Would you move to BsAs again?

[gabrielac19]

Hi,

I am Gabriela, I am from Buenos Aires but left Argentina 8 years ago, I lived in many countries in Europe, I am currently living in Brussels, working as a press officer in an European organisation and processing mymove back to Buenos Aires or Santiago for personal reasons and I am finding it is a very complicated decision. The reasons to leave are many and important but I am quite "rooted" in this continent as well, so I am trying to make up my mind about it.

I hope your life experience in Argentina is a favorable one, that you enjoy the positive sides to life and can ignore the disadvantages.

I would like your advice on the job situation, I have only contacted Korn Ferry Consultants and checked some websites for job seekers. How do you consider the job situation in Buenos Aires or Santiago ? Can you give me some ideas of how to start my jobhunting? I feel a little lost because Im still trying to process the decision and I will be quite demanding about the conditions of my move. I find it is going to be hard for me to readapt to Buenos Aires and people's mindset there. I will get the warmth and the lively way of relating with others that porteños have but I will have to leave a lot behind too. Thank you for taking the time to answer...

gabriela.

 

[markbsas]

Would I move to BsAs again? Uh, not a chance. I would visit yes, move here no.

BUT... if I were 30 and single? Uh yea, looking around me I think it could be huge fun here. I had way more patience than I have now and definitely had a completely different set of priorities. However, 4 years is certainly a huge commitment wherever you go.

Good luck!

 

[iStar]

Buenos Aires is good for a visit but I wouldn't move here. You need LOTS of patience because getting things done takes TIME. Inflation is a BIG problem as prices seem to change weekly. Safety is also a concern, you mentioned you would be living near Las Heras Park? My friend who works for the Canadian embassy was mugged in that park at 10AM on his way to work, three weeks ago. Crime is way up and in parts of the city that have always been considered 'safer" such as Palermo and Recoleta.

As a rule I don't buy anything unless there is a sticker price. I can't tell you how many times people have tried to rip me off.

Society here is very set in their "ways" and common-sense and logic is very hard to come by.

My advice would be to choose a city that's more progressive.

 

[Mano Negra]

The answer is Obvious; You have your accomadation paid for and a job sorted - You only have to worry about quality of life and quality of men. So move to BA!!!

Tokyo - the Japs are pretty weird, quite racist and seemingly obsessed by violent porn comics... they also must generally have small dicks as condoms are sold in "japanese" and "AMERICAN" sizes, as I found out to my cost! They don't have many *AFRICANS* there. This is the only country where a restaurant can gain a Michelin Star for cutting up food, without over showing it a hint of heat or sauce.

Shanghai - very pleasant to visit, death to live in as unless you can master Chinese (my girlfriend managed - I couldn't do the tones so never dared say a word for fear that it would come out as something completely different), you will be forced to live in a predominantly male expat enclave.

Hanoi - third world expat living - suitable for blokes with particular aims I suspect - good food though and stunning surroundings.

Santiago - depressingly ugly architecture and pretty boring though the Chileans are a nice bunch and very friendly.

NY - past its best, artificial and aspirational

BA - Superb - Cheap, cultural, buzzing, easy to get everything you want, easy to learn anything you want, easy to meet people (just try doing an activity, language exchange, sport, etc), easy to get out of the city, easy to find green space in the city, a little wet this year but normally a great climate, easy to get around in cheap taxis, great place to do whatever you have dreamed of doing - I doubt the sort of men you are looking for are the ones that will be whistling from taxis, so just to reassure you there are more sophisticated guys in BA. They also have a very "English" sense of humour and take well to having the mickey extracted from them. Once they are back in their box they are a pretty good bunch.

Good luck on your decision.

Miles

 

[HotYogaTeacher]

Wow. Such a great question. I think it shows a real desire to hear input from a wide variety of people, those who love it and those who don't and many who are torn between both positions.

