I have the option to study abroad next year, and I need to start submitting my application. I have narrowed down my choices to the places in the title. I have the choice of either 6 months or a year in each place.
A few of my pros and cons of each place:

Japan:

Pros:
Appear to like black men, Sweet.
Japanese girls I've seen have been cute.
I could definitely learn intermediate japanese within two months before my trip, as I have a natural ability to pick up languages.
I love the culture, scenery, art everything about Japanese culture has enthralled me since I was young.

Cons:
I have heard the older people will be mildly racist.
Typhoons + Other weather and it being a small compacted island, dangerous at times. Plus the radiation in some areas still.
Lack of diversity racially, so it might get old after awhile.

Brazil:
I dont know much about Brazil aside of Football and City of God. My brother and everyone has preached this place as the holy land but I just dont really see the awesomeness in it. I've never met a brazilian girl except in DC and she was nice like the rest of the girls but it was whatever.

I would study at a Brazilian university and live in a house with a Brazilian family with someone my age as well.

Pros:
Improve my football skills further (already play for my college as striker, goal a game average)
Improve my rugby skills (already average two to three tries a game).
Learn Portuguese
Women? (I heard it's hard for an American black dude)
Beautiful scenery

Cons:
Racism
Dangerous (friend went from my school and got stabbed last year)


Sweden:
Studying an University of Sweden or someting.

Pros:
Women,
Interesting Place and architecture

Cons:
Cold

France:
I already speak decent french, if I were to brush up, learn a bit of slang, and just practice now, I would be very very fluent.

Pros:
Speak the language
Diversity
In a good place in Europe to see other places like Germany, Netherlands, etc. etc
Girls are hot (from what i hear)
Interesting culture and art

Cons:
French can be assholes I hear IF you dont speak the language.



What do you guys think, or know that I can add to either pros or cons?

France or Sweden.

Go to Brazil, Learn Brazilian Portuguese. Do an internship while you are there and build a professional and social network.

Go back every summer and repeat this process. Reach fluency in the language and then receive offer from managing directors in Rio/SP offices to work in private equity or oil field.

Shoot your seed into Brazilian woman, get married, get citizenship.

Quote: (11-10-2011 11:02 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

Go to Brazil, Learn Brazilian Portuguese. Do an internship while you are there and build a professional and social network.

Go back every summer and repeat this process. Reach fluency in the language and then receive offer from managing directors in Rio/SP offices to work in private equity or oil field.

Shoot your seed into Brazilian woman, get married, get citizenship.

My bet would be - Brazil and Sweden.
Japan is on the downtrend and France... well, is an old thing.

Brazil and Japan, both offer you high regard with career and women...

Japan is a good place for black dudes as some Japanese girls have mega-black guy fetishes. But that is only like .5% of the population, overall the society is VERY racist. One of the more xenophobic places on Earth. It's also expensive.

Brazil is not racist IMO and I'm a brown guy. True, there is major paranoia about class (wealth) and Brazilian blacks generally are at the lower end of the totem pole financially, but I'd say that compared to other countries you see lots of lighter skinned people who have friends or even GF/wives with darker skinned people. The nightlife and girls are insanely hot. The weather is amazing for the most part, except it can get a bit chilli during the winter in the South. The beaches and lifestyle is great. It is dangerous but if you stick to the nicer parts of a town then its no more dangerous than America.

According to this board, black guys kill in Sweden. It does seem that some Swedish girls are into darker skinned dudes. Downside of course is that its expensive as fuck and the weather sucks major balls during the winter.

I'm not the biggest fan of France. The people can be rude and arrogant. It's also expensive, cold winters, and the nightlife can be pretentious in Paris. I don't know how far being a black guy would get with white French girls, as there's a pretty big black French population. French black girls seems to be pretty hot.

I'd rate them in order from best to worse as Brazil-Japan-Sweden-France. Just my opinion though...

1) Set the priorities for your life in accordance with your true, innate tastes. ( You want $/luxury, does a particular type of woman get you really hot-- what would change your life the MOST out of all the things you want if you got them. )

2) Pick country based on that.

An example for me:

I have a small independent income as well as being established in a profession so money is not main focus. I'm 50+.

Main thing I want is regular access to 8+ women.

Primary sexual attraction is for refined Caucasian women, but the reported perverseness of Japanese women is a big plus. I DON'T see feminist Sweden as a place I'd get the chicks I want.

For me, all that adds up to Eastern Europe, which is not on your list.
But out of the ones you list, Brazil has white-enough chicks for me.

If you are looking to make money in the future, you have to consider the field you are going into. I don't think Sweden has any oil. I would be wary of racism and insularity of biz people in Japan.

Maybe a trial trip if you can afford it? Watch YouTube videos of the people in the country?

