EURO PALS: I am moving from the US to the EU (please help!)

[OldieButFrenchie]

Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[sexualhelon]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards what their ideologies stand for.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

[sexualhelon]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[close]

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards those ideologies.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

[OldieButFrenchie]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[close]

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards what their ideologies stand for.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

what? where did I say it's acceptable to say ""get out of my country, foreigner"? And I AM talking specifically about english speakers, cause that does make a difference because of english's status as the international language. That's precisely the point I'm making and that you don't want to see....Never mind jeez, I never said anything...

[sexualhelon]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[close]

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards what their ideologies stand for.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

[close]

what? where did I say it's acceptable to say ""get out of my country, foreigner"? And I AM talking specifically about english speakers, cause that does make a difference because of english's status as the international language. That's precisely the point I'm making and that you don't want to see....Never mind jeez, I never said anything...

I thought that's what you were implying but, well, it's an internet message board so things can easily be misinterpreted. No offense man, but I had no idea what point you were trying to make. To me it seemed like you were just trying to push my buttons based off my original post. I get what you're saying about native English speakers, but I wasn't specifically referring to native English speakers.  All I was saying is that I had some bad experiences where people did say things like that to me and I think it's pretty lame... and I really don't think they cared whether or not I was a native English speaker.

[OldieButFrenchie]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[close]

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards what their ideologies stand for.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

[close]

what? where did I say it's acceptable to say ""get out of my country, foreigner"? And I AM talking specifically about english speakers, cause that does make a difference because of english's status as the international language. That's precisely the point I'm making and that you don't want to see....Never mind jeez, I never said anything...

[close]

I thought that's what you were implying but, well, it's an internet message board so things can easily be misinterpreted. No offense man, but I had no idea what point you were trying to make. To me it seemed like you were just trying to push my buttons based off my original post. I get what you're saying about native English speakers, but I wasn't specifically referring to native English speakers.  All I was saying is that I had some bad experiences where people did say things like that to me and I think it's pretty lame... and I really don't think they cared whether or not I was a native English speaker.

glad we could de-escalate and talk like grown-ups, it's pretty rare on internet message boards as you said!   

Now to get back to OP's original query....while as I said, Valencia is awesome, seems to me the language thing would be more complicated than usual there, as it is part of the catala-speaking region of Spain. So you'd have to learn 2 languages to really integrate there. Any Spaniards here to chime in on this??

[Mcidraque]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[close]

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards what their ideologies stand for.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

[close]

what? where did I say it's acceptable to say ""get out of my country, foreigner"? And I AM talking specifically about english speakers, cause that does make a difference because of english's status as the international language. That's precisely the point I'm making and that you don't want to see....Never mind jeez, I never said anything...

[close]

I thought that's what you were implying but, well, it's an internet message board so things can easily be misinterpreted. No offense man, but I had no idea what point you were trying to make. To me it seemed like you were just trying to push my buttons based off my original post. I get what you're saying about native English speakers, but I wasn't specifically referring to native English speakers.  All I was saying is that I had some bad experiences where people did say things like that to me and I think it's pretty lame... and I really don't think they cared whether or not I was a native English speaker.

[close]

glad we could de-escalate and talk like grown-ups, it's pretty rare on internet message boards as you said!   

Now to get back to OP's original query....while as I said, Valencia is awesome, seems to me the language thing would be more complicated than usual there, as it is part of the catala-speaking region of Spain. So you'd have to learn 2 languages to really integrate there. Any Spaniards here to chime in on this??

Chien Andalusian speaking (former bcn inhabitant for 12 years and vlc regular visitor)

Nope. Catalan (well Valencià if you ask the local government) ain't really needed (or at all) to get by (only if you're apliying for a job on the regional administration). Other than that nothing compared to the Catalunya scenario.

[sexualhelon]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[close]

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards what their ideologies stand for.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

[close]

what? where did I say it's acceptable to say ""get out of my country, foreigner"? And I AM talking specifically about english speakers, cause that does make a difference because of english's status as the international language. That's precisely the point I'm making and that you don't want to see....Never mind jeez, I never said anything...

[close]

I thought that's what you were implying but, well, it's an internet message board so things can easily be misinterpreted. No offense man, but I had no idea what point you were trying to make. To me it seemed like you were just trying to push my buttons based off my original post. I get what you're saying about native English speakers, but I wasn't specifically referring to native English speakers.  All I was saying is that I had some bad experiences where people did say things like that to me and I think it's pretty lame... and I really don't think they cared whether or not I was a native English speaker.

[close]

glad we could de-escalate and talk like grown-ups, it's pretty rare on internet message boards as you said!   