I have to honestly say no, though I have gotten so much from it. That said, I am in a very different position than you are.
4 years is a LONG time, especially at your age. And being single, unlike Mark, seems a reason NOT to move to another culture, especially a culture that has some strongly misogynistic tendencies. For many single men here foreign women are meat. Something to be pursued like big game. My expat friends have very little luck with long term meaningful relationships with locals. Blond women can get laid, but they can't get respect and acceptance for long term relationships. Except when they can. I do know happily married people, who've met and married locals, though mostly they met and married at home.
I also wish you luck. No matter what you choose you'll have an amazing experience. My own experience of BsAs has not been one I would sell to anyone. I find the city dirty, ugly, smelly, loud, crowded and full of unattractive and rude people. I have many friends who find it very different. I also have as many who find it the same. I don't know the other cities on your list, other than NYC. If someone offered me 4 years in NYC with my housing paid for, I'd snap that up in a heart beat. I love NYC and think it's an amazing place.

Peace~

 

[windy]

I moved here six yers ago and by and large i love it.

 

[asadofed]

. I find the city dirty, ugly, smelly, loud, crowded and full of unattractive and rude people. I have many friends who find it very different. I also have as many who find it the same. I don't know the other cities on your list, other than NYC. If someone offered me 4 years in NYC with my housing paid for, I'd snap that up in a heart beat. I love NYC and think it's an amazing place.

Peace~

I agree and disagree with you.
Surely Buenos Aires is a dirty, smelly, loud and crowded city.....but is not ugly.
Now, do you find NY to be a Clean, fresh smell, quiet and not so crowded city???
Cause if you do, i've been to a different NY.
Also, are New yorkers known in the US for their friendly/helpful/peaceful attitude???


If she is looking for a quiet place to live, where she can smell the roses every morning, none of the cities listed are viable.


anyway.

salud!

 

[A&A]

I think this is really an "hard" question, although seemingly reasonable. You can ask about the "weather", the "city life", "dating" food", but i think such a broad question is not very helpful. You have to analyze what your goals are: if career, well then which office will be better suited to advancing your career. (I doubt rising in the Hanoi office will be the same as rising in the Tokyo or NYC office). If lifestyle, well I can assure you that NYC and Santiago will be vastly different. Depends what your interests are.

And unless you are in the military with a 4 year committment, I don't think you should be thinking, ok the next 4 years I will be stuck in X city. Things change, careers, economy, geo-politics, your life, etc. I think at your age it is bad to plan that way.

As for a lot of the comments about BA: I have lived in NYC for many years and a lot of the same things apply. I would say pollution in BA was a bit more (buses are very 2nd/3rd world smog), but China's smog is appalling. Living in NYC is super expensive and the daily cost of living is too. So if your living costs are covered and you are going to make a $+100K salary NYC is certainly a good place to have lived at some point in your life. But i am sure the same can be said for all the Cities on your list, and for cheaper (except Tokyo).

Every City has its pros and cons. NYC is definitely safer in places, but it is just perspective. I mean I know where not to go, but you can turn the news on everyday and hear about gunshots and robbery.

Dating wise: dudes are dudes! My wife and I just had a baby and she tells me she was getting cat calls both pregnant and while pushing a stroller. Perhaps Japanese/Chinese men are seemingly less aggressive, I am sure they are no less the "dogs" that most 25-35 year old men are in a major City.

I will say, I personally after 14 years agree with miles: NYC is past its prime a bit.

 

[Fettucini]

I moved to Buenos Aires 3 years ago, and my opinion is the place is ok but not a great place to live. I think if i had the choice again i would have moved to Cordoba or Mendoza where i think there's a better atmosphere, more easy going and people generally seem a lot happier.
I find BA is a bit too intense on the brain and noisy and lacks something, food is a little unimaginative also... Also that the city is surrounded by 100's of kilometers of flat farming land, so if you want to go somewhere with natural beauty you need to travel a long way, at least 5/6 hours...which makes me feel a bit trapped in the city sometimes

 

[steveinbsas]

Buenos Aires is good for a visit but I wouldn't move here. You need LOTS of patience because getting things done takes TIME. Inflation is a BIG problem as prices seem to change weekly.

Knowing when to shop or go to a clinic can makes a big difference in waiting times. I pay facturas at a nearby Western Union/Pago Facil when they open at 9AM (same with tv/internet and health ins). Prices have increased significantly on many items in the past three years, but it has been relatively slow and steady, and offset (somewhat) for those who have dollar incomes by the gradual devaluation of the peso from October 2008 to July of 2009.