Where to live?

Moving to another country is a huge, life-changing and life-defining decision. Your entire future will be decided by how carefully and intelligently you assess your options, and how thoroughly you research the implications of your choice before deciding. You have made an excellent start by asking the opinions of the denizens of After Hours on Boards.


(Don't go to Iraq inanyways, language is very hard to pick up)

syklops wrote: »

Also, its very difficult to get a decent pint there.

Still, it's the perfect spot to go for people who are sick of Ireland...no Irish pubs to moan about.

retalivity wrote: »

Canada is dull as dishwater, having endured it for 3 years i couldnt wait to leave.

Its like a big massive longford.

Where and what in the name of jayzis were you doing that it could be so bad? I know both Longford and Canada.

Were you on the prairie?

Speaking English as a native speaker is a skill, and a very marketable one. In western Europe it won't be enough to get you a job on its own, you'll need reputable tefl qualifications. But central and eastern Europe it's still very possible to get a job as an English teacher on the back of your native status alone. I worked in Hungary a university English teacher with a full time, renewable post, free accommodation, and full pay all summer when not working, with just my degree and at the time not a word of Hungarian.

It was probably the best year of my life until I had a kid, the country is amazing. But the op didn't like bad weather or negativity, so I wouldn't recommend it. But it isn't actually all that clear what the op is looking for. But if you like a beautiful country, a great job, a new experience of a place and a people very unlike the Irish, and are willing to take a chance on being placed somewhere relatively small and obscure where there might not be many trendy expats around and will have to get to know the local people, you could do a lot worse.

Should say this was all twelve years ago, dunno if it's still as great a set up anymore. But opportunities are there for great experiences in the east, that don't require you to starve or to have great skills or language expertise.

ScumLord wrote: »

I wouldn't go to Dubai, you could end up in jail or flogged for something stupid.

Dubai is very westernised and full of mega shopping malls but I find it very soulless. You have to go out to the old town district to get a sense of culture. We considered briefly moving there then ruled it out but it does have a huge expat and migrant population.

Longford , if you like it , you'll like Canada.

No idea what the work situation is like, but I've been to Spain a lot and absolutely loved Bilbao and San Sebastian . They struck me as fantastic cities to live (as opposed to just bring nice tourist spots). Bilbao has a great pace of life, the nightlife is fantastic (in my opinion, if you like sauntering from bar to bar down winding busy streets, and eating little bites of great food with each beer or wine), great place for families but also very cool for single people, good hipster music scene if that's your thing, Pretty temperate climate, world class art museum. It's a nice size of a place too, whether you prefer a city or a small town, it can kind of be made to fit the bill. Spanish is also not a difficult language to learn.

You might have gathered, I'm a fan. Would go there tomorrow if I could get a job in my area of work. Sadly I can't.