Where would you emigrate?

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Anesti33

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This one goes out primarily to my countrymen in these United States. If you’re from somewhere else, you can play, but please state your country of origin!

One of my old friends recently turned up in Switzerland as an expat. It got me to thinking, if I had the means and the wherewithal, where would I emigrate to, and why?

My first choice would be Russia (to some major city, perhaps Moscow or such.) Russia’s unique blend of morality, protectionism, and ancient empire appeals to me. I think I would enjoy learning to speak Russian and brushing up on my Cyrillic alphabet. Biggest drawback here: no Catholic Church. Would I dare convert to Russian Orthodoxy? I don’t know, I’ve already become an expat…

Other big drawback to emigrating anywhere: loss of all friends, neighbors, government support and citizenship. Might have to start all over from scratch. I’m middle-aged, it would never be the same.

My second choice for emigration would have to be Poland. I love its Catholicity. It’s got a great European feel to it and very cosmopolitan if I live in a big city. I might consider Romania or Hungary, but Poland is just such a happening place that I couldn’t pass it up.

And then while we’re fantasizing, what’s it like for a non-Jew to immigrate to Israel? Would I ever gain citizenship? Is it difficult to find work in the tech industry there? (Probably not) It’s so unstable and dangerous though: I would risk a pilgrimage but I shouldn’t enjoy living in crosshairs every day.
 
Anesti33 said:
And then while we’re fantasizing, what’s it like for a non-Jew to immigrate to Israel? Would I ever gain citizenship? Is it difficult to find work in the tech industry there? (Probably not) It’s so unstable and dangerous though: I would risk a pilgrimage but I shouldn’t enjoy living in crosshairs every day.
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Visiting Israel a few years back, I learned that there are very many expats working in companies such as Google, particularly (it seems) in Haifa, which is the third largest city after Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

I think you’re wrong about the instability. The main destabilizing factor in the recent period has been the Covid pandemic, causing an economic downturn and growing unemployment. Politically, there is no unrest on anything like the scale we saw this year in many cities across the United States. There may or may not be yet another election in a few months’ time, and Netanyahu may or may not be prime minister this time next year, but that’s the way it goes in any parliamentary democracy.
 
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Anesti33 said:
My first choice would be Russia (to some major city, perhaps Moscow or such.) Russia’s unique blend of morality, protectionism, and ancient empire appeals to me. I think I would enjoy learning to speak Russian and brushing up on my Cyrillic alphabet. Biggest drawback here: no Catholic Church. Would I dare convert to Russian Orthodoxy? I don’t know, I’ve already become an expat…
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Вы думаете что вы хочите жить в России? Ок…

Personally I’d be leery of Russia. Too many reasons to list. I think the traditionalist-seeming veneer would wear off quickly and then you’re left with only the reality of what Russia actually is, today. Which… well. I’m not sure how familiar you are but there’s not just an absence of the Catholic Church. There’s hostility to it. And the economic/political situation in Russia… well.
Anesti33 said:
My second choice for emigration would have to be Poland. I love its Catholicity.
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WA_Catholic said:
Poland for me. I am thinking about it now to be honest.
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I recall seeing a link here on CAF recently, what was the story… hmm, can’t find it now. But something projecting that Poland will lose its catholicity within our lifetimes because despite Church attendance the youth don’t internally believe.

Personally, my answer to the question is I think there’s nowhere really to go. Those of us who live in the west could technically move to places that haven’t yet developed the specific problems of the west… but they’ll probably catch up soon and in the meantime they often have other problems too.

Better to stay in place and make our own societies better, in my view.

But I don’t mean to get in the way of a thread that may be just for fun. Carry on. And in the name of a ‘fun’ pick, I’ll say… Brazil. Still plenty of problems there, but at least it’s near the equator and the weather’s nice.
 
Oh, I do! And — ironically enough, all things considered — the safety, too! One feature of life in Brazil that suddenly came into sharp focus a few months ago is the absence of the kind of uncontrolled fury that erupted in the form of prolonged rioting in the United States and several countries in Europe.

In earlier centuries, more enslaved Africans were shipped to Brazil than to the United States. In Brazil, however, slavery didn’t leave the same legacy of racial animosity that fueled the wave of BLM protests in the U.S. and around the world. There were no such protests in Brazil.
 
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I’ve been to Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow) several times for short stays of 5 to 10 days. I like it fine as a tourist. The language is beautiful. If I had to live there, I think I could adapt to their culture but I would be uneasy and actually feel insecure about some aspects of it.

I think I would like Germany, in the south (Bavaria or Frankfurt-Stuttgart region).
 
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I always wished to live in Russia: St. Petersburg or Moscow. I even took Russian classes for 2 years to prepare myself atleast for start. I am Slav so language is pretty easy for me.
Unfortunately I have never been there due to life circumstances but I hope dream will come true someday.

OP, there are Catholics, Russian Greek Catholic Church and they are minority.
I wouldn’t like to spend my whole life there but several years.

Besides Russia I would love to live in Italy, I could spend whole life there.
 
Anesti33 said:
Switzerland
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I’d live in Sion, Valais if I lived in Switzerland. I’ve already thought this out.
If I lived in France, I’d live around Strasbourg or Nice. Or the Aosta valley in Italy.
Anesti33 said:
Biggest drawback here: no Catholic Church. Would I dare convert to Russian Orthodoxy?
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I thought about going to Greece. I would not become Greek Orthodox, but, given the low number of Catholics there, I could fulfill my Sunday obligation at an Orthodox Church. I may not be able to receive Holy Communion (Orthodox rules, not Catholic ones), but I am already familiar with Byzantine liturgy, so, that’s okay. I can just find a Catholic church to travel to every once in a while
Anesti33 said:
My second choice for emigration would have to be Poland. I love its Catholicity. It’s got a great European feel to it and very cosmopolitan if I live in a big city. I might consider Romania or Hungary, but Poland is just such a happening place that I couldn’t pass it up.
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Poland is a very pro-life country, too. And Romania and Hungary can be bargains if you know where to look. THAT SAID, Hungarian, not being an Indo-European language is HARD.
Anesti33 said:
And then while we’re fantasizing, what’s it like for a non-Jew to immigrate to Israel? Would I ever gain citizenship? Is it difficult to find work in the tech industry there? (Probably not) It’s so unstable and dangerous though: I would risk a pilgrimage but I shouldn’t enjoy living in crosshairs every day.
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Some of my mom’s cousins are Israeli citizens. They are Jewish. Jewish Mexicans. Some of them. One of her cousins married a Jew, and you can do that and get an Israeli citizenship, as well. They are Israeli citizens, but actually spend very little time there. Because rich people don’t stay home, for some reason. My nieces and nephews might be able to get a Maltese citizenship (a bit difficult to explain), so, there’s that.
 
I’d like to take 100 like minded men and their families and carve out a micro state in the wilderness.
 
Ideally a resource rich region of Africa with lots of water and arable land, and good natural boundaries that form defensible choke points.
 
France is the first choice, USA is my second, and UK is the third. Those were beautiful countries. Awaiting for lots of adventure!
 
The cool thing about the US is that it is huge (Canada is also huge, I know, don’t be offended Canadians), and because of that, and its location, we have all kinds of landscapes, and plants, and animals, and it’s awesome.
 
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