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Love this comment. I have wondered this myself!
In the UK, my husband spent 2 hours EACH WAY on a train to get to his office in London and was NOT the longest commute of his officemates; I drove for an hour in the opposite direction and was similarly about average for my office!
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10-01-2013, 01:39 PM #41
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10-01-2013, 01:59 PM #42
OK. Than what do you think is the primary reason expats (and of course we are excluding FDH) come here? The weather? The Shopping? They love being far away from their family and friends? They love spending a fortune on crappy housing?
Most (the majority of) expats are here for financial reasons. Do I really need to prove that?
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10-01-2013, 02:03 PM #43
Do you ever actually READ any of the posts from newbies on here?
"I want to move to HK because I visited on holiday and liked it"
"my family moved back and I want to be near them"
"my girlfriend/boyfriend is here"
"I'm bored with my life and want to have an adventure"
All of those (paraphrased) obviously have come up in recent weeks. Many of those we spend time telling probably CAN'T get to work here are suggesting they want to come just because they LIKE THE IDEA of it! My teacher friends are certainly not here for the money - they just like Asia and have worked in HK, Thailand and Taiwan. I'm not here for the money, I just like the lifestyle. I would have been MUCH better off financially to leave when my company pulled out, but I like it here, so decided to stay anyway. Plenty of expat I meet (and I admit, I meet most of them on hiking trails, so perhaps a more sensible breed of people out there) come here for non-financial reasons. This is pretty similar to life really - people take decisions for ALL SORTS of reasons and if everyone only focussed on money there would be nobody doing low paid jobs!
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10-01-2013, 02:06 PM #44
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10-01-2013, 02:13 PM #45
I'm with CC on this one.
We came for financial reasons. While I like it here, I'm certainly not in love with the place.
The Brit's last comment sums it up quite nicely.
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10-01-2013, 02:18 PM #46
I think the main thing this thread is showing is that bankers primarily mix with bankers, and that the rest of us tend to avoid doing so if at all possible!
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10-01-2013, 02:21 PM #47
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10-01-2013, 02:35 PM #48
To the OP: I'm an engineer and not a banker, but I am here for work-related reasons. My wife works in the field of education and is a local who was born and raised here. We have been in HK for nearly a decade.
A visitor has a very different experience in a place than a resident. Unfortunately, short of actually living here for a month or at least several weeks, I don't think that there's any way for you to really gauge what moving to HK would be like for you.
Money does help as it allows you to dip into the "real HK" or immerse yourself in it to whatever degree you choose while retaining the ability to maintain at least some aspects of the higher standard of living to which you are likely accustomed.
Bumming it can be fun when it's a conscious choice but if extreme frugality is forced upon you, it's unlikely to be fun.
With a very few exceptions and unless you have an entrepreneurial fire in your belly (and a visa and start-up capital that would allow you to explore the option of opening some sort of independent teaching centre), I would imagine that teaching in HK would be a hard slog for you.Last edited by dear giant; 10-01-2013 at 02:37 PM.
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10-01-2013, 02:45 PM #49
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10-01-2013, 02:47 PM #50
I came to HK because Geoexpat looked such a friendly place - that was back then.
It seems Geo has become like HK....past its prime.
Originally Posted by bryant.english:
in Drama and Acting: Rooftop Productions is a bi-lingual Hong Kong theatre company
in Religious Services: We are an English-speaking international congregation living
in Hair Removal / Waxing & Threading: Founded in 2007, Nude Beautique became Hong Kong's pioneering
in Counselling / Therapists: I offer sliding scale fee counselling to both individuals