Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with international

I want to get an iPhone, but how do I travel across carriers?

Knigel — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:47:58 -0800

Hello, I'm wanting to get iPhone (or use my Blackberry Worldphone) in Korea and other countries; however, I do not know the best way to do this. From my understanding I would likely have to buy an unlocked phone and then get hooked up with a carrier on a pay-as-I-go plan or something? What do most nomads do for phones besides things like Skype?

How to deal with homesickness while living abroad? (And when can I give in to it and go home?

inatizzy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:32:54 -0800

I've been happily living abroad for three months, and all of a sudden I'm extremely homesick and I want to come home. I want to get past this, but how? (Apologies for the length. It's a complicated issue for me. The questions are at the end. Thanks. :)

I've been living in Buenos Aires for 3 months now, fulfilling a long-time dream to live abroad. I'm settled in with a small group of friends I see a few times a week (fellow swing dancers), moving to an apartment with two nice roommates this week, and I've pretty much moved past the just-moved-here distractions and into regular, mundane life.

So for the past week, I've been hit by intense, depression-level homesickness. I'm missing my family the most I have in many years, probably because I'm in the thick of spending my first Christmas ever away from my hometown and my family, which is very sad and a even a little scary for me. (It is too expensive to go back, and I knew that when I decided to come here.) Christmas is not religious for us, but it's a ritual that is the cornerstone of my year. We come together and it wraps up this year and starts off the next one. To stave off the loneliness, I've been good about making plans with friends for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and I will video Skype with my family.

Despite this, the homesickness persists. I cycle between feeling normal and feeling really down. The down time is usually in the afternoon, when I'm home alone and the long, lonely day is stretched out ahead of me. The up time is usually in the evening and night when I have plans. (Or even tonight, when I don't!) What I'm going through now reminds me of the way my mood cycled one summer, seven years ago, when I had major depression. Overall I feel more stable and happy now than then, during my "up" times, but the down times are similar. I'm sad, filled with hopelessness and grief, and I cry so hard that I practically burst out of my skin. My perspective gets skewed and I don't believe any of the logic behind my decision to live here. I get desperate and I just want to end the pain and be home with my family RIGHT NOW. (Even though Mom & I both agree that really, this should be a good experience for our family to go experience a Christmas when one of us isn't there.)

During the ups I feel pretty normal and in agreement with the logic that brought me here to live. But I do feel more tired, emotionally and physically, and I just don't have as much energy to be enthusiastic about things. (Usually I'm quite bubbly and smiley.) My friends notice and have been asking me if I'm OK, even when I'm in the best part of my day.

The whole thing is making me question how long I want to or should stay here. I came here to improve my Spanish and to live internationally for awhile. (So that I will have had that life experience.) When I'm feeling up, I have the strength to keep pushing on towards those goals but when I'm down, I don't care anymore. I just want to be home. I want to give up trying to stay strong. In both states of mind I am looking forward to settling into a community for the long term and working my way up in a new career path (community organizing or something similar). These are things I've been looking forward to since before I left and in fact they inspired me to live abroad because I wasn't ready to settle down until I did this first.

I'm sorry for writing so much here. I guess what I'm looking for here is some insight and guidance from people who've been through this before. Why did homesickness hit, what did you miss, and how did you cope with it? Do you have advice for me as I try to overcome it? Both during the holidays, and in general? And at what point is it OK to decide to go home? I don't want to give up too soon but I also don't want to be unnecessarily hard on myself and force myself to stay here unhappily. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Get our neighbors to the South drunk!

SassHat — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:56:58 -0800

Sending a gift of wine to Atlanta from Toronto - Atlanta companies that deliver wine/other solutions? One of my bosses wants to send some gift bottles of wine from Toronto to Georgia. It doesn't seem likely we will be able to buy here and ship across the border without huge hassles. Are there any companies within Atlanta that will deliver a gift basket of wine or just a bottle? Barring a local source, any national wine shipping companies that are legit and will ship to Georgia?

What's the cheapest way to ship an electric guitar to New Zealand?

media_itoku — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:50:54 -0800

What's the cheapest way to ship an electric guitar to New Zealand? I'm having trouble figuring out the cheapest way to ship an electric guitar, in its case, to my brother in New Zealand from the US. Time is not an issue - it can take a couple of months, if necessary.

