new-comer with tons of questions!

[Granadaiscool]

Argentina is not really that bad.......Yes, Quilmes is a lot like Natural Light or Keystone(grossssssss), but the coffee is not too bad.  Just add lots of milk like everyone else.  Teaching English will probably make paying rent pretty hard, but you should be able to find something in San Telmo that is reasonable.  If you don´t mind a commute, live up north and pay less for an apartment than in the city.  Also, things up north are not as fast paced and it feels a little safer.  When I say up north I mean Martinez, Acasusso, San Isidro, Beccar, etc...If you just hang out and be friendly meeting people will be no problem. 
PS  I´m married, but I know a single guy would have a blast here.  The s are out of this world.........................................Before you get here go to your bank and talk to someone about an ATM fee waiver.  You will be sorry if you don´t.  Also, look into setting up a sling box before you go.  In my experience it is hard to find a speedy enough internet connection to watch the faster streams. 

Do you use the sling-box in your home? Do you use it a lot?

I actually don´t really miss the program´s from home and the programs I like to watch over the internet. It works for me

 

[syngirl]

I once met a Canadian couple that both had BScs and no teaching degrees, but managed to each get hired at Lincoln School. They found the jobs by applying at a recruitment fair in Canada or the States. A quick google search for "Lincoln School Recruitment Fair" brought up this site: http://www.search-associates.com/associates/fair_attend.cfm?fair_id=101
There's a lot of schools listed. This might be an avenue worth pursuing. Good luck in your search.

 

[JG]

Lighten up tangetto, this is simply a discussion board. guess i was feeling sorry for myself yesterday. Gosh, what aweful coffee that was and usually is.

 

[saintnicholas]

thanks for all the help, every-one. I'm hearing that certification is not absolutely necessary?

 

[auntieapple]

LOL at Bill and can't wait to meet that "very bad person" , in fact "the worst person" for your country, ha ha.
Well dear tanghetto, here are some more lies about your country. The chocolate is revolting in fact I once ended up in casualty with a severe allergic reaction after eating what you guys labelled as "cadbury's milk chocolate". Apparently the cocoa you use is of such low quality it would be banned in Europe or the states. We wont talk about all the other discusting additives etc that you put into foods and childrens products that are also illegal in the UK. (I can not talk for the US on that). But then again its more normal for Argentines to give their babies coca cola, rather that breast milk. As I have been called a "colombian" because apparently its not "normal" to breast feed your baby for more than a few months at most. And that is if you breast feed at all because shit, if you are going to feed in order to produce milk you have to eat, uh mmmmnnnn eat and feed or dont eat and dont feed....dilemma! nah, Id rather not eat. Give the baby a bottle of fizzy drink instead that will shut it up! Say's the Argie in her designer lycra.
Lets talk about more serious things though, Argentine driving. The worst people for your country Tanghetto are your stupid drivers, not people speaking about the bad quality of your beer on a web site designed for Ex pats. (thats something else I would like to talk about on another thread at some point if I may).
After driving here for over five years and having used the Panamericana almost every day in those five years, I can tell you that you are either seriously mentally impaired when it comes to driving or the majority of Argentines are consuming vast amounts of drugs before they get behind the wheel.
My biggest bitch about living here is the driving. I requently come home telling my husband "that's it Ive had it with this fucking place, Lets go and live in blah blah". and he replies. "come on baby, this is a third world country what do you expect"
Argentines are ANIMALS on the road and you only have to look at road death statistics to see that this is a serious issue here.
I read somewhere else on here about Argentines always rushing blah blah blah" and that is the excuse for how they drive. well, I can not belive that you are rushing to get to the office so you dont let down all those people you have made business appointments with for the day. Maybe you guys are rushing to get to bed in the middle of the day before your attack of Fiaca takes over while you are at the wheel and you pass out which may explain all the accidents haha.
No, I realise that the Argentines have absolutely no sense of logic or organisation. So when I think it absolutely normal to overtake using the faster lane and then returning to the slower lanes they just can not quite work it out. Its tooooooo complicated for them. Let's not even go into who has right of way when coming off slip roads etc. They can NOT read lines on the road. that is why they have this very weird rule that the person on your right always gets right of way.....mmmmmmmnn or is it the left shit, ive been here to long!
I used to carry a gun under my car seat for other purposes and decided to leave it at home for fear of shooting argies on the highway. The overwhelming temptation to blow out the tyres of yet one more prick that flashes his lights up my arse when I am overtaking a large lorry or something is more than tempting, because, he can not quite understand that my car is not a helicopter or harrier jet (we love those down in the falklands ha ha, great moves huh?) and that my car runs on the road, has to overtake the truck before I return to the right hand lane. Yet they insist on jamming me up the jaxi. If I was as dumb as them, I would love to brake at that infuriating moment but have no intention as yet to become one more of their road death numbers which are the highest in the world. Mainly because they bury you here almost before your body has time to go cold. At least my husband has a mausoleum in recoleta, so if I do get buried alive its above ground level and I just might be rescued by all those VERY BAD TOURIST PEOPLE like our naughty friend JG. Who so enjoy being charged atronomical amounts by all the Argentine parasite "guides" that beg for business around Recoleta cementary forecourt.
So tanghetto, or is it, tango wearer of the ghetto? get all those self appointed cultural police like yourself to go and look after the roads!
Oh, welcome to Argentina Nick!

