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Maybe moving there

Last activity 06 May 2017 by clputnam

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clputnam

Hello. My name is Chris i am 56 and maybe moveing there this summer .i will more than likey start a small bizz... I am from american...and have lived all over ...been a farmer...been a welder....silversmith. A few other things....will like to remarry and to settle in a nice quite life. Maybe doing some blacksmithing. And lapidary work and rice farming.i do party a little but i dont drink. Would like to meet some other people .and i need to learn alot more. About everything. So any help and infomation would be great.

TheoauNepal

Hi Chris,
Your plans to go to Nepal sound great, and you sound like a really nice person, excited by the prospects of discovering a new country, its culture and its people. With that kind of a positive attitude, you should succeed and from my personal perspective, I wish you every success in the world. 
You do not cite the other countries you have visited before and, more specifically, have you ever lived in Asia before? Not that I wish to pry into other peoples' business, but just to put you on guard so to speak, with a word or two of caution. Living in Asia can be  a most rewarding experience, but it can equally be the total opposite, particularly if you are a woman and on your own.....as the people who have lived in Nepal-Southeast Asia for any length of time...can tell you. I, myself, have lived there for many years, but at this point, am out of country, with no set date for returning to Nepal at this particular point in time. 
But if I have any advice to give you, the first thing I would suggest is to meet as many expats as possible, women in particular, and talk to them, to hear what they have to say, and to get the benefit of their experience. As you are from the States, maybe you can try to contact one of your fellow americans and get their input? Talk to them, starting with Amanda who is a major contributor on this site and/or perhaps anyone else really who has been through the process of setting up a business, knows the ropes, the mindset in Nepal and are prepared to share their experiences with you?
For anything you may decide to do after that, just bear in mind that you would be going to a country where 40% of the people live on less than $2 a day and 1/3 of the population are without modern sanitation (such as toilets) - Published data (Kathmandu Post Survey) indicates that almost half of nepalese households have at least one member working abroad or have a returnee. Same source also reveals that well over 2 million nepalese are working abroad. Let's face it, there are not enough jobs available in Nepal. So this explains the presence of the long line of nepalese people - blocks long -  who can be seen queuing up daily outside their Foreign Ministry in Thamel/Kathmandu, applying for visas to leave the country, mainly to head to Malaysia or the Gulf countries, to find employment there.
The point is that when one understands how living conditions are not for the wealthy, but for the majority of the nepalese people whom you may happen to cross, you will start to get a better feel for the less than favorable economic environment conditions that the majority of the nepalese people have to endure. For them,  life is not easy, by any means. To this day, Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia and in the world.
So on the business front, please keep the above realities and economic context in mind. In addition, as a foreigner you will be expected to meet strict and well defined investment criteria, bring in and meet minimum foreign capital requirements and presumably wish to apply for a business visa, with the submission of a detailed business plan etc. (if on the other hand you only hold a tourist visa/5 months maximum, you will not be allowed to work at all)
In this context, therefore, do not be surprised if you come across a lot of nepalese men in particular who have one principal objective in mind - find a way to leave the country.
You may want to settle in Nepal. But the odds are that the man you meet in Nepal  is much more likely to want to go - the other way - to your country - America!
Talk to other people, other contributors, but I think you will find few nepalese who do NOT dream of going abroad....(and for good reason)
All I will say is draw your own conclusions from the above. But if I have any advice to give:
- Take your time - do not rush.
Study and perhaps more importantly, review or consider each and every proposal - business (or otherwise) - that may be made to you, very carefully indeed. If you do not speak or read the nepalese language, do not enter into any written agreement prior to translation and as required, take legal advice before you act or respond.
I have no right to give you more personal advice, but here are questions that you may want to ask yourself about any partner in business or otherwise:
- what does this person bring to me? what's his contribution in cash or in kind to the deal?
- what are his REAL motives? (read: what is he really after? a coveted passport to America??)
- is he telling me the "whole truth and nothing but the truth"?!
- could he have any other ulterior motives that he has not spoken to me about?
Note:  As I said, I have no real advice to give - and you may laugh - but to bring this to a close, you may want to go to lunch or dinner with, who knows? - your future partner ? - and at the end of the meal, watch....  who pays the bill?  you or him?
Got it?

