NEWS/BLOG

A Brazilian Oprah?

Emerging market countries may be whistling while Rome or, for that matter, the rest of Europe, burns. Meanwhile, countries like Brazil (well, there’s no place quite like Brazil), are spawning their own middle class consumers as the poor climb the social and economic ladders.

Recently Brazil’s top news story hasn’t been about its economy or Europe’s but about their most popular nightly news program, Jornal Nacional (JN). The show reaches 30 million viewers and is responsible for a huge chunk of the network’s $7.2 billion in revenue. What’s really of interest to Brazilians is that the show’s attractive, charismatic Fátima Bernardes, its co-anchor and reporter since 1987, says she is leaving to launch a career in daytime television.

Not much is is known about her new show, which will debut on Globo TV in April, but most likely it take advantage of the popularity that she has achieved. Blogger and TV critic Daniel Castro has suggested, “Globo’s aim is to transform Bernardes in Brazil’s answer to Oprah Winfrey.”

Globo is striving for viewers outside of Brazil. A huge network, second only to Mexico’s Televisa, Globo is known for its telenovelas or soaps, which are shown in other Portuguese-speaking countries and are dubbed in Spanish for viewing in Latin Americal.

It seems that Bernardes’ only drawback to international visibility is that her native language is Portuguese, a beautiful language, but one that not many people speak or learn. Can a talk show be dubbed? Would subtitles suffice? Well, let’s see.

Iceland - Back from the Brink

Iceland is a striking example of a country that survived a disastrous financial situation without causing undue suffering to its citizens. Before the 2008 meltdown, it was one of the richest countries in the world. Beginning in 2003, Icelandic banks lured foreign investors with online accounts paying high interest rates. By 2007, the bank’s debt was a whopping 900 times the country’s GNP.

When disaster struck, the government fell and the new government was ready to give in to demands that Iceland pay 3.5 million euros, which would force each citizen to pay 100 euro per month for 15 years at 5.5% interest. The citizens rebelled and simply refused to pay debts incurred by the banks. Foreign governments made dire threats, even suggesting that Iceland was doomed to become the “Cuba of the North.”

Iceland stood firm and refused to accept the doctrine of cutting back on government spending and easing regulations as a way to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Icelanders collaborated in writing a new constitution. First, 25 individuals were elected to oversee the project, which took place on the internet with citizens contributing their comments, proving that electronic media can be a conduit for participatory democracy. Iceland still has problems, but not nearly as many as it would have had propping up failed banks, which was the strategy taken by Europe, Great Britain and the U.S. What’s more, Iceland’s social safety net is intact.

For more on this story, see Why Iceland Should Be in the News by Deena Stryker. (http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/728.1). Also see an editorial by Paul Krugman, The Path Not Taken.

Guatemala Opts for Strong Military

Otto Pérez Molina, a conservative former general garnered the most votes in Guatemala/s presidential election Sunday, Sept. 11, but hasn’t yet been declared the winner. For that he’d need 50% plus one more vote, so a runoff election will be held in November.

Molina, whose campaign symbol is an iron fist, favors a strong military as the solution to Guatemala’s problems, a view shared by the other presidential contenders. The drug trade here has fueled crime and corruption, and many people view the army as better able to serve justice than the police or the courts.

Oddly enough, Molina’s military past seems not to bother voters here; in fact, many believe the army is the only solution to the severe problems the country faces. Today’s army is considerably smaller than during the war years, and is responsible for distributing government aid. Over 60% of the 7.3 million Guatemalans registered to vote are between the ages of 18 and 30. They don’t remember Guatemala’s 36 years of war in which over 200,000 people were killed. Oddly enough, these troubled years are not even taught in schools.

Most likely, Guatemala will rely upon its army to combat the corruption resulting from the drug trade. This is a path that Mexico chose to follow, resulting in thousands of drug related deaths.

Warning to U.S. Citizens with Overseas Bank Accounts!

