

A tale of two expats - CaptainZapp
http://www.economist.com/node/17797134

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yesno
I grew up in Asia (up until my high school year). Back then, my generation
were influenced heavily by western culture: basketball, hip-hop, R&B, rap,
pop, boy-band, baseball, pizza, steaks, computers.

Many of my friends went to study abroad (mostly US and UK) and hope to settle
as long as they can like my uncle and aunt who had done the same thing 20
years ago.

About 2 years ago, I saw a change in tide where most of my friends (or friends
of friends) were going back home. Most of them prefer to go back home because
they would get a better job, which is normal for western educated young
worker.

I went back home twice since 2009 and traveled in SE Asia a bit. I see why
people wanted to go back: it's not just the job, it's the culture, the
networks, friends, family. The whole package.

It's easy to "connect" with people who have big businesses there. Often you
meet them in odd places like noodle shops, outdoor markets, food courts.

Night life is definitely better. By night-life I mean strolling down the
Clarke Quay in Singapore, eat dinner outside style food court in Jakarta, or
wandering around Ginza in Tokyo, enjoy Seafood in Jimbaran (Bali) mostly with
your husband/wife and kids. Not necessarily means clubbing or bar. Thus better
here is relative.

After a while, the fried chicken and the filet mignon became dry and tasteless
to my wife and I. We've decided to pursue ways to go back to Asia starting
this year. We'll see if we can go back there soon enough before our retirement
(plan was to go back to retire).

~~~
runjake
What do you think this says about the US? Be honest.

(I don't have any political motivations here. I love my country. But I'm
curious as to your perspective.)

~~~
yesno
There are less hype about US these days. That's all. US is no longer the
powerhouse it used to be.

US used to be a symbol of pride among SE Asia tourists: you have to visit US,
smell the air, buy their bands, etc. These days, Japan and other exotic
locations seem a lot more interesing.

It used to be working there is like some sort of symbol of success. These
days, only IT and blue-collar workes who still want to go to US. The rest stay
put.

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nwomack
I am a 30 year old American, lived in America all my live, but have been in
Taiwan for 9 months and I absolutely love it.

There's not much of a 'lower middle' class, but there's a sizable 'upper
middle' class. If you can get there, you can live very very well.

There's less foreign population than in Beijing (can't comment on Shanghai,
some people like it more, some people less). I still get a lot of looks if I'm
not in the 'heavily foreigner populated' sections, but you get used to it
eventually.

Compared to Beijing, the air is much cleaner, the food much better and
diverse, and the english ability is much much better.

Biggest problems: Learning chinese is hard, hot humid summer

Having said all of that... I have no interest in living in Mainland full time.
The air is too dirty, the people are too rude, and the great firewall is too
annoying.

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RK
_Europe’s toiling masses sometimes go on strike, leaving streets unswept and
commuters stranded. Chinese expats find this shocking. Though there are
stoppages in some factories in China, no one strikes in public services there_

As an American, I find the public service strikes in Europe pretty
disconcerting as well. I don't know if there are major legal differences in
the US, but it's much less common here.

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barrkel
The article doesn't seem to have had more than two sources. I would have more
confidence in its perspectives if it had more variety, at least.

