Are DR1ers helpful or just out to bash newbies?

cookiedog

New member
Dec 31, 2008
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Hi there

I am a 30 year old English girl.
I hope to move to Dom Rep from London in the next few months and hope to find work asap! I speak excellent English and have been learning English for the last year and a half. Does anybody have any tips for me?

Also do you think I should travel to DR before I find work or risk looking for work once I reach DR?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks JoJo




Wow, this started out as such a simple question from this poor girl and and just turned into a bashing session like so many other posts on here!! lol
Some of us are just looking for info and honest opinions, isn't that the purpose of this DR1??? Not to right away judge people and be rude!!
Just my opinion!!!! lol
 

TOOBER_SDQ

Bronze
Nov 19, 2008
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Wow, this started out as such a simple question from this poor girl and and just turned into a bashing session like so many other posts on here!! lol
Some of us are just looking for info and honest opinions, isn't that the purpose of this DR1??? Not to right away judge people and be rude!!
Just my opinion!!!! lol

Hi cookiedog. You are new to the forum just like me. What I have learned to understand is that none of the posters here are interested in ?bashing? anyone. They simply offer invaluable insight based on countless years of combined experience. For instance, I noticed you received very positive and warm responses to your thread about Juan Dolio. This is because your situation warranted it. It sounds like you are financially stable, well grounded etc. This young lady JoJo is contemplating picking up and moving to a place she knows nothing about, with nothing. The posters tried to open her eyes to the certain hardships she would endure here; some a bit more crass than others. Irregardless, she rejected the sincere advice she asked for, and became confrontational; foolish.

If JoJo does roll the dice, I wish her luck. But I know when things don?t pan out the way she hoped, she will think back to this thread and regret not listening to the advice given.

Toober
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
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Testimony

I can testify that the people who are posting here are sincerely interested in helping people who wish to come to the DR - either as tourists, or part time or full time residents. While many of them may know one other, others are living quite a distance away from other English speaking expats - and rely on the long term residents to help them find their way here - from simple things like where to find stuff - like the more subtle and complicated issues of figuring out the dangers and warning signs of danger.

Please don't assume that the force with which we (collectively) suggested that the OP would run into trouble here was in any way meant to discourage ANYONE ELSE from attempting the leap. We were specifically responding to one person's questions, one person's postings, one person's responses.

It takes years to adapt to another culture, years to learn another language - and this community tries very hard to shorten that process and make it easier on the newbies. If they get "bashed" in the beginning - well- it is an effort perhaps to save them from a far more dangerous and damaging "bashing" in the real, not the virtual world.
 

cookiedog

New member
Dec 31, 2008
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Dont get me wrong, there is a lot of great info here! I got great responses on my thread about Juan Dolio and thank everyone! When I read a thread I read it from start to finish. I just find sometimes they go way off topic and some post are really rude. From a new persons (new to DR1)view it seems like very few people have anything good to say about Dom Rep. Maybe some one should start a thread about all the great things in that country and why you all like living there.
 

Lambada

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Mar 4, 2004
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From a new persons (new to DR1)view it seems like very few people have anything good to say about Dom Rep.

This will depend on how much reading you have done because there are certainly quite a few threads on the subject. Some people here have even written books on the subject. You can find the relevant threads by using the search function. I'll give you three links to get you started:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/66355-why-does-anyone-live-dr.html

http://www.dr1.com/forums/general-stuff/70875-question-expat-sages-dr1.html

http://www.dr1.com/forums/general-stuff/37500-lately-i-have-noticed-many-people-want-move-dr-i-am-just-curius-why.html
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
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These last few posts were off topic and the OP of the previous thread is long gone. However, this could make for some lively debate, so I gave it a thread of its own in a more appropriate forum.
 

DRICK1274

New member
Aug 13, 2008
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There are some that seem like thats what they are here for.But it takes all types to make up a Forum.
 

scrubmuncher

On Vacation!
Jul 6, 2007
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Dont get me wrong, there is a lot of great info here! I got great responses on my thread about Juan Dolio and thank everyone! When I read a thread I read it from start to finish. I just find sometimes they go way off topic and some post are really rude. From a new persons (new to DR1)view it seems like very few people have anything good to say about Dom Rep. Maybe some one should start a thread about all the great things in that country and why you all like living there.

As far as I can see no one has said the Dominican is an bad place, most have said it is a bad place to find employment, but that was what the OP was wanting to be informed about.
I don't see the problem, well apart from some form of communication let down on some parts. Being if the DR is bad for employment people are saying the country is crap.....??:ermm:
 

J D Sauser

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Nov 20, 2004
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Some people seem to ask questions, not always in an exclusive quest to find out the truth or consensus but, maybe only subconsciously, to find back up for their idea, ideals, opinions and/or dreams. In other words some ask a question looking to hear what they want to hear, only.

On the other hand, to some long time readers and participants of Forums like this one, some questions can over time seem redundant, as they come up every couple of weeks. And with reason. Does not every person who contemplated maybe moving here, have pretty much a similar batch of basic question along with specialty issues and thoughts? So, some long time posters may come thru rather short or even harsh with their still well meant answers. That's a phenomenon on most online Forums and bulletin boards.

