# I really need to get out of China!



## whiteboy (May 8, 2013)

Hello everyone. I keep getting sick from the heavy pollution in China and it is really annoying and beginning to really test my patience. I am also starting to worry about my health if I live here long-term (which is a terrible idea). I need to save up a lot of money before I just leave China behind forever, but I have always had money problems my whole life. It is really depressing, but it is just my reality. I am wondering if I just saved up about $3 grand US and went to the Philippines, would I be screwed of would I be able to find a job pretty quickly and be able to live off this much until I get my first salary? What are the cheapest, yet CLEANEST areas in the country? I am looking for a good balance. I know most of the jobs are in Manila, but the pollution here is terrible too. No way it could ever be as bad as Beijing though. If anyone on here believes that a bohemian type guy like might or will struggle to make a living in the Philippines, could you recommend any possible better options for me? Would Thailand, Laos or Cambodia be a lot cheaper and be more possible in my dilemma? I want to leave China sometime within a year or less before I get some serious health problems due to pollution. 

I have been meeting a lot of wonderful Filipino women on this one dating website called date in Asia that my friend told me about. Is it true that most of the women are looking for a foreign boyfriend to marry to get them a green card to the US? If that is so, would I be able to make a deal with any of them? Like if they want a green card, but what I want is a place to stay rent free just until I get on my feet with a job...is this a common thing over there? My friend visited there before and he told me that a lot of women even followed him around and one asked for him to marry her at a bar. If a woman ever asks me that and I am hard up for money or just practically homeless...I might take her up on that offer if she can help me out as well. I hope this doesn't sound too negative or that I sounds like a bad guy. I think I might be have Asperger's or something because I have always struggled to make a life for myself totally on my own. It isn't due to laziness. It is just that I can be disorganized or lost in my thoughts or worries at times. I want to work hard and be a good teacher in the Philippines or wherever I decide to go, if the reward is just to escape from polluted China. I guess this post can be taken as a sort of plea for help. I really don't want to return to the US because I don't get along with my family and I can't find a job there. I would even be willing to do chores around the house for anyone on this forum, if I could temporarily stay with you just until I get on my feet. I hope that somebody on here understands me. I appreciate everyone's help so far.


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## whiteboy (May 8, 2013)

Hello everyone. I keep getting sick from the heavy pollution in China and it is really annoying and beginning to really test my patience. I am also starting to worry about my health if I live here long-term (which is a terrible idea). I need to save up a lot of money before I just leave China behind forever, but I have always had money problems my whole life. It is really depressing, but it is just my reality. I am wondering if I just saved up about $3 grand US and went to the Philippines, would I be screwed of would I be able to find a job pretty quickly and be able to live off this much until I get my first salary? What are the cheapest, yet CLEANEST areas in the country? I am looking for a good balance. I know most of the jobs are in Manila, but the pollution here is terrible too. No way it could ever be as bad as Beijing though. If anyone on here believes that a bohemian type guy like might or will struggle to make a living in the Philippines, could you recommend any possible better options for me? Would Thailand, Laos or Cambodia be a lot cheaper and be more possible in my dilemma? I want to leave China sometime within a year or less before I get some serious health problems due to pollution. 

I have been meeting a lot of wonderful Filipino women on this one dating website called date in Asia that my friend told me about. Is it true that most of the women are looking for a foreign boyfriend to marry to get them a green card to the US? If that is so, would I be able to make a deal with any of them? Like if they want a green card, but what I want is a place to stay rent free just until I get on my feet with a job...is this a common thing over there? My friend visited there before and he told me that a lot of women even followed him around and one asked for him to marry her at a bar. If a woman ever asks me that and I am hard up for money or just practically homeless...I might take her up on that offer if she can help me out as well. I hope this doesn't sound too negative or that I sounds like a bad guy. I think I might be have Asperger's or something because I have always struggled to make a life for myself totally on my own. It isn't due to laziness. It is just that I can be disorganized or lost in my thoughts or worries at times. I want to work hard and be a good teacher in the Philippines or wherever I decide to go, if the reward is just to escape from polluted China. I guess this post can be taken as a sort of plea for help. I really don't want to return to the US because I don't get along with my family and I can't find a job there. I would even be willing to do chores around the house for anyone on this forum, if I could temporarily stay with you just until I get on my feet. I hope that somebody on here understands me. I appreciate everyone's help so far.


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## whiteboy (May 8, 2013)

I didn't mean to double post...I don't know how to delete the duplicate. Sorry guys.


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## whiteboy (May 8, 2013)

Well that doesn't sound good. So you are saying even 3 grand US is not enough for even a month or so? How much money would you recommend and for what areas? What is the average cost of living over there if I am living a VERY frugal lifestyle? I might have to try Thailand instead...


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## lv_artist (Feb 22, 2012)

whiteboy said:


> Well that doesn't sound good. So you are saying even 3 grand US is not enough for even a month or so? How much money would you recommend and for what areas? What is the average cost of living over there if I am living a VERY frugal lifestyle? I might have to try Thailand instead...


Good advice from CaptainLarsen....I would suggest you follow it.

As for your question about $3K being adequate for a month stay....yes it is enough. With a caveat.....make sure that you did not include in the $3k your airfare back to the US. Your dream of finding and marrying a Filipina, moving her back to the US with you, and living happily ever after......just remember..."dreams are free." Your dream is far more complicated than you can imagine.

Substitute Thai for Filipina and the same advice applies to Thailand.

Good luck.


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## Billfish (Apr 13, 2013)

I assume, whiteboy, that you are an English teacher? If so you will have a better chance of work in Cambodia or Thailand however it may just be survival cash. Cambodia is a great place but by no means is a good place to be down on your luck and low on cash. 

The Philippines isn't a great place to come if your primary expertise is just speaking English.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Whiteboy I don't know if you are aware but you can not work on a visitor visa in the Philippines and it is the employer that is required to obtain the work visa. Also you are expected to bring something to the table that a local can not as part of the requirements.

You will also find that 95% of expats living in the Philippines are retired and receiving a pension and 10 million filipinos work abroad for good reason.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

Gary D said:


> Whiteboy I don't know if you are aware but you can not work on a visitor visa in the Philippines and it is the employer that is required to obtain the work visa. Also you are expected to bring something to the table that a local can not as part of the requirements.
> 
> You will also find that 95% of expats living in the Philippines are retired and receiving a pension and 10 million Filipinos work abroad for good reason.


Very true. Just too bad working here is not easier. Would be nice to have extra income in retirement.
Several years ago I served as Guest Services Manager at a hotel in Manila and prior to that managed a nice sport bar in Subic Bay for the same person. I had to donate/volunteer my time with no pay to do it. Actually didn't matter much as it was just fun to have something to do with my time. Sure would love to do that again!


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## Maxx62 (Dec 31, 2013)

whiteboy said:


> Hello everyone. I keep getting sick from the heavy pollution in China .


How do you know it's the pollution making you sick? I know that the air quality is bad over there, but are you certain it is the air making you sick, and not something else? Is it possible that you could move to Macau or somewhere else where the pollution isn't that bad? There is virtually no chance of getting a job here in the Philippines, unless of course you start your own business and put in your filipino wife's name. I'd be really cautious about dating websites in this part of the world, and anyone can represent themselves however they want on the Internet. Be careful, she might be a married woman, or worse. If you're having that much trouble have you considered contacting the American Citizen Services section within the US Embassy in Beijing?


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