I've gotten quotes from UPS ($800) and FedEx ($550). Seriously?? The Mailboxes dude said USPS won't ship an item that large. Google is less than helpful. Has anyone shipped a large item to New Zealand without mortgaging their soul?

International standard cookbooks?

cgc373 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:26:32 -0800

When a friend online noticed Joy of Cooking referred to as "one of America's standard cookbooks" and wondered about internationally analogous "standard cookbooks," I immediately thought, "What a great question for AskMe!" And here we are.

US Kindle 2 in Europe

Busoni — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:15:03 -0800

In January, I'm leaving the US for Europe, where I'll be for the next six months, if not more. I want to buy an E-reader, so I can continue to read books in English, and also to save myself from lugging books back and forth. Given the circumstances, seems to me the best choice is to buy a Kindle 2 right now. Am I right? Some thoughts and questions:

I don't think I'll buy the DX, because it seems a lot of the features are disabled in Europe; if I'm wrong, let me know.

I don't suppose anyone's tried the native PDF conversion on the Kindle 2 (announced two days ago) already, and can tell me how it is?

Is there a difference between buying the Kindle here and buying it there? As far as I could make it, there's no actual physical difference between the two models, just a list of features that disappear. (I guess I won't be able to use the browser once I land in Europe?) In other words, there's no reason to pay extra cash to wait and order it from there, am I right?

Any reason I shouldn't buy a Kindle 2, right now? Should we expect new sales before January? Big, game-changing announcements? Ideally, I might have waited for a Kindle 3 or Apple announcement, or bought the Nook, but given my circumstances, it seems the Kindle 2 is a pretty good bet. Anyone care to contradict this?

How does an international student get financial aid?

kuju — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:53:48 -0800

I am an international student going to college in the US (one of the top ten schools, but not need blind to internationals). I have not applied for a scholarship when I was first admitted, because I knew that it decreased my chances and the exchange rate was relatively comparable. Then, things went downhill; my aunt who was helping my parents pay the tuition lost her job, the exchange rate went up from 1.21 to 1.85 and that is the story. I am looking for a form of scholarship, be it need-based or merit based. How? Some background info. I am a successful student, double majoring in Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering and possibly minoring in Math (I am a sophomore). My GPA is 3.97/4.00, I am in a Math TA, and work in a neuroscience lab. I guess you could say that I am not a student that the university would like to lose.

There is also a catch: my parents and my aunt. They haven't really been that supportive through this process and it is stressing me to a point that I go to sleep crying. I feel like I am being an incredible burden and I absolutely hate myself for it. So, last year, we have reapplied for financial aid (even though their policy was to not give anything to returning international students). Our request was rejected as expected, and the finaid people said that they didn't have the resources to give returning international students any aid. So that was that.
This did not come up until last week, when my friend from the country that I am from got some form of a "scholarship". My mom learned about this because she is in finance and takes care of all the international wires and money stuff for them. So, when she saw that they were sending less money, she asked my friend's mom what was going on, and they said that my friend "talked to somebody - a professor" and somehow got some sort of aid. There is also a back story to this, my friend's dad is a surgeon and I guess he hurt his hand and therefore he is having trouble paying, so I am guessing he told them that.

And my parents have been bugging me about this ever since. They are saying that I should talk to my professors in the Math department, since they know me very well and they might be able to help. I am horribly embarrassed and I don't know how to even start talking about something like this to a professor. This is making me very stressed out and I feel absolutely horrible - knowing that there isn't much I can do but seeing that my parents think otherwise. Their logic works this way: If there was a way for him to get it, then you should be able to do the same. Mine works this way: I have applied, got rejected and I don't think much else is going to help. Sorry for the long rant, but combine a very busy workload and stress with some more stress and parents that don't speak English and have very little knowledge of how things work in the US, you have yourselves an exploding head.

Overall, I have two questions:
1. Is it okay to approach a professor like this? Is it awkward? Inappropriate? A definite no-no? How do I even start?
2. Where else can I find scholarships? Keep in mind, I am an international, so I have to cross a lot of things off of my list. If it matters, I am a Caucasian female. Who do I talk to? Who do I approach?

