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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   4169 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 12, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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What are the reasons you don't want to live in other european countries? While I'm not terribly happy with the direction of the EU or my home country, they do seem clearly preferable compared to the UK. Especially most of north europe has some in my opinion critical perks:

  • Parental money is pretty good, so having a family is quite easy
  • (medical) doctor income is pretty good in several of them AFAIK
  • objectively much better building standards
  • a bit more subjective, but just visibly not in as much decay; London - and even moreso the few smaller cities I visited - just outright disgusted me at times at how it looks and feels like a third world country. Run-down buildings with smashed windows, barbed wires around the nicer places, cars that are scratched all over, non-capital crimes go de-facto mostly unenforced, streets with mounts of trash and the occasional literal human shit, erratic junkies on most trains and busses. Fairly blatant antisocial behaviour is also quite normalised.
  • Food quality is imo also better, but admittedly a non-european may see it differently

I visited London a few years ago and didn't see any of those things you mentioned. Streets were pretty clean, I didn't see any smashed windows or barbed wire, and in like a week of wandering and taking busses and the chewb I only saw one belligerent junkie (on the street). Probably some neighborhoods are worse than others but I didn't avoid anywhere on purpose.

Hmm, it is not that I categorically rule out out other European countries, it depends.

Many of them are even more fucked than the UK is, at least when it comes to wages, even adjusted for purchasing power parity. France is slightly worse, Italy is pretty bad.

Germany is arguably better than the UK, even if only modestly so. It is actually a breeze to get into, but I would need to learn German and then practise in it, and while that is hardly the end of the world, the very modest bump up in wages makes it a borderline case.

(Switzerland is amazing to work in as a doctor, but very hard to get into, in addition to language requirements)

What other places do you envision, in Northern Europe, if not Europe as a whole? I can tell you that France is probably a no-go. Germany? I don't see any obvious advantage over the UK, like it's slightly better. Belgium? No idea, but I can check.

I should look into the Nordics, though I suspect language will be a problem again.

But I don't consider than in unsurmountable one, I can hold my nose and try not to gag while consuming surstromming if it's worth it haha.

a bit more subjective, but just visibly not in as much decay; London - and even moreso the few smaller cities I visited - just outright disgusted me at times at how it looks and feels like a third world country. Run-down buildings with smashed windows, barbed wires around the nicer places, cars that are scratched all over, non-capital crimes go de-facto mostly unenforced, streets with mounts of trash and the occasional literal human shit, erratic junkies on most trains and busses. Fairly blatant antisocial behaviour is also quite normalised.

I'll be honest with you chief, I'm Indian, and whatever grime and dysfunction I noted in London, it is well within what I'm able to tolerate, if only because I have low standards. But in all honesty, I toured quite a bit of the city and it was perfectly acceptable to me.

My Airbnb was supposedly in a bad neighborhood, but there were BMWs parked outside, the odd door left open, no grills or barking dogs. Entirely unremarkable.

It might be worse in the smaller cities, I only got to visit London and Manchester, which were both fine. The Metro was totally acceptable, full of working poor to UMC finance types alike. Nobody but one cranky old cunt made a fuss, it was all fine, and I was there for several months.

I appreciate the suggestion, and I'll take a look at what me feasible for me!

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