You may have heard that the IRS is cracking down on U.S. citizens and U.S. expats avoiding taxes by hiding money overseas. The key tool they are using is called the Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Form aka the “FBAR.” This form requires Americans with overseas bank accounts with aggregate balances of over $10,000 to file a special disclosure with the U.S. Treasury Department each year. If they fail to file this disclosure, the IRS can levy fines starting at $10,000 per year up to 50% of the account balance for each year the account is not reported. Penalties can also include jail time. U.S. expats, although not necessarily the primary target, can be caught in the crossfire, and the penalties can be painful!

Americans living overseas are required to both file their U.S. expat taxes and to report their foreign bank accounts to the U.S. Treasury. These are two different things and, unfortunately, your hometown CPA may not be familiar with the FBAR, and it is often a misunderstood topic among expats.

* The FBAR is also known as form TDF 90-22-1, and you need to send this to the U.S. Treasure by June 30th each year.
* Your U.S. expat taxes, on the other hand, are due by June 15 (although if you owe money, interest starts accruing as of April 15).
* The FBAR reports any foreign bank accounts you have or you control, including personal accounts, joint accounts, business accounts, potentially retirement accounts you control.
* Unlike your U.S. expat taxes, your FBAR will not cost you anything – it is just an informational report. You can have $10,000,000 overseas, no problem, just report it.

At the moment the U.S. government is working hard to find individuals who are not in compliance with the FBAR requirements or up to date with their U.S. expat taxes. Currently the IRS target is accounts with balances over $50,000, but this can change at any time. Foreign banks are now required by U.S. law to report Americans who have accounts with them to the IRS – this was part of a huge lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against Swiss banks and resulted in UBS paying the government about $780 million for selling accounts to individuals where they could hide the money from the IRS. If you have foreign accounts open and are behind on your U.S. expat taxes, the IRS can now find you. In fact, your bank may voluntarily turn you in!

It has recently been reported that the Justice Department is now looking at potentially extending the FBAR penalty to the financial institutions that are helping U.S. citizens and U.S. expats avoid taxation. This new approach by the Justice Department could put the financial resources of the overseas institutions at risk. It remains to be seen whether or not the U.S. Justice Department can legally charge the banking institutions that helped the American taxpayers avoid disclosure, but just the threat of it shows how seriously the U.S. Government is treating tax cheats.

So, if you are behind on your U.S. expat taxes or you didn’t know you needed to file the FBAR, what should you do?

It really is not unusual for an American living abroad to be behind on his/her U.S. expat taxes. As espats, we don’t get blasted with dozens of tax service TV commercials every day and we don’t hear our neighbors complaining about U.S. expat taxes, so it’s easy to miss the deadlines. Fortunately, the IRS is currently running its second Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI), which was launched in February of 2011 and runs through August 31, 2011.

The OVDI gives American who previously failed to report their foreign bank accounts and/or are behind on their U.S. expat taxes the chance to come clean, pay a reduced penalty and avoid criminal prosecution. This is the second and potentially last Voluntary Disclosure program the IRS will offer. While the terms are not as good as the first voluntary disclosure program the IRS launched in 2009, anyone who has still not come forward should treat this as a golden opportunity!

The key points regarding the 2011 OVDI are as follows:

* 25% penalty on the amount in the foreign accounts
* You must pay back-taxes and interest for up to 8 years.
* You must file back-tax returns or amended returns properly disclosing your income and accounts.
* Everything is due by August 31, 2011.
* You may qualify for a lower penalty of 12.5% if your aggregate accounts did not exceed $75,000.
* There are options for even a more reduced penalty of 5% as well.

If you are behind on your U.S. expat taxes or if you are current, but did not file your FBAR, you should take advantage of the OVDI and get caught up before August 31, 2011!

This article was prepared by Greenback Expat Tax Services. See their ad on our classified page or go to greenbacktaxservices.com/

São Paulo Means Business

Brazil is now the model other Latin American countries choose to follow. Brazil is making impressive strides in wiping out poverty, but make no mistake, social programs here are rooted in prosperity rather than ideology. Brazil knows how to get down to business.

