Living in Nepal

Hi Kate,

Nepal is not America, not by a long shot.
Culture is very different, social interactions are very different and working ethics are very different.

I think it is a safe bet that it will be very difficult to maintain the same working and social standards in Nepal as what you're used to in the USA. For most people this would be exactly the reason why they'd want to move to a country like Nepal, but if you'd want so work and function as you do in the USA, then my guess would be that you'd be best of to stay in the USA.

Most happy expats embrace the Nepali way of life, while most unhappy expats have been unable to embrace it and resent the Nepali way of life, either one way or the other.

If you're looking for advise, then I would say come to Nepal and stay for some 5 months or so. Try to see if you can build yourself a social / working life here that you can be happy with. Only after that make a decision. You will officially be allowed to live and work here if you're married to a Nepali man.

Wishing you strenght and wisdom,

Jorge.

JW,

Thank you for the advice! I visited Nepal just this past march for only 12 days. I found it both enjoyable and shocking. I liked Pokhara and Chitwan, but Kathmandu was extremely dirty and in a constant chaos. People didn't seem to care if they littered the streets with trash and I don't know if traffic laws even exist considering the dangerous way of driving there...  But there was still so much I didn't learn from those few days I spent there. I am sure there is more to it...I just need more time like you said to figure it out.

Thank you!

Kate: It's not that Nepali "DON'T CARE" about the trash and littering , it because of the lack of "CIVIL " and GOVERNMENT support for things like waste management, water treatment, etc.. NEpal is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world, with the average Nepali only making 300$ a year. Yes Nepal receives aid from western countries like the USA, however once the aid reaches corrupt government officials then the money is not allotted for the specific task. The waste management and water are at this point frivolous endeavors for the government with so many more issues at hand, such as the ancient maoist insurgence,not to mention human trafficking has become at the top of the list .

On the other hand you have a population that is mostly uneducated about how the "west" controls their waste and other civil amnenties, and it's not that they don't want to be educated, it's just the need for the money is put elsewhere.

I am living in Nepal, American, and absolutely love it here. Is your bf Nepali? If you get married you can hold a job and there is a big need for people who speak English for web sites, editing, teaching. But if he's Nepali are you really sure he will want to stay in Nepal if he has an American wife? Most of them just want a ticket out of Nepal.

But being an American and living in Nepal is amazing. You will be able to start a business with just a little bit and it will do well. I think this is a great time to be Nepali or live here as an expat. This is a great time of a new beginning for Nepal. We will see how it goes but it seems to me that it is at a time of new and better possibilities.

The reason the rivers are so polluted is that there are no sanitary land fills so everything, no matter where you put it, ends up in the river or some crevice on the side of a mountain. It worked just fine until a million people decided to come for a visit to Nepal and wanted to drink from plastic bottles. Come and start a business cleaning up Nepal.

Thank you for replying to my post. Yes, my bf is Nepali and he is very much intent on staying in Nepal. He wants me to move there and I am strongly thinking that I will...but I just wanted to hear from some one that has been in Nepal as an Expat. Do you mind if I ask you what your occupation is? What an everyday life is like for you? It would really help give me an idea what I am looking at for a life in Nepal.

Dear kate,

You shoul rely your b/f and consult with him about this isse. Because ur b/f is Nepali and he is very much intent on staying in Nepal. He wants me to move there and you are strongly thinking that you will..

Thant up to you.

u surely will get a job and love life in nepal..^^
well why dont u contact me once??? i can plan something for u and i m good at it as i have done once this thing for a canadian:D girl.
see ya

just my personal opinion, but having lived here in Nepal, there is no way that you can have the same kind of life here as you do in the States.

no place, no one country in the world, is perfect

each country has advantages, as well as disaadvantages

but of all the problems that i can think of in Nepal, the major one which may take 10 to 30 years to solve is the

                  M I N D S E T   here.

On the other hand, if you come to Nepal, you can enjoy many things in additions to the well known ones like trekking and the mountains.

I am thinking more particularly of:

            yoga

            pranayama

            meditation

and a great degree of spiritually in general.

you will also have the great possibility offered here to have a free mind, which is priceless.....freedom of the spirit...

but this is no easy place to live in and there are many pitfalls

from my experience, I find that the people who have the greastest amount of good heart and compassion are from the lowest part of the economic stata:  the poorer segment of the population and NOT from the elite, and the rich, the powerful and the upper upper castes....

this is stricly my own personal opinion and others can of course differ with me.

it is their right to differ

Living in Nepal after living in the states is like being from the future- where everything is fast paced. KTM traffic is a mad dash and the 'hooting' is constant. The slow pace in some areas allows you to enjoy the simple things -morning tea with friends. KTM can also be seen as an untapped resource, a budding opportunity to improve/ enrich life (yours and the Nepalese you meet).
If you have the chance, return and visit a bit longer then 12 days.
Nepal only recently became a democratic society, America has a 200 yrs head start. 200 yrs ago the cobble and unpaved streets of America also had trash clearly visible, carts and horses that moved without following traffic laws. It takes years of good planning, practice and continuing growth as a civil society.
Give Nepal time to move forward. Let yourself be a postive force in change. Lead by example.

p.s. If you happen to get up at 6 a.m. daily, there are street sweepers and trash collectors, walking or pushing a four wheel cart. The don't drive large trucks and don't have matching uniforms. They earn under $4 USD a day (280 NPR) working a full day (propably walking an hour (from home) to start work before you wake).

Hi everyone.  i'm looking to move to Kathmandu to pursue yoga and do volunteering towards August.  can anyone please give me pointers on the cheapest way to stay and find work???

much thanks in advance.

I am looking for a home-stay volunteer who can do a little work on the computer with the SEO process with my book if you have any computer skills. This would allow you to look around for an actual social project to get involved with.

There are a lot of social work projects that want to charge volunteers-not your only option. Even if you don't want to work on a computer, it's best to get here and then go to the KTM Guest House and look at the bulletin board for opportunities that don't cost and then you can see how much value their social work actually does. Some of them are rip-offs and the only person you help is the social worker. 

Another suggestion I have in the book, Nepal: An Insider's Secrets, is to contact your embassy to see which INGOs there are here from your own country.

Check out my blog at http://FrugalTravelsNepal.Blogspot.com or look me up on Couch Surfing for a few references.

Hello Nepal is very beautiful country in the world. you can stay with yours bf in nepal. he taught many more thing.

Hey,
    I am a journalist by profession. I would like to relocate to Nepal. I want to know my options. Options of getting a safe job there. Please help

Your contact please? How can you help?

You could get a journalest visa. Just look it on the Nepal immigration website to see what the requirements are, but it isn't hard if you have the credentials. You should be able to work at a university or newspaper, easily.

Hello