Archive for 2009

Buying gifts for expats is never an easy task, especially if that expat lives in a country, like Italy, for example, where mail is often lost, stolen or held hostage in customs. Confusion arises about what presents relatives can send, where to send them and most of all, what to buy.

While I can’t speak for every expat … not even all of those here in Italy … I can say there are a few things I never mind receiving. So, family members and friends, here are five gift ideas for expats in Italy.

Photo: Wysz on Flickr

1. Amazon Gift Cards

Or to be more exact, Amazon.UK gift cards because well, they ship to Italy. Amazon.UK has quickly become my best friend in Italy and with their wide selection of items, European plugs and English-language site, you really can’t go wrong. They even refund your money if the Magic Bullet you ordered never arrives.

What?

It was just an example!

2. Food and Toiletries

While it may be the least fancy gift on your list, most expats in Italy I know are still attached to food and toiletries from back home. If your favorite expat usually stocks up on Ziploc bags, Velveeta Cheese and Lady Mitchum deodorant (Hi, Mom!) then go ahead and fill her stocking-or a box-with her favorite goodies.

3. Books Galore!

English-language literature is expensive and hard to find, especially in southern Italy, so if your expat is a bookworm, ask her for a list of books and help her stock up. Keep in mind that paperback books are easier for you to ship and lighter for her to carry if she is traveling.

4. GCs and More GCs

If the expat on your list is traveling home for the holidays, then help them with their hometown shopping by getting them a gift certificate to their favorite clothing store. Other gift certificate ideas for home-bound expats include cards to their favorite restaurants or cafes, the movies or theater or the ever-popular Walmart.

5. Online Classes

One of my favorite-and most useful gifts-I ever received was an online writing class my mother found for my birthday. If you are shopping for an expat who loves to learn, then consider offering him a online course or even offering to pay for continuing education classes in his new town.

What other gift ideas do you think expats would like?

Cherrye Moore is a freelance writer and B&B owner living in Calabria, Italy. In addition to Affordable Calling Cards, she writes about living and traveling in Calabria at her website, My Bella Vita.

Last time I told you five things you should know before trying to get a job in Japan. Now I’m going to let you know about five things you should avoid doing – at all costs!

1) Show up in Japan and expect to find a job

Nothing is sadder than seeing a young person in Japan trying to find a job. Especially in a big city like Tokyo.

You can’t survive in Japan without job, and if you’re here without a job you’re going to get desperate and you’re probably going to take the first job you find. This is never a good idea.

And the worst part is, even if you find a job and get them to sponsor your visa you’ll probably have to wait 2-3 months before your visa comes through and you can even start working.

Josh recommends: “Find a job beforehand. Have a visa beforehand. Know what you’re getting yourself into beforehand.”

2) Expect to stay for less than a year

Due to the massive costs of moving to Japan and getting settled in don’t take any job thats less than six months. You’ll need at least a full year to break even anyways.

Josh recommends: Don’t think that you can take a six month job and then find something new. Remember, its expensive to set yourself up once, think about doing it twice.

Plus depending on what type of visa you have you might be restricted on what jobs you can even get. Even worse, many private companies have become very competitive and put non-compete clauses in your contract!

3) Get temporary housing

There are a bunch of companies in big Japanese cities who will rent apartments to foreigners month to month.

These companies are horrible and should be avoided at all costs. They will charge you twice what the apartment is worth and you never know what kind of apartment you’ll be getting yourself into.

Josh recommends: If you have a real job, get a real apartment. If you’re going as a single person get a super small and super cheap Japanese apartment.

If your company is at all decent they’ll help you find something ahead of time. At worst you’ll spend a week in a hotel and you’ll have a place of your own.

4) Try and live in big cities

The lure of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto are great. Don’t expect to find jobs there when everyone else is trying to find them as well. Try and find jobs in smaller areas near big cities. You’ll probably enjoy life there better, things will be cheaper, and you won’t be forced to cram yourself into a train every day like a sardine.

Josh recommends: Looking around and applying to a bunch of different jobs. The people in the countryside are nicer anyways, especially the kids.

5) Expect to make your life here

Japan is a great place to spend some time, work, travel, and live. Just don’t expect to make your life here. Foreigners make up less than 1% of the population, and most of those are ethnic Chinese and Koreans.

There is a big reason for that. Japan doesn’t want you to stay. The people as a whole probably do, but the country as a whole puts up so much red tape and road blocks that you’ll want to leave.

