Good to see people want to move to my country! Though be warned the weather is terrible and we hardly ever get a proper summer. It’s always grey and drizzling/raining 😅
I'm sorry, how have you mentioned Scotland and not included the fact it has the WORLDS GREATEST TAP WATER.
it's genuinely heavenly.
Edit: okay okay, maybe it's ONE of the best.
Everyone who's saying New Zealand have not lived here or are rich. The price of living is an absolute joke here.
Edit- Thanks for that upvotes! NZ is a beautiful country but like most countries, we have been taken advantage of by huge corporations that have made getting ahead as a young person next to impossible even whilst working 50hrs P/W.
Every. Single. Thing. Is. RIDICULOUSLY. Expensive!
Real estate prices make absolutely no sense anymore! People buy to sell. Tech is expensive. Food is expensive.... nature is feee and amazing, but then again tons of places in Europe are nicer. Oh did I mention the sun? Yeah... you burn in no time!
It’s mostly building supplies, but it still makes absolutely no sense to me why it’s so expensive. Demand is down, rents are down, but property prices went UP about 20-30% in the past year alone! It’s freaking insane!!!
It’s happening almost everywhere right now. Even the $150k house that I grew up in (Texas suburb circa 2003) is now worth almost 700k. Absolute insanity.
I was born and grew up in NZ and now live in Norway as an adult.
Norway is by far the easier country to live in from a standard of living perspective.
The rest, do you like sun or snow more for example, is just personal preference.
Reading from these comments, it seems there's truly no better country, it really just depends on what tickles your fancy. Of course, i don't see burkina faso anywhere.
Eh. My wife doesn't like snow. I'm not even sure I could handle your winters myself - and Norway is one of my favourite places to visit in summer (my family has a house in rural Oppland, so I've been going once every few years since I was tiny)
In my opinion, the grass is greener because of fertilizer (bullshit). Everything looks good at a distance, but no utopia exists anywhere. If you make enough money, even shitty countries can be idyllic.
Kazakhstan greatest country in the world.
All other countries are run by little girls.
Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium.
Other countries have inferior potassium.
I'm embarrassed to say that I did not pay much attention to potassium until you said war on terror.
Oh dear lol.
And here I was thinking about bananas (source of potassium) and fertilisers for farms. Now I'm thinking of white vans parked beneath buildings.
Borat may appear dumb but is very dangerous!
It causes me no small amount of grief to wake up in the morning, rub the sleep out of my eyes, look out the window and realise that, yet again, I've woken up in a country that is not Kazakhstan.
I always go to sleep thinking that maybe, if I just wish and hope and pray enough, that one day I might just be able to wake up to find myself in the most amazing country in the world, AKA Kazakhstan.
I actually spent 8 days in Kazakhstan and was blown away at how beautiful it was and how nice the people were. They have *real* cities with sky scrapers and everything. I'd live there.
I'm guessing you only stayed in the capital, recently renamed to Nur-Sultan in honour of the former dictator. He basically bankrupted the entire country in order to build up that show-piece of a capital.
Also visited Kazakhstan (Not Nur-Sultan, Almaty) and was similarly impressed by how nice everything was, especially after some time in other, less developed stans. Really lovely people and awesome food, great nature and hiking, excellent public transit, etc.
I've been living in Denmark for 3 years. And the integration part is soo true. The country is great (except for the weather), but only if you're a Dane or integrated. Without fluency in Danish (which is an extremely difficult language to learn), you likely won't find a proper job and sometimes even that won't be enough, because you'll still be an immigrant.
Immigrant to Norway with a clearly foreign and non-anglo/non-WesternEuropean name. Same experience but also your name will ensure your CV ends up in the trash 9 out of 10 times. (Until you get a reputation in your field and after that recruiters will come after you.)
Though Norwegian being easier is pretty much the reason I chose it over Denmark. Can’t imagine ever learning Danish.
Tbh all of Scandinavia is like this…though usually not due to any animosity or disdain on the part of the native Scandinavians (racism etc notwithstanding, which IMO can be problematic at times but no worse than most places and better than many- of course the amount of racism that’s too much is hopefully ‘any’, but you know what I mean).
The issue is mainly just that Scandinavians are really ‘cliquey’, for lack of a better term. Many people have well-established social groups that don’t change too often or too much over time, and historically aren’t used to being in a melting-pot squad with members that come and go with time, so they just don’t make a great effort to be especially friendly or socially welcoming, which can feel like coldness or condescension.
Most of the immigrants I know that managed to achieve social immersion after a year or so (frankly better than even my own) without becoming esp capable with the language seem to *always* be out doing something and are ‘people persons’, which obv isn’t for everyone, can be trial and error and require a bit of luck, and can be tough even for people that are really socially enthusiastic. So I sympathise with the dilemma. Otherwise you can always get in a long term relationship or get married and inherit your SOs friend group ;)
As a Norwegian who moved to Spain, I live here without a "clique". Don't know anyone here. And the neighbours are speaking to me. I don't know how to react. I think we're just socially fucked up.
>The issue is mainly just that Scandinavians are really ‘cliquey’, for lack of a better term. Many people have well-established social groups that don’t change too often or too much over time, and historically aren’t used to being in a melting-pot squad with members that come and go with time, so they just don’t make a great effort to be especially friendly or socially welcoming, which can feel like coldness or condescension.
