Moving to another country--have you ever thought about it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter whatevergirl
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
whatevergirl said:
Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut Malia–Yes, my husband crossed Canada off the list…LOL:rolleyes: For a number of reasons, and plus, we like a steady moderate or warmer climate. It’s too cold in Canada during the winters! We have officially become weather wimps now:D
Click to expand...
Hey! Nothing wrong with moving to Canada, besides the cold weather makes it possible to play hockey eh?
lol jk, I would personally move to the US or at least any warm country down south ( in da caribbean maybe :P) especially since I’m tired of all this darn cold weather…

God Bless,
Podo
 
I lived in the US, then moved to Norway, then back to the US and will move to Germany or Switzerland in early 2009. All of the moves were work related, so not due to politics at all.

That said, moving to another country due to politics is not the best idea. I started following politics outside of the US when I started traveling/moving around for work. Until I did that, I thought that the problems we have politically were unique to the US and to the general stupidity of the people. News flash: they are not. Regardless of where you live, there will be candidates that you do not like who will be in charge for some length of time.

Also, changing citizenship is a fairly long process in most countries. By the time you finish, the political landscape could be vastly different.
 
whatevergirl said:
What are your thoughts? I would be interested also in hearing from people on here who have moved from the US, to another country, and why, and how you did it–and are you happy you did it? Thank you.🙂
Click to expand...
My husband and I have discussed doing it, but it wouldn’t work as we would like to live in Europe and work for an American geologist just wouldn’t fit. It would be perfect for a musician like me, but I doubt that I would be able to make enough money for the two of us.

I lived in London for a semester when I was studying over there and absolutely fell in love with Great Britain and the people. Of course, I wasn’t there for years, but I didn’t want to go home once I settled in there. It was a perfect first country to visit as I had never been out of the country before.

After college, I had planned to move to Germany as my former voice teacher had some connections there. She lived in Germany for 20 years. But things for American singers changed since the fall of communism and it didn’t make sense for me to go over there without a lot of experience. Then I really fell in love with my husband and got engaged. haha!

I did stay in Salzburg for a bit while studying music at the Mozarteum there and got to understand the culture and way of life too. It is different from the American culture in terms of shopping, getting around, smaller things, etc., but I was already prepared for that through my voice teacher and actually like living there.

My teacher loved living in Germany as well, but it is not for everyone. She had sent previous students over there (prior to the fall of the Berlin wall) who couldn’t get used to the change of culture.

Now, when I think about it, I love my family and my husband’s family too much to live that far away from them. We want to have a family and I’d like our children to have grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins close by like how I grew up. I don’t mind traveling over there for a couple days, weeks, months at a time, but I like being in close proximity to my family.
 
whatevergirl said:
Okay–so you see this people? There are positives everywhere you look!😃 Hi jules:wave: You know, we had a gigantic spider in the house last night…ugh, so startling looking:bigyikes: …and my son killed it…but no one would remove it off the floor…haha until my husband got home from work. haha I have seen National Geographic stories on tv about Australia’s ‘house insects’ omg jules…they are ENORMOUS! How do you deal with that? Truthfully, my husband and I always thought of living their parttime, but my dd (and me) are deathly afraid of spiders, and the like…how do you cope with those?
Click to expand...
Wow this thread is so long! I just saw this Whatevergirl so sorry about me being a bit slow. I haven’t read the whole thread so you’ve probably well and truly moved on from here!
Well, the worst house spider we have is a huntsman. It’s not so bad. Don’t see them that often! They’re not that big, but they are hairy and creepy looking. The more dangerous ones are redbacks and white tip spiders.
I hate them too, but like I said, you would get one once every couple of weeks, depending on the weather. The mosquitoes are more annoying!
 
Sarabande said:
Now, when I think about it, I love my family and my husband’s family too much to live that far away from them. We want to have a family and I’d like our children to have grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins close by like how I grew up. I don’t mind traveling over there for a couple days, weeks, months at a time, but I like being in close proximity to my family.
Click to expand...
It was probably unintentional, but this is very, very hurtful. Do you think those of us that had to make a difficult choice to separate from our siblings/parents/grandparents to be with our spouses love our families less? I assure you, we don’t. But we can’t have everything in life, and many times hard sacrifices are required. I agonized over my decision literally for years, but I was being called to marriage with my husband, and that could not happen if we had to live close to my family.

