Introduction - Possible Expat in Sri Lanka & Advice Pls!

[stellarose]

Hello, I wanted to introduce myself formally and reach out for some advice as well.  I have been offered an opportunity with my current employer to take an expatriate position located in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  I have traveled here many times as I usually go about 3-4 times a year in my current role.  However, living somewhere is very different from just traveling through on business where you are well taken care of. 

We had the choice to take a Look/See trip or a house hunting trip.  Since my husband has never visited Sri Lanka before, we have chosen to take the Look/See trip to ensure he agrees to moving as well.  We leave this Thursday!  I am excited to get move to the next step of the process.

Everything has really been really falling into place for this to happen for us except a few important details.  
1) One MUST HAPPEN is that my husband will need a job.  He is an electrical engineer and he cannot take a 2-3 year break from his role and hope that he will be employable upon return.  We have been working with some contacts over there and supposedly his resume has been forwarded to a head hunter, but we have not heard much back.  Our hope was that he would be interviewing during our visit, but now I am pushing for informationals, etc.  He will not be allowed to work on my visa so he will need to be sponsored on his own.  I am getting a bit nervous about this.  I will need to accept the offer once we return, but we will not know anything of his situation.  
2) My medicine is not offered in Sri Lanka.  I am working with my doctor and the drug company on how to get this into Sri Lanka and get the right personnel trained.


Other than those two "small" things everything is looking well. I was going to have to negotiate for a promotion and they ended up just giving me the level I wanted it to be last week.  So that was great.

We leave Thursday for our Look/See trip.  What sort of advice do you have for us regarding things to look at or inspect/experience during this trip?  We will have a city tour, look at churches, grocery stores, shopping, gyms, restaurants, etc.  We will also see a selection of apartments and housing even though we will not pick that until later.

I look forward to learning so much more from you and sharing this experience as well.  TIA!

[mrsukyankee]

Walk around the areas your like at different times of the day, so you can get a sense of it during daylight and at night.
Can you see if there are local businesses that your H could go to in order to talk to them about getting hired and if it is even a possibility (he may have to say that he'll do all the work to get the visa). Can he get a visa changed while living there (in case a job is a possibility but wouldn't become available until he's living there).

[GilliC]

We toured the hospital during our preview visit to Beijing before our move. That was good peace of mind for us. Especially since it meant we'd know where to go if there was an emergency shortly after the move.

Would it be possible to meet with a few other expats during your visit? One of our relocation agents wasn't a local, and it was good to get his perspective on things.

I'd also ask about how utilities are handled. The system in China was very different than we were used to (prepaid electricity meters were a new concept for us), and I'm glad we had colleagues who moved before us to explain it!

[origami]

Exciting! Hope everything works out with your DH's job and the medicine situation.

Our look/see trip was 75% looking at apartments and schools and it felt like House Hunters on steroids. One thing that helped us was taking video/photos of the apartments we liked so we could tell them apart later. After looking at 30 it was easy to forget which one was which. Also, our walk through the grocery store wasn't that helpful because I blanked on what food I should be looking for and I completely forgot to walk through the cleaning and toiletry section because they were on a different floor. I would suggest walking through with a grocery list you made in advance and seeing what you can find. We went through a regular grocery store and a foreign food store, so if you can see both that would be great. that way you'll have a better idea of what you will want to ship over vs buy there.

oh and if you do end up looking at a ton of houses ask for a map (if you can't see where you are on your phone). I got so turned around and it was impossible to tell if the location was good or not because we really had no idea where we were in the city and no idea where a grocery store/subway/restaurants were from any given apartment. If you only see a few places, or if they're all right by each other this may not be a big deal though.

Have fun!

[stellarose]

Good idea, I was thinking I should bring a grocery list so I can check off our favorite items or not.

Thank you everyone. I am so worried about DH's job possibility, but we will see how it goes.