Job Discussion Forums

[fat_chris]

What do you think are the best cities in which to work, live and play in the following regions?

Region 1: North America (Canada, the US and the Carribean)
Region 2: Latin America (Mexico, Central America and South America)
Region 3: Europe (Western, Eastern and Russia)
Region 4: Asia (Middle East, Central Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast and Northeast)
Region 5: Pacific (Aus, NZ, Hawaii and Pacific islands)
Region 6: Africa (North, Sub-Saharan)

On my short list would be New York, Berlin and Sydney.

[denise]

How long does one have to have been in a city to be able to judge such things? Can you really get an accurate picture just passing through on holiday, or do you have to have lived/taught there? I haven't lived in enough cities to really be able to rank them, and of the cities that I have visited, I do not know them well enough to judge how good it'd be to live there.

I vote for San Francisco, in which I have never actually lived or worked (lived in Berkeley, worked in Oakland).

d

[Tong Dawei]

denise,

I love the hills of Oakland/Berkeley! I think that place is my all time favorite place to live. Those Santa Anna winds though can sure be treacherous, although, I would still choose to live there while trying to ensure that if fire did rage through the area that i was as protected as possible. If i could afford it, fire insurance all hte way.

[desultude]

I love the Bay area too, but I would not want to live there. First, its way too expensive. Second, it is full of Californians!
(Of course, I like a lot of Californians, but as a whole, I find too many superficial and annoying.)

My favorite North American city is Mexico city. Every stereotype promulgated in the U.S. about Mexicans is the inverse of the truth- which is that they are hardworking, friendly, helpful to a fault, and extremely generous. Viva Mexico!

I would love to be able to live in New York City for a while, but, again, it is just too expensive- Ditto Seattle, which I love dearly.

My favorite European City is Berlin. I would love to live there. Sydney is great, but I really like Melbourne's funky alternative edge.

I like Bangkok, but I don't know about living there in the city. I guess I am too new to Asia to know which city I like best.

[denise]

Other cities that I thoroughly enjoyed while visiting and would like to someday see more of:

Honolulu
Dublin
London
Athens
Vienna
Hong Kong

Not all Californians are annoying! Some are quite mild-mannered.

d

[Steiner]

I liked Vienna, too.

In N. America, I'd have to go with Burlington, Vermont.

Asia--haven't been anywhere much yet, but living in Taipei was good.

[Roger]

Africa:
- Arusha (Tanzania);
- Tamanrasset (Algeria);
- cape Town (RSA);
My dream place to visit: Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Asia:
- Jerusalem (Israel);
- Petra (Jordan);
- Mashad (Iran);
- Istanbul (turkey);
- baguio (Philippines);
- Ahmedabad (India);
- Pokhara (Nepal);
- Penang (Malaysia);
- Kuala Lumpur (Malayisia);
- Kioto (Japan);
- Kashgar (Xinjiang/Turkestan, China);
- Lhasa (Tibet);
- Qufu (CHina);
- Pingyao (China);
- Hanoi (Vietnam);

Asian dream places to visit: Yogyakarta, Angkor Wat; Damascus; Baghdad;

Europe:
- Barcelona (Spain);
- Paris;
- Rome;
- Berlin;
- Amsterdam;
- Tallinn (Estonia);
- Prague (Czech);
- St. Petersburg (Russia);
- Moscow;

Americas:
- vbvancouver;
- Quebec;
Places I want to see: San Francisco
Buenos Aires; Acapulco; the Falklands.

[scot47]

London is nice if you can find a park bench to sleep on. Given the figures quoted elsewhere for EFL teaching in London, that is about all you could afford there. (See posts from LEEROY.)

But then I never really fancied living and working in the Third World.

[denise]

How COULD I forget Prague?!?!? What a glaring oversight!

d

[scot47]

Prague is a wonderful city but would you really choose to work there on a Czech salary ?

[Chris]

Hi all. Great topic!

But very difficult to decide. (Looks like Roger had a difficult time too! )

Anyway, as I've only lived in a few countries in Europe, this is my list of the best of Europe.

Prague. Hands down one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Unfortunately, it's almost constantly overrun with tourists (was I contributiing??) Spent the last 2 New Year's there.. Probably been there 17-18 times since moving to Poland 6 years ago. Just DON'T fall on ice and dislocate/fracture your elbow at 1am Jan 1st. Not a very fun experience and definately not a great start to 2003..

In Poland though, these are some cities that you must see because of the beauty, history and other things to do..
Krakow (just came back from a weekend visit)
Wroclaw
Gdansk
Zakopane (gorgeous mountains!)
...and many many others.

Rest of Europe:
Oslo
Stockholm
Tallinn
Vilnius (very quaint)
Budapest

I've been to many other places, but nothing else really stands out for me.

Moving to Germany in the new year, so hopefully I'll find some wonderful places around where I'll be living.

[rogan]

London - too many cockneys and Brits.
Edinburg - 'you'll have had your tea then'

Paris - ahh, Paris!

Berlin - stiff and stoical.
Tallin - love it.
Vilnius - great

Minsk - just don't even think about it.

Moscow - where else, it's wonderful.

Copenhagen - wonderful airport.
Geneva - fine for a stop-over, but stay..........?
Stockholm - too stiffr, too expensive

Rome - well the Pope's on his way out, unfortunately

[Bookworm]

Stockholm
Helsinki
Tallinn
Hamburg
Munich
Paris
Amsterdam
Istanbul
Bahrain
Dubai
Hong Kong
Macau
Geneva

[Roger]

I forgot MACAU!
Vilnius enthralled me too although it was icy-cold then and there! Oslo? Too long ago, but maybe yes!
Budapest? Has charm, to be true. BUt no match for Prague!

[struelle]

These are all nice lists! Now if only if I had enough time to visit them, even teach in some of them.

Another question to add to the thread - how many cities do you plan to teach or live in, realistically, in the next 5-10 years?