Although Brazil has a number of large, prosperous cities, none are quite as impressive as the city of São Paulo, the capital of the state of the same name, which is Brazil’s most populous state. São Paulo is the second most populous city in the Americas and is among the five largest metropolitan areas in the entire world.

São Paulo is a major center of commerce and finance (it is home to the second largest stock exchange in the world) as well as arts and entertainment. It has many museums, theaters and concert halls. It also has the largest shopping center, the largest hospital complex and the most billionaires in Latin America. It is responsible for over 12% of Brazil’s GDP and 36% of all goods and services of the State of São Paulo. More than 70% of all Brazilian trade fairs and business events are held in the state.

Not only is the city of Sao Paulo an excellent place to do business, it has much to offer those who bring their families to live here. The climate is sub-tropical, which means it is never very hot or very cold. Home might be in an elegant high-rise or in a quiet area of single family houses. Neighborhoods like Morumbi and Moema attract foreigners because they offer ease of getting around the city coupled with a sense of calm and security. Also worth considering are Pinheiros, Perdizes and Butantã, where property values continue to rise. Browsing the real estate ads is a great way to peer inside Brazilian houses and apartments. See www.vivareal.net/buy/brazil/sao-paulo/

The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil(TM) will increase global awareness of all Brazil has to offer. The race is already on to position oneself to cash in on the many opportunities here, whether in real estate, jobs or services.

Trouble in Paradise

The sun still shines and the local people still smile, but all is not well in parts of Central America.

Panama has come a long way in the last decade. However, according to one of our contacts, Panama City is now overbuilt with high rise construction and the condo market is glutted. Buying a condo now is probably not a good idea, but what about renting? Don’t enter into an agreement sight unseen. Sometimes amenities such as swimming pools and tennis courts are not maintained; make sure they are if you will be paying for them.

Also, Panama is in process of signing a free trade agreement with the U.S. This would mean greater reporting requirements for account holders at Panamanian banks.

Meanwhile, an attempt to unite the various countries of Central America has made very little progress. The three major organizations devoted to this are the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), the Central American Court of Justice (CCJ) and the Central American Integration System (SICA).

PARLACEN, a regional forum for the political representation of SICA, consists of the former presidents and vice-presidents and 20 directly elected representatives from each member state. The member countries are El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, and the Dominican Republic (although it is not strictly within the region). Mexico, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Venezuela have observer status.

One blow to unity in the region was the June 2009 coup when armed forces abducted the elected president of Honduras Manuel Zelaya from his home and put him on a plane to Costa Rica. (Costa Rica never joined PARLACEN, although it is a member of SICA and the other Central American regional institutions.)

Then, Panama elected a right-wing government which decided to withdraw the country from PARLACEN, further weakening the regional institution. It will not be easy for Panama to leave the regional forum, because the treaty that established it has no mechanism for resigning.

Guatemala, a beautiful country with many archeological treasures, ended its 36-year civil war in 1996, but still has pervasive corruption, a high murder rate and extreme poverty. The violent 2009 death of the Harvard-educated lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg, who had alleged that the President Colom wanted him killed for having been critical of the government, casts a shadow over the current administration. Now, with an election looming, Colom is divorcing his wife so that she can run for the office. The constitution forbids close relatives of a president from seeking office. For more on this story, which reads like a thriller, see The New Yorker, April 4, 2011.

Meanwhile, back in Honduras, a National Strike was held March 30, organized by the National Front for Popular Resistance (FNRP). Demonstrations in the streets were met with tear gas.

Why Colombia? Why Medellin?

If you’ve been surprised lately to hear Colombia hailed as an expat haven, you’re not alone. You might be even more surprised to hear that expats are finding a home in of Medellin, which made headlines a decade ago for very different reasons.

The country as a whole, according to government statistics, has seen a 50% drop in its murder rate over the past decade and a 90% decrease in the number of kidnappings. The U.S. war on drugs hasn’t exactly been won, but it has altered the routes of the narcotics trade. As a result, the Colombian cartels have diverted their export channels to Europe via West Africa. Meanwhile, drugs are entering the United States through Mexico, with an increase in violence in border cities. 