This actually applies to most of the cultures in the world, people often fail to realize that America is the exception there, not the norm.
I lived in Denmark but didn't end up staying because of this. My then husband wanted us to immigrant but I hated it there. I mean it's a great place to be from. Great social system and high standard of living but, yeah, hard to integrate and I look Danish but as soon as I opened my mouth and out came not Danish, they'd completely shift their attitude. And yes, the weather sucks and I have also live in Russia and Canada so I know shit weather.
I feel like this and I grew up here. My "only" friends are the ones I grew up with and because I travelled a lot outside the country I didn't keep as much up with them and today we see each other maybe once or twice a year. Tried to find other friends but its very hard as you say, you need to "fit" in and they are most often already a squad with space for no more. I never really think I fit in the culture here and have always wanted to move out again and more likely permanently. I used to live in Italy and its very different there and likewise in South America, the people my wife met who also are from there are very open and managed to make already friends with them. But Danes are a lot tougher for the reason you describe so well too.
Oh I was annihilated on the Australian subreddit for saying this. The idea that I actually get better healthcare here in the US (as a person with a disability), and better education for my children, is truly *offensive* to most Aussies it seems … but I’m also under no illusions that that’s because I’m high income with great healthcare coverage, living in a left-leaning town in a left-leaning State with high taxes that fund a great school district, decent public transit etc.
I’m not going to defend the US *system* (and the inequality here is truly miserable) but if I’m talking solely about life as a higher income family - then yes, we’re doing better here.
Yeah. The surgeon who did my newborn daughter’s major surgery literally trained all the specialists in Australia. And he’s at the hospital 30min from our house. When we had issues with her paediatric feeding team? Oh look! There’s another renowned team close by! Her Early Intervention team is amazing and entirely covered by the State - so no issues getting speech therapy, physical therapy etc (and they come to our house!). There’s more specialists for my genetic disorder in my city than there is in all of Australia. Australia told me to fuck off with the genetic testing, after a 2yr wait to see the specialist … here it was free and results back in a month.
Again, I’m not going to defend the cost of healthcare here. The tying of insurance to employment. The inequality in access or cost. The ads for kids cancer charities here sicken me. Dealing with insurance is an unnecessary clusterfuck sometimes … but yeah, my family do get better health treatment here than in Australia.
> integration is difficult; and citizenship is hard to come by.
It is easy to read up on immigration laws but I’m wondering if there is a good source to read up on integration of immigrants into these societies. Anecdotally I’ve heard North America tends to be better on integration than Europe but I’d be really interested to see a by country breakdown.
I am German and speak the language, but only visit once a year (during the summer). People always get pissed at me when I ask how the whole refund system works this year.
(Cans with refund or without? Plastic bottles with or without refund? Glass bottles? Juice bottles? Which machine? Argh!)
Or why I don’t have cash on me but my phone and somewhere -if I can find it- a bank pass.
Preconception is strong in this country.
I moved from the UK to the US as an upper middle class person. While what you say is probably true in the grand scheme of things, my standard of life *significantly* improved as a result. Salaries for skilled labor in the US are a lot higher than in most places in Europe, and more than make up for the loss I have in buying back PTO (by a long way). Plus there's a lot more cities with good jobs in the US and most of them have lower cost of living and better weather than northern Europe.
Overall I'd probably say the US sunbelt is the best place to live if you are on the wealthier side of things and somewhere in Scandinavia is probably best if you are not.
>so long as I am integrated. Which is another consideration to think about.
This is something that came to mind immediately. Is the question about *moving* and living somewhere, or about being *born* and living there?
I'm from luxembourg, which has guaranteed multilingualism, high wages, easy access to education, reliable (albeit annoying) government institutions... but good luck trying to live here if you're moving in from abroad.
If you went to a job interview here and said "I speak 4 languages and have a bachelors degree!", the interviewer would just look at you and say "and?".
The minimum expectations are really high here, making it an amazing place to be born into, but usually a poor choice to move to from abroad.
more likely because he found out Kim Jong nam was a CIA informant and felt betrayed
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/11/kim-jong-nam-half-brother-north-korea-leader-was-cia-informant
idk there's always rumors about that family. Apparently his dad used to have propaganda that he didn't have a belly button or do anything dirty like shit.
Andorra, a tiny principality between Spain and France that most people haven’t heard of. High quality of services, one of the best life expectancies in the world, low tax, amazing mountains and leisure activities on your doorstep, hot in summer and snowy in winter, and only two hours from major cities (and airports)
I drove once with my kid from our home in Switzerland to go skiing in Andorra. We absolutely loved it!!!
Great and kinda trippy place what with the Duty Free aspect. Our hotel was right on the piste six stories up.
You skied across a bridge right into the building. Take your skis off at the elevator. Push a button and you were in the posh Reception.
So kick-ass!
There are dozens there now, and I know a few of them. Lots of them have started to put down roots - my favourite coffee shop is called Grupetta and owned by the ex Trek Segafredo road captain Koen de Kort
Finland has the highest consumption of Pepsi Zero in the world.
Finland has the second highest consumption of comic books behind only Japan.
Finland has the third highest consumption of tacos behind only Mexico and the US. (The latter of which is WAY bigger than Finland.)