I am open to all suggestions.
Thank you.

Shalom, kitties!

pointystick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:48:47 -0800

Asking for a friend: Does anyone know where to find authoritative information on requirments for pets moving to the USA from Israel? Asking for a friend: A US citizen & her Israeli spouse are moving back to the USA from Israel. They have 2 indoor cats who have had regular vet visits & certificates of good health. They have not had rabies shots as that is not required locally as they are indoor only.
Cat mom is panicking that she is not getting consistent information about what documents are required. The US embassy is saying rabies shots not required which seems odd. They don't have any info on quarantine. Who should they (the humans) call? What should they (humans again) read?

They are flying into Orlando next week.

Friend thanks the hivemind in advance!

Prepaid iPhone data plan in Mumbai?

jesseendahl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:15 -0800

Hi, I will be living in Mumbai for 11 weeks next summer. I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. What is my best bet in terms of carrier and plan for the cheapest and most reliable data access? I plan to do local calls over the cell phone voice network and international calls via Skype on the iPhone. Thanks in advance!

International Research Locations?

sciencemandan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:23:29 -0800

I'm a medical student interested in international health and need some suggestions of where to go for a meaningful research fellowship this summer. I'm a first year medical student with a strong interest in international health and tropical medicine. I have the opportunity to receive funds to travel abroad and I'd really like to make the most of this opportunity, both in terms of gaining research experience and learning about new cultures.

I'm looking for suggestions on where to do research. My funding needs to cover my housing and travel expenses, so places with lower cost of living would probably be preferred (though I'd be fine with supplementing the cost of the trip with my own money if necessary). Also, I'd prefer someplace relatively safe.

I'd really like to focus on issues specific to international health, but I'm not really picky about what type of project I'd be working on (i.e. basic science, epidemiological, clinical research).

Feel free to suggest regions or specific research institutions.

Swiss Army Knife of Language

Knigel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:19:14 -0800

What are the pros and cons of learning more than one language? How can one adapt to a multi-language world? I'm in Korea now, have been in Cuba, and have been surrounded by many languages and cultures. I have learned bits and pieces of a few languages; however, I'm not a master of any--even English. Here in Korea, most people are focused on learning English; however, so many seem to be struggling. When I was in Cuba, so many people spoke four or more languages, and many were quite good--even children.

I know there are obvious benefits to learning many languages; however, what are some disadvantages? From my understanding, people's vocabularies in both languages might be limited if they become bilingual or more. How much of a deficit would there be? Is it major or minor?

Are there ways that learning a third or fourth language will benefit the second learning processes, or is it usually a distraction? For example, when I try to speak Spanish, my Korean takes over and I get entirely confused. Is it really best to focus on one language and then move onto the next? Are there any shortcuts? Can limitations be overcome?

My ideal is to learn bits of as many languages as possible. I'd like to be mostly fluent in 2-3, but be able to at least say some things in many languages. What is the best way of doing this?

I also want to offer advice to my friends and students about how they can study various languages more effectively.

It seems that we are living in an international world where knowing some basics of many languages is very beneficial; however, I haven't found any good websites that focus on learning many languages at once.

How can I build a swiss army knife of language?

How do i pay a small hospital bill from France?

doiheartwentyone — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:50:04 -0800

How do i pay a small hospital bill from France? GF and I (UK residents) had a holiday in France earlier this year during which she broke her head a bit. We went to the hospital to check it wasn't serious (it wasn't), and filled in the EHIC form and thought no more of it. The hospital didn't ask for money and didn't look like it was really set up for the handling of money either.

Three months later, we receive a bill for 17 EUR, which seems to be 30% of the actual fee. I guess the EHIC has covered the other 70%. It's attached to one of those normal bill payment tear off things, with a note saying something like "For ways to pay, please see over". Unfortunately, the bill seems to be a photocopy or something because there's nothing on the other side.

So, firstly, what are those ways to pay, that a French hospital would normally accept? And secondly, are any of those feasible from abroad? I see the "Eurocheque" doesn't exist anymore, and I would rather not have to pay Western Union or similar 100% of the bill amount to get this done.

If it's at all useful, I will be in Berlin for a weekend next month, so perhaps there is some kind of euro-denomination cheque I could get hold of there ?