New posters wishing for, after all free advice would also be well advised to show so much courtesy as to write in a somewhat understandable manner and also explain their case in a candid manner.
This country is full of newcomers who think that because the "speak English" they have it cooked up for them. Only to discover that even in a third worldish country like this one, one needs to have some serious qualifications to have a chance at making it.

The poster the OP mentioned for the sake of an example, may, as we later learned, have some qualifications which she did however not disclose at the beginning. That was her right, but the responses she initially got were based on what she disclosed at the beginning.

Anyways, the internet is not a place to have a thin skin and also a place where reasoning has it's limits.

... J-D.
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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what were people suppposed to make of the thread ? it didnt make a lot of sense that an english girl had been learning english for three years and was wondering if this would qualify her to find employment ! what would you answer to that ?
 
Mar 2, 2008
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Cookiedog,

I believe you might have a point about substance and form. While the form of offering advice might be wanting from time to time, the substance of that advice is consistantly, in my opinion.

Of course, when you have an open forum and many different people with vastly different experiences and opinions try to get their points across you are going to get a wide range of answers, as well as a wide range of styles.

That becomes particularly true when the person requesting the information resits listening to any advice that runs contrary to what she/he wants to hear.

Imagine going into a room full of people at a party and asking for everyone's opinion on some subject. And then add to that scenario, taking a confrontational stance once you hear opinions you didn't agree with.

Anyway, I think you understand that communication is a two-way street, and people have different ways to express themselves.

Overall, I think this forum is very user friendly, with few exceptions, and there is an incredible amount of information to be had, if only one takes the time to get, and then actually listens to what is being said.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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This is an interesting forum. For me my first post was this:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/legal/54163-when-you-get-shot.html

Through this I had amazing support from a group of people I never knew existed. I was married to a Dominican in an area with very few expats and suddenly a whole new support network opened up which I never knew existed. And at that time it was very important to me as I had nowhere else to turn for help.

I had somewhere to go for advice on practical things -like painting my house (thanks Rocky). Dealing with the British embassy (thanks Lambada and Bushbaby) and a whole host of other things.

I had friends to rant with at night in chat when it had been a bad day and people to laugh with at some of the peculiarities of life here.

My mother reads DR1 every day to find out what I have been up to.

I now have a host of new friends who have helped me so much - the operation on my throat was arranged by Hillbilly - for example.

I have visited DR1ers in the North and had a fantastic time.

DR1 becomes a very important source of help and support and friendship for those of us who live here. And when the chips are down I know that many of my friends on DR1will be there for me.

Many of us want to help back in return - and so many new posters receive great advice and personal assistance -as long as they are clear in what they want to know.

Also do not think cookiedog that only newbies get bashed. I get my fair share of being bashed too!!!

Matilda
 

BushBaby

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Jan 1, 2002
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You are right to question us (the long term posters on DR1) cookiedog as tis keeps us on our toes & respectful of those new to the forum. From feedback of this nature we (hopefully) learn to be more gentle in some of our responses!

I don't recall the full text of my reply to JoJo but I DO recall what I wanted to say when I first saw her post ....... "Don't be such a silly fool. Moving to a new country is a serious business & at the moment you just have not done anything like enough investigating to think about moving here."

I did NOT write that of course, I tempered it down a lot & suggested questions she should pose of herself, areas she should make further investigations from & then asked for clarification of what she was REALLY asking for because her post was not fully coherent to me. I also remember asking for a bit more information about herself so that I could make a more helpful response. That I never DID get & so a lot of the response Jo Jo got back were of a less helpful nature due to the lack of desire to be more open with her answers so that we COULD help her!!

The way things work in the DR is VERY different to any other country I have ever lived in. How I respond to questions calls in virtually every experience I have had over the years of living here & will be pertinent & helpful ..... IF THE QUESTIONER READS & FULLY COMPREHENDS THE WORDS WRITTEN. Being dismissive of people with experience is a sure way to rile those who have lived through the questions she is asking & responded accordingly. Normally I just refuse to post on that thread anymore because I feel there are many other people I can help who ARE prepared to listen - others may get more forceful when responding to a confrontational poster ....... newbie OR 'old timer'!! :cheeky: ~ Grahame.
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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a new poster is not always a new poster, sometimes its an old poster in disguise or one on a mission to ask the most stupid question ahem lol
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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Wow, this started out as such a simple question from this poor girl and and just turned into a bashing session like so many other posts on here!! lol
Some of us are just looking for info and honest opinions, isn't that the purpose of this DR1??? Not to right away judge people and be rude!!
Just my opinion!!!! lol

It happens.

We average 200+ posts per day, how many bash people.

DR1 is like any community, you have the good and bad, idiots, smart people etc etc. This is why it's so alive and popular. If it was full of smart and intelligent answers it would get boring, sometimes you need a little drama :)
 

cookiedog

New member
Dec 31, 2008
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Now this is what I'm talking about!!! Two new pages full of post's with great answers and opinions and NONE rude!!! lol I realize you prob all hear the same questions asked over and over,(can I move to Dom Rep with no money,get a job the day I arrive and live like a rich person?? Oh, and I dont speak spanish!!!) Trust me, I'm not always the most patient person either and snap at people sometimes!! But these posts were great!!! Good to see I could start a whole new thread just from my comment!!! lol Hope everyone has a great day!!!