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Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

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Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#181

Post by MathCodeLove »

boffinAudio wrote: post #114
teakettle42 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vienna is one of the nicest and wealthiest cities in Europe. LA is a car-centric sprawling cesspool. Even for the US, it’s uniquely terrible. If you’d moved to some of the less desirable locations in Europe, you’d probably find them to be a shithole, too. Your lack of perspective (“how much of a shithole the USA really is”) is something I’d only expect from someone half your age on their first backpacking tour of Eur…

The Ruhrgebiet is a shithole. But then again, so is Florida. As is North Dakota and most of Utah. Arizona is pretty nice, but I probably think that only because of my Australian skin. The USA is a huge shithole, and if you don't understand why anyone would think that, I have a bridge to sell you .. under which live 12 families, kids and all, who couldn't pay their medical bills after Mom/Grandpa died of cancer. It is…

I think getting upset comes from the fact that in addition to some very valid criticism, there is a tremendous amount of invalid criticism thrown towards the US. If Germany or Austria or the Netherlands were constantly being insulted on the world-stage then they would likely grow sensitive to criticism as well, even when it is occasionally valid.

Another reason could be the mindless, abject hatred you seem to have of the country. If you approached your criticisms rationally they likely would be better recieved. Instead it sounds like you're spouting what you've read on woke twitter and have left no room for compromise. Saying "The USA is a shithole" is akin to saying "Europe is a shithole". It's a blanket statement that it not unilaterally true for either. I lived in Europe myself for several years and there were things I both loved and hated. There were nice areas as well as shitty areas. After spending those years in the EU, I've come to prefer the US. You're entitled to your opinion, you're not entitled to generalize an entire country and it's population and then insult someone when they object to those generalizations.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#182

Post by TameAntelope »

boffinAudio wrote: post #114
teakettle42 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vienna is one of the nicest and wealthiest cities in Europe. LA is a car-centric sprawling cesspool. Even for the US, it’s uniquely terrible. If you’d moved to some of the less desirable locations in Europe, you’d probably find them to be a shithole, too. Your lack of perspective (“how much of a shithole the USA really is”) is something I’d only expect from someone half your age on their first backpacking tour of Eur…

The Ruhrgebiet is a shithole. But then again, so is Florida. As is North Dakota and most of Utah. Arizona is pretty nice, but I probably think that only because of my Australian skin. The USA is a huge shithole, and if you don't understand why anyone would think that, I have a bridge to sell you .. under which live 12 families, kids and all, who couldn't pay their medical bills after Mom/Grandpa died of cancer. It is…

I've lived in the US my whole life, I've been to LA once for a wedding, and I really don't see a single similarity between what's going on in LA and what's going on where I live (Northwest Arkansas).

My air is clean, my commutes are traffic free, the people here generally suck, and I have access to world class... everything, if I want it (well, maybe not transportation, but my car is nice, German even!, and I can get everywhere in it pretty easily). Because I'm wealthy, I can afford all of the things you get for free in Germany without it negatively affecting my way of life, which probably helps substantially, but that's part of America too.

I want to move to Europe from the US, everything you described is amazing, but maybe it's a shithole to you because you've only been to a few places in the US.

Hawaii is in the US. Puerto Rico, Alaska, The Everglades, Sequoia National Park, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park; it's hard to go to those places and walk away thinking they're "shitholes".

The USA is huge. Some of it is a shithole, and where you lived for 15 years is probably closer to shithole than not, but "The USA is a huge shithole" is probably not as true as you're making it out to be here.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#183

Post by scsilver »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #115

How come nobody mentions France in the comments? :) I am French but have been working 12 years for a very large US company , spent a lot of time in the US, go friends there - an witnessed/helped several Americans moving to France. Salary and healthcare were already covered. The fact that over a 3 days drive across Europe you visit 4 or 5 countries with vastly different cultures is a big plus. And by vastly I mean rea…

How's southern France for long term tourists/expats? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#184

Post by CitrusFruits »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #115

How come nobody mentions France in the comments? :) I am French but have been working 12 years for a very large US company , spent a lot of time in the US, go friends there - an witnessed/helped several Americans moving to France. Salary and healthcare were already covered. The fact that over a 3 days drive across Europe you visit 4 or 5 countries with vastly different cultures is a big plus. And by vastly I mean rea…