Have to fly in July, but we'll adapt to anything else!

amicamentis — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:53:46 -0800

How to find the best NYC --> Europe flight deals when both day of week and destination are flexible. Caveat: flying out July 2010. My roommate and I are planning an extended European vacation beginning around the middle of July next year. I know that this is the absolute worst time to fly out, so we need some tips about how to cut down the price.

We are flying from NYC but would be willing to travel to Newark or even Philadelphia if there were significant savings. I have used RyanAir in the past and am familiar with inter-European travel, which is why we don't care much about the city that we first land in. So far, it looks like flying into Dublin is the least expensive. We would also be fine with Paris, London, Glasgow, Amsterdam, or Geneva.

What now? I've heard that if you're flying during peak season then you should just buy tickets as early as possible because they will never lower. However, with our flexibility it seems that there may be some deal, somewhere a bit closer to our flight date. Is this wishful thinking?

We would appreciate any website recommendations that would give fares on neighboring cities as well, or flexibility about the day of the week. I've tried Kayak and liked it - are there others?

In addition, our vacation will probably continue for several months. Will the customs agents give us any problems for having a return ticket for more than three months from the day we enter the country?

Thanks!

International impact of Great Depression

msk1985 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:07:57 -0800

What was the extent of the international impact of the American Great Depression compared to the economic crisis today? What are (scholarly) resources that might help answer this question?

I'm looking for an affordable mobile plan that will let me surf the web and use Google maps during a short trip to Canada.

stuart_s — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:31:05 -0800

I'm going to Vancouver next month. My Sprint phone won't be of any use to me there. When I went to Toronto last year, I was able to make exorbitantly expensive phone calls and I wasn't able to access the internet or use google maps. I'd like to do all of those things economically. I still have my old Treo 75?wx. Perhaps that could be of some use? Thank you.

How can I download a free US-only iPhone app from the UK

skylar — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:32:54 -0800

I'm in the UK and want to download a free app that is only available through the US iTunes/App Store. I have memberships of both the UK and US iTunes stores, but unfortunately the credit card on my US account has expired. When it comes to the point at which I download the app (on either the computer or the phone) it asks for an updated credit card. If I could convince someone to "lend" me their iTunes login details for a short while, even if there was no money on their card, would this work? Anyone tried this or willing to help?

Finding one-way US-to-NZ tickets for less than round-trip prices

oceanmorning — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:14:34 -0800

How can I find an inexpensive one-way ticket from the US to New Zealand? Most one-way tickets seem to cost nearly as much, if not more, than round trip! Next month, I'm moving to New Zealand (yay!). I'll be flying from LAX to AKL. Since I'm moving permanently, I just need a one-way ticket to get there; I don't need a return flight back to the US.

I want to get the best deal on my ticket. Unfortunately, I'm finding that a one-way ticket is very expensive, relative to a round-trip. In some cases, a one-way ticket actually costs more than a round-trip! This is counterintuitive to me, especially since I'm used to flying domestically on United airlines (with their one-way deals that I use my frequent flier miles for).

Where can I find a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand that will be inexpensive (meaning, roughly half of the average round-trip price)? Bonus points if you also have suggestions for a way to use my United miles on it.

Dreamlike Animation from the Eighties

lilyflower — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:39:23 -0800

Half remembered international animated short story from the 80's - does anyone recognise this story? I have a faint memory of a cartoon in my head from when I was a child in the eighties, I believe it was an international animation as there was no language, it wasn't feature length and was very simple animation.

The basic outline of the story as I remember it was a man living in a house in suburbia with all the mod cons (at least that the 80's had to offer!). He was out driving in his car but when he went to fill up at the gas/petrol station there was a huge queue. He goes home and it seems that the lights aren't working and the heating is off too. Food becomes scarce and one day while driving his car runs out of fuel. He leashes an ox to the car and uses it as a cart to be pulled home on.

He soon runs out of food so has to go out hunting, he has no heating and the winter starts to come in so he chops up all his furniture to make a fire in the house. I think spring comes around and the trees have grown through his house and he ventures outside. A mammoth starts chasing him and he can't get away, he is then caught under the hoof of the mammoth and when you think he is about to be crushed he awakens in his bed! He jumps out and runs to the lights and flicks them on and off, he turns on the thermostat and runs hot water through the taps. He is so excited and relieved...