The biggest problem is finding a real job. Yes, being an ALT is ‘real’ work in the same way WNBA is ‘real’ basketball. Trying to find a job that’s a career or that you can support your family with is near impossible. Japanese companies would rather hire a Japanese person to translate for them than a foreigner with native speaking skills. That’s just the way it is.

The only real way to ‘make it’ in Japan is to marry a Japanese person. You’ll need the network and support of their family to succeed here.

You’ll also have to realize that you’ll never ‘be’ Japanese, never have citizenship, and will always be an outsider to the culture. Even if you’re ‘ethnically’ Japanese you’ll be seen as a complete outsider to the ‘native’ Japanese.

To give you an idea how severe it is, understand this. Japanese students who study abroad or live abroad often take ‘reeducation’ classes when returning to Japan, in order to fit in again.

Josh recommends: Find yourself a job in your home country that allows you to live or visit Japan frequently. Then you’ll be employed and working for a company that will employ you and give you advancement options, and still be able to spend time in Japan.

One thing I really enjoy about living in Santiago is the variety of parks. It may be a big city, but the Latin culture prizes the maintenance of plazas and parks where residents can sit and enjoy a quiet moment. As a dog owner, I’m especially greatful for areas where I can let my pup run around to her heart’s content. After a fun outing yesterday afternoon, I started thinking of some of my favorite spots to enjoy a weekend afternoon in Santiago.

1. Cerro San Cristobal/Parque Metropolitano

Photo taken by author

If you’ve ever been to Santiago, you’ve seen this place. A large hill in the middle of the city topped by a statue of the Virgin Mary that’s lit up at night, it’s a bit hard to miss. It’s also a popular tourist spot – take the funicular up to Mary and enjoy the view. However, there’s more to this park. The zoo’s depressing, but the many trails and picnic spots as well as public pools and even a Japanese garden make Cerro San Cristobal a convenient place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city below.

Accessible from entrances on the streets Pio Nono (Bellavista area) or Pedro de Valdivia (Providencia), more information in English and Spanish here.

2. Parque Bicentenario

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pviojoenchile/ / CC BY 2.0

This is probably the best dog park in Santiago, but humans can enjoy it too. A project taken on by the municipality of Vitacura for Chile’s bicentennial in 2010, this park has Chilean flora and fauna (check out the black-necked swans) complementing its attractive design. There’s a playground area for kids, but my favorite is the dog agility course. Anyone can use it, and on weekends it’s the place to see and be seen for Santiago’s canines – plus my dog actually does most of the agility stuff, and it’s adorable. This park also hosts some fun cultural events. If you get hungry, Mestizo restaurant at the far end of the park is supposed to be good.

From the Perez Zujovic round-about, take the Bicentenario exit.

3. Parque Padre Hurtado/Parque Intercomunal

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seo2/ / CC BY 2.0

This park sits on the border between the municipalities of Las Condes and La Reina, hence its former name (the name was changed after Padre Hurtado was cannonized in 2005). It’s huge and offers all sorts of activities for kids, from pony rides to a train that circles the park. Grown-ups will likely enjoy the fact that there’s plenty of place to play soccer, and there are barbecue areas with covered benches to escape the sun. From Nov. 25-29, this park is hosting the Expomundorural, a fair celebrating rural life and products (and food!).

The park is at the intersection of Francisco Bilbao and Padre Hurtado. The main entrance is on Bilbao.

There are, of course, more good spots. When we lived near Plaza Italia downtown, I loved Parque San Borja because it was an enclosed area right by our apartment where dogs could safely be off-leash. Parque Inés de Suárez is another good spot. And of course in some ways the best park in Santiago is always going to be the one that’s closest to where you are, the one that provides the most immediate relief from city life and offers a moment of respite and relaxation.

What are your favorite quiet spots in your town?

Emily Williams is a US gringa living in Santiago, Chile. She writes about expat life at AffordableCallingCards.net and on her personal blog, Don’t Call Me Gringa, and loves hearing from readers!

By Joshua Zimmerman

For many young people teaching English in Japan has been an easy and cheap way to travel to new and exotic places.

But due to recent changes in market pressures (we’re looking at you China) and a 15 year recession [ed: Not sure what 15 year recession Josh means - in Japan, maybe?], being an English teacher is not as easy as it once was. So for all you youngsters with visions of an easy paycheck and all the pocky you can eat, here is the Josh guide to getting a job in Japan.

