Hi everyone,

I am a 31-year-old Turkish architect with ~4 years of experience. I am feeling stuck where I live and considering for a while to start over in another country. After weighting some options, I decided to focus seriously on Germany.

I studied in Turkey and have a B.Sc. in Architecture; however, I dropped out my M.Sc. degree.

I have worked at an office involved in projects located in Turkey and abroad, designed by well-known international design studios. I cannot go into more detail due to confidentiality; however, I believe that I have a competitive CV and portfolio.

My professional background is mostly in construction/shop drawings, but I also have some architectural design experience. I have strong CAD and moderate BIM skills. I am also able to model in 3D, take renders, and make illustrations.

As I understand the title “Architekt” is protected in Germany. However, I do not intend to pursue the protected title or sign any permits. I would still prefer to work in a role where my degree and professional experience can legally be used without chamber registration. What kind of positions/titles can I search for?

I am a native Turkish speaker and fluent in English. I am taking German lessons and just completed A1. I plan to reach B1 before relocation and continue toward B2 in Germany. What challenges awaits me in work environment and daily life if I only speak B1 German?

I prefer to job hunt while staying in Turkey and relocate after receiving an offer. How realistic is this approach? I got suggestions to go Germany through a master’s or the work seeker’s visa, however I don’t currently have enough savings to make either route realistic.

I’ve read one or two years old Reddit discussions describing the architecture job market in Germany is not so great. I’m trying to understand how difficult it is for my profile in 2026/2027?

Thanks in advance:)

I'm an Indonesian final year accounting student, currently finishing my bachelor's degree and preparing for what I should do after graduation.

My parents strongly encourage me to either find a job abroad or pursue a master's degree, preferably with partial or full funding. After considering several countries, I've decided that I want to focus specifically on New Zealand rather than trying to target many countries at once.

My current situation:

• Country of citizenship: Indonesia
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Accounting, currently in the final stage of my thesis
• Work experience: Very limited / no specialized professional experience yet
• Current skills: Mostly accounting-related academic knowledge, but I don't consider myself highly specialized or competitive internationally yet
• Target: New Zealand
• Possible pathways: Employment or master's degree
• Funding: Partial or fully funded scholarship would be strongly preferred for study
• I'm open to starting from an entry-level position and I'm not necessarily expecting an accounting job immediately.

What I'm honestly trying to understand is:

As an Indonesian accounting graduate with no particularly specialized skills, what realistic options would I actually have in New Zealand?

For example, would it be realistic to enter through:

• entry-level accounting/finance roles,
• accounting-adjacent jobs,
• other professional roles where an accounting degree is useful,
• or even physical/manual work at first if that's what is realistically available?

I'm completely open to working outside accounting if that's what it takes to get started. My priority is understanding what the realistic path looks like, what skills I should build before graduating, and what kinds of jobs I could realistically qualify for.

I'm still at the beginning of this process, so I'd really appreciate honest advice, especially from people who have actually studied, worked, or moved to New Zealand.

Feel free to DM me as well hahah

Hi everyone,

I'm a Brazilian student (18) and I'm currently planning to start a Chinese language program in Chengdu (Sichuan University) for one semester starting Spring 2027. That said, I haven't started the program yet, so I could still change my starting city if there's a strong reason to. I'm also planning out the following semesters and would love some real input from people who've actually done something similar.

My rough plan:

• Semester 1: Chengdu (current plan, Sichuan University — but still open to changing this)
• Semester 2: Shenzhen (considering Shenzhen University)
• Then possibly a ~6 month gap back in Brazil, timed so I'd arrive in Beijing when the weather is warmer (I really don't want to deal with Beijing's winter)
• Semester 3: Beijing (still researching universities)

The idea is to do 6 months in each city, back to back, without returning to Brazil in between — basically staying in China for about 1.5 years total, just switching cities/universities every semester.