 

[tangobob]

Hey you guys, makes me wonder why you stay. I love quilmes, the coffe is a damn site better than the tar they serve in Spain and the people are the friendliest I know. I have a very good freind there and I know that she breast fed all her children, keep slagging them off and you may wonder why they say yankies go home.
I have to agree with the driving though. I think that if they have an accident it is not they're fault, just an act of God.

 

[macana]

Hi there Nick
My name's Barb, a newcomer to the forum, but not to the country, been here a while!
A friend of mine just went back to the US, she was here for over 18 months, teaching English. The feedback is: quite a few institutes here require Tefl. - but not all of them. You can take it here, a month's course, final exam and you get the cert. Unless you have previous teaching exp. it's useful, but ............... it will cost you the modical sum of US$1.000. They give you teaching materials (least they can do for the fee), send your cv to all the major teaching institutes so you have a fair chance of finding work immediately. Other institutes do take on native speakers, but you have to shop around a bit and so do private schools (as posted below).
You don't need a work visa, just a regular one but it's more convenient if you get a CUIT number (tax contribution code) from the tax office here, so that schools can take you on legally.
Once you're in the circle, you'll find private students, and that's where you'll make a difference, except that it means travelling from one side of the city to another most days, to catch classes - students pay approx USD 20 per hour for a group class, more for individual classes. The institutes don't pay well, so flat sharing is an must over here, otherwise that can cost a small fortune, specially in upscale areas, which are becoming tourists traps. On that issue, since 2002 there has been a real boom in tourist rentals, so as there's a lot of competition nowadays, again it's a good idea to shop around!
That's my bird's-eye view - hope it's useful in some way. Lotsa luck!!
Barb.

 

[Will]

The whining on this forum is just atrocious sometimes... Get a grip or get out!

 

[Granadaiscool]

Hi there Nick
My name's Barb, a newcomer to the forum, but not to the country, been here a while!
A friend of mine just went back to the US, she was here for over 18 months, teaching English. The feedback is: quite a few institutes here require Tefl. - but not all of them. You can take it here, a month's course, final exam and you get the cert. Unless you have previous teaching exp. it's useful, but ............... it will cost you the modical sum of US$1.000. They give you teaching materials (least they can do for the fee), send your cv to all the major teaching institutes so you have a fair chance of finding work immediately. Other institutes do take on native speakers, but you have to shop around a bit and so do private schools (as posted below).
You don't need a work visa, just a regular one but it's more convenient if you get a CUIT number (tax contribution code) from the tax office here, so that schools can take you on legally.
Once you're in the circle, you'll find private students, and that's where you'll make a difference, except that it means travelling from one side of the city to another most days, to catch classes - students pay approx USD 20 per hour for a group class, more for individual classes. The institutes don't pay well, so flat sharing is an must over here, otherwise that can cost a small fortune, specially in upscale areas, which are becoming tourists traps. On that issue, since 2002 there has been a real boom in tourist rentals, so as there's a lot of competition nowadays, again it's a good idea to shop around!
That's my bird's-eye view - hope it's useful in some way. Lotsa luck!!
Barb.

Where did you get the 20 dollar an hour from?

 

[macana]

Where did you get the 20 dollar an hour from?

You're right, that was misleading, that's collectively, I meant 20 pesos per individual, so a group of 3 students would pay a total of 20 dollars collectively. You can get groups of 3-4 daytime students at offices downtown and if you're lucky, more than one group in the same company or area.