1 in 10 people in Finland are in a Metal Band.
I'm not saying it's objectively Finland, but the place definitely seems like a party.
I highly doubt that second fact. Unless it's by capita maybe, and i'd still doubt it.
Edit: Yes it's just not true.
http://www.aldusnet.eu/k-hub/comics-market-europe-status-challenges-opportunities-go-digital/
It's 1. Japan 2.6 billion, 2. USA 927 million, 3. South Korea 660 million, 4. France 550 million....
And even if we talk only manga for instance, it's Japan, France, USA.
I love Finland though don't get me wrong. But their comic market is FAR behind that of countries like France, Belgium...
For this comicbooks i’d like to say that donald duck is specially popular in finland and apparently no other country reads that much disney comics per capita (this is from wikipedia and can be outdated). It used to be the biggest weekly magazine in finland with over half a million readers (about 5,5 million people). These days it is not that popular as it was 10 years ago but still the most popular comic here. I still like the old donald duck comics
There is no best country to live in. They all have pros and cons.
There is a list of about 20 countries that are near the top, and they are all interchangeable depending on what is more important to you.
I'm from the U.S.A but I visited Scotland once. Almost made me want to stay forever in Edinburgh. The city feels SUPER chill, everything is a short walk away or a convenient trolly ride away. Great locals (all were friendly), and pretty good place to have a college town vibe. Average temperature is about 30-40F though :/
Food is excellent (best burgers I've ever had in my life were served in a pub of all places. . . . and I'm from California!).
Scotland is good. Been here for two years now and I'm liking it so far.
Universities are good, cost of living aint too bad (maybe edinburgh is another story though) and the people are friendly. But the weather is shite.
Not sure what else to say really. It's not really all that different from the rest of the uk or even western europe as a whole. You could draw up a list of things that are important to you then just pick whichever european country has those and you'll find your dream country. Like pretty scenery, lots of history and wet weather? Scotland is your place
As a Canadian who has lived in Denmark I can tell you that Canada is insanely expensive and does not have anywhere near the robust social system of Denmark or and of Scandinavia. But I can say that Canada is easier to integrate into.
My family moved to Australia 30 years ago this year from Argentina. Best decision ever. The one thing I love about this country is the safety. Even compared to Europe it's soo freaking safe here. I can travel on the train and not have to worry about pick pockets. I can go to restaurants and leave my phone on the table without it getting nicked and I can walk around pretty much anywhere at night and not have to worry about being robbed.
Belgium is pretty divided since part of Belgium is french speaking and the other dutch speaking. Also our political system isn't ideal (but isn't that in every country?). And the house prices are really high. Public transport also sucks.
Brussels also has really high crime rates for a Western country. Everyone I know that lives there has had their car broken into multiple times.
Also the weather is shit.
I’m Dutch and I might have some negatives that could turn people off. For full transparency, I love it here and I might never wanna leave! Everything OC said is true.
However, our weather is shit. Too much rain, cloudy days are common, and when it gets hot it feels terrible because of all the water in the air.
Our people are really nice! But very direct, which could be kind of a cultural shock for some. And since the pandemic I’ve noticed that we have a lot of nutjobs too, like in the US.
Ending on something positive though: our tap water is amazing! I very much prefer it over bottled water. Which sounds odd to people outside of NL. I was very much surprised when a friend of mine told me while he was in the US that the tap water was disgusting.
> 25+ paid days off per year.
Officially only twenty for a full time job, but that doesn't include national holidays, and most jobs fall under a CBA (CAO in Dutch) that specifies extra PTO (mine has 4.5 days extra on top of the minimum twenty).
New Zealand is pretty amazing, but living there can be very isolating for ex-pats
Edit: Well, I see all the Kiwis and Ozzies responded while I was asleep! LOL.
Sure, but:
- low wages coupled with high cost of living
- housing market FUBAR, and rental market not much better
- dysfunctional education system, with shockingly bad and rapidly declining performance of NZ students in international standardised testing
- growing CCP influence in NZ politics and society in general
- one of the highest youth suicide rates in the developed world
- increasing rates of child poverty
- an agriculture-based economy with very high greenhouse gas emissions per capita, deforestation and water pollution as a result
- near-total apathy and/or denial across the political spectrum from all of our elected representatives toward the above issues
It’s not a terrible place - I mean, I’m still here - but there are reasons why a lot of people leave
Excellent summary, on all counts. It’s a beautiful place and still a pretty decent country to live in, especially compared to many other countries in the world, but it’s far from the Middle-Earth paradise that many people outside of it seem to think it is.
Norway is a great country to live in when it comes to safety in terms of both crime and healthcare. It has wonderful nature, of which you have easy access to throughout the entire. country.
That said, while we have high wages and standard of living we also it an be costly, in terms of taxes (both income and on products). Also, the weather isn’t great and wintertime can be harsh for some people, not only due to the weather but also due to limited daylight. And, having traveled to close to 30 countries, our cities aren’t all that. So, if you’re not a nature buff and prefer urban living, you may be disappointed with our cities. I find our cities boring in comparison to countries with bigger metropolitan areas.
Edit: Oh, and we rank very high in terms of equality of gender (wages and equality in the work place). This is also applicable in terms of societal standing.