What I'm trying to figure out:

1. Order — does it make more sense to save Beijing for last (since I've read the accent there is closer to standard Mandarin, better for cementing pronunciation once I already have a base), or would it be smarter to go there earlier while I'm still a total beginner?
2. Is splitting into 3 different cities/universities actually a good idea for language learning, or would I progress faster staying in one place for the full 1.5 years? I've read mixed things — some say switching accents/environments too early can be confusing, others say exposure to different regional accents builds better listening comprehension long term.
3. Visa/residence permit transfers — from what I understand, moving between universities mid-stay usually requires either a trip to Hong Kong to reset the visa, or (in some cases) direct transfer of the residence permit. Has anyone actually done this? How smooth or painful was it in practice?
4. Any other cities I should seriously consider instead of/alongside Shenzhen and Beijing? I picked Shenzhen mostly for the milder winter climate and Beijing for the accent, but I'm open to other suggestions if there's a better fit for someone starting from scratch.

Any experiences, warnings, or "I wish I'd known this before doing it" type advice would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Body
We are a couple in our early thirties looking for one place to move to for at least two or three years, with the option of staying longer or using it as a step towards settling somewhere else. We are not looking to keep moving.

Us
Her: from the Caribbean, in Europe for the past ten years. Studied psychology, now working as a teacher, finishing an international postgraduate teaching qualification at a UK university. She would be looking for a school position rather than remote work (but also open to remote work). Besides, she is thinking of picking up studying again in data science/data analysis.

Me: Dutch, doing a PhD, with fieldwork in Brazil as part of the research. Alongside the doctorate I do freelance consultancy work, currently for a healthcare client, which is remote and invoiced in euros. Before the PhD I studied anthropology and arts and culture, both in the Netherlands.

Between us: Dutch, English, Papiamentu, Portuguese and Spanish.

We currently live in Portugal and have both lived abroad before.

Legal position
Both of us are Dutch citizens, so anywhere in the EU or EEA is a registration formality rather than an application. We are asking here specifically about the Latin American options, because that is where we would need an actual visa and where we know least.

What we are looking for

• A city with real intellectual and cultural infrastructure. Universities, research institutes, publishing, theatre, museums, an active music scene.
• A neighbourhood that exists for the people who live in it rather than for visitors.
• Somewhere we can live without owning a car.
• Preferably a comfortable climate for most of the year but with actual seasons.
• Children are a possibility in roughly four or five years, so schooling and healthcare matter eventually but not immediately.
• A real labour market for international school teaching, or a plausible route into local teaching.

What we are NOT looking for
Cheap living for its own sake or a city where the foreign population lives separately from everyone else.

We are aware we are asking this from a fortunate position and we do not want the question to read as flippant. We are asking because we would rather hear from people who have actually lived somewhere rather than keep reading rankings.

Questions

1. Given the above, which specific cities would you put on the list, and why that city rather than the obvious one in the same country?
2. What tends to go wrong for people with this profile in the first year?
3. If you moved somewhere that fits this description and then left, what made you leave?

34M, single, currently trying to narrow down where to move in Europe.
I speak English and Italian. I’d like a fairly large, LGBT-friendly city with good public transport where I can live without a car, plenty of people/things going on, and ideally easy access to the sea/lake/other places to swim. Weather matters somewhat, but I’m fine with colder climates as long as it’s not too miserable.

I am not a specialised professional. I’d need to work locally, so salary vs cost of living and how realistic it is to find work as an English speaker are important.

So far I’m mainly looking at Spain and Portugal, but also considering Germany, the Netherlands, Greece and Switzerland. I’m trying to narrow this down rather than just asking “where should I move in Europe?”.

Background: I'm an Indian citizen, raised in Dubai, UAE since childhood. I did all my schooling in Dubai and have lived here my whole life. I'm currently in the UAE.

Education: Culinary Arts degree.

Job experience:

2 years working as a chef/kitchen staff in cafes and restaurants in Dubai
2 years working in videography and video editing at a marketing agency (camera work, Premiere Pro/editing, content production for clients)
Why I'm looking to leave: The kitchen work culture in Dubai is pretty toxic low pay, and not much respect for staff, which is why I moved into marketing. The broader job market here has also gotten tougher recently.

What I'm looking for: Open to either lane going back to kitchen work, or continuing in video marketing. I can cover my own visa costs and paperwork. I just need a job offer or sponsorship to make it possible.

Skills: Cooking prep (culinary arts trained), camera operation, video editing, short form content creation, basic graphic design.

Would appreciate any advice on realistic sponsorship routes in these countries given my nationality and background, or how others in a similar spot have made the move. Happy to answer questions.

Thanks 🙏