Now to get back to OP's original query....while as I said, Valencia is awesome, seems to me the language thing would be more complicated than usual there, as it is part of the catala-speaking region of Spain. So you'd have to learn 2 languages to really integrate there. Any Spaniards here to chime in on this??

[close]

Chien Andalusian speaking (former bcn inhabitant for 12 years and vlc regular visitor)

Nope. Catalan (well Valencià if you ask the local government) ain't really needed (or at all) to get by (only if you're apliying for a job on the regional administration). Other than that nothing compared to the Catalunya scenario.

@OldieButFrenchie Yeah, my bad, was honestly a bit triggered that day and went on a bit of a rant. Glad it ended on a civil note and the thread's back on topic.

I haven't spent much time in Valencia but just read they speak Catalan but refer to it as Valencian? Pretty interesting reading into the region's history.

[sexualhelon]

Good to see all the love Vienna gets. I am German and moved to Vienna few years ago and dont want to live elsewhere anymore. Rents are ok/low in comparison to other european cities/capitals of the same size, great skate scene, great summers, rough winters (hardly any place to skate indoors). Public transport is incredible and only 365 euros for a whole year. If you are having kids, it is even better. Kindergarten and schools are very cheap and well subsidised by the "leftist" government (social democrats). Whole country is ruled by stupid conservatives though who recently formed a coalition with right-wing fascist.  After this blew up they are now with the green party. Viennese people are not too much into english speaking, many of my colleagues made bad experiences in daily life situations. Still, I can fully recommend moving here. Let me know if you are having more questions.

So after my previous rants on Germany  , I'm curious what you mean by your colleagues having bad experiences in daily life situations? And, yeah, Austria's government has taken an interesting turn as of late or either I just wasn't paying attention before. My wife's actually from Vienna so I've spent months at a time there and it's been mostly positive. I even got along with Dirty Gurtel Kids when most people told me that crew vibes everyone out, ha. Darko even designed one of the more recently built parks here in Berlin.

The new Copa park is sick and the one out in Floridsdorf as well. Not gonna lie, I still like Gurtel Plaza though haha. Random mention, but that Beerlovers store is dope too. They have some really nice sales sometimes. Once they had some stone IPA's that were near expiration so they had a buy 1 get 3 free.

[OldieButFrenchie]

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Really seems like Valencia might be the spot...going to try to visit this winter, depending on travel restrictions.

[close]

I had a blast there in 98 or so....There's an old skatepark near the center with a banked section and some tight mini ramp/vert combo that was super fun. and the skate scene was rad!

->sexualhelon

Lighten up man....I was simply trying to explain the people you had a bad experience with might have a bad experience themselves, with other english speakers before you. I thought I made that pretty clear.... Anyways since you feel people who disagree with you must trumpist fascist nazis, no point in discussing this further. Well done on applying godwin's law very very fast though!!
Also you gave me a good laugh when you told me to google why English has become the lingua franca...Like I need google for that come on.
and I posted that Chabal vid just cause I thought it was funny in the context...and again you judge without having any clue, as you said yourself. Chabal was actually getting back at that journalist, who had told him to speak English in England, when Chabal was playing for Sale.
Finally don't you see Spaniards are way more used to dealing with english-speaking foreigners than Germans? Tourism drives Spain's economy. Anyways....viel spass in Deutschland.

[close]

I get being frustrated, but does that make it permissible for someone to say, "get out of my country, foreigner" when you ask if they speak a language? I think that's showing your true colors more than just being frustrated. It seems like we're disagreeing in that you think it's an acceptable thing to casually throw that slur at people. I'm not saying that you're a Trumpist, fascist, or Nazi but I think finding that acceptable is pretty twisted and teetering towards what their ideologies stand for.

Nah, you weren't really clear about what you were getting at which is probably why I was admittedly a bit irritated. Why would you even assume I knew the context of that Chabal video? Now that I know the context, sure, it's kind of amusing. But out of context in relation to what I'd written, I didn't think so.

I'm not just talking about English speaking foreigners. That's the assumption you keep making. I'm talking about foreigners trying to learn the language. Either way, still pretty wack.

Huh? So not being used to foreigners makes this an acceptable thing? I can assure China as a whole is not used to foreigners - they definitely don't care about you being there as a tourist. It's the second largest economy, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language, and it houses the largest population in the world. Not once when I lived there did anyone ever say, "you're in China, speak Mandarin or leave foreigner". I guess I'm not sure what justifies when this is "acceptable".