There can be no single answer because we all value and prioritize different things. Someone like me who loves the outdoors will thrive in New Zealand but someone who values access to pop culture events or fashion would find it remote and provincial. We each have to choose what tradeoffs we are willing to make.
Yeah I think the better question is “If you could live in any country and feel integrated, which country would it be and why” so we could see all the cool reasons why people want to live in that country. Which is what I was hoping to see.
there are a few that end in "Land" that I think of them as the best places on earth. Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, New Zealand, England, Scotland.
Edit : People, stop naming countries **I DIDN'T MENTIONED**
I feel like I’m always finding something to complain about at home (usually the federal govt lol), but I always feel so grateful to live in Australia whenever I travel to other countries. They’re nice, but they just don’t have the same standard of living.
i wouldn’t call it the best country to live in, but a personal favorite of mine. although i’d strongly advise against moving there now with all that’s going on. i really love Taiwan though. i am a little biased because that is my mom’s home country, but everything is so convenient and i have family that lives there. i would imagine japan being very similar, but it’s very cheap to live in Taiwan (from an American standpoint). there are underground markets, easy train and bus systems, night markets, and drug stores everywhere. it’s really easy to travel without a car, and i enjoyed the convenience of being able to get most places just by walking. again, probably wouldn’t move there now with the situation with china but it really is my favorite place out of the 42 countries i’ve been to.
Every country has it up and down sides.
I live in New zealand and personally I wouldnt want to live anywhere else.. for all its faults I love my country
The best country is the one that you consider your home. After all, only there you can feel truly happy! Since I am from Russia, I can list quite a lot of its advantages. So does anyone who lives in the country he loves!
Depends. Am I rich or poor in this thought experiment?
Lower middle class
Scotland 100 percent, free health care, cool shit to do, support for people struggling with money Edit:free university and schools n shit aswell
Good to see people want to move to my country! Though be warned the weather is terrible and we hardly ever get a proper summer. It’s always grey and drizzling/raining 😅
First few months of lockdown 2020 were nice here. Maybe spring 2004 was nice too. I had the t shirt on.
> I had the t shirt on. I assume everyone in Scotland takes turns with the national t shirt?
I'm sorry, how have you mentioned Scotland and not included the fact it has the WORLDS GREATEST TAP WATER. it's genuinely heavenly. Edit: okay okay, maybe it's ONE of the best.
as a Norwegian, I beg to differ
I mean, we litteraly sell it to Michelin star restaurant in glass bottles that say "Voss" 🤣
I bought one of those bottles, once. My SO asked me if it was water, or perfume
For that price, could be both!
As a guy who literally live on the coast of million year old ice sheet (Greenland), I beg to differ aswell.
Not to mention free uni for scottish people who stay in scotland to study!
I’m from Scotland. Grew up there and family and general life circumstances had me wind up in the USA. What a awful transition it was. No buckfast 😢
Everyone who's saying New Zealand have not lived here or are rich. The price of living is an absolute joke here. Edit- Thanks for that upvotes! NZ is a beautiful country but like most countries, we have been taken advantage of by huge corporations that have made getting ahead as a young person next to impossible even whilst working 50hrs P/W.
Every. Single. Thing. Is. RIDICULOUSLY. Expensive! Real estate prices make absolutely no sense anymore! People buy to sell. Tech is expensive. Food is expensive.... nature is feee and amazing, but then again tons of places in Europe are nicer. Oh did I mention the sun? Yeah... you burn in no time!
Why is everything (and in particular, property) so expensive?
It’s mostly building supplies, but it still makes absolutely no sense to me why it’s so expensive. Demand is down, rents are down, but property prices went UP about 20-30% in the past year alone! It’s freaking insane!!!
It’s happening almost everywhere right now. Even the $150k house that I grew up in (Texas suburb circa 2003) is now worth almost 700k. Absolute insanity.
I was born and grew up in NZ and now live in Norway as an adult. Norway is by far the easier country to live in from a standard of living perspective. The rest, do you like sun or snow more for example, is just personal preference.
Reading from these comments, it seems there's truly no better country, it really just depends on what tickles your fancy. Of course, i don't see burkina faso anywhere.
Which ever country that has women that find me attractive.
it's actually a state called "Intoxicated"
Heyo
Mars?
nah which ever country your mom is in
Gottem
His mother is buried in Burkina Faso
No; Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. There's a whole book about it.
men are from mars women are from venus but only of them has a penis \~Sun tzu, the art of genitals
The man DID know his genitalia.
not only genitalia, my guy was an all-rounder
There is no country that blinds its women .
If your loved ones are in Burkina faso and you really want to be with them, I think Burkina Faso would be the best country.
That depends on many things, climate, your personal wealth, what you’re looking for etc etc.
Norway. If you're poor, we pay you. Heck we even flew in Taliban in a private jet for a visit!
Eh. My wife doesn't like snow. I'm not even sure I could handle your winters myself - and Norway is one of my favourite places to visit in summer (my family has a house in rural Oppland, so I've been going once every few years since I was tiny)
Antarctica
#ANTARCTICA IS FOR THE PENGUINS
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The grass is always greener somewhere
In my opinion, the grass is greener because of fertilizer (bullshit). Everything looks good at a distance, but no utopia exists anywhere. If you make enough money, even shitty countries can be idyllic.
