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Hi PALS,
As the title suggests, I am looking to move to the EU from the US in about six to nine months.
I have Irish citizenship so I don't need to worry about immigration/visas/etc. and also have a decent chunk of change saved so I can take a month or two to find work after settling in.
I just don't know where to move!
I like skating, making art, playing music, being outside, and am looking for a place with:
a high standard of living/leftist government
decent weather
relatively inexpensive (i.e. I'd like to work as little as possible--making a lot of money isn't important to me, time off is)
english friendly while I learn the language
and ideally don't need a car (moped is fine): either city or countryside works for me.
I have been to a bunch of different countries in Europe, but only while on tour with my band so I don't have the best sense of all these places since it's such quick visits:
Ireland seems to make the most sense because they speak English but it's very boozy/catholic/dreary there...
Berlin seems cool and very English friendly
Barcelona for obvious reasons (haven't been there before though)
Scandinavia for their high standard of living (harsh winters though...)
Italy seems beautiful...
I am very open to ideas and any advice is welcome.
Thanks in advance homies!
Spain is the answer:
- right now i think we're the only government positioned somewhere on the left (but compared to the US, education and National Health Systems in any euro country could count as "leftie" somehow)
just come to Andalusia (southern Spain). Particularly the Málaga area (málaga itself could be a good option but rent is kinda expensive for Spanish standards):
- english friendly
- skate friendly
- museums and galleries (picasso museum, pompidou museum, "russian/eastern europe" arts museum...)
- moped/bike friendly
- one of the best airports (connection wise) to whole Europe and russia too (since a lot of wealthy Russians seems to enjoy a particular town nearby called Marbella)
i'm originally from another part region inside of andalusia and lived in Barcelona for 12 years. After moving back south a couple years ago for job reasons... boy i really don't know why i did stay that long up in Barcelona haha.
PS: don't know where are you originally from but in case you don't mind a little rougher winters (rain wise) Bourdeaux in france is a pretty cool option too,Valencia or Madrid in Spain as well. Good luck and in case you consider moving somewhere in Spain don't hesitate to hit this Pal up. cheers!
Spain is english-friendly? oh man I don't think we have the same definition of english-friendly haha.....
IMHO you're pretty much going nowhere in Italy/Spain/France if you don't speak the language.
i was talking about the malaga area (there's soooo many british people living here plus loads of foreigners / "expats" from other euro countries as well living in that region) but yeah, anywhere else beside bcn or madrid is pretty much non english friendly
I feel like that's kind of obvious if you think about it. It'll be easier to get by with English in larger cities - and more touristy places - generally speaking. Small town wherever, people probably only speak the local language.
I'll say that people in Spain were friendlier than in Germany, for instance, if they didn't speak English. Even in Berlin, I've had bouncers not let me into bars for not speaking good enough German and doctors/nurses who, even though they spoke English, told me "You're in Germany, we speak German here. It's our native language." Usually something along those lines. Before moving here I couldn't have imagined that so many Germans seem to have a very Trump like mentality. My German's better now so I don't experience things like that as much but, damn, if all those experiences didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth.
while I understand why it left a bad taste in your mouth, you also have to understand so many english-speakers act like they own the world and everybody should adapt to them.....Just don't adress people in english right away when you're in some non-english speaking country. And I don't mean you btw! English-speakers in general. Try to blurt out at least one sentence in the local language to show people you respect them and their culture. This has nothing do with Trump IMO, just a reaction to the fact English has become the world's lingua franca, for better or worse.
Posting that video is just like me posting a video of someone in the USA saying, "We're in America, we speak English here". Not sure what point you're trying to prove with it but I think it makes you, that reporter, and Chabal all look like dicks. Unless that was a conference taking place in all French, but I have no clue.
For me, I always learn basic phrases for wherever I'm traveling to. I asked if people spoke English in Thai in Thailand, Mandarin in China, Japanese in Japan, etc... Do you think French people do that? German people? I'd wager that most people from most countries don't, especially if they're there as a tourist. If they spoke English, they probably tried in English. And either way, my experiences in Germany that I mentioned all took place speaking German which tells me the other person's coming from a point of prejudice or assuming something of me based off of previous experiences.
It doesn't have anything to do with Trump, per se, I'm just talking about the mentality. Same shit, different place. English didn't just "become" the lingua franca, that has to do with a number of things that happened throughout history politically. Google it if you want to know the specifics.
I just can't imagine being in NYC and having someone come up to me speaking in French, Mandarin, German, or whatever language asking if I speak it. I'd just say no. Especially if they're trying and ask in broken English...and my response is "We're in America, we speak English here, learn it or leave". One of the issues is that I don't know if they're a tourist, how long they've lived there, or really anything at all about the person. Do you think someone should learn the local language if they're there for a weekend or passing through the airport on transfer? That's just impractical.
If someone responds that way, that's on the bad end of nationalism - it can quickly become synonymous with fascism, Nazism, racist/biological nationalism. I can understand how Native English speakers can get more flack but it can also be someone who's from another country that knows English, they're just trying a language they think you might now. I honestly just can't fathom telling someone to speak my language or get out of my country over them asking if I speak a language. I know that in the current state of global affairs a lot of people can and it personally bums me out.