[close]

what? where did I say it's acceptable to say ""get out of my country, foreigner"? And I AM talking specifically about english speakers, cause that does make a difference because of english's status as the international language. That's precisely the point I'm making and that you don't want to see....Never mind jeez, I never said anything...

[close]

I thought that's what you were implying but, well, it's an internet message board so things can easily be misinterpreted. No offense man, but I had no idea what point you were trying to make. To me it seemed like you were just trying to push my buttons based off my original post. I get what you're saying about native English speakers, but I wasn't specifically referring to native English speakers.  All I was saying is that I had some bad experiences where people did say things like that to me and I think it's pretty lame... and I really don't think they cared whether or not I was a native English speaker.

[close]

glad we could de-escalate and talk like grown-ups, it's pretty rare on internet message boards as you said!   

Now to get back to OP's original query....while as I said, Valencia is awesome, seems to me the language thing would be more complicated than usual there, as it is part of the catala-speaking region of Spain. So you'd have to learn 2 languages to really integrate there. Any Spaniards here to chime in on this??

[close]

Chien Andalusian speaking (former bcn inhabitant for 12 years and vlc regular visitor)

Nope. Catalan (well Valencià if you ask the local government) ain't really needed (or at all) to get by (only if you're apliying for a job on the regional administration). Other than that nothing compared to the Catalunya scenario.

oh right, I thought Valencia was part of Catalunya! Thanks for the heads-up. I live in Belgium, which is another country where the language politics has you walking on egg shells...

[wigwam_24]

copenhagen! europe is small, so visiting other countries isnt too hard so you will probs figure it out for urself after you have visited a few places.

[sk84s8n]

Well I think Barcelona is the obvious answer.  Pretty cheap compared to most major Euro cities, and the skating and weather are sick. 

Finland is a favorite of mine.  Not as expensive as it's Scandinavian neighbors.  The language is a bitch though and not real practical for any other language or country in the world.  People are chill though and the skate scene is my favorite in the world.  Gnarly winters though Tampere and Helsinki both have pretty good indoor skate scenes.

I'd also second Slovenia.  On a scale of Slavic countries the people are quite friendly and you can even smile at strangers sometimes.  It's a beautiful country and the skate scene is fucking sick.  it's also a cheaper country compared to europe. 

Good luck dude super jealous!
 

[ginozz]

So much good info in here, thank you so much dudes. Gnars for everyone. Keep it coming!

Hey Man which state you from?
Italy it's struggle but sweet life here the spots are real but it takes attitude..Curious to hear where you gonna head.Anyway, travelling can be very cheap if you keep it gipsy so definitely take a visit to all the places people shared!

[mclovin1336]

Well I think Barcelona is the obvious answer. Pretty cheap compared to most major Euro cities, and the skating and weather are sick. 

Finland is a favorite of mine.  Not as expensive as it's Scandinavian neighbors.  The language is a bitch though and not real practical for any other language or country in the world.  People are chill though and the skate scene is my favorite in the world.  Gnarly winters though Tampere and Helsinki both have pretty good indoor skate scenes.

I'd also second Slovenia.  On a scale of Slavic countries the people are quite friendly and you can even smile at strangers sometimes.  It's a beautiful country and the skate scene is fucking sick.  it's also a cheaper country compared to europe. 

Good luck dude super jealous!

yeah barcy is always great, but is it easy to find work? most of the guys i know that went there have a hard time to get their money for rent/food with pretty shitty (and shitty paid) jobs

[sexualhelon]

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Well I think Barcelona is the obvious answer. Pretty cheap compared to most major Euro cities, and the skating and weather are sick. 

Finland is a favorite of mine.  Not as expensive as it's Scandinavian neighbors.  The language is a bitch though and not real practical for any other language or country in the world.  People are chill though and the skate scene is my favorite in the world.  Gnarly winters though Tampere and Helsinki both have pretty good indoor skate scenes.

I'd also second Slovenia.  On a scale of Slavic countries the people are quite friendly and you can even smile at strangers sometimes.  It's a beautiful country and the skate scene is fucking sick.  it's also a cheaper country compared to europe. 

Good luck dude super jealous!

[close]

yeah barcy is always great, but is it easy to find work? most of the guys i know that went there have a hard time to get their money for rent/food with pretty shitty (and shitty paid) jobs

I think it really depends on your profession and if you speak Spanish + maybe a bit of Catalan and/or English.

I can't exactly say from personal experience but I feel like that notion might be a little outdated. Pre-corona, I think things have gotten better there job wise in the past decade or so. Comparing it to Berlin, there would be less jobs in my profession but the wages aren't so different. If you're moving there just to skate and find whatever job to make ends meet then I think, yeah, it might not be the easiest. But, then again, I don't think that would be so easy in Berlin either.

