Dr. Seuss.
German children’s literature not joyful? How about Struwwelpeter? That’s a laugh riot.
Yes Tina Turner got her citizenship before she married her long time BF from Germany.
Yikes, I thought we would have our house paid off sooner than we will…will have to plan and figure better over the next 6 years.
In Germany, just outside of Trier, along the Mosel River. With my own little vineyard. And France just a very short drive away. I’m ready.
Melbourne, Gothenburg, Budapest or Sheffield
There are many places I’d like to visit, but if I were actually going to try to make a life and integrate socially and economically instead of stay in the expat bubble, I would choose a large continental English-speaking country with traditions of immigration, strong property rights, and a continuous history of democratic governance. In other words, the place most like home. That pretty much narrows it down to Canada or Australia.
I like to travel, but I am not cut out to live abroad. I have known this for a long time despite early dreams of an exotic life. I need to live here. I feel sorry for people who are exiled from their countries (not by choice). I can see how it would be a real heartache.
Another study that agrees with my earlier choice (post #74):
Yup, if it wasn’t for that pesky requirement to have to be proficient on one of the languages spoken in Switzerland (um, NOT English), and if their chocolate was calorie free, Switzerland would definitely be, as I mentioned above , top choice. And gee, we were in Küsnacht just down the street (literally) from Tina’s home (the Algonquin) at Christmastime a few years ago. She had a beautiful golden wreath on the front gate when we walked by. Why weren’t we invited to the holiday party?
If one can afford it and can fit in culturally @Scipio. On my past visits, the Swiss has uptight moments like US folks do, but somewhat on different things. The Swiss (and Europeans) are very use to their vacation time - first year employees get 5 weeks vacation (they think we are brutal with only 2 or 3 weeks). They have very high housing costs and many other living costs, which drives them to needing pretty strong salaries. Even social worker cousin has a pretty good level of income and of course the benefits. Americans definitely eat out more than Swiss do, and a ‘good meal’ in Switzerland is $$$.
We ARE brutal with only 2 or 3 weeks!
The Swiss also couldn’t believe expecting a woman to get discharged 24 to 48 hours from hospital having a baby - don’t know if this has changed with the Swiss, but in the past, a normal vaginal delivery w/o complications meant a week in the hospital.
Spain.
Oh, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Melbourne…
DH travels to London, Frankfurt and Basel frequently. Now that the guys have graduated, if an opportunity for him to work in the EU for a couple of years came along, I would jump on it. My dad was in the Army and we lived in Germany for three years when I was a kid. We traveled everywhere – I would want to do more of that.
Switzerland is extremely expensive. Many of you may be nearing retirement, imagine if your savings were simply cut to 1/3 of what they are now. That’s like what living in Switzerland would be like compared to the US. Especially since CHF is no longer pegged to the Euro. My dad spent a little time in Switzerland, about a decade ago. He said that a pretty standard meal at a casual restaurant was about 20 CHF (~20 USD, CHF and USD are about the same). And even groceries are expensive there, not just restaurants. And he had a 1 bedroom apartment there, I think I remember him saying it was 2800 CHF/month. And that was a decade ago.
It’s my understanding that Mexico City is actually one of the richest parts of Mexico. I think I remember reading once that Mexico City has a higher per capita income than Detroit. Not sure if that’s still true though.
I was asked this question in high school and argued eloquently-but-uninformedly for Canada (cos that’s where all the cool draft dodgers were going plus you could get British chocolate there). Lately, I’m having a love affair with Iceland, but I’ve only been there in the summer…
My sister spends half a year in Mexico, so that is a consideration. I do have friends that have moved or spend lots of time in Israel.
Where in Mexico, @bookworm ?
Been to California?
Hope to hear lots of the 411 as I catch up with my relatives in Switzerland next summer. Sis and I are going. I have not been there since 1998. Relatives/friends in 13 cities from Adligenswil to Winterthur. My first trip to Switzerland in 1968, the dollar was strong and all I had to buy was souvenirs. All our Swiss relatives looked at us like rich Americans. Lots has changed over the years.
They sell land by the square meter in Switzerland - will be interested to hear the going rate (in 1998 you could have 3000 SF a sq meter). They don’t do that in CA.
No, but let’s compare LA to Zurich. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Switzerland&city1=Zurich&country2=United+States&city2=Los+Angeles%2C+CA
So fine, instead of reducing your savings by 66%, reduce by 40% if you currently live in LA.