Tips For An Expat's Life

[Davidglen77]

2 things I would like to comment on. First I would like to say I think I have a fairly good understanding of living in Argentina. I'm a native New Yorker but have lived here for almost 7 years and am a permanent resident.

First, in terms of work and career. Don't expect the same type of growth at work based on your accomplishments like you did in the USA. If you don't know anybody or don't have connections, you will still need a good education and résumé to get your foot in the door for a good job at a good company, but don't expect much in the way of a meritocracy. Here it's based on these factors: who you are friends with, your looks, and your acceptance and "buena onda" by the local people. The rest is of course taken into account in some small way (like your intelligence and the quality of your work) but these things can be taken as threats if your manager / supervisor / colleagues are insecure or have been put in their positions via nepotism. Employees here really do not have the company's best interests or growth in mind. They want to be the "favorite" of the boss and popular amongst their co-workers. There are a few exceptions to this but not many.

Secondly, if your rights are being violated in any way, stand up for yourself and follow through. If you buy something and it breaks, and they refuse to do something for you, complain and complain loudly. Here people are very adept at dodging responsibility and will almost always blame you if something goes wrong, even when it's blatantly their fault. Demand to speak to the manager, supervisor, owner (they will always say that person is on vacation) and don't leave until you get them. Ask for their name, telephone number, DNI write a strong e-mail / letter stating that you will take action if the situation is NOT remedied. You will see how people will back down. Here people are confrontational only to try and get rid of you. The society here is used to shrugging their shoulders at things thinking there is no recourse but once you start flexing a bit of muscle they don't want to deal with a potential long and costly problem so they quickly back down. It's worked for me SO many times. I am not a person that is confrontational but I always defend myself. Here if you don't you will get squashed in every way.

 

[ghost]

Beaten by sputnik, lad, beaten by sputnik. And clutching at straws.

"Beaten by a Sputnik" I would say it is you who clutches at straws.

 

[dennisr]

A few quotes from the movie"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." Group of people from all walks of life trying to make a go of it in a foreign country. Think the flick had a lot to offer in the dialogue:

"The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing.”

“The only real failure is the failure to try.”

“Most things don’t work out as expected, but what happens instead often turns out to be the good stuff.”

“Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right then it's not the end.”

 

[pmacher]

People seem to have overlooked the obvious. First, learn the language. If you want to maximize the odds of living well, establish a method by which you can obtain the unofficial rate for the currency of your native country presuming it is a hard currency which is available to you in your native country. For US expats, that might be using xoom.com to get a good rate of exchange.
If retired, do volunteer work and take courses in areas of interest.

 

[pmacher]

And by all means, keep your mouth shut about the country's government, Just go along to get along.
http://en.mercopress.com/2013/04/19/two-million-argentines-across-the-country-join-the-biggest-anti-government-protest-in-years?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily