G'day - Seeking Info On Living In The Philippines

[nicole]

Hi everyone my name is nicole and i currently live in Brisbane. I want to move to the Philippines. I want to work and live there. My dad lives in San Narciso but I'm more interested in Manila or the larger cities. I have a teenage daughter and she would need to go to an English speaking high school. I would love to know everything about moving to the Philippines. I would need to know about accommodation, cost of moving etc. I am a disability support worker here in Australia and have my certificate iv in disability. Any information that anyone can help me with would be much appreciated. Thanks Nicole

[MikeB]

Welcome to the forum. I moved your post from Introductions to a more appropriate category.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I have a teenage daughter and she would need to go to an English speaking high school

 

I'm sure you would be warmly welcomed in Philippines.  Lots of the local filipinos love Australian girls  :thumbsup:   Its the school thing that you need to check out.  Many folks leave the Philippines because they want their kids to get a better quality education.  Decent education here is expensive.  But perhaps money is no object for you?

[Jollygoodfellow]

Hi Nicole

Welcome. There are many of the same questions asked in the forums here. Best to do a bit of searching and then ask questions in the appropriate forums. 

:cheersty:

[nicole]

Thank you for the welcome. Dave money is s factor for me i wish it wasn't but it is. I just want out of Australia and so does my daughter. I do want to be closer to my father who lives in San Narciso but i also love the Philippines. Every time i visit there i never want to leave. I need to find job connections i don't want to rely on anyone for handouts I want to earn my way. So I'm here trying to do that. If anyone has anything to help me that would be great. Work, accommodation, car, schools, cost to move, visas etc. Thanks in advance

[Jollygoodfellow]

Nicole I understand how you feel wanting to move, I have the same plans but are stuck here getting nowhere.

Anyway first off; working in the Philippines will be a problem. Foreigners can not work with out a work visa and even if you got one your income will be inline with Philippines wages. There are private English schools but as Dave pointed out, wont be cheap. I think government schools teach in English but once your daughter finishes school she wont have the same education as what she receives in Brisbane.

Accommodation cost vary and depends where you end up so its best if you come to find short term accommodation so you can look around.

 

Cost of moving, most sell up and start again so other than sending some personal stuff in a few boxes which from Brisbane is about $150 a box the last time I checked that should be all the moving cost you will have.

[nicole]

Thank you jollygoodfello

[UnCheckedOther]

Thumbs up to everything thay JollyGoodFellow shared above. Moving anywhere is neither wise nor easy if you haven't thoughtfully planned it out and have contingents in place. That being said, its doable.

W/r/t to jobs, that all depends on your experience, skillset, and sometimes level of education in your home country. For example, if you were a teacher in Australia, you could apply to Brent or International Schools. Check the websites. They often do Skype interviews. You could also teach English at language schools. One of my cousins is currently teaching English to Korean students. You could also try call centers. The problem is when you have a job that is overfilled or in low demand. For example, if you were a nurse, you would be competing against thousands of un/underemployed nurses. If you worked in retail in Australia, you would have significant difficulty finding jobs. Well, you would, but the wages are peanuts. Also bear in mind that unless you have an in demand skillset, education matters. You would need at least a Bachelors degree if you want a livable wage. So again, take an inventory of your CV/resume to figure out what your strengths are. That will give you an idea of what to realistically expect.

As for schools, international schools are the best bet, but they are costly. I know thatBrent in Manila costs roughly the same as Exeter in New Hampshire (at least $25k USD). You could try some Catholic schools. The top ones have a lot of affluent students, which in the Philippines means better exposed to travelling and English being spoken and thus, English speaking. Granted, there would be annoying code-switching (Tag-lish, Bis-lish) that seems to infect the "sosyal" crowd, but your daughter would definitely not have a hard time communicating with them. At a school where there are English speakers, expect to shell out anywhere from the low-mid five figure pesos ($800 and upwards) to six, even 7 figures ($2.5 k to $25k). That's not including uniforms, books, and other hidden fees. The good news is that if you work at an international school as faculty or admin, your daughter's tuition could be either subsidized or free.

I wish you luck, luv. Before you come, research, research, research! Uncle Google is your friend. Have back-up plans to your back-up plans. You're young and have a brilliant life ahead of you, so please take great care in making sure you've got a safety net when you come to the Philippines. Please keep us posted, okay?

[UnCheckedOther]

Nicole, I forgot to add that if you applied for and was offered a job at one of the international schools, they also help you with visas :) Maybe you could search for a Special Education position within Brent or the other International Schools. That would be ideal for you.

[nicole]

Thx Uncheckedother