Moving to Sydney

In our series of short blogs on moving between different international locations, we highlight cost of living and other major differences likely to be experienced. Today we look at moving to Sydney in Australia from Algiers in Algeria. In Algiers people speak Arabic, French, Berber. In Sydney people speak English.

Algiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb (after Casablanca). Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Algiers is an important economic, commercial and financial center, with in particular a stock exchange with a capitalisation of 60 billion euros. The port of Algiers is also the most important of North Africa. The largest economic sectors in Sydney, as measured by the number of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services. Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors. Sydney provides approximately 25 percent of the country's total GDP.

The overall cost of living rank in Algiers is 220 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with low cost of living locations. An expatriate moving from Algiers to Sydney which has an overall cost of living rank of 12, which equates it with high cost of living locations, will experience a change in cost of living of 68.1%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Sydney is ranked as a minimal hardship location with a hardship index of 10% compared to Algiers with a hardship index of 40% which is an extreme hardship location.

Source: http://www.xpatulator.com as at July 2011.

Moving to Perth

In our series of short blogs on moving between different international locations, we highlight cost of living and other major differences likely to be experienced. Today we look at moving to Perth in Australia from Tirana in Albania. In Tirana people speak Albanian. In Perth people speak English.

Tirana is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Albania. Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average. Tirana is Albania's major industrial centre. It has experienced rapid growth and established many new industries since the 1920s. The principal industries include agricultural products and machinery, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and metal products. Perth dominates the Western Australian economy by virtue of its population and role as the administrative centre for business and government, despite the major mining, petroleum and agricultural export industries located elsewhere in the state. Perth’s function as the State’s capital city, its economic base and population size have also created development opportunities for many other businesses oriented to local or more diversified markets.

The overall cost of living rank in Tirana is 272 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with low cost of living locations. An expatriate moving from Tirana to Perth which has an overall cost of living rank of 18, which equates it with high cost of living locations, will experience a change in cost of living of 73.6%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Perth is ranked as a minimal hardship location with a hardship index of 10% compared to Tirana with a hardship index of 40% which is an extreme hardship location.

Source: http://www.xpatulator.com as at July 2011.

Moving to Melbourne

In our series of short blogs on moving between different international locations, we highlight cost of living and other major differences likely to be experienced. Today we look at moving to Melbourne in Australia from Kabul in Afghanistan. In Kabul people speak Pashto and Dari (Persian). In Melbourne people speak English.

Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, and is located in the province of Greater Kabul. It is an economic and cultural centre. Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and is the second most populous city in Australia. Kabul's products include: natural gas, cotton, wool, carpets, agriculture, and some small production companies. Melbourne is home to Australia's busiest seaport and much of Australia's automotive industry, which include Ford and Toyota manufacturing facilities, and the engine manufacturing facility of Holden. It is home to many other manufacturing industries, along with being a major business and financial centre.

The overall cost of living rank in Kabul is 239 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with low cost of living locations. An expatriate moving from Kabul to Melbourne which has an overall cost of living rank of 17, which equates it with high cost of living locations, will experience a change in cost of living of 61.4%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Melbourne is ranked as a minimal hardship location with a hardship index of 10% compared to Kabul with a hardship index of 40% which is an extreme hardship location.

Source: http://www.xpatulator.com as at July 2011.

Expat Yourself

Expat Yourself is your down-to-earth blog to answer the "why" and "how" of becoming an expat.  Especially intended for people who know their lives could be better abroad and would like to work abroad.  Expat Yourself collects and shares resources to help you make those tough decisions and take the first step.

My site is available here: www.expatyourself.com

Which expat are you?

The one great advantage when you exercise is not only getting fit and in shape, but also that it gives your mind time to think.  My thoughts during my last session was on the different types of Expats that you get.  I am not referring to nationalities or cultures but more to the country that you find yourself being an expat in which can determine the type of expat you will be.

I determined that there are 3 types of expat country experiences:

1. When as an expat you move to a country that is similar to your own, but you are still culturally different, e.g. an American moving to Britain.  Fundamentally, you speak the same language, you eat similar foods, you have similar cultural habits and have watched movies or listened to music that is, can I say it again, similar.
However, even with these similarities there are differences too, they are minute but they are there. Whether it is a word that is different but has the same meaning, e.g. Barbeque to the South African Braai, or the way you address someone from a courteous "Hello, how do you do?" to "Hiya doin?" There are differences and you can feel and do experience these within the country. Your accent is also a dead giveaway and sometimes as an expat you are shunned purely due to this basic difference.

2. The country in between two extremes, this would be the expat that moves from e.g. Australia (English being the common language) to the Middle East.  Your official business language is English and most people would be able to speak and understand English, but you cannot do the same for their official language.  There is a commonality that exists as well, this host country has been exposed to Western culture through trade and industry, politics and commerce.  Sometimes these expats are more readily accepted as a foreign guest in their country. You are respectful of your host countries culture and traditions and are willing to emerge yourself into becoming part of the culture. 

3. Moving to a country that is the polar opposite to what you are used to, your nationality is completely and utterly different e.g. Argentinian moving to China.  The official language is one that most people will battle to learn, so when you are standing in a queue you haven't got a clue what is being said around you.  Your culture, traditions and habits are as vast as the Sahara Desert. You really have to acquire new skills and make major adaptations to survive.  As much as this type of expat experience can be rather a challeneg, it can have surprising advantages.  If you cannot understand the local language, it incentivises you to learn and forces you to be more adventurous and social in trying to fit in and develop a commonality with the local population.  Expats also tend to support each other more as everyone can feel the vast divide between locals and expats.  It allows groups of expats to formalize clubs that bind common interests and creates a social infrastructure of support.

There is another type of expat that we should include under number 3, this would be a person moving from e.g. China to America.  Commonly when a Westerner moves to a host country as an expat there are systems set up to support these people, e.g. compounds in which to live, social groups to belong to, etc.  However, this is not necessarily the case for non-Western expats when moving from their countries to e.g. America or the UK. These expats are not living in compounds or introduced to groups that are similar to themselves. They are often left to their own devices and need to find their own survival mechanisms. This type of expat experience could actually be the most difficult of all.

Which expat are you and are there more?

Denise is an Expat, Mom, Wife and Marketing Manager at  http://www.xpatulator.com/ a website that provides cost of living index information and calculates what you need to earn in a different location to compensate for cost of living, hardship, and exchange rate differences. The complete cost of living rank for all 300 locations for all 13 baskets is available here.