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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Suwon4AGT
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
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 Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:10 am Post subject: I want to go home in March, but... |
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1. American male, late 30s.
2. Contract finished March 1st.
3. Wish to go home, but not my hometown (10% unemployment).
4. Trying to figure out best place to go.
5. Open to different possibilities, but finding a job, cheap place to live top priorities.
6. No car, no furniture.
Thoughts appreciated!! |
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Radius
Joined: 20 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:58 am Post subject: |
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| Thailand? |
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aishiii
Joined: 24 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 1:02 am Post subject: Re: I want to go home in March, but... |
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| Suwon4AGT wrote: |
3. Wish to go home, but not my hometown (10% unemployment).
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That's 90% of people with a job. Why do you consider yourself in the bottom 10%? |
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Hightop
Joined: 11 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 1:04 am Post subject: |
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| Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Haerbin, Chongqing, Xian or if you have a teachers certification Hong Kong. |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| Japan (I'm headed there in March myself), Taiwan, China (previous poster named some good cities), Thailand, the Czech Republic or Saudi Arabia. Take your pick. |
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Old Gil
Joined: 26 Sep 2009
Location: Got out! olleh!
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| Hightop wrote: |
| Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Haerbin, Chongqing, Xian or if you have a teachers certification Hong Kong. |
Don't forget Nanjing! |
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air76
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 1:34 am Post subject: |
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If you want to go back to the US, but not to your hometown, then you should be able to find a job.
Times are tough, but MOST people do have jobs....if you're willing to go anywhere then you can find a job. |
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oskinny1
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:43 am Post subject: |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
| Japan (I'm headed there in March myself), Taiwan, China (previous poster named some good cities), Thailand, the Czech Republic or Saudi Arabia. Take your pick. |
A pain to get a visa there now if you don't have an EU passport. |
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mekku
Joined: 22 Jul 2006
Location: daegu, korea
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:09 pm Post subject: |
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some states have largely escaped the unemployment problems and are basically no worse off then they were two years ago. perhaps consider some of those- off the top of my head north dakota and alaska come to mind.
alaska- not so cheap on the housing but north dakota has some very reasonably priced, even cheap housing options.
north dakota may not be for everyone, but don't knock it till you try it! |
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redaxe
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: I want to go home in March, but... |
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| Suwon4AGT wrote: |
1. American male, late 30s.
2. Contract finished March 1st.
3. Wish to go home, but not my hometown (10% unemployment).
4. Trying to figure out best place to go.
5. Open to different possibilities, but finding a job, cheap place to live top priorities.
6. No car, no furniture.
Thoughts appreciated!! |
What else are you looking for in terms of a place to live besides cost and employment? How big and how densely populated of a city? What kind of climate?
I've heard good things about the US Southeast, in particular North Carolina. Very reasonable housing prices, jobs can be found, low-stress lifestyle, and the climate is not extreme. You would need a car though. I've never been to NC, this is just what I've heard.
If you're more interested in the West Coast I would recommend Oregon. Not as expensive as California or the Seattle/Puget Sound area, plus a beautiful natural environment and a pretty vibrant economy. The Portland area is one place I'd actually really like to live. They have a pretty good public transportation system and cycling is very popular there, so you might be able to get around without a car if you lived in downtown Portland. Seattle is also great, and probably has a better job market but housing prices are quite a bit higher.
Chicago and maybe Milwaukee are the only places in the Midwest I would even consider living, but they are just too cold in the winter. I guess there are some nice places in the Southwest, but they got hit pretty hard by the housing bubble. The Northeast has always been expensive and overcrowded.
Edit: Here's a good list of unemployment rates by metropolitan area from Nov. 2009:
http://www.bls.gov/web/laummtrk.htm
Interesting that North Dakota has the lowest unemployment and lowest real estate prices in the country. Perhaps it's the weather?
Last edited by redaxe on Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Portland is not the place to go to look for a job. |
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redaxe
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
| Portland is not the place to go to look for a job. |
Yeah you're probably right, it's over 10% unemployment as well. Portland, Maine only has 6.6% unemployment though, haha. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:29 am Post subject: Re: I want to go home in March, but... |
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| redaxe wrote: |
I've heard good things about the US Southeast, in particular North Carolina. Very reasonable housing prices, jobs can be found, low-stress lifestyle, and the climate is not extreme. You would need a car though. I've never been to NC, this is just what I've heard.
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The culture is so stale there, though. |
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4 months left
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:44 am Post subject: Re: I want to go home in March, but... |
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| aishiii wrote: |
| Suwon4AGT wrote: |
3. Wish to go home, but not my hometown (10% unemployment).
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That's 90% of people with a job. Why do you consider yourself in the bottom 10%? |
The U6 unemployment rate AKA the "real unemployment rate" is more like 18-21%. People drop out of the workforce so they are not included in the unemployment rate and thus artficially makes the unem. rate look better than it is.
Not to mention companies are NOT hiring and the money pumping FED and wreckless spending Gov't are putting the economy into unsustainable debt. |
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redaxe
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:52 am Post subject: Re: I want to go home in March, but... |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
| redaxe wrote: |
I've heard good things about the US Southeast, in particular North Carolina. Very reasonable housing prices, jobs can be found, low-stress lifestyle, and the climate is not extreme. You would need a car though. I've never been to NC, this is just what I've heard.
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The culture is so stale there, though. |
Could be. I doubt I'd fit in there culturally, being from the west coast. I already know I don't like east coast culture that much, and I've lived in Chicago before, which has a cool urban culture but doesn't offer much in terms of environment and outdoor activities.
I'm very interested in this topic because I want to go back to the US in June or July, and I'm trying to find better places to live than my hometown of Seattle. So far, I can't really find a place that seems better. I was thinking about San Diego mostly because of the warm weather, but housing costs are like 30% higher and unemployment is a full 2% points higher than Seattle. I've also heard people say that SD's economy feels like a high-pressure rat race, and I've had enough of that after Korea. SF and LA are even more expensive than SD. Seattle it is, I guess.
This tool is pretty interesting, not sure how recently updated it is, but it compares cost of living between major cities, the TS might find it useful:
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx
Anyone else want to nominate a place in the US that has interesting culture, a comfortable climate, low cost of living, and lots of jobs?  |
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