Sweden, France, and Japan are definitely not places I'd consider as good investments for either career or business.

In some ways I wouldn't really consider Brazil a truly ideal place either, but it's clearly the best option in that context.

Having said that, some guys just want to bang blond chicks. Like he said - figure out your priorities.

I suggest you hustle your ass off now and strategically position yourself to be able to do international business in the future.

The world will always be half women, whether you are broke or rich. Choose rich.

I was very focused on geography and future demographic trends when I set out in my international career journey at age 19.

I've since been to many countries in the context of academia and work projects for management and engineering, including - Korea, China, Thailand, Istanbul, France, Poland, Belgium, USA. I've also visited other countries for tourism purposes.

It turns out that I lucked out and I've clinched an opportunity in a hot industry that is not specific to any particular geographic location. However, the opportunity arose because I spent so much time operating in the region of the world that currently provides the highest number of economic/career opportunities - Asia. By placing myself in this environment, I was constantly meeting unique and enterprising individuals and learning rapidly by trial and error in a variety of contexts - romance, career, business, languages, health, and general life lessons.

I firmly believe that at a younger age, a guy should place himself in an environment where there are opportunities to be seized. This is only happening in emerging markets. Developed nations are on life support. Don't board sinking ships.

Countries I'd look into if I was 19 in the year 2011:

-Indonesia
-Vietnam
-Philippines (maybe)
-China
-Colombia
-Brazil

What you should also do is pick a specific industry or field you are interested in and specialize in it, to a certain degree. Pick up languages and gain as much competency as possible. I made the mistake of being fluent in one language and then intermediate-advanced (but not fluent) in four others. It's better to be fully fluent in 2-3.

A combination of being multilingual, having a geographic specialty, and an industry specialty is what will set you apart. There are masses of university students who can't get hired at home. I suggest you think ten and twenty years down the road and really think about how the study abroad experience you spend will affect your life. My first study abroad experience in Seoul at the age of 19 was only 9 weeks long. However, it led me down a rigorous path of internationalization that has resulted in a tremendous, unique, and rare business opportunity that would have otherwise been impossible to get without the proper geographic focus and industry specialization.

Pussy will always be around. Whether you are rich or poor, the world is half women. You can get laid as a broke guy, but women have a sixth sense to tell if you're down on your luck.

Someone on this forum has a quote like "I always lose money chasing pussy, but I never lose pussy chasing money."

I always smile when I see that. I'm as ambitious for dough as the next guy and still get laid. Don't let people tell you that the two are mutually exclusive.

Keep a sharp eye out for global trends. Find the corner of the world and the specialized skillset that you will hone to make yourself indispensable to mankind. In a world that will hit 9 billion in your lifetime, you will need to forge a path and prepare yourself for anything.


Or, go to Sweden because they're blond and easy.



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For you young guns who are still in college or high school and have been following my career hacking advice:

Nuclear, smart grids, and WATER in China are all industries that are going to be HOT for a LONG time.

Especially water.

If you haven't gotten your shit together yet and are looking for a specific industry and country to follow, I would say those are bulletproof options.

I just went through this process myself. I settled on Sweden (it was between Singapore and Sweden)

I have a lot of experience with Japan so I will break it down.

- If you are in a science, engineering, design, technology (robotics & automation): GO. Especially if its at one of the big Tokyo universities. The economy may look down, but the innovation in the world is still mostly USA and Japan. Also there is a huge lack of diversity in Japanese companies and many complain about not being able to find global talent. Having said that it is not an easy place to just drop in and get a good job. It takes time and contacts are VERY important there (hence going to a good university in Japan).

I chose Sweden mainly because of the reputation globally for its education. Networking in Singapore would have been more beneficial, but having Sweden on the CV and alumni is better long term I believe. The economy there is doing very well also, especially if you looking to get into alternative energy (as I am).

I agree with YMG about where the growth lies, but I would not recommend to be educated in these emerging markets.

Odds are you're not gonna parlay a study abroad into the beginning of a successful international business career, and even if you did it would require a large time commitment which you could be using to chill, explore a new culture, and bang chicks. I'd go wherever interests you the most and you think you can have the most fun. For me it would be Brazil but I'm a white dude who's heavily biased toward Latin American culture and women. With your interest in Japan maybe that would be the best fit but you're really the only person who's in any position to answer that. From my understanding if you're purely looking to bang as many hot girls as possible then it would be Brazil or Sweden. Don't sweat the racism thing too much--if you're well-dressed, educated and obviously not from a favela they won't give a shit.

The only thing I'd say for sure is that you should definitely do a full year abroad instead of a semester. This is one of the only times in your life when you can go to a foreign country for an extended period and fuck around with minimal responsibilities. If I'd known how sweet a deal it was I definitely would have done the full year when I was in college.