[Grind King Rims]

A lot of my mates that moved to Barca with only English ended up working in call centres. It sucks, but it's enough to get by. Some of them ended up staying a long while.

People have told me that working about 3 days a week in Berlin is enough to just about get by. Kind of cool if true. Anyone confirm/deny? I guess it depends on what you're doing.

[mclovin1336]

A lot of my mates that moved to Barca with only English ended up working in call centres. It sucks, but it's enough to get by. Some of them ended up staying a long while.

People have told me that working about 3 days a week in Berlin is enough to just about get by. Kind of cool if true. Anyone confirm/deny? I guess it depends on what you're doing.

depends definetly what youre doing and foremost where you live/ how much your rent is. berlins getting really tough with rent and finding a place to live that isnt too expensive.

[DirtyCheddarKids]

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A lot of my mates that moved to Barca with only English ended up working in call centres. It sucks, but it's enough to get by. Some of them ended up staying a long while.

People have told me that working about 3 days a week in Berlin is enough to just about get by. Kind of cool if true. Anyone confirm/deny? I guess it depends on what you're doing.

[close]

depends definetly what youre doing and foremost where you live/ how much your rent is. berlins getting really tough with rent and finding a place to live that isnt too expensive.

This. If you have a hook up for a place, go for it, living costs besides rent are still fine. If you know your spots, you can get Falafel for one Euro and a pizza for three, lots of cheap markets for fresh produce, too. The city has changed a lot over the last decade and at least to me it feels like it's no longer the mecca it used to be. Might just be fatigue though and getting older and caring less about the cultural scene in general, best to see for yourself I guess. Also, be aware of the winter, today is actually sunny and beautiful, but Berlin winters can be quite depressing.

[OldieButFrenchie]

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A lot of my mates that moved to Barca with only English ended up working in call centres. It sucks, but it's enough to get by. Some of them ended up staying a long while.

People have told me that working about 3 days a week in Berlin is enough to just about get by. Kind of cool if true. Anyone confirm/deny? I guess it depends on what you're doing.

[close]

depends definetly what youre doing and foremost where you live/ how much your rent is. berlins getting really tough with rent and finding a place to live that isnt too expensive.

[close]

This. If you have a hook up for a place, go for it, living costs besides rent are still fine. If you know your spots, you can get Falafel for one Euro and a pizza for three, lots of cheap markets for fresh produce, too. The city has changed a lot over the last decade and at least to me it feels like it's no longer the mecca it used to be. Might just be fatigue though and getting older and caring less about the cultural scene in general, best to see for yourself I guess. Also, be aware of the winter, today is actually sunny and beautiful, but Berlin winters can be quite depressing.

IMO: Berlin weather as whole is a little brutal. I visited once, in June, and I loved it but I had to buy a jacket it was so cold! Compared to Paris where I lived at the time, which is not even like the south of France...

[sexualhelon]

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A lot of my mates that moved to Barca with only English ended up working in call centres. It sucks, but it's enough to get by. Some of them ended up staying a long while.

People have told me that working about 3 days a week in Berlin is enough to just about get by. Kind of cool if true. Anyone confirm/deny? I guess it depends on what you're doing.

[close]

depends definetly what youre doing and foremost where you live/ how much your rent is. berlins getting really tough with rent and finding a place to live that isnt too expensive.

[close]

This. If you have a hook up for a place, go for it, living costs besides rent are still fine. If you know your spots, you can get Falafel for one Euro and a pizza for three, lots of cheap markets for fresh produce, too. The city has changed a lot over the last decade and at least to me it feels like it's no longer the mecca it used to be. Might just be fatigue though and getting older and caring less about the cultural scene in general, best to see for yourself I guess. Also, be aware of the winter, today is actually sunny and beautiful, but Berlin winters can be quite depressing.

To touch on the working 3 days a week thing in Berlin, it really depends what you're doing but I'd say that the times of that being a blanket statement are long gone. For instance, I went to the Brewery called Brlo the other day and beers were 10 euros so you kind of have the whole spectrum here. On the other hand, you can get a crate of decent 0.5 liter beers from the store for 15 euros. Around 5 if you're down for the shittiest beer.

There's cheap falafel places and what not, but I think you can find cheap eats in a lot of places. I could tell you where to get a Bahn Mi or an Indian platter in Manhattan for 3 dollars too. But if I'm comparing it to NYC, which really isn't a fair comparison, the things that are most noticeably cheaper in Berlin for me are rent & eating out at restaurants. You'd also have to take compare the salary/taxes from wherever you're coming from though.