1) Don’t get a job in Japan

The easiest way to visit Japan isn’t getting a job here, it’s studying abroad here.

If you’re still in college or one day will be in college, think about spending a semester abroad in Japan. There are numerous programs out there for either semesters or years abroad.

Plus you can usually stay with a host family, which provides you with a great source of Japanese food and culture.

Josh recommends: “Kansai Gaidai. Not only do they have a great international program, but you’ll be a half hour from both Osaka and Kyoto.”

2) Know the Japanese schedule

The Japanese school year is much different from the usual ‘Western’ school year. The school year begins and ends in March.

So when all you youngsters are graduating college and looking for jobs in the summer the Japanese school year is already mid-year. Meaning there will be less jobs available, and many may only be for six months.

Josh recommends: “Look for a job very very very early or waiting for six months before moving to Japan. Look at a lot of options, save up some money.”

3) Know what you want out of your experience in Japan

In Japan there are really two types of teachers. The ALT, Assistant Language Teacher who works in a public or private school, and the ekaiwa teacher, someone who works for a company teaching English to all age levels.

These two jobs are very different.

Whereas the ALT would work in a ‘typical’ public school classroom and have a ‘typical’ work schedule, the ekaiwa teacher will probably work nights and weekends. As an ekaiwa teacher you might also be asked to recruit students and sell materials, though the upside is that you might make extra money doing this.

Josh recommends: “Be a public school teacher. The job is much more rewarding and you don’t leave the office feeling like a slime ball. Plus who really wants to work nights and weekends?”

4) Find the proper job program

While Japan has always been good to its English teachers (Assistant Language teachers, or ALTs) times are changing a bit.

Where once the lowest paying jobs were 250,000 yen ($2,500) a month, these [$2,500/month] jobs are now some of the highest paying. Many school districts are moving away from government supported programs or hiring their own teacher, and moving to private companies who enter into bidding wars. The result is lower pay, lower benefits, and lots of job insecurity.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a job that even provides you with a plane ticket to Japan, something that was common five years ago.

Try searching the webpage gaijinpot.com for job listings. Apply to many places.

Josh recommends: “The JET Programme. Sure, you need to apply 9 months before the job starts but it remains the gold standard for English teaching in Japan. They provide you with a plane ticket, a high pay, a large support network, and (usually) affordable housing. If not, there is always Interac.”

5) What you need

First and foremost you need a college degree. It doesn’t matter in what subject or field, you just need a degree. You’ll be hard pressed to find any job that will hire you without a degree.

Second you need money. I’d say around $10,000 AND a plane ticket.

Oh that’s right, you need around $10,000s and here’s why.

First you need to get an apartment.

If you’re renting your own place you can expect to put down between 4 to 6 months rent before you even move in (at least). Think about that. If your place is only $500 a month (which is a steal in most cities) you’ll be putting down between $2-4,000.

Then you still need to pay for rent (not included in the above money), electricity, water, food, internet, a phone. You’ll need money for all those things for two months because most private companies don’t pay you until the end of your second month.

You’ll also have to buy furniture, bedding, home supplies, appliances, and probably lights as most apartments come with NOTHING in them.

Third, you’ll probably want to have some fun as well. So having some extra money is good if you actually want to do anything fun in Japan because Japan is just as expensive, or more so, then you think.

Last, you’ll need a lot of calling cards to make phone calls to Japan and back home again. [Ed: Why not get your calling cards at a discount?]

Josh recommends: “You can rent places called Leo Palaces, modern small apartments that come mostly furnished. The downside is that they cost more than places twice their size.

If you’re furnishing your own place buy second hand. Second hand stuff in Japan is insanely cheap and of high quality.”

Stay tuned for next time, when I’ll share the “5 Don’ts of Getting a Job in Japan!”

by Chantal Panozzo

1. It’s expensive.  Prepare to spend CHF 16-30 for a lunch entrée and CHF 25-40 for a dinner entrée.

2. You usually will not be seated. To look less like a deer in headlights, walk into a restaurant like you own the place and sit wherever you want.

3. Most places are still not smoke-free. If you hate smoke, eat in cantons like Geneva, where smoking is now banned in restaurants.

4. You might have to share a table. Don’t be surprised if someone asks if the seat next to you is “frei.” (And it is “frei”. Unless someone is really sitting there.)

