Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Trevor]

I taught in Korea and several other countries for many years and I want to take a break. Single. Orphan. I want to find a comfortable place in a third-world country where there is clean food and a tolerable environment. I can walk to town for internet. Some place friendly, clean and safe. Rural is fine. I live a very modest lifestyle. Feel free to PM me. I will not tell. I have excellent ESL qualifications and am willing to teach, but only part-time for a few years.

I need to write something, if you are interested in why I want to do this. I am in a big city now with lots of pollution and an English department that is treating me unkindly.

[augustine]

I'm just settling into a fully equipped, 2br apartment in a small town on the pacific coast of mexico right now for about $350/month including all utilities and a block from the beach. But you can get a decent place here for around $200/month easily. I'm also writing something and have no plans to do anything else for a couple of months, at least. Don't think there's much work to be had in small town mexico but your money goes far and I prefer it over SE asia, excluding Indonesia and Bangladesh, never visited those countries. I similarly prefer it over Europe where you'll get gouged monetarily. I was making a little cash in mexico city for a while but it got old and expensive. I did a lot of research and could have gone to just about anywhere in c/s America and probably had the same experience I'm having now, which is a supremely enjoyable one, but I'm a lazy traveler these days. If you're American or Canadian, it might make more sense, but your choices are essentially infinite. Three cumulative years in Asia were enough for me to want to avoid the region for a while. And spanish is easy to learn, I'm fully fluent now even though I'm not latino and haven't spoken it regularly in years.

[Trevor]

Much obliged. A couple questions. How would I go about arranging accommodations from abroad so that I would have a place to go when I land? I don't like driving. Is that a problem? How safe is the food and water. any crime to worry about? My Spanish is not so hot, but not nonexistant, would I have to be conversant right away? Besides rent, can I ask your monthly expenditure?

Finally, I am a musician, and I would not mind making a few extra bucks as the token gringo musician. Do you think that might be a possibility?

[Yaya]

Nha Trang, Vietnam, is also a great place to chill. I've been there twice and it's cheap and pretty mellow. You could easily live on 500 dollars a month in Nha Trang, though the influx of Russians means the cost of living is gonna go up.

Cambodia is accessible via a bus ride of a few hours if you need to get out or do a visa run.

[young_clinton]

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[augustine]

Not a fan of nha trang myself but that's been covered on here in the past. Thailand is obviously also great and chiang mai is definitely my favorite city in that country. I didn't go to the coast in Cambodia, but I heard good things about sikhoumwhateverville. Don't think I'd ever want to live in siem riep, phenom penh, Bangkok, HCMC, hanoi, KL, India, or Africa (just thinking about cheap warm places) but the rest is open. There are so many places you could go, but these guys are talking about their favorite close Asian vacation spots that they like to go to on their short breaks. Which is fine, but if you want to retire and chill for a couple of years... and you've already been in Asia for a long time, latin America is the place to go imo, especially if you're north American; you won't be trapped so far away, labeled a sex tourist, you will probably spend a lot less money, and be able to live life in real time again.

To try and answer your questions, I don't break down my finances but everything is dollar store cheap. And you don't want to drive in mexico anyway, there's a lot of crime, but it's mostly all on the border and I haven't felt unsafe anywhere. Mexico City gets a horrible reputation but I lived there for a few months and it's a joke. There are dangerous parts but they're as safe as anywhere during the day, and completely segregated from the entire southern half of the city where everyone is rich. And you can just book a hotel online for a few days then ask around for something more permanent. You don't need to speak Spanish, where I'm at there are a f*** load of Canadians, many of whom who have actually made there home here, and none of them seem to speak any Spanish. Though it's hilarious to me watching them try, but that's just the elitist in me talking. You'll have more luck finding a place on the ground anyway. And if you're looking to rent something for a year plus, you're going to get a king's bargain.