And that is what I can remember, sounds a bit like a dream but I am sure I saw this on TV and watched it over and over on video.

Anyone remember it? Any suggestions would be most welcome!

Best books about international development.

johnny novak — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:11:12 -0800

International development practitioners, what are your favourite books on the subject? I'm looking for a range of stuff, from spittle-flecked polemic to the most respected academic research.

Trying to adopt with a psychiatric diagnosis

Pater Aletheias — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:08:07 -0800

Is it possible to adopt a child when a spouse has bipolar disorder? We have two biological children, a three year old girl and a five month old boy, and would like to adopt a third child--not because we couldn't get pregnant again, but because we feel that we could provide a good home to a child who needs one. In fact, that's been our plan since we were engaged--two biokids, anyone after that is adopted.

But in recent communications with international adoption agencies that our friends have used, we've been told that applying would be a waste of our time and money--there's no chance of being approved for adoption because my wife is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Is that the final word? We can accept it if it is--many couple who want to adopt would be delighted just to have one of the two wonderful kids we are already parenting. But if there's some avenue for adoption, I'd like to pursue it.

Let us fly! Cheaply.

VikingSword — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:52:47 -0800

Cheapest Airline Tickets: Los Angeles - Berlin RT. Options? From - To: Los Angeles to Berlin, Germany. Round trip.

Two people (my wife and myself).

Time: Either Sept 9, return October 2 or Sept 16, return October 9.

Complication: I have to purchase the tickets, or know for 100% sure when I'm taking off at least one week before the date of flight (work notification issue).

I've tried: Kayak, and Faircast/Bing

I got about high 700's (~$790) per person. (I've seen as low as $605 on Kayak, but when I tried to book those flights, the tickets were not available anywhere - yet kept being displayed thru Kayak, which soured me on that site somewhat).

Can better be done?

I don't mind any particular airline, or hours of departure/arrival, don't mind stopping over at Newark or wherever, though I'd prefer not to have to change planes.

I read somewhere that it can make sense to use a travel agent - but it's hard for me to see how it'll be cheaper that way rather than DIY.

Should I book now, or wait until the last moment (in this case, last moment is 1 week before departure, for reasons I gave above)? Use an agent? Look at other places than Kayak and Bing search?

Which cell phone carrier is best for making calls from Eastern Europe to the US?

invisible ink — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:01:48 -0800

My father, a physician, is going on an European cruise through Denmark, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, and Georgia. He needs a cell phone plan that will allow him to call his patients here in the U.S. from each of those countries. He will be on this trip for roughly two weeks. He is more concerned about connectivity in each country, rather than price. What would be his best option?

When buying a plane ticket, how do you decide whether to cash in your frequent flyer miles?

inatizzy — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:45:49 -0800

When you buy a plane ticket, how do you decide whether to cash in your frequent flyer miles, or pay cash and earn the miles? I have a specific decision to make that's prompting this question:

I've accumulated about 50,000 frequent flyer miles on a major airline over about 5 years of personal domestic travel. I'm going to Buenos Aires in September, one-way, economy, and I can either:

a) buy a ticket for about $450-500 (on two different airlines that I don't normally fly, with 2 stops on the way, about 16-19 hours trip time), or

b) spend 20,000 miles (on "major airline", 1 or 2 stops along the way, 14 hours trip time).

To buy the one-way ticket on "major airline" would cost around $1800 or more and I'd earn 5800 frequent flyer miles. Way too much for me to pay!

How do you decide whether to spend the miles or the money? I've really never been sure when to cash them in, but I'd sort of like to do that now because I could use the $$ to help secure an apartment, settle in, etc. (I'm moving there on my own without a job to pay for moving expenses.) But I'm also a little hesitant because I wonder, is this really getting the best value for my miles? Should I save them for later?

For what it's worth, I'm probably going to be in South America indefinitely after this trip and I'm unlikely to fly the "major airline" to travel between cities and countries there. However, I may use it to come back to the US for visits (such as at Christmas). Thanks for your advice!