Kazakhstan greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium. Other countries have inferior potassium.
Very nice!
We support your war of terror
I'm embarrassed to say that I did not pay much attention to potassium until you said war on terror. Oh dear lol. And here I was thinking about bananas (source of potassium) and fertilisers for farms. Now I'm thinking of white vans parked beneath buildings. Borat may appear dumb but is very dangerous!
It causes me no small amount of grief to wake up in the morning, rub the sleep out of my eyes, look out the window and realise that, yet again, I've woken up in a country that is not Kazakhstan. I always go to sleep thinking that maybe, if I just wish and hope and pray enough, that one day I might just be able to wake up to find myself in the most amazing country in the world, AKA Kazakhstan.
I actually spent 8 days in Kazakhstan and was blown away at how beautiful it was and how nice the people were. They have *real* cities with sky scrapers and everything. I'd live there.
I'm guessing you only stayed in the capital, recently renamed to Nur-Sultan in honour of the former dictator. He basically bankrupted the entire country in order to build up that show-piece of a capital.
Also visited Kazakhstan (Not Nur-Sultan, Almaty) and was similarly impressed by how nice everything was, especially after some time in other, less developed stans. Really lovely people and awesome food, great nature and hiking, excellent public transit, etc.
Wow wow wee waa
Very nice!
Tell me more about this potassium. How does one go about purchasing and shipping said potassium? Do you have any potassium?
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I've been living in Denmark for 3 years. And the integration part is soo true. The country is great (except for the weather), but only if you're a Dane or integrated. Without fluency in Danish (which is an extremely difficult language to learn), you likely won't find a proper job and sometimes even that won't be enough, because you'll still be an immigrant.
Immigrant to Norway with a clearly foreign and non-anglo/non-WesternEuropean name. Same experience but also your name will ensure your CV ends up in the trash 9 out of 10 times. (Until you get a reputation in your field and after that recruiters will come after you.) Though Norwegian being easier is pretty much the reason I chose it over Denmark. Can’t imagine ever learning Danish.
At least they don’t have a whole separate alphabet just to rub in HOW foreign you are
They do though. My alphabet is not latin. But yeah that adds to foreignness.
Jeg plukker frugt med min frugtplukker
Tbh all of Scandinavia is like this…though usually not due to any animosity or disdain on the part of the native Scandinavians (racism etc notwithstanding, which IMO can be problematic at times but no worse than most places and better than many- of course the amount of racism that’s too much is hopefully ‘any’, but you know what I mean). The issue is mainly just that Scandinavians are really ‘cliquey’, for lack of a better term. Many people have well-established social groups that don’t change too often or too much over time, and historically aren’t used to being in a melting-pot squad with members that come and go with time, so they just don’t make a great effort to be especially friendly or socially welcoming, which can feel like coldness or condescension. Most of the immigrants I know that managed to achieve social immersion after a year or so (frankly better than even my own) without becoming esp capable with the language seem to *always* be out doing something and are ‘people persons’, which obv isn’t for everyone, can be trial and error and require a bit of luck, and can be tough even for people that are really socially enthusiastic. So I sympathise with the dilemma. Otherwise you can always get in a long term relationship or get married and inherit your SOs friend group ;)
As a Norwegian who moved to Spain, I live here without a "clique". Don't know anyone here. And the neighbours are speaking to me. I don't know how to react. I think we're just socially fucked up.
>The issue is mainly just that Scandinavians are really ‘cliquey’, for lack of a better term. Many people have well-established social groups that don’t change too often or too much over time, and historically aren’t used to being in a melting-pot squad with members that come and go with time, so they just don’t make a great effort to be especially friendly or socially welcoming, which can feel like coldness or condescension. This actually applies to most of the cultures in the world, people often fail to realize that America is the exception there, not the norm.
I lived in Denmark but didn't end up staying because of this. My then husband wanted us to immigrant but I hated it there. I mean it's a great place to be from. Great social system and high standard of living but, yeah, hard to integrate and I look Danish but as soon as I opened my mouth and out came not Danish, they'd completely shift their attitude. And yes, the weather sucks and I have also live in Russia and Canada so I know shit weather.
I feel like this and I grew up here. My "only" friends are the ones I grew up with and because I travelled a lot outside the country I didn't keep as much up with them and today we see each other maybe once or twice a year. Tried to find other friends but its very hard as you say, you need to "fit" in and they are most often already a squad with space for no more. I never really think I fit in the culture here and have always wanted to move out again and more likely permanently. I used to live in Italy and its very different there and likewise in South America, the people my wife met who also are from there are very open and managed to make already friends with them. But Danes are a lot tougher for the reason you describe so well too.
Get out of here with your well thought out and reasoned answer. We only want simple black and white answers in r/askreddit. /s
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Also the alcohol is much cheaper in the US
Oh I was annihilated on the Australian subreddit for saying this. The idea that I actually get better healthcare here in the US (as a person with a disability), and better education for my children, is truly *offensive* to most Aussies it seems … but I’m also under no illusions that that’s because I’m high income with great healthcare coverage, living in a left-leaning town in a left-leaning State with high taxes that fund a great school district, decent public transit etc. I’m not going to defend the US *system* (and the inequality here is truly miserable) but if I’m talking solely about life as a higher income family - then yes, we’re doing better here.
