Where should I go?

Hello all,

I'm thinking about going somewhere- another country- for six months or a year, and I'm not sure where I should go.

It needs to be somewhere cheap, with good fruits and vegetables, as I want to go to save money and experience a more interesting culture.

I would like to find a home stay and work on my writing and art, and take classes online.

I have a friend in Shanghai, if I tutor his daughter in English I could stay in a room in his house. 

However, I'm not sure how I could get a visa to stay in China long enough to offset the plane costs (plane ticket is over $1,000).  If I can only stay three months, that's too expensive.  Are there longer business visas?  Or maybe I can work very few hours for a working visa.

I really don't want to work full time in some English school if I can avoid it- the pay is not good without a Bachelor's degree (I have four more classes before I graduate).

I think it might also be possible to find a home stay in India, or another country where I could help with English practice in exchange for rent.  The tourist visas there are of a longer duration, I believe six months, so it is more worth the plane ticket.

Japan might also be nice, but I think it would be much harder to find a home stay there- also, food is more expensive in Japan.

Another concern I have is that some countries are very hot, and I do not do well in hot weather without air conditioning.  I know there is more air conditioning in Japan, and some in China… is there much air conditioning in India at all?  What about other countries?

I prefer also to be in a country where people are very talkative and friendly.  I know it can be very talkative and friendly in China, and that Japan can be more quiet sometimes- what about India or other countries?

My final concern is that I need to be in an environment where people have very casual or agnostic religious beliefs.  I'm allergic to very strong or pushy religion.  China, Japan, and India I think are O.K. that way.  I would be afraid of some countries though (I would not want to be killed for being an atheist).

In China, there are all kinds of weird visa restrictions at the moment because of the Olympics. Things should be back to normal in October (?) if you can wait that long. Under normal circumstances, you can easily get business visas for six months.

A suggestion – wait until October, fly to Hong Kong, get your mainland China visa there (2 days, very cheap), then take the fast overnight train to Shanghai.

No offense, but in my exprience you can't go off the beaten path and keep air-conditioning…

 ~ if you can adjust yourself to the heat, you might really like Thailand. It would have all those things you specified.

Thanks, yeah, I was worried about the Olympics craziness.

I was originally planning to hang out until September to beat the bulk of the summer heat, so October isn't much of a stretch.

So I'm thinking maybe Hong Kong > 6 month Business visa > China… and then if I feel like staying, head back to Hong Kong for a rinse and repeat?

That wouldn't be too bad.

Do you know how much the overnight train is?  I know from Dalian it was absurd- I bet it's cheaper between Shanghai and Hong Kong. 

The only concern I've had about Hong Kong is that, from what I've read, it's not a sure bet to be able to get one from there (and if I've already gotten a plane ticket all the way there, I don't want to have to be stuck in Hong Kong expensive). 

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have a snowball's chance of finding a cushy home stay in Hong Kong if I couldn't get into mainland.  I'd like to have a back up plan if that happened just in case.  Any thoughts?

Yeah, I've read a bit about Thailand and it sounds great- and very easy on the visas apparently.  I don't think I could take the heat though.  Maybe I'll go some time after I find a personal air conditioner.

I bet there's also some good vegetarian food there (if I could avoid the fish paste) considering all of the Buddhists.

I'll check out the current views on the visa situation post-Olympics for you. I've got a few friends who know about such things. Keep 'nudging' me until I reply (I'm both busy and forgetful!).

According to www.seat61.com you're looking at just over 100 bucks for a soft sleeper HK-SH. You can probably get cheaper than that in HK.

Homestay in HK is pretty much out, but there are cheap rooms at places like the Chungking Mansions. Contrary to popular belief, HK can actually be very cheap.

Thailand is superb (Thanks, Sarah!). I believe you can get a 30-day visa at the airport. However, renewals/extensions can be a real pain! They've toughened up on 'casual' English teachers recently and (basically) everyone 'white' is suspected of being one until proven otherwise.

The food is glorious, of course. I view the heat as a thinly veiled excuse to drink ice-cold beer!

Blakerieger,I invite you to visit to Turkey.Turkey is the cheapest(accomodation),the most comfortable and the most admirable country in the world(it's my opinion:))Especially,tourists are fanatical enough to visit to Turkey.Furthermore,there is need for english teachers in Turkey.I know lots of people coming from The USA and England to Turkey.They are suplied the prospect of being english teacher here.I assure you they are very glad to have been in Turkey.By the way,visa is not problem for foreigners.

If you have Thailand on your mind, the information here might be useful:

http://www.teflspin.com/2008/04/first-efl-teaching-job-in-thailand.html

On Turkey, Wikipedia has to say:

"Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, Turkey has developed a strong tradition of secularism… The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular… the constitution explicitly states that they [religions] cannot become involved in the political process (by forming a religious party, for instance) or establish faith-based schools…  Turkey prohibits by law the wearing of religious headcover and theo-political symbolic garments for both genders in government buildings, schools, and universities"

 

Wow, the USA could stand to learn a thing or two (or more) from the Turkish government.  That's really very cool (to me)!


Turkey's GDP per capita is $9,000 USD; that's not too bad (China's is better for me at $7,700, but Turkey is much better for me than Thailand's $9,200).  Although mean GDP per capita may belie the actual wealth disparity- I'm more interested in the mode.


It does look like a beautiful country- some fantastic ruins and cultural relics too.


One site I saw said that most schools are not willing to pay work permit fees or do the paperwork, which would mean I would have to leave the country every three months to renew my tourist visa.

Leaving the country every three months is very troublesome.  It sounds like demand is fairly high, though, I wonder if I just have to cross the border and come back in?

Doesn't look like there are many vegetarians in Turkey though; I think it might be almost impossible to meet any vegetarian girls there or find any dates (not the fruit).  In Thailand or India that would be much easier- probably easier in China by a little bit too.  I think the lack of vegetarian girls would be like starvation for me.

"If you have Thailand on your mind, the information here might be useful:"

Thanks, that's a cute story.  I've taught English before; kids can be pretty wild, but I do enjoy it and I think I'm a pretty good teacher.

That actually sounds really fun.  The heat there is just something that I know would kill me.  Anything over 90 degrees F, even without humidity, is brutal for me.  I'm perfectly content down to freezing though. 

Thailand: Not a good idea. The place is full of backpackers = the pay is especially low for EFL teachers.

China: Doing that right now, waiting for DHL to bring me my work invite. Things are crazy now because of the Olympics. Going to the north. Thing you gotta watch out for is some of the apartments in middle China and southern China don't have heat!

Turkey: Eh…

Suggestion: Why not try Slovakia? It's not yet part of the EU, it's cheap, you can get good teaching jobs, near Czech Republic, Eastern Europe is amazing!

 Air-conditioning: lived without air-conditioning in Cuba while on vacation and it was fine, lived without air-conditioning in Korea while working and it was OK until August hit, and then it was three hours of wretched half-sleep a night, and then 10 hours of summer camp teaching. Was NOT good.