What do you mean by "Children will be drinking tap water starting at kindergarten and and stay like this their whole life."? Is there some sort of subtext here? In general I think it's great if you can safely drink tap water, saves the hassle and waste of getting bottled water all the time.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#185

Post by boffinAudio »

teakettle42 wrote: post #121
boffinAudio wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely love taking trips around the Balkans, and have been very lucky to have gotten quite familiar with Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo in my recent travels. In a matter of hours, the universal constants (language, food, culture) have been replaced, and there are just so, so many beautiful things to discover in these countries. Words to blow ones minds, history that brings tears with a few simple…

> Words to blow ones minds, history that brings tears with a few simple footsteps... These are exactly the kinds of faux profundities I used to hear — and say! — traveling in youth hostels in my late teens. It’s jarring to see them coming from someone ostensibly past forty.

You probably shouldn't have stopped travelling.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#186

Post by wbsss4412 »

boffinAudio wrote: post #158
wbsss4412 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> LA is a car-centric sprawling cesspool. Even for the US, it’s uniquely terrible. LA isn’t even the worst in that regard (I’d take LA over DFW) I don’t know where you are from, but LA is actually representative of large swaths of the US, and highlights some of the best things about America (namely multiculturalism and diversity)

True. I did love the multicultural aspect of Los Angeles, but it got blown to pieces during 9/11, and once the hatred and the flags came out, it was definitely time to leave .. But for many years I considered LA to be a very fine example of people living together, relatively peaceful. Well, after the RK riots, that is ..

Post 9/11 America was indeed very toxic, but I have to ask how much you have been back since? (Not to say our political culture isn’t still toxic)

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#187

Post by rootusrootus »

Oddskar wrote: post #90
thegypsyking wrote: post #3

I did the opposite and found the us much better. Pay and opportunities are infinitely better, people are friendlier, having a car is much easier and more convenient.

> having a car is much easier and more convenient. Ah, I see you didn’t live in Germany.

Are you suggesting having a car in Germany is easier than in the US? That seems backwards.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#188

Post by anonymouse008 »

boffinAudio wrote: post #9
jypepin wrote: post #5

Hey! I'm back in the US but my wife and I moved from SF to Amsterdam for 3 years. We moved with our tech job there and ended up eventually quitting and doing our own company. - Where do you live? SF -> Amsterdam - What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make (i.e. pay, housing, friends, etc.) I was shocked when my HR department told me our salaries would pretty much be cut in half. I was also furious because I was go…

One thing expats definitely have to do is readjust their expectations about cost of living and relative expenses. While the payroll for your average European tech guy is nowhere near the stellar heights of the SV bro's, the buying power in Europe is at a level higher than you might expect. Whereas, for a single night out in SoCal I'd spend $100 - $150, dinner movie and drinks - here in Vienna I'd get through just as…

[comment intended for boffinAudio]

I've been hacking on something I have no business really doing (skill level: can barely read header files). If you're open to new things, please, please reach out. My fiancé and her sister absolutely love a little audio product I made, and even if I sell two more or a million more, break even or go broke, giving in this way makes life worth living. Cheers mate

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#189

Post by busterarm »

jzellis wrote: post #15

I'm just outside London, moved here to marry my English wife from Vegas. I work part time doing basic IT for a US law firm due to health issues after heart surgery, and Yankee dollars are worth jack shit here - I'm not making serious tech industry money, but over here it's barely enough to survive on. Housing is always smaller than you'd get in (at least the western) US for the same price, and I'd bet that's true pre…

Indeed, peanut (or other nut) butter is nigh impossible to find across all of Europe.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#190

Post by xyzzyz »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #115

How come nobody mentions France in the comments? :) I am French but have been working 12 years for a very large US company , spent a lot of time in the US, go friends there - an witnessed/helped several Americans moving to France. Salary and healthcare were already covered. The fact that over a 3 days drive across Europe you visit 4 or 5 countries with vastly different cultures is a big plus. And by vastly I mean rea…

> They won't (usually) go to school on Wednesday.

That’s very interesting. Do French people typically try to set up some care arrangement, or just leave the kids at home? When I grew up in Poland, if my school was doing that, my parents would most likely just have us stay at home alone (starting from grade 1), but I imagine this would be rather uncommon thing to do in US these days.

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