It doesn’t mean I didn’t love them, or that I don’t think it’s important to have them close when we have children. I was (am) incredibly close to my family, especially to my mother. My heart broke when I left, and will never be quite the same again, but it was necessary in order to live the life I should be living.
 
Hi there,

As an ex-pat, I have to say it’s not a bad thing to find a new place to live. But you have to have connections in the country you move to. Like me, I met my DH online in 1996, and moved in 1997. So I had a spouse to move in with.

Downside? Only 100,000 Catholics in Sweden. 😛 My Church is out of town, 30 mins… and I either have to bus it or ask my DH to take my son and I. (DH is agnostic.) I cannot convert my license from USA to Swedish as only EU licenses can be converted.
 
Yes, I thought of it.
US citizens are allowed to have a second nationality/citizenship.
But I would not do it for any political reasons (they go back and forth) only religious reasons.
Spain has lots of Catholic history and empty churches.
France has more Catholic trads than any other country.
Kerala has the Syro-Malankara rite.
 
NoxSineStellae said:
It was probably unintentional, but this is very, very hurtful. Do you think those of us that had to make a difficult choice to separate from our siblings/parents/grandparents to be with our spouses love our families less? I assure you, we don’t. But we can’t have everything in life, and many times hard sacrifices are required. I agonized over my decision literally for years, but I was being called to marriage with my husband, and that could not happen if we had to live close to my family.

It doesn’t mean I didn’t love them, or that I don’t think it’s important to have them close when we have children. I was (am) incredibly close to my family, especially to my mother. My heart broke when I left, and will never be quite the same again, but it was necessary in order to live the life I should be living.
Click to expand...
I’m so sorry that this hurt you. I didn’t mean this for you or anyone else. I just meant this for how I feel for myself right now. We just lost our grandfather last week, so being close to my family at the moment is most important to me and the moment I’m just happy that I was in the area to be there with my family to grieve. My uncle lived in Nigeria for many years with his wife and son. I NEVER felt that he loved us any less because of it. I actually thought it was so cool that he could live in another country. Also, my mother left her country to come here to the States and hadn’t seen her family in years, but I also knew it didn’t mean she didn’t love them either. (I have my mother’s wunderlust. 😛 ) She also married an American here, so there was no chances of her ever going back to her land of birth and after over 35 years, she still has not gone back. Much of my mother’s side of the family have made sacrifices and were separated from each other for years, especially trying to emigrate here. Some of my cousins wouldn’t be able to see their fathers or mothers for months and months on end. So, I do understand the sacrifices you guys make.

What I said at the end of my previous post doesn’t mean that I still don’t wish or dream about living abroad. I actually really love Europe - my husband thinks sometimes a little more that I do the States. :o And I’m sure that if I was offered a good contract to sing at some big opera house over there for a few years, we probably would get up and go there, especially if I knew that I would be able to support us.
 
James_Miller said:
Yes, I thought of it.
US citizens are allowed to have a second nationality/citizenship.
Click to expand...
Don’t assume Dual Citizenship is allowed everywhere.

Sweden in 2001 just started allowing (again) for Americans to have Dual Citizenship. Before this, all Americans kept their own citizenship of course.
 
come to croatia! 😃
middle europe, mild climate, 90%catholic, very good education, warm welcome guaranteed 👍
 
Dear whatevergirl

I want you to consider the fact that in America a great deal of the population is christian… you have a chance of having fellowship with other christians, you have christian schools and importantly: you have a value-debate in society that we do not even have in Europe … I am talking about the huge privilege it is for you guys that you actually have a debate about abortion etc in your society, a debate that is taken serious… you are on the difficult but worthwhile road of making changes in your society even if it takes time… if you move away you can not give your fuel to this process anymore… you will move to a place that is light years away from having the values you seek and where you will always be strangers… To tell you the truth: you are a lille bit crazy I think.
America is not all that… you have lots of problems… but at least you have giant subcultures and groups in your society that do not follow the secularistic stream…
Move away if you want… but you’ll be back in a few years… that is unless you have a missionary call to Japan.
Where I come from there is never a presidential candidate that would dare to call himself a Christian and fight openly for Christian values … if any of the american christian candidates came and had their campaign in Europe they would be made to leave very soon and mocked all the way out… you should be happy that you live where you do.
 