Food is the best, bottled water only but I have one of those huge jugs with a tap setups that last for a long time. I'd say $300-500 a month for a normal person that isn't me is fair, especially if you like to eat tacos. Some woman offered to rent me a room in her house for $50 a month, but she also had no husband and a 17 year old daughter living there... but no wifi which was the deal breaker hehe. I play the guitar (and drums when I get the chance) and plan on buying one soon since I sold mine before I left korea, but it's mexico amigo, there are ALWAYS people playing music everywhere. I've seen gringos playing music at open mic nights and at bars, and there is definitely not a lack of venues. I'd like to start playing again myself. Making money, probably a different story unless you can wail and hook up with the right people.

If you decide on latin America you should also look at countries like Colombia, Brazil etc.. Colombia is supposed to be great and I almost went there instead; there's a city named barranquilla on the coast that's apparently very nice, and I guarantee you that there are more opportunities to make money there than where I am. Even cheaper, too. But that's not a concern of mine at the moment. I know there isn't much of a chance you'll wind up here, but I'll just go ahead and say the name, melaque, in the state of jalisco. I'm guessing you're a bit older so this place might be what you're looking for since it's cheap and inhabited by a tight knit older crowd of maybe 1000 people seasonally who have been coming here for decades and are generally very helpful and friendly. I never really liked the vibe of the older expat crowds in SE Asia, and personally think most of them are scoundrels. If you want to bang destitute 18 year old hookers from the countryside, that's the place to go. But I think Mexicans are much nicer people, it's a more relaxed environment, and you can get very good pot for $3 a gram and not have to worry about going to prison for two years. This place full of older, well off Canadian couples who spend their winters here because it's cheap, warm, beautiful, hospitable, and untouched by McDonald's, 711s or any of that. Supremely localized but highly westernized since there's been a long standing expat community in place here for 30 years or something like that. A place to look into at least.

[Trevor]

Thank you, Augustine.

[Yaya]

At the same time, Vietnam offers the chance to tutor on the side. Many English teachers there have no bachelor's. I heard of one guy making the equivalent of 4 million won a month in Ho Chi Minh City, which is a LOT of dough in Vietnam. I also knew people who were teaching in Nha Thang, though the pay wasn't so high.

I personally didn't find HCMC that appealing but lots of backpackers there and cheap booze and food.

[Trevor]

I was actually thinking that teaching part-time might help with visa issues. If I can teach a few hours a week in exchange for a visa, that could work.

[Yaya]

[spaceman82]

As someone interested in doing something similar in the future, what kind of visa issues, if any, have you come up against in Mexico? Would that aspect of things be more or less difficult in Colombia?

[augustine]

Visa situation is lax in mexico for Americans and I'm guessing Canadians as well. Six months on arrival and you apparently can just go somewhere and renew it over and over again, or probably get some resident visa somehow. I would be having to deal with that right about now but I flew home for Christmas so I'm assuming my six months got reset when I returned. I think if you want to get a legit work visa you have to actually go back to your home country or some shit, but the average joe will make more money just teaching privates on a tourist visa generally, I believe.

I'm pretty sure everything works the same in Colombia except that it's a 90 day visa that you can also renew in-country, and you can receive a work visa on the spot if you have a job/sponsor. From what I recall. I don't think anyone makes excessive amounts of money teaching in Latin America but I read Colombia and mexico are number one and two, respectively. Most of these countries don't want to inhibit tourism or investment either so why make it difficult.

The only hassle I ran into was at incheon where I fought with some woman and her supervisor for 15 minutes when they refused to tag my bags on to mexico unless I showed proof of an outgoing ticket. But that c word had no idea what she was talking about. You don't have to do that nonsense, and luckily I had a little time at LAX to get that straightened out.

[ghostrider]

I've heard the cost of living is very low in Nicaragua. Some English teachers make as little as $300 there yet live comfortably. It could be a cheap place to chill for a few years.

[Brooks]

Heard good things about Coata Rica and Colombia.
Many Americans go to Costa Rica to retire even heard of Ecuador as another destination.

[Yaya]