ISO, W3C, OOXML/ODF: How do tech standards impact you?

trcook — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:17:06 -0800

What's your stake in international tech standards and OOXML?(I'm working up a thesis and I could use some input from the computer literate world) Ok, so I'm getting set to do my masters thesis in Public Administration, and I've decided to write about the wonderful world of international standardization-- mostly ICT(read: tech) standards (eg. HTML5, CSS3, domain naming/registering rules via ICANN, OOXML, ODF, PDF, anything from IEC ISO IEEE JTC1, etc.)

One area that I am exploring is output legitimacy in the standardization process. I have a pretty good theory, but I need some ideas about where to investigate for evidence...

This is where you come in. If you feel inclined, shout out about any of the following:
Why are standards important(to you)?

How have ICT standards impacted you/your job?

Are there International standards you have resisted implementing at your job or on a project? why?

Any first-hand accounts of political manipulation of the standards development process.

What's your take on the OOXML/ODF controversy? How will it impact you/your work? What long-term effects do you think the controversy will be?

Much thanks all,
Tom

Should we stay or should we go?

hamandcheese — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:33:45 -0800

Life choices-filter: What should my wife and I do next? Hi all,

My wife and I are both well-employed and relatively successful mid to late twenty-somethings. We're currently in a mid-size Canadian city, but have aspirations to a lot more travel and work internationally. We'd like that to be soon, but could also pursue some pretty good opportunities here...

My wife works as the education manager at a decent size museum, and loves her work, but is not liking her job. The museum is owned by the government but largely operated by a non-profit society that does all of the fundraising, marketing, volunteer coordination, events, and education programs. Her society is in the midst of a major power struggle with the museum itself and her entire organization may quit or be kicked out before its all over, so she has no job security at all, and the work environement itself has turned into a rumor mongering, us vs. them, hellhole. Things are in arbitration right now, without the possibility for resolution until September (although they keep pushing the dates back, so there is no guarantee).

I work for an engineering company doing editing and graphic design, but find the soulless money-making focus and ridiculous stipulations put on my work by my corporate masters takes all joy and sense of purpose out my job. I want out pretty bad, but have managed to pay 3/4 of my student debt off in the past year, and know that I could get the last $6,500 paid within another 3 months. That would mean we'd be debt free, which of course would be awesome. On the side, I also have my own freelance editing, graphic design and photography business that has been growing fairly well without a whole lot of effort on my part. That said, it's still a pretty small-scale affair, but I feel confident I could do well with it if I had time to throw myself at it. I really enjoy this work because it is for myself and my clients, and because the projects are all very diverse. Photography has become my major passion, and my emotional side is telling me to quit my job tomorrow and throw myself into my own business to see if I can really grow it. I'm pretty sure I could make a go of wedding photography as well, and with all of these diverse things, could make enough of a living to get do reasonably well within a few months, and quite well within 1-2 years.

Now here's the complicated part: we've been talking about going overseas to work since we finished university 1-2 years ago. We don't really care where. If our debt was paid, we could take jo-jobs anywhere we could get work visas (such as British Commonwealth countries), and have a great time. With no debt, we could also look into volunteer opportunities in places like Africa. If we still carry some of this debt, we would probably be better off teaching english as a second language somewhere in Asia, but this would be cool too. I think we'd be happy to do pretty much any of these things.

Soooooo, with all of that as background, here's the dilemma: If my wife's society survives the museum meltdown, her job will be something worth sticking with a while longer. She's quite young to have a position like this and it is a really great opportunity for her if she sticks with museum or interpretation work, or if she gets her teaching degree (long-term goal). If this is the case, and we're going to stay here longer, then my choice would be to quit my job tomorrow (I dislike it that much), debt or no debt, and try to do the work I like doing. But we have no certainty that her job will last, and if I do quit my job to focus on the freelance work, and then she loses hers, we'll be a lot worse off financially than if I stick it out until they resolve it. (but I hate it!)

Should we stick it out, or should we start selling our belongings and looking into work visas?

Should I quit my job? Or would that be stupid? Should I throw myself into my own business, or would that be extra stupid since we plan to leave the country and travel within a year? (I really want to do both!)

Should we go teach english? Or do something else?

I'm not looking for definitive answers; I know we need to answer these questions ourselves. I'd just love some opinions. So lay it on me Mefites. Don't be shy.

Should we stay or should we go?