Remember that this guy already has had British citizenship, but he decided to immigrate to Germany despite the language barrier and not being a citizen.
An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
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Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
> were doing low paid jobs in the west This fails to mention that US plumbers were getting higher salaries than Russian engineers, or higher on average than most of people in the West. In my small hometown in Russia, everybody can't get more amused that the best wage for immigrants there is paid by agricultural college diplomas. The biggest mansions in the town are of: 1. local gang boss, 2. agronomists who went to U…
You also fail to mention that not everybody is driven by money. Russian engineer and scientist knew pretty well that they could get better life conditions in the US for example, yet they decided to live their life in Russia. These are personal choice beyond what me or you think about, need to be respected. So said, many researcher today are paid very little and they could get a better pay in private sector yet they d…
>> yet they decided to live their life in Russia.
These are personal choice
Really? Anyone who thinks that America, or anyone else, has any sort of open-door policy towards immigration is kidding themselves. Setting aside whether a Russian engineer would be allowed to leave Russia, the process of immigrating to another country is never easy. It costs money. Lots of it.
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#13Like many engineers (mechanical, nuclear, electrical etc) were doing low paid jobs in the west when the east block collapsed. I guess it's what it's, in this situations better be alive and have food on the table than struggling to meet end meals
> were doing low paid jobs in the west This fails to mention that US plumbers were getting higher salaries than Russian engineers, or higher on average than most of people in the West. In my small hometown in Russia, everybody can't get more amused that the best wage for immigrants there is paid by agricultural college diplomas. The biggest mansions in the town are of: 1. local gang boss, 2. agronomists who went to U…
You fail to mention parity. I worked for $100/month 25 years ago and that was the average income in the country, a 2 room (1 bedroom, 1 living room) apartment in Bucharest was $8,000 (I bought one). Yes, nominally an US plumber was earning more, but his living condition were below mine at that time. I am taking my example because we used to be part of the Eastern Block, Russian engineers were earning a bit more.
Now with $3000/month ($36,000/year, before tax) you live pretty well in Bucharest, better than the plumber in US that is making the same or more.
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
You also fail to mention that not everybody is driven by money. Russian engineer and scientist knew pretty well that they could get better life conditions in the US for example, yet they decided to live their life in Russia. These are personal choice beyond what me or you think about, need to be respected. So said, many researcher today are paid very little and they could get a better pay in private sector yet they d…
>> yet they decided to live their life in Russia. These are personal choice Really? Anyone who thinks that America, or anyone else, has any sort of open-door policy towards immigration is kidding themselves. Setting aside whether a Russian engineer would be allowed to leave Russia, the process of immigrating to another country is never easy. It costs money. Lots of it.
It was (and still is) lot easier if you're a scientist or a skilled worker.
> whether a Russian engineer would be allowed to leave Russia
Why not? I live in a country that is not US nor Russia and I know few very good Russian engineers. They worked in US too, some of them returned to Russia eventually. So I don't understand where you get your basis. People are allowed to leave Russia they're not trapped (not to mention the many I've met when traveling was allowed)
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#15Remember that this guy already has had British citizenship, but he decided to immigrate to Germany despite the language barrier and not being a citizen.
Language is probably the biggest roadblock in getting a job in Germany and most people ignore it. German is not easy (my grandmother was a German teacher, some of my family members are of German descent and none of us is speaking any decent German) and Germans are more xenophobic than they will ever admit.
Even in my American company meetings with German people sometimes we have very awkward moments when the Germans switch from English to German mid-talks, even if they are peers or lower ranking than the non-German speakers in the discussion.
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> yet they decided to live their life in Russia. These are personal choice Really? Anyone who thinks that America, or anyone else, has any sort of open-door policy towards immigration is kidding themselves. Setting aside whether a Russian engineer would be allowed to leave Russia, the process of immigrating to another country is never easy. It costs money. Lots of it.
It was (and still is) lot easier if you're a scientist or a skilled worker. > whether a Russian engineer would be allowed to leave Russia Why not? I live in a country that is not US nor Russia and I know few very good Russian engineers. They worked in US too, some of them returned to Russia eventually. So I don't understand where you get your basis. People are allowed to leave Russia they're not trapped (not to menti…
Russia and the Soviet Union were different.
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#17The DoD used to hire Afghans who could speak English to train soldiers in certain scenarios. Common instances of this included civil engineers in AFG who couldn’t get licensed here, that drove Uber and spent a few months training Americans somewhere in the Louisiana woods to make ends meet. Such a waste.
In many cases the qualifications are fraudulent, bestowed based on bribery or family connections. Those with legitimate qualifications can always re-complete the education in the new country.
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#18Remember that this guy already has had British citizenship, but he decided to immigrate to Germany despite the language barrier and not being a citizen.
Language is probably the biggest roadblock in getting a job in Germany and most people ignore it. German is not easy (my grandmother was a German teacher, some of my family members are of German descent and none of us is speaking any decent German) and Germans are more xenophobic than they will ever admit. Even in my American company meetings with German people sometimes we have very awkward moments when the Germans…
So Germans speaking their own language in their own country is now xenophobic? (referring to your first paragraph)
It‘s true that with the exception of big companies or certain industries much German is spoken at work. Exactly like Spanish in Spain, French in France, Italian in Italy or Portuguese in Portugal.
I‘m German myself, mostly living outside Germany. I try to fit in as good as possible, including making an effort to learn the local language. It would never cross my mind to think of a country as xenophobic because they speak their own language.
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#19I order food just about every second day, with a lot of it being delivered by 'lieferando' people.
This used to be mostly young people: think students and high schoolers. But lately I've been greeting mostly people looking to be 40-50 at the door. I've been getting used to it but the first few times I was surprised.
I think this is the motivation behind the article: People aren't expecting anyone older than say 25 to do this job, much less the former minister of a country, but I suppose times are changing.
Let's hope this equates to better pay. High schoolers who get rotated out every six month won't exactly be the best at negotiating or even think of unionization efforts.
Re: An Afghan minister who became a bicycle courier in Germany
#20The DoD used to hire Afghans who could speak English to train soldiers in certain scenarios. Common instances of this included civil engineers in AFG who couldn’t get licensed here, that drove Uber and spent a few months training Americans somewhere in the Louisiana woods to make ends meet. Such a waste.
> Common instances of this included civil engineers in AFG who couldn’t get licensed here, Welcome to reality of 3rd world immigrants to the West. Near complete untransferabbility of career, skills, and credentials.
In IT the skills are very easy to transfer, it is an area where formal education and certification matter the least.
For doctors there is a path for getting board certifications, not easy but it is done a lot.
For lawyers there is no career transferability because law is the most heterogenous domain around the globe and expertise in a country is not applicable in other jurisdictions.
Most skilled labor like plumbers, electricians or constructions can transfer most of the knowledge, having to do adjustments for local practices and regulations. Not extremely easy, but doable.