Is there anything better to do

9POSTS

11 years ago

My name is Anton (AC) Christopher and I moved here to Colombia to get out of China.聽 Where I was for the last ten years.聽 Is there anything better to do here than teach English for $500 a month?

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Christine ViP

42879POSTS

11 years ago

Hi Grindl-POP,

Welcome to 大咖福利影院!

A new topic has been created as from your post on the Colombia forum

Wish you all the best,
Christine

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

11 years ago

Grindl-POP wrote:
I moved here to Colombia to get out of China.聽 Where I was for the last ten years.聽 Is there anything better to do here than teach English for $500 a month?

Yes, AC, teaching English can be tiresome.聽 But so can any other occupation unless you love it.

1. Take visitors on tours of your city and area.

2. Help Expats -- Chinese immigrants included -- get settled, including being an expert on visa assistance.

3. Sell real estate to foreigners for a 9 percent buyer commission.

4. You didn't tell us enough about yourself, your experience, your interests, your academics to come up with more than three.

As for making more than 5 bills a month, you'll have to query the locals to see how much any job or talent could pay.

cccmedia, Quito, Ecuador

tommy19125 Member

3POSTS

11 years ago

thanks for this response. I hope to be moving to Medellin next month as my gf has problems with her visa in USA now. I will need to work.聽 I have several years of teaching experience and am aware that English teachers are in demand but I am also a bricklayer.

Does anyone know what a good bricklayer on a commercial job makes in Medellin? I will not have a truck but will be willing to organize guys to fill contracts when I'm there. I need to hit the ground running with work when I get to Medellin any advice or help will be appreciated.

thanks,
Tom

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

11 years ago

Don't compound your problems by running afoul of the Colombian authorities.

Make sure you have the legal right to work in Colombia.

In order to ensure high employment rates for their native workers, many countries do not simply allow Expats to "hit the ground running" if that puts in jeopardy jobs for locals.聽

cccmedia

GuestPoster120 Guest

0POSTS

11 years ago

Likely not to get more than $1000 (USD) as a teacher in Colombia.

tommy19125 Member

3POSTS

11 years ago

good advice, I will take care with this.

Medellin_bound Active member

43POSTS

11 years ago

Tommy:
When you say you are a brick layer.聽 Do you mean you brick lay yourself or that you are a contractor for brick layers?
If you yourself are a bricklayer.聽 This type of jobs pay very little in Colombia. There are thousands of unemployed construction workers in Colombia.聽 For example: I built my home and the contractor charged me 35,000 pesos per day for the brick layer services.聽 The job was just beautiful and close to perfection.
You also must have all the legal documentation to work in Colombia (as an individual worker and much more if you hope to become a contractor for heavy industry) same as you are required to have in the USA.聽 You must be a legal resident which will allow you to apply for a ID card or what we call in the USA a green card.聽 There are requirements in every nation that ensure the locals have a job and can provide for their families. Do check with the Colombian embassy for those requirements before you leave.聽 When you are in Colombia finding out all of that information is much more difficult, you will have to stand on line at Immigration for hours, pay fees of all kinds and waste time talking to people that do not have the answers or just want you to ripping before they can help.聽 So I highly recommend you get all the info from the Colombian Embassy on line before you make that leap. Just like here in the states there will be lawyers telling you that you need representation even though immigration laws do not require legal representation (to make it fair for everyone) and you can complete the documentation yourself if you are fluent in the local language.

tommy19125 Member

3POSTS

11 years ago

Thanks for that reply it's a help, and i must say聽 my goodness 35.000 is nothing for such a job that's terribly sad. I was offered a job to teach in a private school today. The Director told me that they will get the ball rolling for a work visa but that the fees are about $500.

I believe I can survive off the salary offered but my concern is that I will have to start from scratch and buy such things as a refrigerator, furniture, washing machine and on the salary it will take some time to accumulate these things. Do people rent furnished apartments and if so for how much?

thanks again for your response it was a help.

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

11 years ago

#10

tommy19125 wrote:
Do people rent furnished apartments and if so for how much?

Check Craigslist or do a Google search and you'll find such.聽 But if you're looking for the most affordable rent, you'll do it with the famous "boots on the ground" -- checking for rental signs in neighborhoods and responding to newspaper ad(s).

cccmedia in Quito, Ecuador

OsageArcher Colombia Expert

1657POSTS

11 years ago

#11

tommy19125 wrote:
I believe I can survive off the salary offered but my concern is that I will have to start from scratch and buy such things as a refrigerator, furniture, washing machine and on the salary it will take some time to accumulate these things. Do people rent furnished apartments and if so for how much?

You can just google, for instance, 'apartamentos medellin' and come up with many links like

A furnished apartment is 'amoblado'.聽 A listing by an individual (not an agency or company) is an 'anunciante particular'.聽 Living space is given in square meters.聽 To convert to square feet, you'll be close enough just multiplying by 11, so for instance 38 square meters is about 420 sq. ft.聽 In general bedrooms etc. will be smaller than the US but it's possible to find quite large apartments/houses depending on the area and what you are willing to pay.

The rents are given for a month in Colombian pesos.聽 Depending on the exchange rate, if it's around 2000 pesos to 1 USD just halve the rent and shift the decimal point - 550.000 (five hundred fifty thousand) pesos/month would be about $275 USD.聽 With the exchange rate now getting close to 2500 COP to 1 USD, multiply by .4, so 550.000 pesos = $220 USD.

I would not go through the hassle of moving any existing 'muebles' and 'electrodomesticos' (refrigerator, microwave, TV etc.) because of the difficulty in arranging shipping and then having to pay exorbitant import tax on items - much easier to buy them there even though you will pay more.

In addition to the resources and help here, a site like wordreference.com is useful for translating Spanish into English and in their forums many local phrases and usages are discussed that may not be found in any dictionary.