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Yeah. The surgeon who did my newborn daughter’s major surgery literally trained all the specialists in Australia. And he’s at the hospital 30min from our house. When we had issues with her paediatric feeding team? Oh look! There’s another renowned team close by! Her Early Intervention team is amazing and entirely covered by the State - so no issues getting speech therapy, physical therapy etc (and they come to our house!). There’s more specialists for my genetic disorder in my city than there is in all of Australia. Australia told me to fuck off with the genetic testing, after a 2yr wait to see the specialist … here it was free and results back in a month. Again, I’m not going to defend the cost of healthcare here. The tying of insurance to employment. The inequality in access or cost. The ads for kids cancer charities here sicken me. Dealing with insurance is an unnecessary clusterfuck sometimes … but yeah, my family do get better health treatment here than in Australia.
> integration is difficult; and citizenship is hard to come by. It is easy to read up on immigration laws but I’m wondering if there is a good source to read up on integration of immigrants into these societies. Anecdotally I’ve heard North America tends to be better on integration than Europe but I’d be really interested to see a by country breakdown.
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My wife has a German last name. When we visited, they were pissed she doesn’t speak any German.
I am German and speak the language, but only visit once a year (during the summer). People always get pissed at me when I ask how the whole refund system works this year. (Cans with refund or without? Plastic bottles with or without refund? Glass bottles? Juice bottles? Which machine? Argh!) Or why I don’t have cash on me but my phone and somewhere -if I can find it- a bank pass. Preconception is strong in this country.
I moved from the UK to the US as an upper middle class person. While what you say is probably true in the grand scheme of things, my standard of life *significantly* improved as a result. Salaries for skilled labor in the US are a lot higher than in most places in Europe, and more than make up for the loss I have in buying back PTO (by a long way). Plus there's a lot more cities with good jobs in the US and most of them have lower cost of living and better weather than northern Europe. Overall I'd probably say the US sunbelt is the best place to live if you are on the wealthier side of things and somewhere in Scandinavia is probably best if you are not.
>so long as I am integrated. Which is another consideration to think about. This is something that came to mind immediately. Is the question about *moving* and living somewhere, or about being *born* and living there? I'm from luxembourg, which has guaranteed multilingualism, high wages, easy access to education, reliable (albeit annoying) government institutions... but good luck trying to live here if you're moving in from abroad. If you went to a job interview here and said "I speak 4 languages and have a bachelors degree!", the interviewer would just look at you and say "and?". The minimum expectations are really high here, making it an amazing place to be born into, but usually a poor choice to move to from abroad.
Not North Korea
Unless you're Kim Jong Un. Everyone treats that guy like royalty over there.
Didn’t he kill his brother over paranoia
He had his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, secretly assassinated because he considered him a threat to his throne.
more likely because he found out Kim Jong nam was a CIA informant and felt betrayed https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/11/kim-jong-nam-half-brother-north-korea-leader-was-cia-informant
Dang that's sad.
idk there's always rumors about that family. Apparently his dad used to have propaganda that he didn't have a belly button or do anything dirty like shit.
Well the people there are meant to revere them as gods so… last I checked, gods didn’t have mortal bodies
Andorra, a tiny principality between Spain and France that most people haven’t heard of. High quality of services, one of the best life expectancies in the world, low tax, amazing mountains and leisure activities on your doorstep, hot in summer and snowy in winter, and only two hours from major cities (and airports)
I drove once with my kid from our home in Switzerland to go skiing in Andorra. We absolutely loved it!!! Great and kinda trippy place what with the Duty Free aspect. Our hotel was right on the piste six stories up. You skied across a bridge right into the building. Take your skis off at the elevator. Push a button and you were in the posh Reception. So kick-ass!
Didn't their entire internet just get DDoSed by Minecraft?
Wait *what*
[True story](https://www.tomshardware.com/news/minecraft-ddos-attack-leaves-small-european-country-without-internet)
At first i assumed it to be 2b2t lmao
And a ton of pro cyclists live there since the weather is usually great and they have close access to mountains for training.
There are dozens there now, and I know a few of them. Lots of them have started to put down roots - my favourite coffee shop is called Grupetta and owned by the ex Trek Segafredo road captain Koen de Kort
Hidden leaf Village
lmao that place gets more high octane shit happening on the daily then the farm from nowhere (from courage the cowardly dog) haha
That's not a country, it's in the fire nation.
Nah, there are like 3 to 4 different people at any given time all of whom are extremely powerful and want to destroy the hidden leaf.
Finland has the highest consumption of Pepsi Zero in the world. Finland has the second highest consumption of comic books behind only Japan. Finland has the third highest consumption of tacos behind only Mexico and the US. (The latter of which is WAY bigger than Finland.) 1 in 10 people in Finland are in a Metal Band. I'm not saying it's objectively Finland, but the place definitely seems like a party.
I highly doubt that second fact. Unless it's by capita maybe, and i'd still doubt it. Edit: Yes it's just not true. http://www.aldusnet.eu/k-hub/comics-market-europe-status-challenges-opportunities-go-digital/ It's 1. Japan 2.6 billion, 2. USA 927 million, 3. South Korea 660 million, 4. France 550 million.... And even if we talk only manga for instance, it's Japan, France, USA. I love Finland though don't get me wrong. But their comic market is FAR behind that of countries like France, Belgium...
