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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?

#371

Post by jypepin »

mrsuprawsm wrote: post #26
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…

>No amazon and it sucks not to have it when you are used to buying everything and getting it the next day. In NL there are are multiple similar companies (Coolblue, Bol.com) which offer next day delivery on everything and even same day delivery in the major cities (i.e. including Amsterdam) on some things. Amazon.nl has also been here for a couple of years (again with same day delivery), and you have been able to ord…

indeed, but the catalogue is nothing compared to what amazon has.

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

#372

Post by jypepin »

erwincoumans wrote: post #14
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…

Was it always intended to be a limited (3 year) trip, of would you consider permanently moving there, if it was made possible?

We planned on going for 2 years, stayed 3. We could have definitely stayed forever if we wanted to (I'm European so no visa issue). We came back as planned because my wife's family is in SF and we always planed to get back closer to them.

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

#373

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

gutitout wrote: post #303
boffinAudio wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Es ist sehr interessant, nicht wahr, wie banal das Verständnis der meisten Amerikaner für ihre Notlage ist? Sie werden nicht für Demut gezüchtet, während die meisten Europäer heutzutage...

Was sollen die den machen? Wirklich neugierig was der Vorschlag ist.

Wer? Die Europäer, oder die Amis?

Ach. Ich editiere das mal: Beide sind so dumm, dass die Schweine sie beissen! Grunz

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

#374

Post by harpersealtako »

lm28469 wrote: post #309
harpersealtako wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I was under the impression that even the average person living in a poor European country (e.g. Moldova, Belarus, Kosovo) has a worse quality of life in most ways compared to, for example, someone living in a rural trailer park in Mississippi (an especially poor state) making minimum wage. What are some notable examples?

European Union countries* For basic things like vacations, parental leaves, access to basic healthcare, &c. I've seen skidrow in LA and some parts of SF and NY, this is third world country tier, it looked like war times refugees camps

Funnily enough, if you want to talk about LA and SF and NY, all of those places have free healthcare for the poorest citizens as well as paid family leave.

And there are absolutely places as bad if not worse than skid row in the European Union. e.g. Romani ghettos. Are we talking about the REALLY poor poor people, or just ordinary, say, 10th-percentile-level poverty? Are we comparing Skid Row in Los Angeles to Fakulteta in Sofia, Bulgaria? Or are we comparing poor trailer park minimum wage life in Alabama to poor rural minimum wage work in Romania?

And of course all this assumes "normal" full time salaried wage work for a large corporation, unless you want to add in seasonal labor or subsistence agriculture or running your own business or family-owned business work or unpaid internships or apprenticeships or contract work or gig economy work and whether any of those count as poor and whether it counts to say they do or don't have certain benefits under what conditions.

Also, just checking, but are we counting US territories (e.g. Puerto Rico)? That might change my opinion.

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

#375

Post by bwb »

TameAntelope wrote: post #367
bwb wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are describing a symptom not a problem. If you give people time and space to think, for their kids not to be stuck in poverty cycles, and for them to learn that Fox news is fear based propaganda this is how things get fixed. All Americans are stuck in a perpetual guerilla war that is American society, and until that changes nothing will change.

I used to agree with you, but I don't know if bringing people out of poverty helps them learn not to hate anymore. It's a good platitude, but it's not what I've observed here in NWA.

Ya, it isn't overnight, it is a multi generational process.

I think that most progress in society is made through the death of the previous generation and new ideas being more accepted. It is slow but crunches on over the bones of the old. And, this is why it is so important culture/society/government get in there to break the poverty cycle, break the ignorance, teach critical thinking, etc etc etc...

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

#376

Post by rwev »

mkdirp wrote: post #346
nafizh wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets not forget the fact that OP is white. I am not a race baiter, and hate identity politics. But as a non-white person, I would rather live in US than Europe. Forget about the social media takes, and lets talk about ground reality. US (and probably Canada), with all its fault, is one of the few countries on earth, where immigration and immigrants are normal and expected. I can also practice my religion with freedom…

> I can also practice my religion with freedom, unlike most of Europe (UK is one exception with caveats of course) This has to be satire. In fact, this whole comment has to be satire.

Is French public policy satire too? I thought this news was pretty mainstream for the last few years now.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/9/a-law-against-islam https://www.wsj.com/articles/france-passes-new-bill-to-tight...

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

#377

Post by rwev »

severino wrote: post #345
rwev wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hearing that you only lived in LA makes your take on the US very partial and flawed. LA has a reputation even within the US of being what you describe as a "shithole." I lived in Germany for years, the former east, and it would be unfair to call Germany a "shithole" based on my own experience in the former Soviet bloc, which has struggled both pre and post reunification due to Communist rule.

> I lived in Germany for years, the former east, and it would be unfair to call Germany a "shithole" based on my own experience in the former Soviet bloc, which has struggled both pre and post reunification due to Communist rule. Come on, dude. Germany was "communist" for less than 40 years. You have been "free" and cool for 33 and counting. The wall existed for only 28. Are you going to keep blaming "communists" for…

The lasting impact and practical effects of the iron curtain on both culture and economic is real.

In fact, there is special income tax, Solidaritätszuschlag, that is paid on all income as special assistance in rebuilding and equalizing the former East.

And you know nothing about me.

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

#378

Post by michele_f »

I did. Best decision ever!

I live in Milan (Italy), it’s gorgeous, glamorous, full of life, history and art. I wouldn’t say I made any sacrifice, at least after 4 years I still don’t perceive any. Here I feel a citizen, not just a worker. Here I can clearly see a future for me and my family.

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

#379

Post by notch656a »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #369
notch656a wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you get that salary precisely because this field is free of the sort of inefficiencies and government regulation that drag on healthcare and doctors.

I would imagine there should be plenty of other fields just like it then.

You've imagined correctly.

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

#380

Post by formerly_proven »

diskzero wrote: post #236
boffinAudio wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LA was home base but I worked and visited most of the USA's states, and I just find American classism to be .. distasteful. And also, endemic no matter where you go.

Have you not encountered classism in Germany? I am a fluent German speaker who lived in Erfurt, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich and encountered similar amounts of racism and classism that I have seen in the USA, France and England. The attitudes of some people from the former West to those from the East are shocking. While in Erfurt, I saw the most horrific treatment of immigrants and refugees. I want to make sure that…

> Have you not encountered classism in Germany?

Anyone who hasn't has to be blind or something. Germany has a highly stratified society besides the N/S/E/W split.

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