Heather… You live in my part of the world…
I am a Catholic in Denmark and you are a Catholic in Sweden… I guess we both must feel out of place… 🙂
I am actually friends with a Sweedish protestant pastor… I thought that he might be the one for me… but now I begin to see that it’s too complicated… I think I have to take the decision that I will only consider marrying a Catholic from now on. It must be difficult for you to be married to an agnostic in a country like Sweden. I hope the Lord gives you strength.
 
I will be retiring and moving to the Philippines in awhile. The Philippines is a staunch Catholic country where abortion is illegal etc. My wife is from the Philippines, and she has a very nice family there which are all to the good. Also American money goes very far there, even more than, for example, Mexico. I don’t have any illusions though about how well I may or may not adjust to a different culture when so many things are different. Though this has nothing to do with my moving, Catholics may be in for a difficult time in teh U.S. in years to come, since some state governments are cracking down on Catholics when it comes to pharmacists refusing to dispense pills that cause abortions, Catholic groups that will not pay for contraceptive health coverage, etc and this may be just the beginning. (Of course all this remains to be seen.)
 
Guess what peeps! I was on yahoo earlier, and the US did NOT make the 10 top happiest countries…Denmark was #1–following were Austria, Iceland, Canada…bla bla…but US ranked #23. The following criteria were taken into consideration when polling nearly 80,000 people–health, wealth, and education.

So…there you have it. Something does NOT stink in Denmark.😛 😃

The survey went on to say that countries with larger and growing populations are the least happiest…thus, China, Japan and India are not on the happiest countries list. Oh well…Japan’s out. I definitely want to be happy–although, happiness is a state of being. I would say though that I have my days where I’m not altogether happy here in Florida. Too many people!😦

Anyways–thought I’d share those findings with you!
 
whatevergirl said:
Guess what peeps! I was on yahoo earlier, and the US did NOT make the 10 top happiest countries…Denmark was #1–following were Austria, Iceland, Canada…bla bla…but US ranked #23. The following criteria were taken into consideration when polling nearly 80,000 people–health, wealth, and education.

So…there you have it. Something does NOT stink in Denmark.😛 😃
Click to expand...
Thanks, whatevergirl!!! I’ve never been to Denmark (which I would love to visit), but I have to say I LOVED Salzburg, Austria when I was studying there. It was one of the more “Catholic” cities I’ve lived in/visited. You’d see young and old priests and friars and sisters all over the place. I loved attending mass there at the different churches and the Cathedral and visiting the Capuchin monastery and almost every mass I attended (I tried to attend a couple masses each Sunday) was pretty much packed - standing room only sometimes. It’s so clean, pristine and beautiful. I’m sure I’m probably painting a rosier picture than what it really is, but my experience there was wonderful. One of my classmates from Italy loved being there and studying there more so than Italy.

But I have to say, I LOVED Italy too and the people. They are very warm and loving and welcoming. It (or at least the town I was in - and I was only there for a month) just didn’t seem as devout as Salzburg. While I was studying music in that Italian town, almost every night, they were having socialist party demonstrations and the congregations for mass were only a tiny fraction of what you’d see in Salzburg.
 
Sarabande said:
Thanks, whatevergirl!!! I’ve never been to Denmark (which I would love to visit), but I have to say I LOVED Salzburg, Austria when I was studying there. It was one of the more “Catholic” cities I’ve lived in/visited. You’d see young and old priests and friars and sisters all over the place. I loved attending mass there at the different churches and the Cathedral and visiting the Capuchin monastery and almost every mass I attended (I tried to attend a couple masses each Sunday) was pretty much packed - standing room only sometimes. It’s so clean, pristine and beautiful. I’m sure I’m probably painting a rosier picture than what it really is, but my experience there was wonderful. One of my classmates from Italy loved being there and studying there more so than Italy.