In the 1990s, Medellin was known as the most dangerous city in the world with over 500 murders a month. Statistics now rank it safer than Washington, D.C., and the city has been called “a showcase for innovative urban planning and social policies.”

Much of the credit for Medellin’s rapid recovery goes to Sergio Fajardo, who served as mayor from 2003 to 2007. He boosted education spending to 40% of the city’s annual budget of $900 million. He selected famous architects to design schools and libraries as well as a large public science center. Public transportation expanded, especially to the poorer areas of the city. Poor neighborhoods acquired public parks, too. He also initiated micro-lending projects for small businesses. For a time, he advocated decriminalizing certain narcotic substances, for he didn’t get far with that idea.

Fajardo’s background partially explains his interests. The son of an architect, he was a math professor who had earned a Ph.D. in the U.S. (University of Wisconsin). After stepping down as mayor, he lost his bid to become the country’s president, but we’ll probably see more of him in years to come.

Besides being a better city for Colombians, Medellin has advantages that make it attractive to expats. For one thing, there’s weather that even a southern Californian could love. At an elevation of nearly 5000 feet, the temperate varies from a low of about 60 F. to the mid-80s year round and the air is dry enough to ward off insects. Living costs, vary, of course, but an average sized Social Security check can go far. Medical and dental facilities are sufficiently outstanding to have put Medellin on the medical tourism map.

For those who would prefer a seaside setting Colombia offers these as well. Cartagena on the Caribbean is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities of South America. The oldest part of the city is enclosed by walls which were erected to ward off invaders. Temperatures can be hot, but evenings are cooled by breezes. For better beeches, though, there’s Santa Marta, the oldest Spanish settlement in the country.

What’s not to like? Poverty still exists here, and with it, crime, so vigilance is necessary. Also, at the present, it can be difficult to ascertain just what paperwork Colombia requires of foreigners who want to stay in the country. There is no pensionada program. A cedula de identidad or identity card should be obtained as soon as possible and carried at all times. It is essential for opening a bank account.

Microloans Help in Haiti

When you see the television images of Haitian families living in tents or shacks, you might not realize that some of these families are operating small businesses. Some actually are, however, thanks to microloans.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, devastated by an earthquake earlier in January, then coping with floods and now cholera, expects to see its economy shrink by 9% this year. Even before the quake, 80% of Haitians had less than $2 a day to live on. Now, with the world economy facing problems of its own, less that 15% of the international funds promised Haiti have actually arrived.

Microlending is based on the idea that people want to help themselves. In practice, most such loans go to poor women who can make a difference to their families and their communities. Loans may be as little as $25 and the recipients might use the money to buy a calf or flock of chickens or to make the down payment on a sewing machine. Sometimes groups of five or more agree to work together, then are jointly responsible for repayment.

Microlenders are often nonprofit, but not always. Although interest rates are higher than that of traditional banks, Microbanks should not be confused with payday lenders who charge usurious rates and profit accordingly.

Some microlenders not only provide only loans, but also offer education and health services. One of Haiti’s larger microcredit groups, Finca Haiti, wrote off almost a third of its portfolio after many clients perished in the earthquake or lost their homes and businesses.

A New York Times article profiled a young mother of two who lives with her children, mother, sister and niece in a small mud house that she inherited. Although she has no business experience, Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest microbank, enabled her to get two chickens and a goat. She now sells eggs and heating oil from her home and has joined a savings club with10 of her neighbors in order to expand her efforts.

Fonkoze, which means “shoulder to shoulder” in Creole, operates in a network of 41 branches throughout Haiti. It has 45,000 women borrowers who mostly live and work in the countryside, and 200,000 savers. It was one of the few banks of any kind operating outside of Port-au-Prince in the days after the earthquake, and its co-chief executive Anne Hastings secured American military help in airlifting $2 million in cash to desperate clients.

