Boring expats

[rca]

And you see...when I go back to Canada for my vacation I feel the same way about everyone there, all they do is work, they're boring, and they don't go out enough. That's the difference between living in a city and visiting a city. ExPats live here, we aren't long term travellers.

 

[thuy.ashtango]

There are people who party, who are adventurous, and who are homebodies. And I'm sure many other types. These habits are not exclusive to expats. It's more of a personal preference issue.
I'm not indicating that the 3 (or more) types can't be friends, they just enjoy different activities. And what one enjoys, the other would be bored to tears with. I mean, would you really want to drag your homebody husband to a nightclub? Or your clubbing friend for a movie night.
Time, place, and personality. If people don't like certain activities, it's probably best not to have them along. No harm in inviting them, but you can't force fun on someone, right?

 

[thebookcellar]

i have had a variety of thoughts since reading the first post - im just going to go on a rant and post without checking what i said.

I didnt realise working at home and having a wife/girlfriend/boyfriend is the same as being boring. I actually really like my life here - relaxed, friends that dont oblige you to visit them (or go out) once a week and a decent lifestyle on a limited wage.
One person mentioned that Expats live, the rest are long term travellers. I'd like to state that there is a third group - IMMIGRANTS. I know from previous posts that some people find this word offensive - but there are many here who are permanent residents, from foreign countries - planning to live here for life. So, 'qwerty', many from this group dont consider running around looking for new foreigners to speak english to makes them interesting. most have friends, family and interesting lifestyles. To be stuck on the computer/work from home all day is often a choice made for financial reasons.

ahhh, sorry, cant write any more, i feel like im writing in vain, it always a waste of time trying to explain lifestyle choices to people who think everything should be FUN. woohoo, lets get on the train to Tigre...

Id like to be more sarcastic, but my obviously tedious personality restricts my wit.

 

[SaraSara]

Hanging out with strangers in bars every night of the week doesn't sound like fun - sounds more like loneliness.

 

[qwerty]

Hanging out with strangers in bars every night of the week doesn't sound like fun - sounds more like loneliness.

Who is talking about going out every night. I was naming a lot more stuff then just getting wasted

Good luck finding a nice place to go out on sunday, monday, tuesday by the way. I kinda like Gibraltar on a sunday(especially after going to the cancha) but it's a quiet place

 

[qwerty]

How long have you been here? When I was arrived I was young and exciting I guess, lol, I went to After Office all the time and there were lots of foreigners. But this was when Opera Town was Opera Bay so that really dates me... haha.

But look, my husband and his friends also used to go out more, now they all have girlfriends so if they're getting together they're going to have an asado and play truco or pasarela or poker until 3 in the morning and then maybe the couple of them that are single (or just a%$holes) will go out to a club. When we go to friends for dinner we'll usually stay until about 3 - 3:30am but we don't usually then want to pay go to a boliche.

It's a stage in life that I think everyone goes through at some point -- when you realise that you only get 2 days off a week and if you're out until 5am then you're going to lose one of them. I'm also an insomniac so if I alter my sleep schedule that much at the weekend, I'm going to mess myself up for the week that follows.

The typical expat bars are more expensive because they usually have international alcohols on offer. If you want local Argentine vodka and a really bad hangover you can find that anywhere. But most people I know who have been overseas have realised drinking gasoline isn't too fun so they're going to shell out the 25-30 pesos for a proper drink.

For 30-50 pesos I take it you're not eating at a restaurant and you're probably on either beer or one of the 3 horrible drinks that they'll have on offer -- usually a local vodka & orange, Fernet & coke, which I hate, or Speed for a premium, and I hate Speed even more than I hate Fernet. I don't like any of those drinks actually because the beer is usually Quilmes which is gut-rotting, or Brahma which is even worse.

Find some friends/coworkers then and go sometimes to a after on wednesday or on thursday to a place like Club Europeo, pretty good and you pretty much won't find the early 20 crowd you hate

If you go to a after nowadays it's pretty much 98% Argentine

 

[buck1252]

i'm one of those expats myself. The reason is
A. its' not financially possible to go to bars every night. (Unless your a college student and your mom and dad pay for everything, in which case good for you!! ) I'd say it's possible to go out once a week max for myself.
B. After 3 years, I've done everything you've mentioned like 8 times, been to tigre probably 40 times (used to live in zona norte and I have friends there) I would love to find something off of the path though and I"m always looking for new things to do, but you have to understand not everyone likes to walk around and look at the river in puerto madero with other expats, gossiping about other expats
C. Expats are great, but I try hanging out with Argentines or the expats/immigrants from other latin american countries because Buenos Aires has un poco de todo from all latin american communities. Think of it this way, let's say you are interested in watch repair and you go to a watch repair seminar in Switzerland. Would you hang out at night with a watch repairmen from your home town or a watch repairmen from the other side of the world? I'm sure everyone's answer would vary and that's the point Thats not to say I never hang out with expats from my country, I do, and they are awesome people, but if I do it all the time I find myself doing the same stuff, talking about the same stuff ,seeing the same stuff in a place that screams diversion. It gets a little depressing.

So, with all this cynicism, you may be asking why I'm here. That's a long and complicated story but why I choose to stay is because I like the life here, I like walking down my neighborhood and knowing who everyone is and them knowing me, speaking spanish to everyone, calling the peruvian fruit vendor a webon, having the argentine kiosk guy tell me he's glad we tied england in the world cup, sneaking popcorn into abasto movie theatre because they only sell dulce popcorn. it's the little things. The big things have gotten old and frankly bore the piss out of me when I realize hey, I've been to Plaza Francia 50 times and it's the same stuff (that's why you usually only see tourists there with a few expats who are proud they know their way around)

So, I hope that answered your question. If your looking for expats to hang out with, try facebook or this forum as there are billions of events that expats go to, but also realize there is another type of expat, probably was a goth in high school, but LOVES being out of the same loop everyone is trying to get into.

 

[Alilou]

Try the couch surfers BA group forum... they have all sorts of groups and parties and events and its always an international mix.... That being said, for me...one of the biggest benefits of living in a huge city is that I can stay so close to home... I can order all types of delivery and now by MSN... I don't need to even pick up the phone : )!! and I have everything I need with a 5 block radius. (and actually at our new apartment in flores we literally have everything in one block... its almost ridiculous).... You mention most boring ex pats having long term boyfriends or girlfriends... and thats probably true because very few people stay in a foreign country forever if they don't have some to tie them down (I love my life here but I would have been off to Brazil or India or Korea or Australia or wherever long ago if it weren't for my Argentine fiance). And basically everyone in a long term relationship becomes "boring"... its hard to make yourself go anywhere when you have the person you most want to be with at home. So enjoy your exciting single life before you too turn into a boring ex pat!!!!

 

[CoachGayle]

How about posting some more low-cost activities? I love the Tigre outing idea!

 

[Wryter47]

It's kind of funny in a way to read this post and wonder how the person has come to have so much concern for people whose lives are basically none of his concern. Is he suggesting ways people "should" live? I wonder.

I lived in Manhattan for more than 20 years before retiring here in 2005, and after living for several years in an Upper West Side neighborhood I discovered a New York City "truth": Most New Yorkers seldom travel more than a few blocks from where they live. Outside the occasional visit to Lincoln Center or midtown to shop, most people in my building and my neighborhood spent their free time right there. As in BsAs, virtually everything I could possibly want to do or buy was available within six blocks of my front door.

I share the idea that I'm not quite sure what this poster is trying to say.

Thanks.