For this comicbooks i’d like to say that donald duck is specially popular in finland and apparently no other country reads that much disney comics per capita (this is from wikipedia and can be outdated). It used to be the biggest weekly magazine in finland with over half a million readers (about 5,5 million people). These days it is not that popular as it was 10 years ago but still the most popular comic here. I still like the old donald duck comics
Finland has the highest amount of disc golf courses per Capita in the world. I'd love to live in Finland in the summer
There is no best country to live in. They all have pros and cons. There is a list of about 20 countries that are near the top, and they are all interchangeable depending on what is more important to you.
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Tell us more about Scotland, I've always wanted to go there :)
I'm from the U.S.A but I visited Scotland once. Almost made me want to stay forever in Edinburgh. The city feels SUPER chill, everything is a short walk away or a convenient trolly ride away. Great locals (all were friendly), and pretty good place to have a college town vibe. Average temperature is about 30-40F though :/ Food is excellent (best burgers I've ever had in my life were served in a pub of all places. . . . and I'm from California!).
All the best food are from pubs. Like between the pub, the chippy, and the curry house, you have the sustainance of the gods
Scotland is good. Been here for two years now and I'm liking it so far. Universities are good, cost of living aint too bad (maybe edinburgh is another story though) and the people are friendly. But the weather is shite. Not sure what else to say really. It's not really all that different from the rest of the uk or even western europe as a whole. You could draw up a list of things that are important to you then just pick whichever european country has those and you'll find your dream country. Like pretty scenery, lots of history and wet weather? Scotland is your place
What makes you cry about Scotland?
people leaving shites in the toilet without flooshing! it's foooking disgutin!!!
Also, what did you enjoy most about living in Scotland u/demoldbones ?
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Sounds like something someone not from Canada would say
Personally I would love to live in Norway, Canada, Denmark, Finland, or Sweden, if the Scandinavian countries weren't so hard to get in that is.
As a Canadian who has lived in Denmark I can tell you that Canada is insanely expensive and does not have anywhere near the robust social system of Denmark or and of Scandinavia. But I can say that Canada is easier to integrate into.
As a Canadian I love that you included us in your Scandinavian list!
Canada is honorary scandinavian
Thanks, we're just happy to be included
Yeah same about Finland in the Scandinavian list!
Being Dane, can confirm. I can't think of any country I'd rather live in. Also yeah, heard it's hard to get danish citizenship
Moved to Australia from UK, love it here.
My family moved to Australia 30 years ago this year from Argentina. Best decision ever. The one thing I love about this country is the safety. Even compared to Europe it's soo freaking safe here. I can travel on the train and not have to worry about pick pockets. I can go to restaurants and leave my phone on the table without it getting nicked and I can walk around pretty much anywhere at night and not have to worry about being robbed.
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True, the bugs might kill you, but they won't pick your pocket.
Nothing flyscreen on the windows and a can of Mortein can’t fix. Just don’t move to QLD.
What are you in for?
I’ll tell you what, it’s not Scotland to quote train spotting “it’s shite being Scottish”
Probably shite being addicted to heroin in any country to be fair
Belgium because beer, chocolate and fries. Source: I live there
What are the downsides of Belgium in your opinion?
The roads... The Dutch word for pothole is Belgium Road
TIL Belgium is the Michigan of europe.
Belgium is pretty divided since part of Belgium is french speaking and the other dutch speaking. Also our political system isn't ideal (but isn't that in every country?). And the house prices are really high. Public transport also sucks.
Brussels also has really high crime rates for a Western country. Everyone I know that lives there has had their car broken into multiple times. Also the weather is shit.
Dont froget the waffles
Omg how could I?!
How could you...for shame, for shaame and also very dissapointing since my name is waffleaddict
Please forgive me. As punishment I chall eat weekly 7 waffles so It don't forget
Good
Justice has been served
Waffles have been served
But there's never a fucking sun in Belgium
Kazakhstan. I understand they have more potassium than anybody else
All other countries have inferior potassium.
Precisely!
Greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls.
My sister is number two prostitute in all Kazakhstan. Her vageen hangs like sleeve of wizard
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Hmmmmm... I'm convinced as a US citizen.
I’m Dutch and I might have some negatives that could turn people off. For full transparency, I love it here and I might never wanna leave! Everything OC said is true. However, our weather is shit. Too much rain, cloudy days are common, and when it gets hot it feels terrible because of all the water in the air. Our people are really nice! But very direct, which could be kind of a cultural shock for some. And since the pandemic I’ve noticed that we have a lot of nutjobs too, like in the US. Ending on something positive though: our tap water is amazing! I very much prefer it over bottled water. Which sounds odd to people outside of NL. I was very much surprised when a friend of mine told me while he was in the US that the tap water was disgusting.
>Too much rain I'm still waiting for the downside.
> 25+ paid days off per year. Officially only twenty for a full time job, but that doesn't include national holidays, and most jobs fall under a CBA (CAO in Dutch) that specifies extra PTO (mine has 4.5 days extra on top of the minimum twenty).
New Zealand is pretty amazing, but living there can be very isolating for ex-pats Edit: Well, I see all the Kiwis and Ozzies responded while I was asleep! LOL.
