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Author Topic: Emigrating  (Read 14147 times)

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linnea

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Emigrating
« on: November 19, 2007, 01:37:24 am »
Lately I have been thinking a lot about emigrating or at least studying abroad. Although I have never been to Australia or Canada, they both seem very appealing. I was also looking into emigrating to an EU country if I can get an Italian passport. My twin sister was looking into getting dual Italian citizenship for us, but I think that in order for us to claim citizenship through the paternal line, it has to be unbroken - meaning that our dad would also have to apply, and he has a bad attitude about it ("We live in the best country in the world! Why would you want to change that??"). Plus nobody can find documentation as to whether our great-grandfather renounced his Italian citizenship when he came through Ellis Island because there was a huge fire that destroyed the records. Apparently that will be monumental in determining whether or not we will be eligible for dual Italian citizenship.

I think that the easiest path would be to study abroad in another country, get a Master's degree there, and then try to find a job/sponsor. Or do you think that I should just try to get a degree here, and THEN try to find a job? Either way, it's gonna be expensive.

Have any of you party people studied abroad or emigrated without a sponsor? One of Kelli's friends is living and studying in Aus as a grad student. My dad has a horrible attitude about it, and has done everything possible to dissuade me from even thinking about it, which I think is bullshit. I love being back in Colorado, but I really want another new challenge.
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Golfhaus

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2007, 01:45:41 am »
I had half-made up my mind to move to Australia when I met the woman I ended up marrying. A girl I used to work with moved there. It was pretty genius, actually. She joined the airline, used the benefits to fly down and see her fiancee (whom she met at college here). She came back, went back a month later, and once she got there, called work and quit. I was going to do the same thing, but you know.

If I didn't have things tying me down here now, I'd have done it. This country is going in a direction that scares the ever-living nuts out of me, and I'm not sure I want to be a part of it. It sucked being a German after WW2, and it's going to suck being an American when the shit hits the fan in the next X years.
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theinevitable

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2007, 02:00:34 am »
I love Italy and want to live there at some point, but that probably won't happen. I dig living in the US, and I want to live in all different kinds of places. But lately I am realizing that I should live someplace warmer than here... but maybe I can get more used to the cold. The main issue is that when I am in cold weather, my eyes water, and then after a week or so the area around my eyes gets kind of raw from constantly wiping away tears... it sucks. I might buy some goggles or something.
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KeithHernandez

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2007, 02:03:01 am »
Quote from: Golfhaus on November 19, 2007, 01:45:41 am
If I didn't have things tying me down here now, I'd have done it. This country is going in a direction that scares the ever-living nuts out of me, and I'm not sure I want to be a part of it. It sucked being a German after WW2, and it's going to suck being an American when the shit hits the fan in the next X years.

Yeah, but it is surprisingly hard to emigrate to Canada, when I looked at it.  I can't answer any of your questions, linnea, but if you can live in Alaska I am sure you are strong enough to live out the hard times to get the hell out of here.  Good luck.

I would move down old South America way, my dream is going to Argentina, but that probably isn't going to happen.  I would love to live in Eva Peron's face (and hey, you can live with some Italian fascists!) but I am to attached to my family probably to do this.  For now I am concentrating on the Bay.  If you've got to live here, might as well live in a cool place, though I guess Denver is a pretty cool place.  Smoking a bowl on the top of a hill and looking at the bay reminded me of all of the Greece picture books a girl I used to work with would always bring to work.  Very cool.  Also, it is basically my dream to buy a boot a sail around the world.  Maybe default on some loans, get some guns and some growing equipment (food) and stay out on the high seas forever.  Again, a dream that isn't going to happen.
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theinevitable

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2007, 02:05:38 am »
my great-grandma used to smuggle luxury goods of some kind across the Andes into Argentina, and she met Eva a few times. Eva was impressed with her gumption.

man, I didn't even think about moving to Chile. That country is so cool. My mom would think I was an idiot, though, and say things similar to Linnea's dad. She loves it here, man.
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KeithHernandez

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2007, 02:06:57 am »
The only thing I really know about Chile is that Pablo Neruda is the shit.
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littlefallsmets

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2007, 02:24:14 am »
Yeah, the time for claiming Canadianhood even if its not for real is upon us.

