What’s The Big Deal About Asia, And Why Are North Americans Flocking to Live There?

 What’s The Big Deal About Asia, And Why Are North Americans Flocking to Live There?

As a Canadian. I have probably spent most of my working life in Asia. I’ve lived in South Korea, Japan, mainland China, and Taiwan. For all of those jobs I’ve been an English teacher. There are a lot of different reasons why North Americans will move to Asia. In this article, I’m gonna be talking to you guys a little bit about some of those reasons in brief.

Taxes

I cannot really speak for my American brethren, but in Canada, we pay a lot of taxes. Generally speaking, I do know one thing for sure though, Americans have to pay taxes on the income that they make in South Korea, I saw some Americans do it while I was there. For Canadians, we don’t have to do that. We just basically say how much or how little we have made abroad, and then that’s how much we get taxed on. So some people from Canada will probably say that they made nothing when they were abroad. That might not necessarily work well for you when it comes to getting some retirement money from the government.

Medical care

I’ve never been to a hospital in Thailand, but I’ve heard that it’s very good. The standards for the medical care system in Thailand are very high, and the prices are pretty low. Because I am living in Taiwan right now, I can say to you that I’ve never had a problem in the hospital. And I would say that in Taiwan, they take care of people that are sick in the hospital very well. A lot of the doctors that are in Taiwan have been educated abroad. Also, the chances of your doctor knowing how to speak English in Taiwan are pretty high.

If you’re working in Taiwan, then you can pay $20 a month to get medical insurance. I highly advise that you do if you do come to Taiwan. With that medical insurance, you can get a card that will allow you to go to almost any medical facility or clinic, and you can get a humongous discount.

For example, if I wanted to go to the doctor because I have a cold, I just have to pay probably the equivalent of 3 to 4 US dollars, and the doctor will see me. And then obviously the medicine is probably extra, but if it’s for the common cold, then it’s not that much. Sometimes you don’t even have to pay anything, because it’s covered by your medical insurance.

In South Korea, I would say that it’s kind of similar. South Korean citizens are well taken care of in the medical system. Speaking from a Canadian perspective, in Canada sometimes you need 3 to 4 weeks to see a specialist about something. You might even have to wait 2 to 4 months. For example, if you wanted to go see a skin doctor, they are backed up a lot, so you’re gonna have to wait. In Taiwan, usually, the specialist is right next door, and you basically can see them in the afternoon. It’s pretty convenient

Lots of work

While the majority of jobs for North Americans are probably limited to English teaching, in Taiwan, I have seen people spring from English teaching into other fields. For example, I know a guy who owns a restaurant. I also know a guy who owns an English school, and he has been an English teacher for a long time. I mean if it’s not broken then why fix it right? You can own your businesshere, so why not do that?

In Japan, you can springboard into some other fields. I mean you could probably get into fashion design, you could probably get into acting, as long as you know some Japanese. The world is your oyster, as long as you know how to work the system. 

In South Korea, I’ve seen people go up to management in an English school, but that’s the only job that they can get. They probably are some lucrative fields, like acting, but you’re gonna have to speak a high level of Korean to do that probably

Respect 

It’s a little bit of a joke, but I’ve met some people from North America that are from really crazy places. Places that I have never even heard of before. And they are an English teacher in Asia. Right now, I’m in Taiwan, so I’ve been hearing a lot about them in Taiwan, but I mean they’re getting the respect that they want. 

I’ve heard that some of them come from farming backgrounds, maybe even they were factory workers or something. In any case, they have a job skill that’s useful for the economy, so why not be an English teacher right? They can probably double their income by living this type of lifestyle. Mind you, you’re probably not going to be able to take these skills back to North America and be as highly paid.

In North America, respect is earned obviously, but sometimes people will judge you based on the way that you look. Obviously, in Asia, they judge you based on what you look like, but at the same time, it’s a different type of judgment. In places like Japan, when you’re not white or, you’re not the typical type of foreigner, then they’re curious about you. I don’t know about you but, I’d rather have somebody curious about me than disrespect me any day.

Retirement options

As far as retirement options go, you can retire well in a place like Thailand. As long as you have a certain amount of money in your bank account, and you can prove to them that you are getting paid maybe $500-$1000 a month, then you can get a retirement visa. You can get a retirement visa after 50 years old, so that’s good news for people who want to retire early. 

If you want you can always retire in places like Cambodia, or the Philippines. I’ve heard of North Americans who have retired in the Philippines, and they get their Social Security check delivered to their bank account in the states. After it’s delivered to their bank in the states, then they just take it out in the Philippines. They pay 100 to 200 bucks a month on rent, and they live like a king on their Social Security check

As far as Cambodia goes, at the end of the day, it’s a third-world country. There are some crazy stories, about going out at night in the capital city, and getting hurt. You probably don’t want to drive a car and night either, because I’ve heard that people throw rocks at the drive of any car to go steal it. But if you can deal with that, then you can get a visa that lets you stay in Cambodia for $300 a year. And then after that, you can do whatever you want there. Rent is pretty cheap, street food is not bad. The language is a little bit hard to learn, but I guess you got to be tough to live there.

All in all, I would say that Asia has a lot more options for people to live than in North America. A lot of my friends are kind of stuck in a cycle of trying to buy a house, pay off a mortgage, and just work and work. As for me, I’ve slowed down a little bit, and I’ve just kind of stopped to smell the flowers. I would say that this lifestyle is much better because you can do more with your money. I might not be competitive in the job market back home, but at least I have a life