Remember, Nepal is not America and the MINDSET in Nepal is totally different than what it is in your country. As I said, I lived in Nepal for a long time.  And when one thinks rationally about it: why should, we westerners, so often think or expect nepalese people to think like us?  Maybe we are the ones who are "naive" ? maybe we are the ones who should go back to school?!

clputnam

Yes. . i recived some wonderfull infomation . And i thank you all for that .. Lived in the philippines for more than 10 years had a large farm and a restro.a ukay ukay ./resale shop\  few houses. .bu alas i had fallen prey to a marrage scamer. So i had lost everything . so Naple would
be my next .and last start over...i travel all over SEA. Staying in H.K . for a few months and Spor. China.Lao. Thai.
        i had a few  Napli with me in the middle east during the war ...they were great...the best in fact. I would really like to reconnect wit them before i move there.
    So farming would be big on my list. For a business as well as a few micro start ups .shoe shinning....bladesithing.. And back pack manafurting.  For the trekkers.
   I trully liked the teams i worked with in the middle east ..they were all hard workers and loyal fast learnes..and wonderfull people. That haveing been said .
    The country just calls to me its a beaufull lands interesting culture .food . the ladys look nice.  And yes the chance of a start over . cost of living as well.its. Central location For the blade smithing project...
i think and correct me if i am wrong ..the people seem much more honest than the thais. Or fillippino. That i have knowed. So maybe less scamers..and i think the quite life would be great
  .i am a Americano and a cowboy comeing from Oklahoma. And part Cherokee.so ruff living is nothing new to me having grew up in the oil patch and on resavations.
Okay i am just rammbling now.       Any infomaton and contacts / can we post contact infomation/   would be great..
Like the local hashers and  medical .night life. Hook ups. places to avoid . everthing. Hope to see you all soon
Thanks
Chris

G Earner

I wish you all the best for your future, remember all nepalese are not hard working and honest. You have to be very careful if you want to live and work in Nepal. Nepalis think westerner are loaded with money and most will only go after your money.

MadagascarNow

Here's a good place to start. This little eBooklet will help you learn a few things about the culture and getting your time here off to a great start. http://bit.ly/2aGxcuH

You're going to feel right at home in Nepal. The people look like Native American.

Hope you come to Nepal and fall in love with it like so many of us have.

clputnam

Thanks i worked with a few nepilas in iraq . and found them to be good workers....but i am sure that some are some are not.i would like to split my time between there and india ect .and maybe even have my daugther attend school there ...

TheoauNepal

I came across comments made by  G. Earner who writes that not all nepalese are hard working and honest. He also says that in Nepal, people think westerners are all loaded with money and most will go
after your money. What is both interesting and must be taken  as credible about his views is that they come from a native nepali person, presumably born and raised there, and NOT from some westerner (tempted to put his own spin on things). As they say, each one of us is entitled to his own opinion. My personal opinion is that these remarks should be taken seriously, and maybe as a warning too?  After spending some 20 years of my life there as an expat, I have to agree with nepalese G. Earner. There are lots of good things in Nepal, but this aspect of "most" locals seeing dollar signs in our eyes" is not something I appreciate one bit. It is too easy to dismiss it simply on the grounds that nepalese are poor ...or find some other excuses for their behavior.  And then, there are nepalese one comes across who "want something for nothing" - How is that possible? Work and ye shall reap is the way I was brought up. But not hard working and dishonest besides, not at all my cup of tea - unacceptable really  - but I fear G. Earner reflects the truth of the situation  - sadly and regrettably of Nepal today.

clputnam

Yes i found that along tima ago .in the phillippines that the people were more honest... Now you have to really be on your toes. And i found there isus againest hthem mentality... An example would be someone breaks in to u house and if you arean outsider no one will come forth ...after all u. Are a 4inerr.same goes if a fight breaks out. And cheating spouces and that happens ALOT. and the leavel of scames has increased...

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