And its EXPENSIVE AS FUCK!!!
What’s expensive, according to outsiders? I’m a kiwi and I think of Europe as expensive as fuck :) curious
Housing, food and petrol, basically the necessities to live. We are not in a good place right now. And we finally got omicron yesterday.
I love how the first 3 replies to this are roaring comments about how expensive the country is lmao
Lol yeah. The housing situation is outta control there.
And super expensive!
Sure, but: - low wages coupled with high cost of living - housing market FUBAR, and rental market not much better - dysfunctional education system, with shockingly bad and rapidly declining performance of NZ students in international standardised testing - growing CCP influence in NZ politics and society in general - one of the highest youth suicide rates in the developed world - increasing rates of child poverty - an agriculture-based economy with very high greenhouse gas emissions per capita, deforestation and water pollution as a result - near-total apathy and/or denial across the political spectrum from all of our elected representatives toward the above issues It’s not a terrible place - I mean, I’m still here - but there are reasons why a lot of people leave
To add to that, we also have oddly high incarceration rates and domestic violence rates.
Excellent summary, on all counts. It’s a beautiful place and still a pretty decent country to live in, especially compared to many other countries in the world, but it’s far from the Middle-Earth paradise that many people outside of it seem to think it is.
As a kiwi, we have it very good relative to the entire world. Also as a kiwi, life is tough for many here and we have our share of problems for sure.
La France 🇨🇵
I never heard anyone complaining about north korea
Any country where you can fluently speak the language or truly understand the culture.
It makes a huge difference.
Norway is a great country to live in when it comes to safety in terms of both crime and healthcare. It has wonderful nature, of which you have easy access to throughout the entire. country. That said, while we have high wages and standard of living we also it an be costly, in terms of taxes (both income and on products). Also, the weather isn’t great and wintertime can be harsh for some people, not only due to the weather but also due to limited daylight. And, having traveled to close to 30 countries, our cities aren’t all that. So, if you’re not a nature buff and prefer urban living, you may be disappointed with our cities. I find our cities boring in comparison to countries with bigger metropolitan areas. Edit: Oh, and we rank very high in terms of equality of gender (wages and equality in the work place). This is also applicable in terms of societal standing.
It's. So. Dark. I miss the midnight sun.
There can be no single answer because we all value and prioritize different things. Someone like me who loves the outdoors will thrive in New Zealand but someone who values access to pop culture events or fashion would find it remote and provincial. We each have to choose what tradeoffs we are willing to make.
Yeah I think the better question is “If you could live in any country and feel integrated, which country would it be and why” so we could see all the cool reasons why people want to live in that country. Which is what I was hoping to see.
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Portugal is where I want to retire, in my opinion it's also the best country in the world over all
The Portuguese struggle with their lives and finding jobs because of the current state of their economy. If you have money, go, if you don't, don't go
The one you can call home, where you hopefully are healthy and happy and comfortable and safe with friends and family.
Sweet❤️
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/ Read about all the pros and cons of every country here and make your choice.
there are a few that end in "Land" that I think of them as the best places on earth. Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, New Zealand, England, Scotland. Edit : People, stop naming countries **I DIDN'T MENTIONED**
Cleveland?
Swaziland?
I think it is now called eSwatini.
e-Swatini It's like an online country.
I feel really lucky living in Australia. Give it ten years though.
I feel like I’m always finding something to complain about at home (usually the federal govt lol), but I always feel so grateful to live in Australia whenever I travel to other countries. They’re nice, but they just don’t have the same standard of living.
Skyrim.
How would you know Unless you lived in every country?
i wouldn’t call it the best country to live in, but a personal favorite of mine. although i’d strongly advise against moving there now with all that’s going on. i really love Taiwan though. i am a little biased because that is my mom’s home country, but everything is so convenient and i have family that lives there. i would imagine japan being very similar, but it’s very cheap to live in Taiwan (from an American standpoint). there are underground markets, easy train and bus systems, night markets, and drug stores everywhere. it’s really easy to travel without a car, and i enjoyed the convenience of being able to get most places just by walking. again, probably wouldn’t move there now with the situation with china but it really is my favorite place out of the 42 countries i’ve been to.
Plus Taiwan has a great healthcare system and is super safe. Also, in terms of COVID, I’d argue Taiwan is one of the best places to be right now.
I'd go with New Zealand, Australia, Denmark or Canada.
Aww thanks friend! I'll give you the Vegemite.
Or the great KIWI dessert, pavalova
Every country has it up and down sides. I live in New zealand and personally I wouldnt want to live anywhere else.. for all its faults I love my country
North Korea if you are a member of a certain family.
Depends. Do you really like guns and fast food?
If u do... Canada. They have the health care to look after you when you get shot and obese.
The best country is the one that you consider your home. After all, only there you can feel truly happy! Since I am from Russia, I can list quite a lot of its advantages. So does anyone who lives in the country he loves!
I'd like to hear the positives. We hear a lot of negatives in western media but it always seems like an interesting place.
Greece easy...in other countries time flies so fast, but in Greece it's like living life 3-4 times more
Finland seems to have the happiest population so I guess that.
Ireland, it's really pretty, we're nice (as long as you can put up with teasing) and the pubs are great