Following the quake, Fonkoze wrote off 10,000 loans, almost a quarter of its total number, with funds from the Red Cross and others. The bank then gave each client a new loan plus a cash payment of $125, at a total cost of $8.5 million. In recent months, the bank has expanded its health program and become more active in the rural areas of the country. One of their programs included a weekly stipend of $7 to insure that borrowers will have enough to eat without killing their livestock.

For more information about microloans in Haiti, see finca.org and Fonkoze.org/

The concept of microlending was pioneered by Muhammad Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank 40 years ago in Bangladesh by giving loans of a few dollars each to poor entrepreneurs. In 2006, Mr. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the author of such books as Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism.

Affordable France

Don’t even think about moving to France unless you love at least one of these: the people, the way of life, the food, the landscape, and preferably all of the above. Now that living costs in some areas of France are actually less than parts of Connecticut or California or perhaps where you live now, Francophiles can begin to entertain thoughts of moving there. A cautionary note: anyone who thinks that their sense of style and their high school French are enough to facilitate making a home in France could be making a huge mistake.

The good news, however, is that people who’ve always dreamed of living in France, people who understand the French and have more than a smattering of the language, may be able to find a home there. France has the best infrastructure in the world and some things there actually cost less. Among them are cable TV, telephone and internet access. Some things cost more, however, such as gasoline and electricity.

The September/October 2010 issue of Modern Maturity features the Languedoc-Rousillon region in the Southwest of France, which include such cities as Nimes and Perpignan as well as Montpellier, where medium priced houses and apartments are available for $250,000 and up. Note, too, that Monpellier is just three hours from Paris via high-speed rail. Besides sthe larger cities and towns, the area has a beautiful countryside with many small, charming villages. The article mentioned an American couple who live in the small medieval village of Sauve, an hour from Nimes.

Another source, liveandinvestoverseas.com, claims in an e-letter that an income of just $1,300 a month would be enough to live on in the Languedoc region and that U.S. citizens can retire there on an average Social Security check. Modern Maturity suggests an income of $30,000 a year. How much you’ll need depends, of course, on your own spending habits and you ability to economize.

Another possibility for expats in France is the Béarn, bordered by the Landes, the Gers, the High-Pyrenees (Hautes-Pyrenées), the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and Spain to the south. Landscapes in this area are spectacular with pines and palms growing side by side and the magnificent Pyrenees in the background. The city of Pau with a population of 85,000 boasts an abundance as well as a variety of greenery.  There is also an airport nearby, and a highway from Pau to Bordeax is under construction.

Note that although Social Security follows you to France and anywhere else you might want to live, Medicare does not.  If you become a legal resident of France you can enjoy many of the advantages of France’s subsidized health care system, which is rated by the World Health Organization as the best in the world. In small French towns, fire department personnel provide excellent emergency care and transportation to the nearest hospital. Upon discharge from the hospital, the patient may be visited by the town nurse.

Legal residency entails considerable paperwork but has its rewards. Some expats prefer simply to have a tourist visa. It if you really want to live in France, you can find a way, and money-wise, it’s a little easier now.

Don’t even think about moving to France unless you love at least one of these: the people, the way of life, the food, the landscape, and preferably all of the above. Now that living costs in some areas of France are actually less than parts of Connecticut or California or perhaps where you live now, Francophiles can begin to entertain thoughts of moving there. A cautionary note: anyone who thinks that their sense of style and their high school French are enough to facilitate making a home in France could be making a huge mistake.

The good news, however, is that people who’ve always dreamed of living in France, people who understand the French and have more than a smattering of the language, may be able to find a home there. France has the best infrastructure in the world and some things there actually cost less. Among them are cable TV, telephone and internet access. Some things cost more, however, such as gasoline and electricity.

The September/October 2010 issue of Modern Maturity features the Languedoc-Rousillon region in the Southwest of France, which include such cities as Nimes and Perpignan as well as Montpellier, where medium priced houses and apartments are available for $250,000 and up. Note, too, that Monpellier is just three hours from Paris via high-speed rail. Besides sthe larger cities and towns, the area has a beautiful countryside with many small, charming villages. The article mentioned an American couple who live in the small medieval village of Sauve, an hour from Nimes.