But I have to say, I LOVED Italy too and the people. They are very warm and loving and welcoming. It (or at least the town I was in - and I was only there for a month) just didn’t seem as devout as Salzburg. While I was studying music in that Italian town, almost every night, they were having socialist party demonstrations and the congregations for mass were only a tiny fraction of what you’d see in Salzburg.
Click to expand...
Hello! Yes, I would have thought Italy would have made the list…but it didn’t. I think the key to remember here is that this poll dealt with ‘happiest countries to reside’ not necessarily visit. Visiting places are very deceiving I have found…Living here in Florida–commuting, the property and insurance problems, crime…etc…would not be issues I would have, just visiting…or staying at a luxury hotel. I think when people move here (like me)…we assume life is going to be an endless vacation–NOT. So, same with these other countries. Residing in Denmark made #1 as happiest place, so that to me, is pretty impressive. My husband said it’s because drugs are legal, that’s why everyone is so happy… :eek: 😛 Of course, he’s joking about this being the reason behind the happiness. (well, he thinks drugs are legal there…lol–you know what I mean)
 
whatevergirl said:
I won’t name the candidate name…but if a certain someone is elected as President of the USA in this upcoming election–my husband and I have strongly considered leaving the U.S. I know–sounds crazy, right? But, should it? My and my husband’s employer…are global–and there are offices in most countries. We discussed moving to Japan, if this candidate were to be elected. The thought of our tax dollars going to support this person’s (personal) agenda, is something that is really not sitting well with us. Now, the person has not won yet, but we are thinking of moving out of the country if it happens.

Are we insane? I suppose we would have to see if Japan’s government holds the values that we hold. My husband said that there are a lot of luxuries that he could see me missing–luxuries that are actually just basic everyday things to us here in this country–but are luxuries to others, in countries outside of the US. I haven’t thought that far.😛 Does not HAVE to be Japan, as we are also tossing around the idea of Australia.

What are your thoughts? I would be interested also in hearing from people on here who have moved from the US, to another country, and why, and how you did it–and are you happy you did it? Thank you.🙂
Click to expand...
I find it hard to believe that a country where less than 1% of the population is Christian would support our values. Not sure how Japan feels on issues such as abortion, but considering that it has traditionally supported ritualized suicide, I have my doubts that it’s pro-life.

Besides, Australia is in some ways more liberal than the United States from what I understand, with topless and nude beaches being much more common there than in the US.

That being said, I moved to Korea 10 months ago for a job. I’ve been very happy here, but I’m not sure that I’m coming back. But that actually has less to do with Korea as a whole than about myself and my future. It is difficult to live in an Asian country, since the culture shock can be extreme. However, there is something refreshing about being in a country that is not a Christian country. (Korea does have the second largest population of Christians in Asia, but still do not account for the majority of the country, and the country is not a traditionally or historically Christian one.) Korea is very conservative on issues such as homosexuality (most people do not believe that there are any gay people in Korea) but abortion is very common here, especially sex selective abortion. It’s not as bad as it once was, since 20 years ago, for every one live birth, there were two abortions.

The bad thing about being in Korea (and probably other East Asian countries) is the lack of a sense of chivalry. In the West, the strong are supposed to protect the weak. In the East, the strong are supposed to be dictatorial towards the weak, and if the weak go against the strong, they can expect physical violence as a result.

However, in Korea, Christianity represents an alternative to what has come before, and it is a generally an alternative with wide appeal. It is much less appealing in Japan, where missionaries in Japan have had very little success, and even now, as Japan seems to soak up all sorts of facets of Western society, but are not at all interested in Christianity.
 
valient_Lucy said:
Besides, Australia is in some ways more liberal than the United States from what I understand, with topless and nude beaches being much more common there than in the US.
Click to expand...
Huh? This is not true. There is only one that I know of here in South Aust., but hardly anyone goes there! It’s not that common here at all.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top