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PearApple
Please let me know if you live there or lived there! My wife and I want to live there for awhile. Any work there for bilingual (Mandarin and English) American citizens?
Answer
It's an expensive place to live. I rented a Two bedroom apartment for 850.00 per month. The power bill is huge,If a Typhoon hits the island you will not have power for a long time. My neighborhood was without power for Sixty five days once, fuel prices are huge. No public transportation like buses. They have vans with no real set schedule? Big time corruption one Governor misplaced Thirteen million US dollars which is still not accounted for? If you think the mainland has a meth problem Guam is worse. If you are white sometimes the locals will call you a hawley and pick fights with you. If you are Black it's the same. Go figure? One family owns all the grocery stores and the distribution rights to just about every type of food you need to buy plus half of the island. Once you get past all that It's beautiful, Fresh air, It's sunny everyday. It only rains for maybe five minutes at a time. The diving is awesome. If you work hard you can make good money. When you make friends with the locals. They are real friends. Get a job there before you go and you should be fine. There are no unemployment benefits. If you loose your job that's it.
Regards,
It's an expensive place to live. I rented a Two bedroom apartment for 850.00 per month. The power bill is huge,If a Typhoon hits the island you will not have power for a long time. My neighborhood was without power for Sixty five days once, fuel prices are huge. No public transportation like buses. They have vans with no real set schedule? Big time corruption one Governor misplaced Thirteen million US dollars which is still not accounted for? If you think the mainland has a meth problem Guam is worse. If you are white sometimes the locals will call you a hawley and pick fights with you. If you are Black it's the same. Go figure? One family owns all the grocery stores and the distribution rights to just about every type of food you need to buy plus half of the island. Once you get past all that It's beautiful, Fresh air, It's sunny everyday. It only rains for maybe five minutes at a time. The diving is awesome. If you work hard you can make good money. When you make friends with the locals. They are real friends. Get a job there before you go and you should be fine. There are no unemployment benefits. If you loose your job that's it.
Regards,
What is the cost of living in Fiji?
What kind of a yearly salary would I need to live comfortably in Fiji?
Answer
http:// icsc.un .org/resources/pdfs/2004/hsg/ fiji-04 .pdf recommends a monthly income of $5, 758 .92 to live in Suva the way someone would typically live in New York (not Donald Trump, just a small 2 to 4 bedroom house or apartment). That would mean an annual income of $69, 107 .04.
However, if you move to the smaller towns or lesser islands, shop at local markets rather than supermarkets, grow at least some of your own food, are willing to settle for part-time electricity from a generator, and so on, you can live on much, much less. $30,000 would a luxurious income in the boonies.
According to one article on living in Fiji, the capital, Suva, offers apartments and houses from $250 to "luxury" flats and homes ranging around $3500. It also says that sometimes, if you let the owner know you plan to live at the residence for a long time, you can work a deal.
Food is expensive in the capital - There are a couple of big supermarkets that feature imported foods and products. The price is high. Almost $4 for a head of lettuce or cabbage from New Zealand or Australia.
You also have the traffic, noise and crowds in Suva. On the positive side, there are the government offices and the American Embassy and you get to mingle with mostly professional expats at the happy hour bars.
You can also consider living in other parts of Fiji. On the other side of Viti Levu, the main island and biggest of the group, is Nadi (Nan di), the jet city, called this, I imagine because it's where the airport is. There are night clubs, a good supermarket and a small community of expats. Suva on a smaller scale.
Lautoka, the sugar town, is north of Nadi, and called the sugar town because of the large amount of sugar cane farms and the ever present sugar train shugging through. It's also a seaport town and some cruises leave from here.
Lautoka is quieter and slower than Nadi. A quaint place where you can find lace mosquitoe nets and unique pots and early century kitchen do dads that can only be found here in second hand shops. Rents are cheaper. Not many expats.
Coming back down southeast of Nadi but still on the west side of the island is Sigatoka (Sing ga toka), a small one road town. It was a one bridge town before hurricaine Sina (1992) destroyed half of it. It was one lane with a stop light on each end. Traffic going to Nadi had to wait until traffic going to Suva cleared. The government was building a four lane bridge when I left.
Sigatoka is the last city before going into the interior or "salad bowl" as its called. Thats where the majority of the vegetables on the island are grown. The Sigatoka market is great though Saturday is best. You can buy three heads of cabbage or lettuce for fifty cents. A bunch of bananas for fifty cents, bunch of string beans for the same price.
Basically there's nothing to do in Sigatoka but in Korotogo (koro tongo, named after the village) there's a couple of ma and pa Indian run stores, friendly locals and a few expats. Let it be known that I spent five years in Fiji and never ventured further than Korotogo. I went on a few tours but I haven't seen anymore of Fiji. Plan to though, on my next trip. The Reef Hotel is located here on the coral coast as the area is called. It has a nice restaurant and a great bar for afternoon drinks or night dancing. Coral coveres the beach but there are plenty of spots to sunbathe and the ocean, protected by the reef, is clear and great for swimming. Or just sit on the beach and watch the sun set.
Fijians are mostly Methodist and don't go to the beach on Sundays. You may find a few Indian families and some tourists. Mainly, you will have it to yourself.