Another source, liveandinvestoverseas.com claims in an e-letter that an income of just $1,300 a month would be enough to live on in the Languedoc region and that U.S. citizens can retire there on an average social security check. Modern Maturity suggests an income of $30,000 a year. How much you’ll need depends, of course, on your own spending habits and you ability to economize.

Another possibility for expats in France is the Béarn, bordered by the Landes, the Gers, the High-Pyrenees (Hautes-Pyrenées), the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and Spain to the south. Landscapes in this area are spectacular with pines and palms growing side by side and the magnificent Pyrenees in the background. The city of Pau with a population of 85,000 boasts an abundance as well as a variety of greenery.  There is also an airport nearby, and a highway from Pau to Bordeax is under construction.

Note that although social security follows you to France and anywhere else you might want to live, Medicare does not.  If you become a legal resident of France you can enjoy many of the advantages of France’s subsidized health care system, which is rated by the World Health Organization as the best in the world. In small French towns, fire department personnel provide excellent emergency care and transportation to the nearest hospital. Upon discharge from the hospital, the patient may be visited by the town nurse.

Legal residency entails considerable paperwork but has its reward. Some expats prefer simply to have a tourist visa. It if you really want to live in France, you can find a way, and money-wise, it’s a little easier now.

Pakistan Needs Help

A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Pakistan as flood waters rise. One fifth of the country - an area the size of England or Italy - is now under water, leaving millions of people, including many children, homeless and in need of food, clean water and medical aid.

After visisting Pakistan, UN General Secretary, Ban Ki Moon, said “This has been a heart-wrenching day for me. In the past, I have visited many natural disasters, but I have never seen anything like this.”

The UN has appealed for $460 million in aid, but only 40% has been delivered so far. The U.S. initially committed $90 million, but that amount has since been increased to $150 million. US Marine helicopters have been delivering food aid.

Overall, however, international response so far has lagged behind that in previous large scale disasters. The governments of the world need to do more. Organizations like UNICEF and WHO have said they lack the funds to provide adequate assistance.

You can send a personal message to key donor governments from this website:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_needs_relief/?vl.

Personal donations are being accepted by many organizations.

Don’t Cross Costa Rica Off Your List

Not yet, anyway. Costa Rica began attracting retirees over 20 years ago, at a time when would-be expats didn’t have as many choices as they do now. Meanwhile, Panama, Belize and other countries have opened their doors to foreigners with liberal residency programs, while Costa Rica’s residency requirements are tighter than they once were.

Costa Rica is still beautiful, however, still lush, still filled with an almost unimaginable variety of flora and fauna. The people are still friendly and can boast a literacy rate of about 95%. (Having decided in 1948 not to have an army, the country has been able to budget more funds for services such as education and heath care.) The health care system, which is free to Costa Ricans, has been praised by the World Health Organization. The New Economics Foundation ranks Costa Rica 5th worldwide in its “happiness index.”

It’s still possible for U.S. retirees to live here, albeit modestly, on social security or a pension of just $1,500. Those who can afford a luxurious lifestyle will find numerous new developments, many of them along the Pacific. The expat population is mainly concentrated in teo areas: the Pacific area and the central highlands in and near San Jose.

True, many roads still have ruts and potholes, but a new highway connects San Jose with the Pacific Coast. Many U.S. companies have opened factories or branches in Costa Rica.

Is Costa Rica for you? You won’t know until you make a visit, look around and meet others who’ve chosen to live there.

Job Fair in London

The Bilingual People Fair for multi-lingual recruitment will be held June 19, 2010, from 10 AM - 6 PM, at the London Hilton Metropole, Edgware Road, London in 2010.

The largest event of its kind for language jobs and multi-lingual recruitment, the job fair is free to all job seekers. Employers from the UK and elsewhere in Europe will be present. Positions are available in various sectors including customer service, shared service and finance, IT, sales, marketing and translation. There will also be an Expat Zone at the event offering useful information and services to expatriates living or planning to move to the UK.
For more information, see www.bilingualpeople.co.uk.