I've been thinking of getting a ballcap with a clock on it that says "Time For Hockey" for the next time I travel to Europe, just to avoid the hate-crimes and so forth.
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linnea

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2007, 02:30:53 am »
I guess I'm just really afraid of approaching my next decade-marking birthday without topping the Alaska thing. I am just really hungry for feeling like I'm moving towards something better than what I have now. I am afraid of stagnating and becoming too comfortable, and I also really want to continue my education. I'll have to be here for my younger sister's wedding in May, but I could always fly back for my twin sister's wedding in June 2009. At any rate, I have to start looking into Master's degree programs that interest me and figure out what exams I'll have to take. I took the GRE in 2002 so I'm sure I'll have to retake it.

It's hard for Americans to emigrate anywhere, but I hear that Canada and England are especially tough to get into. However, I have a Bachelor's degree and I'm skilled, so I think I have enough points to get in. There are numerous companies that specialize in visa procurement, so I could always go with one of them to handle processing the visa application. 

Plus, once I get in country, I could probably get naturalized relatively easily if I were able to fall in love with and marry a local.
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side_show

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2007, 03:26:30 am »
My best and oldest friend quite easily got a student visa for a year of studying in Australia, and one of my dearest friends is an American about to get her perminant resident card on Wednesday with a lot of thanks to me hiring her and doing all the stuff needed to get her a work visa.  So L, either study somewhere you might want to live and hopefully fall in love with and marry one of the country's citizens or find a friend who can employ you or a specialized job that you can do that can't be filled by someone from the country you want to move to.  The number one contributor to population growth in most large Canadian cities is immigration, so, you know, that says something.  I'm not sure about the US, but most Universities locally have preexisting exchange programs with other countries (my university had and exchange with Japan, my friend's was with Australia, which is why she went) so you might want to ask any nearby universities about their exchange schools - perhaps you could get a degree and spend a year or two in another part of the world.  I'm sure there must be some sort of "study abroad" type groups at your local university that can help you out.  I wish I'd taken advantage of a program like that back then, but I was just trying to stay sane most of the time, and now I've got the love of my life, so I'm somewhat tied to one place.
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theinevitable

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2007, 03:33:17 am »
I need to decide pretty soon whether I am going to try to study abroad. But based on what I have scoped out, I don't know if I have enough time to fulfill my major's requirements and still take a semester off to go to some other country. The only place listed under my major is the University of Edinburgh. If I just did a psych thing, my options broaden to include Queensland, Haifa (Israel!), Sussex, and Exeter. I do not really know about any of these places, and I am possibly getting close to deadlines for things. I need to look into this.
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Doc

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2007, 04:43:04 am »
Quote from: theinevitable on November 19, 2007, 03:33:17 am
Queensland

If you like awesome beaches, reasonable drinking ages and a life that is basically awesome, this is the place for you.
Just saying.
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linnea

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2007, 05:18:53 am »
Quote from: Doc on November 19, 2007, 04:43:04 am
If you like awesome beaches, reasonable drinking ages and a life that is basically awesome, this is the place for you.
Just saying.

Heh! Doc, do you know any nice guys amazing, sexy, wonderful blokes who are looking for an American mail order bride?

Also, over here, most people think that "foreign accents" like Aussie, Kiwi, British, Scottish, Irish, etc. are fun and intriguing. What do folks in other lands think of the American accent? Is it pretty boring?
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Doc

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #12 on: November 19, 2007, 11:47:50 am »
Are you sure you'd want to meet someone who wants a mail-order bride?

To be honest though American accents aren't considered that intriguing around here. I guess since they're all over TV they're not much of a novelty and we're a country made up of lots of different immigrants we're kind of hard to phase, even though there's an irritating core of insular racism in our culture for some reason.
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KeithHernandez

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #13 on: November 19, 2007, 11:48:52 am »
Probably because you have a society built upon people.
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Doc

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Re: Emigrating
« Reply #14 on: November 19, 2007, 12:33:25 pm »
Yeah, but I'm working on that.
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