I would definitely scratch France off the list, Sweden is going to be expensive, it's too cold there most of the year, and Swedes seem more cold/stand-offish, Japan will be really expensive and I think learning Japanese will be harder than you think.

I'd pick Brazil, beautiful country, hot women, fun/interesting culture, language will be easier to learn than Japanese or Swedish, I think people overplay the whole racism thing in Brazil, I think it's less racist, and more "classist" (if there is such a term), but if you're a young, intelligent, well dressed, black American, and you're not broke as a joke, than I don't think you'll have a problem.

Laner is right - do not get educated in emerging markets. The OP did not really specify that his focus is going to be learning, but rather other issues like quality of living and his chances of getting laid. If he specified that he wanted to engage in rigorous academic work, then I would have certainly put Japan and Sweden on the list.

As you guys all know by now, when people ask for study abroad advice my kneejerk reaction is to tell them to begin planning internships and international careers.

GringoChileno is right about making it a year instead of a semester. You want to soak up as much of the country and culture as possible. He's also right that you will not immediately be launched into an international career or business. However, you can absolutely begin planting the seeds for you to do so.

I know scores of young expats in my demographic who have done just that - studied abroad, worked abroad, and banged tons of hot chicks. I'm having a difficult time seeing why international career building and getting laid are viewed as mutually exclusive. In fact, they usually go hand in hand. If you hack your way into exclusive social networks you will have access to better looking women. That's what I've been doing in Asia.

Take it with a grain of salt, Black Quixote. I'm fervently passionate about sending young Americans abroad to where better opportunities are available. If I rubbed anyone the wrong way, I apologize - I get worked up talking about this topic.


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Quote: (11-10-2011 03:11 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

I'm having a difficult time seeing why international career building and getting laid are viewed as mutually exclusive. In fact, they usually go hand in hand. If you hack your way into exclusive social networks you will have access to better looking women. That's what I've been doing in Asia.

Sure it can be done, but it's not exactly the path of least resistance. Which requires more investment, spending months networking and working your way into social circles to get "access" to women (which may or may not pan out) or going to the club with a good chance of pulling that night with nothing but game and the clothes on your back? I'm not saying building connections isn't a good career move, but let's get real here, it doesn't hold a candle to just going out and partying all the time if all we're talking about is banging chicks (and having fun).

???

To me building connections = partying

Going out to karaoke and getting shitfaced with the sons/nephews of Asian conglomerates, etc

I'm not sure what you had in mind when I said networking. I'm not talking about stuffy conventions where people wear suits and pass out business cards.

I'd still rather get laid through cold approaching, especially in a foreign country where it's really easy to not give a fuck and you can get the exotic Gringo factor on your side. More power to you if you find a solid crew to hang out with, but I wouldn't make the focus of my trip trying to get in with high-powered social circles and exploit them for pussy and business opportunities. Going in cold and finding a ho for the night is just so much easier, especially once you get the hang of the local pickup culture.

Yeah, that's true actually.

I've spent a lot of time in North Asia, where I didn't do much cold approaching or it just didn't really work that well for me. Power to you, for making it work over there (or where ever).

In Europe it was definitely great. SE Asia obviously also good.

"Exploit" is a bit harsh, I'd say. I can see why you'd get that impression though, by the way I write my posts.

Anyway, not trying to start an argument about this, just wanted to try to add value to OP's thread. Cheers, gringochileno.

Quote: (11-10-2011 03:57 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

"Exploit" is a bit harsh, I'd say.

Yeah, I didn't mean that pejoratively. In fact if you're gonna take that route at all I'd say it should just be a natural byproduct of meeting awesome people and hanging out with them because it's fun. Life's too short to lose sleep over complicated social-engineering schemes.

Yah, I get very dramatic about the issue of networking and "career hacking" since it's a topic of extreme passion for me....it can come across as a bit douchebaggey sometimes and I try to curb that as much as possible.

In reality, apart from linkedin and cold calling stuff, it's basically just finding intelligent/cool people to party with and then meeting their friends, and friends of friends.

No worries, I think we're on the same page.

Stop being a pussy and worrying about racism, newsflash it exists in every country.

Japan would be a great experience, I know quite a few brotha's who wish they were still there.
Sweden would be a close second, probably my first choice if truth be told.
Brazil, no explanation needed.

I'm thinking of Sweden and Colombia as potential study abroad options in my 2nd or 3rd year.
I'm planning on take spanish classes on University so I know some spanish when I study in Colombia.
As for Sweden, I just wanna bang swedes, enough said.
YMG's advice is solid, you can create a great network in a study abroad.

WHERE in Brazil does the OP plan to go?

That could change many things.

hi. i'm 18 going on 19. what fields do you think will be booming by the time i'm graduating?