Job Discussion Forums

[Mark]

Hi folks,

I currently live in Japan and I'm starting to think about where to go next. I've decided that it'll probably be either Russia or Spanish Latin America, specifically Cordoba, BA, Lima, Santiago, or Monterrey. Perhaps other cities will present themselves as I do more research.

But, as this is the Argentina forum, I'm wondering if you could give me any thoughts on the differences between Cordoba and BA. I definitely plan to learn Spanish, so that's a factor, and I prefer living somewhere with a vibrant creative community and a relaxed lifestyle.

Also, as I'd like to keep up my Japanese, I'm interested to know if either city has a community of Japanese speakers.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[Mark]

As a clarification, by "relaxed pace of life', I don't small small-town relaxed with nothing happening. I just mean a place where people are laid-back (I lived in Vancouver, Canada if that helps anyone).

Also, if anyone has any cities to recommend besides BA or Cordoba, I'd love to hear about them.

[Phil_b]

Check out

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=39335

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=34036

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=19456


These have plenty of info on Cordoba....

I'd say that BsAs is a big city, which has it's own personality/identity like New York or London whereas CBA is much more Argentine in feel.... It depends where you'd rather live - a huge metropolis or a much more provincial feeling city....

[Mark]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the links. Could you tell me what you mean by "more Argentine in feel"?

Anyway, this is still a ways away. I live in Tokyo now, so perhaps it wouldn't be good to move from one metropolis to another. I find though, that wth a smaller city you have to be a little more careful. A major metropolis can generally accomodate anyone and their interests, but smaller cities don't offer the same flexibility.

[Maria Kirby]

Hi Mark,

Maybe I should be posting in the Asia forum, but I'll try to contribute to your post regarding BsAs vs Cordoba. I started EFL teaching in Madrid where I stayed for a year and a half and like you I guess I want to travel as much as I can, see more of the world, so I moved to Argentina and I've been here since Aug of last year. I'm planning on staying in BsAsl through to Dec and move on to Asia and Japan seems very interesting.

I joined in because I see you're in Japan and you wanted to know more about Cordoba and BsA. My 2 cents on the Argentine feel is that BsAs is more like your modern big city, a lot of European and American influence, while Cordoba is more Argentina, again BsAs is the capital city so I guess it will be by default more international. This said, BsAs is still very much Argentine and my "porte�o" friends are as Argentine as their counterparts in Cordoba or anywhere else. Latin in every sense of the word.

On the practical side, there are more jobs in BsAs and the pay will be higher (mind you, don't look for Japan wages in BsAs!) but they say Japan is expensive so I guess it all evens out.

As a whole, Argentina is a great country, people are friendly, there's a lot to see and a real fun town in general. Make sure you can party, dance and have fun through to the morning hours because in the 2 Spanish cities where I've lived in - the energy level is just awesome! It's the Latin/Spanish energy I guess....

Hey, can I send you a pm? I'd really like to know more about Japan, some tips before I take the next big step? Thanks.



Maria

[Phil_b]

[Mark]

[Mark]