5. Someone might see you eating and wish you “En Guete.” This means “Bon Appetit.” You can just answer, “Danke.” Or if the person that said it to you is also eating, return the favor by saying “En Guete.” The Swiss are kind of obsessed about their “En Guetes”, even if you’re a complete stranger. I’ve even had it said to me when eating a sandwich on a mountain trail.

6. You might have to pay for bread. If you are brought a basket of sliced bread, no worries. But if there’s a basket with rolls in it on the table, don’t be surprised if you are charged later by the number of rolls you have eaten.

7. There are no free refills. If you ask for another Coke or another coffee, you will be paying for another. And the average cost for a drink is about CHF 5.

8. Tipping is not necessary. There’s a reason the prices are high to begin with—tips and tax are already included. The local custom is to round up to the nearest Franc. Other tips are nice gestures, but not essential.

Any other dining tips you could give an expat or tourist in Switzerland?

For more on expat life, visit my Swiss expat blog One Big Yodel. Or check out other great expat blogs about life in Switzerland like Swisstory, From A to Z, Peterthals in Zurich, or TwoFools in Zurich.

by Tina Ferrari

When we relocate to a country other than the one we were born in, we bring part of our culture with us – particularly our food culture.  We embrace our new home yet we can’t help sometimes missing things we enjoyed in our birth country.  I’ve heard many an American expat talk about peanut butter, ranch dressing and cheddar cheese, not to mention the wide ranges of choices in the supermarkets back home.

I get the peanut butter thing, as I’m a bit of a peanut butter addict.  But to be honest, I have never liked ranch dressing, and cheddar, while I like it, didn’t have as prominent a spot in our fridge as Parmigiano Reggiano and various stinky European cheeses (thanks to Husky’s deli in West Seattle!).  Growing up in a setting where the cuisine took on quite an Italian slant, I ate homemade garlicky bean soups much more often than Mac & cheese, and a lot of the produce I ate came from my grandparents’ garden.

On top of that I had a father who was always curious about international cuisine, so when we did eat outside of the home, it was Thai, Vietnamese or Middle Eastern.  When my American friends talk about childhood comfort foods, I don’t always know what they are referring to.  Unless it has peanut butter.

When I first came to Italy it was like coming home because I had finally found a place where I could find cooking similar to what my grandmother and my father would make at home.  In coming to Italy, I have come back to some favorite Ferrari family comfort foods.

I am still American, though.  What do I miss as an American?  Peanut butter with just peanuts as the sole ingredient.  Seattle’s plethora of Thai restaurants.  Pho.

Being raised “bi-culturally” has been a blessing, now that I think about it.  I’m able to appreciate the best of two different worlds.

Tina Ferrari is a translator, writer and tango dancer based in Perugia, Italy. She writes at AffordableCallingCards.net as well as on her own blog, Tina Tangos. Comments are always welcome!

Although Italy is the home-base for one of the largest religious figures in the world, southern Italian superstitions are alive and well. These superstitions mold the lives of Calabrians, their children and their grandchildren.

Oh, and the expats who live here.

Here are three of my favorite Calabrian superstitions I’ve learned as an expat in Italy.

Photo: GetPrice.Com

1. Friday the 17th

While people throughout America mark today-Friday the 13th-as a day of bad luck and gloom (and the day Jason refused to surrender to the masses who fought to end his reign of terror), Italians think nothing of it.

But catch them on Friday the 17th … and boy is that another story.

It is even more ominous if Friday the 17th falls in November, the month of the dead. Imagine their surprise when my husband and I tied the knot on Friday, November 17-risk takers that we are …

2. Toasting

On my first visit to Calabria … oh, seven years ago I made the costly mistake of toasting my husband’s friend who was drinking water. The table gasped and people started yelling-both at Mario and at me-for clinking glasses.

“It’s bad luck,” I was later told. “Something you should never do.”

Other southern Italian superstitions regarding toasting include:

- Not reaching across someone when you toast (or shake hands)

- Always making eye contact with the person you are toasting

3. The Evil Eye

Now that just sounds scary, doesn’t it?

The Calabrian evil eye, or malocchio as they say in Italian, is one of the most feared superstitions in the region and one of the most difficult for expats to fully grasp. It is so deeply rooted in the Calabrian psyche that outsiders, like me, make innocent blunders that result in our Calabrian counterparts pointing horns (like the UT sign) or grabbing their body parts to ward off the curse.

