luxury apartment in a hirise with a view in the cool neighborhoods and all the trappings required by cool, hip, 20-somethings.

If you must have that then moving to Asia to live better on less is not one of your values. You want to live like on Sex in the City.
FuzzX
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Post by FuzzX »

Hmmmm no... I think I was just getting ripped off by my ESL school.... I didn't realize apartments were inexpensive there... this was in Seoul.. Out of my $2400 paycheck, they said it was $1000/month rent. I was pretty green at the time though and it only occurred to me now that the school owner was the same guy renting the apartment to me. :wink:

I had a tiny one room apartment with no window, the super un-comfortable bed and the kitchen were right beside each other and the only other 'room' was a small washroom/shower combo, after 2 weeks the toliet stopped working. It was anything but luxury. I did a runner less than half way into my second month when my boss started threatening me to go to work or he'd kick my ass (I was seriously ill). The building was an officetel, meaning HOTEL + OFFICE or place where the 'offices' come equipped with a bed/kitchen. Think Korean love hotel room with a desk. I just thought Seoul was REALLY REALLY expensive and this guy was doing me a big favor by hiring me without a degree.
The_Adventurer
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Post by The_Adventurer »

FuzzX wrote:Hmmmm no... I think I was just getting ripped off by my ESL school.... I didn't realize apartments were inexpensive there... this was in Seoul.. Out of my $2400 paycheck, they said it was $1000/month rent. I was pretty green at the time though and it only occurred to me now that the school owner was the same guy renting the apartment to me. :wink:

I had a tiny one room apartment with no window, the super un-comfortable bed and the kitchen were right beside each other and the only other 'room' was a small washroom/shower combo, after 2 weeks the toliet stopped working. It was anything but luxury. I did a runner less than half way into my second month when my boss started threatening me to go to work or he'd kick my ass (I was seriously ill). The building was an officetel, meaning HOTEL + OFFICE or place where the 'offices' come equipped with a bed/kitchen. Think Korean love hotel room with a desk. I just thought Seoul was REALLY REALLY expensive and this guy was doing me a big favor by hiring me without a degree.
Yeah he totally jacked you. But I read about this before I went there too. Many westerners get jacked by bad bosses in private ESL schools. I only went to schools on introductions by friends and most offered me a nice apartment for free. I never did actually join, though. My journeys led to so many private clients I just did that for a while.

Anyway, the places I looked at on my own, all have a huge security deposit, but the monthly rent is only $250 to $400 per month and they are nice quality.
“Booty is so strong that there are dudes willing to blow themselves up for the highly unlikely possibility of booty in another dimension." -- Joe Rogan
FuzzX
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Post by FuzzX »

Thanks Terrence... geez, now I just need a year long visa for Korea and I'd be set.

Anyone lived in Vietnam, Singapore or Myanmar?
globetrotter
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Post by globetrotter »

I think that Ladislav has been to Burma and that he liked it.
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