The United States: Still the Land of Opportunity?

Like many of my friends and other college students, it is now time for me to examine how I’m going to find a job and make a living. Our passive economy constantly needs stimulus injections from the government just to keep our country from collapse. Maybe it is time to step back and view the current situation in America from an unbiased viewpoint, and the option of working and living abroad as future college graduates.

From August until now, I’ve been abroad interning and studying the economies of the Pacific Rim in Sydney, Australia. I’ve interned at a young financial advice startup and have stumbled upon marketing work at a 5 star lodge in New Zealand.

In a sentence, I believe working abroad after graduating may be where the opportunity is at.

I’ve had the chance recently to live in Australia and New Zealand. These cities and countries are growing at rates that would make the U.S. cringe. So to help me organize where I may be interested in living and working, I organized a summary on each country when it comes to career opportunities.

Australia-

Australia is rich in minerals, which China is in continuous demand for. Mining is Australia’s biggest industry, which means as long as China’s growing, Australia’s economy will do the same. Most people don’t know about Australia’s insanely high minimum wage, which in Sydney is around $18.00/hour. Now that the Aussie dollar is on par with the U.S. dollar, this makes for a healthy wage if you’re flipping burgers. Goods and the standard of living in Australia is a bit more expensive, but if you were able to jumpstart your career here, you could see wages around in the $25 to $40 an hour range.

When it comes to quality of life, Australia is a hidden gem. Sydney and Melbourne are two modern, international cities that have distinctly different personalities. Sydney is flashier with all the fancy tourist sites. Its sunny weather and beaches make for laid back weekends that make life seem too easy. Melbourne offers a more metropolitan and cultural feel with a well developed downtown. Its beautiful graffiti scene, streetside cafes, and a narrow alleyways give it an artsy feel that I find similar to a blend between San Francisco and New York. Both cities are a blend of East and West, which can make the culture feel like Chicago or Chiang Mai depending on your neighborhood. This I love.

New Zealand-

Tourism and farming are New Zealand’s biggest industries. It was hit a bit harder by the financial crisis due to its reliance on tourism, but has bounced back well and is seeing increased immigration similar to Australia.

If you’re a city person, then Auckland, Wellington, or even Christchurch may be for you. The minimum wage in New Zealand is 12.75/hour. What New Zealand has over any other country is vast amounts of natural beauty within a half hour’s drive of any of its cities. Whether its mountain biking, snowboarding, kayaking, or hiking, New Zealand’s cities are close to what many believe is an outdoor paradise.

The 5 Steps to Relationships on Facebook

I’ve decided to detail the different steps of relationships on facebook. Each stage is articulated with detail from inception to the point of no return. I have seen multiple cases go through these steps, which is why this article is a true breakthrough in science.

Step 1- The relationship is official in real life.

This needs no explanation. The couple has committed their temporary love for one another.

Step 2- The relationship becomes facebook official (est. duration= 2 weeks after step 1)

Couples don’t commit steps 1 and 2 at the same time just in case the relationship flops. That would destroy their facebook reputations, especially for the one who gets dumped in two days (see facebook suicide). Step 2 occurs two to three weeks after step one, but it may go on longer if the couple is shy or they aren’t the PDA type. Good indications of genuine facebook official relationship statuses include receiving a good amount of likes (at least 3) and girls posting pointless comments that you could imagine them saying in their fake, high pitched happy voices, like “yaaaaaay!”.

Note: Couples who have been stuck on step 1 for over 3 months are either, 1) Very private people, 2) Don’t care about Facebook, or 3) Eyeing other mates and jumping on someone who’s better.

Step 3- Facebook Hibernation (est. duration= 1 to 2 months after step 2)

Facebook official couples will go through a facebook hibernation period. This is when their walls turn stale and they become less active on facebook. Facebook hibernation occurs because the couple is in the infatuation stage with their mate, so they aren’t hanging out with anyone else, which means friends have nothing to comment or post about. The severity of facebook hibernation is directly correlated with the amount of their social lives they choose to give up. Spending every weekend night with each other equals the highest degrees of facebook hibernation.

