Working Abroad
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- rabattski0
i got bored with amsterdam. and it's good to broaden your horizon. learn more, grow more as a person.
anyways, vespa, nah i'm not pissed at all, it's just that when i see quotes with god in it i immediately have to think of jehova witnesses who ring the doorbel on sunday at 8 am.
and yes, you got to have faith, but in yourself that is. it's not like there's this power out there who controls everything no matter what you do.
everything what you are, what you do and where you are is due to you and not some abstract entity. so you don't really have to thank god for it, just thank yourself.
- vespa0
sometimes i feel so lucky (compared to so many people in the world) it seems incredibly arrogant to "just thank myself"
- JazX0
I was a young buck straight out of college and went into the US Peace Corps. Stayed in South West Africa (Namibia) for 2.5 years and worked as a Secondary Education Teacher under the Cambridge (UK) School System. Stayed another 1.5 years working for UNESCO as a Geoscientist/explorationist (more like baby sitter) for a mine pulling out Tantallite. Travelled back and forth to South Africa quite often, Cape Town and the costal towns along the wine route. Much fun all together and you learn a lot. Met some crazy cats in Namibia, one of whom was a Sri Lankan telecommunications programmer working for Deutsch Telekom in Namibia (former German Colony, blah, blah), he got another IBM contracting position with Telia of Sweden in Helsinki, Finland. Got to go there and work for 6 months as a web/technical writer contractor as well. Bounced around the EU doing little things. Much fun. All in all a good time.
Honestly, if you are looking for a job in another country, you are going to either have to be working through some approved agency (work permit), or have the right to work there through marriage, etc. It's not that easy, but once you get in you can work your way around.
- paraselene0
why i came to london, or what i did on my summer vacation
by paraselene
i had been living abroad (spain, mexico, honduras, cuba, london) thanks to many research grants and the kindness of strangers.
i eventually had to return to the states. shit was bad there and it made me feel uncomfortable, so i set about finding a job abroad. this was the first one that came along. it's a year next wednesday since i've been here and i couldn't be happier about the move. it's nice to be legal for a change.
- gsd0
f**k me JazX! There was a TV series about you a few years back - I think it was called MacGyver...
- rabattski0
what is so arrogant about thanking yourself vespa? because you were not born in a poor country? or that you were not born in a trailerpark? you did make your own choices right? aren't you glad you made those? or proud in what you've reached / done? i don't see the arrogance in that.
- JazX0
hey man where are you looking to move?
- gsd0
well one day I'd like to live in Oz - Sydney or Melbourne - try it for a few years at least. But I did try NYC a while back and that was fantastic but the US visa system seems so complex I'm actually surprised it has so many immigrants!
- vespa0
rabattski i'm not religious at all. and of course i make my own choices and work hard but, yes, i believe that i was born into a position of comparitive privilege just by having the options that i have had - educational and otherwise - options many people will never have no matter how hard they work.
simply "thanking myself" just doesn't feel right. sorry i can't explain it better than that...
- JazX0
good luck to you gsd!~ The US immigration system is more than flawed, you should have just stayed. Oz sounds more open and free to me and has some relation to the UK in a lot of ways, at least from what I hear, culturally speaking, the US doesn't. South Africa did as well.
- vespa0
yea go for it gsd, oz has a lot to offer (and it needs more people...)
- rabattski0
yeah i understand in a way but it's just a fact that you cannot change where you were born and under which circumstances.
so you can hardly blame that. or is it political correctness to say that? because you were born under the right circumstances? what if you we're born in a poor country and you fought all your way to where you are know? could you be thanking yourself then?
i'm just curious you know, coz i have no problems at all with being proud with myself and "thank myself" coz everything i've done in the past has made me what i am today.
- gsd0
Sometimes I thank myself - sometimes I thank whatever higher powers they may be...
then other times I curse them both
- rabattski0
"then other times I curse them both"-gsd
:) good one actually.
- Spix0
i got one...got married, thats how i ended up abroad...now i'm getting divorced so I have to pack my bags and get back to europe. again..
- vespa0
i have no problems at all with being proud of myself either, but it's important to me to stay humble at the same time.
call it identifying with the rest of the world, empathy for those who would have done just as well as me had they had had caring parents, a good education, 3 passports, teachers who taught them to question everything, space to play in as a kid, a childhood that never knew war or abuse... i could go on and on about the things i'm thankful for.
and doubtless if i'd been born with nothing and got to the same place i'd be doubly thankful.
maybe that trip to india has made me all spiritual and shit, i dunno. people live on dirt over there and they are still grateful to be alive.
- mr_snuggles0
I've been trying hard to get out of Canada for a couple of years the safe and easy way, by just applying for the desired positions as they come up. I've had pretty limited success, I've found companies to be a bit leary of hiring foreigners for all sorts of reasons from, the amount of time it takes to immigrate to low salary offerings not being enough to relocate so I think it might be easier in some ways to make the move and find a job or at least sort out some freelance first.
- rabattski0
@ vespa. ok, now i'm getting more close to understanding where your coming from.
imo you can still be humble and also respect / be thankful for the choices you've made. you still can empathisize with the rest of the world and still be thankfull you've made the right decisions.
you know, it's not like "wow, look at me! i'm so fucking great!" but more in the line what daila lama said: judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
- JazX0
Spix are you serious? You can easily stay in the USA. Go call an immigration lawyer, they are not that much. Man, that's a joke.
- Blofeldt0
I feel very lucky that I have no urge to travel anywhere.