Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#121

Post by Shorel » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

4ad wrote: post #76

alangibson wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? It could be it just doesn't suit your personality. If you a 'rise and grind' type of person, I can see it being hell.

Well I could enumerate all the material things that are worse in Europe and better in the US (I have lived in the US enough time to have an informed opinion), but that would get old, and in the end it would miss the point, as I could just as well enumerate countless things which are better in Europe compared to US. The real issue (which causes all the above differences anyway) is cultural. What matters is not compari…

In that case, we have the combination of the worst of these two societies in South America.

We are enemies of our bosses, our hobbies are ridiculous expensive (unless it is football), and at the same time individualism is punished, risk-taking and private business are punished by all sides, it seems like only illegal business actually work, and both media and people around are trying to push their religious beliefs on us.

So, yes, it can always be worse.

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#122

Post by netjiro » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 4:27 PM UTC

blub wrote: post #118

4ad wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many horror stories indeed. Xenofobia is a big thing here, but unlike the US where racism is direct and in your face, here it is subtle. People are polite, but that won't help you get that raise that native Austrians colleagues would get. While all these things are important, my main issue is far deeper, see my reply to alangibson.

A certain degree of xenophobia, like in the example you mention is present everywhere. Or where are foreigners treated just like the locals in this world?

Don't want to be incendiary here. Anecdote to illustrate that racism/anti-immigration can be individual and come with highly diverse flavour.

I was having a beer with friends in a bar in western Austria a while back. A middle aged local was loudly, but in a friendly tone, proclaiming the horrors of immigration to us. We were from Sweden, Ghana, China. I asked (in my broken german) why he thought we three would be a good audience for this monologue, considering our obvious non-Austrian-ness? He quickly countered that "you guys are not real immigrants. In his mind a real immigrant does not contribute to society, misbehave, and whatnot.

I think at least some racism have foundations stemming from other issues.

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#123

Post by gremloni » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 4:42 PM UTC

meheleventyone wrote: post #75

I moved from Scotland to Iceland just over ten years ago. The company I worked for exploded spectacularly and a company here came to pick up the pieces. I wanted to visit but didn’t really have any intention to live here. Initially I thought I might be here a couple of years and then move on again. It was super easy to move here due to the UK being in the EU at the time. Brexit didn’t change anything for me personall…

I lived in Iceland for around 6 months and the people were nice enough but because of the cold it is an extremely home bound existence that I hated.

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#124

Post by CodeGlitch » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 4:44 PM UTC

radicalbyte wrote: post #109

CodeGlitch wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The UK in comparison feels like a third world country - everything seems to be falling down, and working-age people - particularly those under 40-45 have been absolutely screwed by the last 10-15 years of policy. Which part of the UK did you come from? I have to say I'm 41 and neither me or my friends/family have experienced what you describe.

We're the same age. I'm from the South West, but called Warwick my home. Before Corona I visited family in the South West regularly - driving along the M20 > M4 > M5 or M20 > M4 > A-roads. Dover, Maidstone, Swindon, Bath, Bristol and Exeter all look and feel worse with every visit. The shops are where you see it the most. In the past towns were full of boutique places. They have been replaced by "pound shops" and pla…

My experience is mostly UK / USA and small parts of France and Denmark. It's funny you say the UK feels like a 3rd world country...I had that experience in the USA, whereby you see people who were visibly mentally ill just out of hospital (they would still be in hospital gowns) on street corners shouting at cars driving past. Walking around in Miami we were warned from a passer by (she obviously heard our accents and realised we were british) not to walk further down the street otherwise we'd be shot. Days later there was a mass shooting in that area. In other instances in the Miami I was offered drugs several times just walking around a tourist area.

I've never experienced anything on this level in the UK my whole life - and it's not like I've spent much time in the USA - just a few short weeks at a time.

Honestly I think the UK has a lot going for it - very low levels of corruption, good law and court systems, good education, low levels of crime outside of London stabbings, the NHS, excellent Civil Service, The National Trust, English/Scottish Heritage.

I think your comment about town centres going downhill is valid, but a symptom of more out-of-town shopping centres taking away the business. Horrible pubs have always existed, and pubs in general have been struggling for numerous reasons for decades.

The South West is where people go to retire - there are no jobs there as there's hardly any major cities, so not sure why you are surprised about the ages of the people there?

> People there are so angry - I'm constantly being sworn and shouted at by fat old (60+) guys because I have a European car.

Do you mean you had a European registration plate? I drove a BMW for years without many people shouting at me (when they did it was because I'd made a driving error).