Step 4- Worriedness from former friends

Caring friends will realize their former friend has gone into facebook hibernation and post worried comments, such as “I miss kicking your ass at quarters…”, or “Tiffanyy!, we haven’t hung out in soooooooo long. Catchup lunch this weekend?!! :)”

Step 5- The couple exclusive picture album

Step 5 is the climax of relationships on facebook. Couples that make it to this point have lost touch with almost all their friends and call each other babe on the phone every time they talk. Few couples make it to this point, but when they do, it becomes obvious to the facebook community with the couple exclusive picture album.

Randomly out of nowhere, the couple will post a large picture album (must contain 10 or more pictures) of ONLY them. In most cases it will be from an extended activity, such as a daytrip to the beach, roadtrip through vineyards, or camping in the mountains. This album will contain pics such as 1) the male holding the camera for a self-taken couples pic 2) sentimental timed pics of their silhouettes in an outdoor sunset and 3) random pics of each other no one really finds that interesting.

There’s only one way to completely pass step 5. The album must NOT receive ANY comments on any of the pictures by any of their former friends. This is key, and the only way to judge if the relationship has reached the point of no return.

The point of no return is when the couple has abandoned all forms of a social life. The chick will often wear the male’s sweatshirt around, they send at least 10 texts a day to each other, and they each have the same phone background of them spooning each other dessert at a dimly lit Italian restaurant.

Facebook and relationships is a relatively new science, but I’m absolutley positive all escalating relationships go through these facebook phases. If you disagree, let me know here.

Intro

Outkast- The Love Below (Intro)

Welcome everyone. I appreciate it if you’re checking out my blog because I made you. I especially appreciate it if you’ve stumbled upon it by yourself. Since a lot of blogs suck, I’m going to do whatever I can to keep your attention. I’m accompanying each post with a song I find appropriate to each article for extra entertainment. Think of it as background music while you read. It’ll give you a taste of the music I’m into and who knows, I may even introduce you to a new artist you’ll enjoy. Anyways, here are the reasons I am writing this blog:

First off, writing hasn’t been my hottest skill, so this blog will hopefully help me work on it. I’m going to work on the simple skill of spitting out a thought or two into writing without spending the whole afternoon drafting it. So if you don’t like my writing, tough. It’ll get better with time.

Second, some of you know about this little “project” Eric and I have been “grindin” on. Well, we are getting close. Get ready, it’s basically going to rock facebook to the ground. It’s gona chew up all those tweety bird things (my humor isn’t for everyone, so if you’re taking everything I say seriously in my posts, this site may be better for you). We’re going to take over like h1n1 at a preschool out of purell. Anything I feel like saying about the entrepreneur in me will be posted here, so check it when you want to hear how we are running havoc.

Thirdly, there’s a need to bridge the exclusive tech startup world into mainstream culture and society. Technology is huge in all our lives, but besides the programs everyone uses, there’s very little most people know about tech and startups. I’ve quickly learned that the tech world (google, twitter, facebook, startups, all that computer stuff) is an extremely exclusive community of braniacs who like to keep to themselves, but an interesting one nonoftheless. There are hella blogs and articles written by tech whizzes for tech whizzes, but what about the rest of us? What about the rest of us that don’t get off by writing code and getting good SAT scores? My goal is to bridge the geek fraternity of Silicon Valley to the rest of the world. I want Marcus the frat guy, Christie the aspiring entrepreneur, and Dave the angel investor reading this blog.

Because I am not a computer whizz, I have non-electronic interests that I will write about as well. I’ll often post about whatever shit pops in my head. This stuff will normally be about my other passions and interests, which include music (hip hop), eating, backpacking, and life. My blog is basically going to be a mixed bag of goodie posts, so get ready to be surprised.

Drew