Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

First, I want to thank everyone for the PMs and advice taht I've gotten. I'm trying to get together as much info as I can by reading through old posts and PMing people.

Basically, my husband and I realise that we have to leave Peru, and South America, because of the money situation here. We would like to go some place where we can save money, but are also concerned about the quality of life.

Since we're both used to working two jobs and keeping busy, I can't imagine what my husband would do if he had to stay at home all day. He's Peruvian and speaks Spanish, and has basic English. He's a DBA, a Database Administrator with knowledge of CISCO, JAVA and Oracle.

From what I've gathered, it would be hard for him to get a job in the ME. Others have said that there might be possibilities in Korea, Taiwan, or Japan that he could teach Spanish.

Any other possibilities out there for either teaching Spanish or working with his career, computers? He's also had a notion of setting up a restuarant. How feasible is this? Is it difficult to get permission to open one?

[comenius]

Hey there

I'm not sure how your husband would feel about a pretty major shift in career, but I know that I've seen jobs for Spanish teachers in China, and assume there must be demand for them elsewhere too. Of course China isn't going to do a lot for you from a saving money perspective.

Also, I know that a lot of technology jobs don't require you to be physically on site. Would it be possible for him to continue doing his current job from wherever you end up teaching? Or possibly find a similar job that would give him that flexibility?

Best of luck to you as you both work to figure this out!

[naturegirl321]

[Glenski]

Setting up a restaurant will involve a lot of things that would probably mean interacting with the locals in their language (written and spoken).

health inspectors and safety codes
hiring employees and making contracts
building codes and buying equipment and paying rent
procuring supplies
hiring a local accountant to do taxes and such

Sounds pretty tough to me.

[naturegirl321]

[spiral78]

Have you thought of googling and contacting restaurants featuring Spanish food in cities where you want to go? Maybe setting up his own restaurant is kind of a big step, but if he's got some background in the restaurant biz, you might locate some existing business that would get him started in terms of employment....

[Sgt Killjoy]

Well, if you are gonna choose lifestyle over money, why not stay in South America? It has a lot more to offer than anywhere in Asia when it comes to lifestyle. Opening any kind of business or staying long term with a NNS spouse will be difficult at best.

I suggest ditching the lifestyle issue. I suggest Korea. You can make money hand over fist. Korea has very good internet speeds and it wouldn't take much to set up a home office in your apartment for your husband to work out of. Find ways to monetize your husband's work over the net. Elance and getafreelancer always seem to have positions for people with computer skills to work on projects. One of the preresquites(yes I know I misspelled it) is that you have a quick internet connection.

You get a job that pays the bucks, your husband gets jobs that keeps him more or less busy and NOT going crazy and most importantly still keeps him in the technology loop. Your family income will be higher than if you both were able to teach in China.

Why Korea over Japan or Taiwan? Korea has better internet connections, any apartment you get will have dsl in it.

[naturegirl321]

I'll look into those websites, hopefully they can help. Thanks a lot.

Shockingly, the lifestyle here in Peru isn't as laid back as people think. I work three jobs, my husband two. We're away from home about 13 hours a day.

WE'd like to go somewhere to stay for a while and raise a family. How's the quality of life and pay in places like Japan, Korea or Taiwan?

[Sgt Killjoy]

[Glenski]

[canuck]

Just saw this thread, and you have more information than your thread in the Japan forum. If you're thinking about having kids, you're in trouble if you come to Japan. Based on your qualifications, you would have to be the main breadwinner. Getting pregnant and having a baby would lead you to financial ruin. Your best bet would be for you husband to secure a job in the computer industry, probably in Tokyo. This would be very difficult, because he lacks a degree. Tokyo is your best bet. I would only come if you either have a job in hand for you husband or you vow not to get pregnant.

[MELEE]

There were Peruvian restaurants in Osaka and Kobe in 1997, who knows if they are still around? There was a sizeable Peruvian population in that area then, most with a grandparent or two who where Japanese, I believe there was some sort of visa program for Peruvians and Brazilians to Japan because both countries opened their doors to Japanese immigrants after the war. Send your husband by the Japanese Embassy to ask for information.

But I tend to agree with the Sarg. If you want to start a family the best options are probably one of your home countries, either Peru or the US.

You might be able to do it in Mexico, if you got a job at a university, then you'd make enough for the family, you'd get him a dependent visa, then he could probably find under the table work to keep him busy, If you had children here, two years later you could both apply for citizenship if you so desired. In the larger cities there are options where he could continue to study and finish a degree part time.

[naturegirl321]