Possible situations include:

- Telling someone their baby is beautiful

- Passing by a funeral procession

- Mentioning the word die, dead or death

If someone is jealous of another person they can think evil thoughts and put the malocchio on them. To ward this off, many southern Italians wear the symbol of hands making the horns around their neck or keep an extra set of horns in their car … just in case.

For more on southern Italian superstitions, visit Italyville, Life in Italy,WhyGo Italy or a guest post on the Calabrian malocchio written by Bleeding Espresso and posted on my site, My Bella Vita.

What unusual superstitions have you come across as an expat?

Cherrye Moore is a freelance writer and B&B owner living in Calabria, Italy. In addition to Affordable Calling Cards, she writes about living and traveling in Calabria at her website, My Bella Vita.

Many Ugandans in the cities and towns have running water, but it continues to elude the vast majority, including all villagers. (more…)

It’s November, and that means that we should be sweating down here in the Southern Hemisphere. This year, however, not yet, much to my dismay.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsalgado/ / CC BY 2.0

In fairness, last summer stuck around a bit longer than usual. So I could forgive an extra week or two of winter. September 18, Chile’s independence day and time for long weekends and general merry-making, is usually considered the start of spring. After that date we still get plenty of grey, chilly days, but it’s usually heating up more or less definitively by mid-October.

But this? This seems like overkill. This morning was overcast, and I froze in my 3/4-sleeve jacket, wishing I’d opted for fuller coverage. Sure, by the time I got out of work it was decent enough, but by no stretch of the imagination was it hot.

Most Chileans I know are similarly frustrated by this shy summer, but they’re not too worried about it yet. That’s because unlike me, they didn’t hear about the Northern Hemisphere’s awful, cold, wet summer. As soon as I saw raindrops fall in California in JUNE, I started hoping Chile wouldn’t get hit with its own weird weather during what should be the warmer months.

I’m not giving up hope just yet. We’ve had enough nice, warm and even hot days to give me hope that this might just be a fluke, and by this time next month I might be missing the cool mornings and downright cold nights. But I will say that I’m starting to get worried. Weather gods, if you’re listening, please bring a little summer to Santiago.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsalgado/ / CC BY 2.0

Emily Williams is a US gringa living in Santiago, Chile. She writes about expat life at AffordableCallingCards.net and on her personal blog, Don’t Call Me Gringa, and loves hearing from readers!

By Chantal Panozzo

I’ve written about this topic before on One Big Yodel, but it seems to be a popular one, so I’m going to write two follow-up posts, this one, and another piece that will run on Swisstory blog about how I’ve managed to make a few Swiss friends in the three years I’ve lived in Switzerland.

In comparison to making Swiss friends, making friends with other expats is relatively easy. “You speak English? Me to. Let’s be friends.”  That’s about all it takes when you’re so far from home. Ages, backgrounds, interests seem to matter little at the beginning when the main thing is that you’ve found someone with whom you can actually communicate in your own language.

But then there are those Swiss. Dang, they are hard to meet. Reserved and private, many Swiss tell me they are happy with their small group of close friends that they’ve known since childhood and aren’t interested in making more. The trick is to find the people that are more open.

I didn’t think my neighbor was one of them. She was 73 years old to my 28 when I met her and didn’t speak any English. And while her first words of greeting were something along the lines of “you’re doing the laundry wrong,” what I didn’t realize at the time was that this was her Swiss way of saying a friendly hello.

To make proper friends with a Swiss neighbor, you usually have to go to them first. Knock on their door and introduce yourself, perhaps bring them some chocolates or something from your home country. Even if your German/French/Italian isn’t that good yet, you may be surprised at their happiness at your efforts.

If they make an effort to criticize everything from your gardening to your laundry like my neighbor did, take that as a strange kind of compliment. At least they’re paying attention. And most Swiss like to correct you. Give them that joy and you may make a friend.

Despite our age and language differences, my neighbor and I started hanging out. We’d set the German/English dictionary on the table and have raclette together. She’d take me to flower fields in her car so we could make our own bouquets. A year after all of this, she reintroduced herself to me with her first name. It was worth the year of calling her Frau V and being strangely formal while melting cheese together.

Are you friends with your Swiss neighbors? How did you make your Swiss friends? Or what do you find most frustrating about making Swiss friends?

Up next, How to Make Friends in Switzerland, Part 2, over on Swisstory blog.