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#125

Post by netjiro » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 4:47 PM UTC

raverbashing wrote: post #18

willvarfar wrote: post #8

Partner would have been happy to stay with me in the UK but I was blown away by the beauty of Scandinavia when I visited, and am so glad she relented. Average quality of life in the nordics is massively better than the uk. It’s not even close! Wages are lower in absolute terms but not qualitatively and we probably couldn’t afford to move back to the uk and have any semblance of same standard of living. We are now tra…

Where exactly? Continental Nordics are three (or maybe four, depending on the definition) different countries.

Meh. The Scandi-Nordics are functionally similar enough that the local region matters more than which country it sits in. The everyday life experience in the industrial tech centers are more similar across the countries than compared with more traditional cities just a couple of hours away in the same country.

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#126

Post by meheleventyone » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 4:47 PM UTC

gremloni wrote: post #123

meheleventyone wrote: post #75

I moved from Scotland to Iceland just over ten years ago. The company I worked for exploded spectacularly and a company here came to pick up the pieces. I wanted to visit but didn’t really have any intention to live here. Initially I thought I might be here a couple of years and then move on again. It was super easy to move here due to the UK being in the EU at the time. Brexit didn’t change anything for me personall…

I lived in Iceland for around 6 months and the people were nice enough but because of the cold it is an extremely home bound existence that I hated.

Yeah winter can be hard but summer is glorious. I also love to ski so I enjoy the cold.

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#127

Post by CodeGlitch » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

erdo wrote: post #27

Moved from the UK to France after the Brexit vote (the last chance to easily move my family to another country and have my kids grow up as Europeans with the ability to work and live in the EU country of their choice, access low cost or free university education etc.) I'm a contractor and felt reasonably sure I could find work as an android developer in most large cities - Paris is also close enough that if things re…

> with the ability to work and live in the EU country of their choice,

I have to ask what is stopping someone in the UK from doing that post-Brexit? I imagine there's more paper-work, but that doesn't sound like a hardship? Feels extreme to move your whole family just to reduce the minor frictions.

Glad it worked out for you though.

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#128

Post by CodeGlitch » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 5:01 PM UTC

jll29 wrote: post #68

I have lived and worked in England, Scotland, in the US, Switzerland and in Germany. USA: best opportunities for smart people to engage in big-impact work. People are too crazy about work. Depending on the city, can also be unsafe. Switzerland: extremely high financial compensation but also high cost of living despite low taxation. People love nature but many are too materialistic. UK: Was the most interesting countr…

> UK: Was the most interesting country to live in up to 2016, no sadly going isolationist.

In what way? Can you point at a thing that would mean we are more "isolationist"? If you are referring to Brexit: it means we will have to interact on a more global scale whether we like it or not (e.g. negotiating trade deals, etc). That sounds less isolationist does it not?

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#129

Post by CodeGlitch » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 5:09 PM UTC

meheleventyone wrote: post #75

I moved from Scotland to Iceland just over ten years ago. The company I worked for exploded spectacularly and a company here came to pick up the pieces. I wanted to visit but didn’t really have any intention to live here. Initially I thought I might be here a couple of years and then move on again. It was super easy to move here due to the UK being in the EU at the time. Brexit didn’t change anything for me personall…

> It was super easy to move here due to the UK being in the EU at the time. Brexit didn’t change anything for me personally but has made me more keen to get citizenship here to get back in to Europe.

I'm don't quite follow what you are saying here - Iceland wasn't (isn't) in the EU? So I imagine Brexit or not would have made zero difference to your situation.

Re: Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

#130

Post by radicalbyte » Sat, Oct 09, 2021, 5:14 PM UTC

CodeGlitch wrote: post #124

radicalbyte wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're the same age. I'm from the South West, but called Warwick my home. Before Corona I visited family in the South West regularly - driving along the M20 > M4 > M5 or M20 > M4 > A-roads. Dover, Maidstone, Swindon, Bath, Bristol and Exeter all look and feel worse with every visit. The shops are where you see it the most. In the past towns were full of boutique places. They have been replaced by "pound shops" and pla…

My experience is mostly UK / USA and small parts of France and Denmark. It's funny you say the UK feels like a 3rd world country...I had that experience in the USA, whereby you see people who were visibly mentally ill just out of hospital (they would still be in hospital gowns) on street corners shouting at cars driving past. Walking around in Miami we were warned from a passer by (she obviously heard our accents and…

> I had that experience in the USA.

Me too! It feels like the UK is following that lead (but thankfully we don't have so many guns).

> Honestly I think the UK has a lot going for it

Sure, but the differential is pointing the wrong way, especially on corruption and the NHS (which is being chocked - I have family working in it and have worked with some trusts so I know exactly what is going on).

> Do you mean you had a European registration plate?

Yup.