Belize - A Small, Spectacular Country

Belize is part of Central America, but many people think of it as a Caribbean country, even a Caribbean paradise. Before becoming independent in 1981, it was British Honduras, and the legacy of the British is still apparent.

For one thing, this small, exceedingly friendly country has English as the official language. For another, the banking system in Belize is both sophisticated and solvent.  It’s easy for foreigners to open a bank account, which could either be in your own name or held by a structure, such as a trust or a business. Banking secrecy is observed here and it’s possible to open an account without ever setting foot on the country. Banks here are extremely healthy, one reason being that they are required to maintain a liquidity rate of 24%. Recently, as banks were failing worldwide, not one bank in Belize failed. When it comes to mortgages, banks here lend only 50% of the value of the property.

Belize has still poverty, to be sure, but the overall economy is prospering. The growth rate has held steady at about 6% per year. The major industries are finance, tourism and oil. (Oil is supposedly being extracted in ways that preserve the barrier reef and the shore.) Inflation is at a low 1.4% per year.

Residency requirements are easy. Belize welcomes expats, including those not yet of retirement age. Internet access enables them to continue to work free-lance or operate small businesses. Affordable beachfront properties make it possible to enjoy diving, snorkeling and fishing near to home. Other pastimes here include horseback riding, enjoying the country’s biodiversity and visiting the spectacular Mayan ruins.

For those interested in learning more about living in Belize, there’s a “Live and Invest in Belize” conference scheduled for June 21 - 23, 2010. For more information, see www.liveandinvestoverseas.com/belize-conference10. 

Coming Home is the Hardest Transition

For some, being an expat is forever, while for others, it’s an interlude that may last a few years or perhaps many but with the intention of returning home at some point. Peter Hessler, who went to China after college and stayed 15 years, has written a New Yorker article “Go West” about his coming back to the U.S., with many keen observations of the cultural differences between the two countries.

He and his wife arranged for movers without knowing where they’d be living. Since it would take five weeks for their possessions to reach the U.S. by ship, they figured they’d have plenty of time to decide.

He describes how the Chinese movers worked, carefully fitting cardboard around the shape of each piece of furniture. A chair became a box shaped like a chair; another package resembled a bed. He writes, “It was like watching a tam of sculptors work backward, until every object we owned had been converted into a larger, rougher version of itself.”

Finally he and his wife, who was from New York born of Chinese parents, decide to live in a small town in southwestern Colorado. It’s a long way from Beijing and not just in miles or even in population density. He notes, however, that the Americans he encounters here have an “appetite for loneliness.”

The individuals he meets willingly tell him their stories in a way that Chinese people would never do. In this lonely landscape, it seems that everyone has a story, and fortunately, he enjoyed listening. He observes that Chinese people, on the other hand, like to talk about relatively impersonal subjects such as food or weather, rather than disclosing much about themselves, and they unabashedly ask foreigners all sorts of questions. They are genuinely interested in other people.

Americans, he notices, like talking about themselves are less keen on listening. Merely mentioning that he and his wife had lived in China is a conversation stopper. There’s more, and you can read it in The New Yorker, April 19, 2010 or online at http://www.newyorker.com, where there other examples of Hessler’s writing, including an article titled “the Doorknob,” about the Peace Corps. His most recent book is Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory.

The Hague Hosts Job Fair

The Bilingual People Fair, dedicated to multi-lingual recruitment, will take place in Grote Kerk. The Hague, Netherlands, on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10 AM - 6 PM. The largest event of its kind for language jobs and multi-lingual recruitment, the job fair is free to all job seekers who wish to attend.

Employers from The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe will be present. Positions are available in various sectors including customer service, shared service and finance, IT, sales, marketing and translation. There will also be an Expat Zone at the event offering useful information and services to expatriates living or planning to move to the Netherlands.

To obtain a free ticket to the job fair and for more information on this and upcoming recruitment events, see www.bilingualpeople.nl.