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Tell me about Hong Kong (or just stroke my hair and tell me I don't have to move)
DH keeps his resume up on some pilot job website and will get requests for interviews every now and then but the jobs are usually crappy and nothing he's interested in. He just got an offer to interview for a job in Beijing and the guy seems serious about hiring DH (for example, DH questioned vacay time and the guy has already raised it from the original email).
Anyway, DH has said over and over that he wants his next move to not be a lateral one, but rather a better aircraft type, unless it was back to the States for a decent amount of money. This would be the same aircraft type and a pretty hefty pay increase, but I DO NOT want to move to Beijing. I'll admit it, I'm a wimp when it comes to being outside my comfort zone. We're lucky that Dubai is so easy. And to be honest, we're not hurting for money with the job here and have been saving for when we do move back to the States (since going to a commercial airline will be a crazy pay cut that I don't even want to think about right now) so we don't need this pay increase though it'd be nice and get us back to the States quicker.
If we stay in Dubai, I'm not in any hurry to get back to the States. I don't want to live somewhere that has me constantly longing for the US. Also, we have two cats, one of which gets super stressed easily (enough to make me worry how we'll get him back to the States without him dying from shock) and I don't want to deal with trying to get them to China. We're so settled here and the thought of leaving here for anywhere besides the US makes me want to cry. Blaahhh.
So anyway, I don't even know the point of this post. I wanted to know everything about living in Beijing but now I'm just thinking what's the point since I don't want to move nor is there a reason that we have to. (I asked DH how serious he was about this on a scale of 1-10 and he said 6.)
ETA: Just found out management company is in Beijing but aircraft would be based in Hong Kong.
Re: Tell me about Hong Kong (or just stroke my hair and tell me I don't have to move)
I dont understand why you have to move to China if you are happy where you are at and are making more than enough money in Dubai. I think being happy is the most important thing in life, and if you are not going to be happy in China then you should stay where you are. Extra money each month wont make a big difference if you hate the place that you are living.
Plus, I dont think you should feel bad for not wanting to move to China or that you have to make some sort of excuse. Everyone is different and some people just adapt better to different environments.
No, but DH was only going to come out here himself temporarily at first. I visited a few times, the money was good, and we just ended up staying without it really being a huge discussion... it just happened. And now it's been 3 years. :P
This is where I feel like I'm coming from. Without making money an issue, I'd rather live somewhere I'm happy and already settled. I don't mind making a little effort but I really think China would be more difficult (for me) than I think it's worth.
But how to I convey this to Dh without saying, "There's no way I'd ever move to China," without sounding like an a-hole?
Cant you just say that you are happy where you are at and that you cant see yourself adapting well over in China?
I wouldnt make life complicated. Just say it before he has his heart set on going.
I did. I took advantage of his lukewarm feelings. BUT, now he's looking into expat life there and talking to an old work colleague that moved there. Now he's all, "But we'd be making $X a year TAKE HOME."
And with every new tidbit I'm saying, "You're not mad at me for not wanting to move there, right? RIGHT?" lol.
I'm letting him do research for now. I'm waiting to hear back more from the management company before I dive in.
It would probably let us move back home sooner. I'm not in a hurry to move back as it is, but that's because I like it here in Dubai. He's looking into tax info since the UAE is tax free.
I have to say that Hong Kong is one place I'd like to live. It's very expat friendly and everyone I know who has lived there loved it.
I can completely understand that reaction to Beijing. I don't know if I'd go back, even though it was fun and exciting. But Hong Kong? Awesome!
Almost everyone speaks English. It's very ex-pat friendly, and you get all the cool excitement of living in China with very few of the hassles. I would probably move there in a heartbeat.
It's a very best-of-both-worlds place.
It has a lot of traditional Chinese culture (even more than big mainland cities like Beijing, because HK didn't suffer the devastation of the Cultural Revolution) with the temples, and the markets, and the food. But it also shows a lot of its British colonial heritage with plenty of aspects of more western culture and comforts.
It has the advantages of being a major big city (including a hub airport! Hello, flight connections!) but if you take one of the ferries to the outlying islands, it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere with tiny fishing villages and lots of nature.
Plus, electronics are very cheap! Even for things like MacBooks and Canon cameras that they can't discount, they'll usually just throw in a bunch of free extras like memory cards, extra batteries, etc.
With Dubai you got to visit before moving. Sounds like a legitmate request to do before deciding to move/not move to Hong Kong.
Thanks! This makes me feel a little better if it is something that is on the table. Who knows if the offer would even come to fruition.
And thanks, Gilli, for the info about living in Hong Kong.
As GilliC said, Hong Kong is very ex-pat friendly and there is a lot of English spoken. I have had no troubles finding things and figuring it out. It is a very vibrant city. It is super easy to get around and easy to find things you are looking for.
I live in Macau (a one hour ferry ride from Hong Kong) and am generally in Hong Kong at least once a month, if not more. It is usually where I do the bulk of my shopping, and we go over for dinner, go see movies etc. It is a great city. If you are looking for any specific information or have any questions about living in this part of the world, please send me a message and I'll answer your questions as best I can, or find out the answers for you
We have been over here for 4 years now and I hope I can help you out!
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We moved from the US to Hong Kong 10 months ago. It's hard for me to believe it has been that long. It has flown by. In my experience, living here is VERY easy compared to the life we had in the US, although I can't say how it compares to Dubai. I call it "Asia-Lite". IMO there's no better place to start in Asia -- there's very little language barrier (unlike Beijing), there's loads of local flavor (unlike Singapore) and the expat population is so welcoming. I swear I have a busier social life here than I did after living in Washington for 15 years. My only compliant is the air quality (although it is FAR better than Beijing) and the time it takes my kids to readjust to the time difference when we come back from the States (which I'm dealing with right now, been up with our 3 year old since 3:30 am, God help me. Am I rambling? Had no clue. lalalalala... zzzzzz.)
Anyway, if I were you I'd jump at the chance to live in Hong Kong. It is certainly the easiest of all Asian cities for an English-speaking expat to live in. Plus the tax rate is lower (max of 15%) than other Asian countries. If you decide to visit HK before making a decision I would be happy to show you around.