For $300 a month, you can get a three bedroom unfurnished flat with a large fenced yard. These new flats are about seven years old. They have hot water and lots of flowers and fruits trees in the yards. These are in Korotogo on the backroad. If you plan a long stay, try bargaining the price down.
About getting a job, the article's author says:
"Getting a job in Fiji is almost impossible. I lucked up and got a teaching job. I taught high school English in the interior. Thlis was after I had my degree sent down. They want to see the original. They did provide me with a free two bedroom barely furnished house. We had a generator that came on for a few hours at night. No hot water, outdoor non-flush toilet (a big hole with commode over it). I did manage to save some money and really got a chance to mingle with the locals and see the Fiji tourists don't see.
At present, there is more of a need for accounting, science and math teachers.
To start a business, you need a Fijian as your partner and permission from Immigratin. You may also be asked to deposit $1800 as bond. (If all fails, they want you to havae airfare out). Their approval could take from a few weeks to years.
If you just want to work there, you have to have some skill that a local doesn't and you are to train them to
http:// icsc.un .org/resources/pdfs/2004/hsg/ fiji-04 .pdf recommends a monthly income of $5, 758 .92 to live in Suva the way someone would typically live in New York (not Donald Trump, just a small 2 to 4 bedroom house or apartment). That would mean an annual income of $69, 107 .04.
However, if you move to the smaller towns or lesser islands, shop at local markets rather than supermarkets, grow at least some of your own food, are willing to settle for part-time electricity from a generator, and so on, you can live on much, much less. $30,000 would a luxurious income in the boonies.
According to one article on living in Fiji, the capital, Suva, offers apartments and houses from $250 to "luxury" flats and homes ranging around $3500. It also says that sometimes, if you let the owner know you plan to live at the residence for a long time, you can work a deal.
Food is expensive in the capital - There are a couple of big supermarkets that feature imported foods and products. The price is high. Almost $4 for a head of lettuce or cabbage from New Zealand or Australia.
You also have the traffic, noise and crowds in Suva. On the positive side, there are the government offices and the American Embassy and you get to mingle with mostly professional expats at the happy hour bars.
You can also consider living in other parts of Fiji. On the other side of Viti Levu, the main island and biggest of the group, is Nadi (Nan di), the jet city, called this, I imagine because it's where the airport is. There are night clubs, a good supermarket and a small community of expats. Suva on a smaller scale.
Lautoka, the sugar town, is north of Nadi, and called the sugar town because of the large amount of sugar cane farms and the ever present sugar train shugging through. It's also a seaport town and some cruises leave from here.
Lautoka is quieter and slower than Nadi. A quaint place where you can find lace mosquitoe nets and unique pots and early century kitchen do dads that can only be found here in second hand shops. Rents are cheaper. Not many expats.
Coming back down southeast of Nadi but still on the west side of the island is Sigatoka (Sing ga toka), a small one road town. It was a one bridge town before hurricaine Sina (1992) destroyed half of it. It was one lane with a stop light on each end. Traffic going to Nadi had to wait until traffic going to Suva cleared. The government was building a four lane bridge when I left.
Sigatoka is the last city before going into the interior or "salad bowl" as its called. Thats where the majority of the vegetables on the island are grown. The Sigatoka market is great though Saturday is best. You can buy three heads of cabbage or lettuce for fifty cents. A bunch of bananas for fifty cents, bunch of string beans for the same price.
Basically there's nothing to do in Sigatoka but in Korotogo (koro tongo, named after the village) there's a couple of ma and pa Indian run stores, friendly locals and a few expats. Let it be known that I spent five years in Fiji and never ventured further than Korotogo. I went on a few tours but I haven't seen anymore of Fiji. Plan to though, on my next trip. The Reef Hotel is located here on the coral coast as the area is called. It has a nice restaurant and a great bar for afternoon drinks or night dancing. Coral coveres the beach but there are plenty of spots to sunbathe and the ocean, protected by the reef, is clear and great for swimming. Or just sit on the beach and watch the sun set.
Fijians are mostly Methodist and don't go to the beach on Sundays. You may find a few Indian families and some tourists. Mainly, you will have it to yourself.
For $300 a month, you can get a three bedroom unfurnished flat with a large fenced yard. These new flats are about seven years old. They have hot water and lots of flowers and fruits trees in the yards. These are in Korotogo on the backroad. If you plan a long stay, try bargaining the price down.
About getting a job, the article's author says:
"Getting a job in Fiji is almost impossible. I lucked up and got a teaching job. I taught high school English in the interior. Thlis was after I had my degree sent down. They want to see the original. They did provide me with a free two bedroom barely furnished house. We had a generator that came on for a few hours at night. No hot water, outdoor non-flush toilet (a big hole with commode over it). I did manage to save some money and really got a chance to mingle with the locals and see the Fiji tourists don't see.
At present, there is more of a need for accounting, science and math teachers.
To start a business, you need a Fijian as your partner and permission from Immigratin. You may also be asked to deposit $1800 as bond. (If all fails, they want you to havae airfare out). Their approval could take from a few weeks to years.
If you just want to work there, you have to have some skill that a local doesn't and you are to train them to
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