But, yeah, Berlin might be an easier capital city to scrape by in compared to most others. The weather's indeed pretty brutal though. The cold's not really an issue for me, it's the darkness. It feels like they sky is a solid grey for like 9 months out of the year. It's also surprisingly wet -  in the colder months, even when it hasn't rained, the ground will be wet everywhere. So, weather wise, definitely not the best if you're wanting to be able to skate most days out of the year.

[professional]

I moved to Berlin almost 3 years ago. I'm an English speaker, don't have any EU citizenship/passport and didn't speak any German before moving here. Here's my perspective on the city.

In comparison to other big cities in Europe(Paris, London, Copenhagen), the standard of living does feel generally cheaper. Like @sexualhelon said, you can find places all over the city to eat very cheaply and I feel that "enjoying yourself" is generally not super expensive. If you have a connection and can find a cheap flat here, you can sometimes get a room for 400eu a month. Sometimes less even. I will say that finding a cheap place, or any place for that matter, is so dependent on knowing people. The process of dealing with landlords and real estate agents is so brutal and you get treated like a second class person if you aren't a white German.

Job-wise for people who only speak english, I imagine there is a lot of competition because there are a lot of people who move here with no real intention to learn the language and the idea that Berlin is this English speaking bubble. From my perspective and experience, it is not, and Berlin can be a quite unfriendly place when it comes to you and this topic. I would say that people here are typically unhelpful to foreigners and if you're in a position where you're trying to navigate the bureaucracy and need help with something, it's often that you will get lesser help or service if they figure out you can't speak the language. It's a situation that drives me crazy and I often have friends call the tax office, the internet company, etc. whenever I'm having issues with something.

The winter is definitely a tough one. Sometimes you'll have weeks where it's -5 to -10 but they aren't so long or often. What's the hardest is how long the grey persists - I swear sometimes you can go a month without seeing blue sky.

Berlin is full of culture, is incredible in the summer and you can be entertained 24/7 if you want to be. One thing I'm always impressed by is how this big, metropolitan city has all of the options that come with a city like it, but is also so close to nature, greenery and lakes. You truly don't need a car in the city or to get to any of the natural amenities I just mentioned and the bike infrastructure is pretty great too.

I'm super down for the city and I'll be here for a long, long time. I'm not aiming to burst your bubble with what I mentioned above, but I wanted to give you some realism based on what it's like from a foreigners perspective because I feel that people(myself included) have an idea of this 'utopia' that Berlin is. It's got it's rough edges and it will definitely put you through the meat grinder a bit, but I think a key to sticking it out here is committing to that and riding through it. I love the quality of life here and will be in Berlin for a long, long time.

[Mark Renton]

Considering a Paris move, please chime in.

I'm highly educated on paper but I would like to work part time or even less, ideally abandoning my field (structural engineering) to pursue urban planning/design or even a shop assistant role at a skateshop or something.
Basically anything that does not involve 8 hours of MS Excel a day 5 days a week. Priority is skating and quality of life.
Is that doable there?
Is it easy to make skate friends? Cool guy vibes or decent vibes?
Not scared about rent prices as they are insane where I am at.
I have a B2 in French, it's quite old but I can read and comprehend well, just a bit rusty on the speaking.
Would move with my gf. Best areas to live in?

Anything insightful is really appreciated.

[OldieButFrenchie]

Considering a Paris move, please chime in.

I'm highly educated on paper but I would like to work part time or even less, ideally abandoning my field (structural engineering) to pursue urban planning/design or even a shop assistant role at a skateshop or something.
Basically anything that does not involve 8 hours of MS Excel a day 5 days a week. Priority is skating and quality of life.
Is that doable there?
Is it easy to make skate friends? Cool guy vibes or decent vibes?
Not scared about rent prices as they are insane where I am at.
I have a B2 in French, it's quite old but I can read and comprehend well, just a bit rusty on the speaking.
Would move with my gf. Best areas to live in?

Anything insightful is really appreciated.

where do you live now? Honestly working part-time in Paris seems far-fetched considering the rent prices.... especially since a lot of landlords want to be sure you will be able to pay. And therefore will ask you to prove you can before renting (it's quite difficult to evict someone in France). Everybody I know who wanted quality of life and to be able to chill left Paris to go to the south of france or something.... Paris is like NY, in that you have to hustle, and it's cramped with people. I still love it, it's my hometown, but I left 15 years ago so I don't have a lot of current info about the skate scene and what not. I will tell you it's the best skate city on earth though, IMHO!

[Mark Renton]

where do you live now?

London mate.
Didn’t want to start a new thread as it’s just an idea but also don’t want to derail from mattchew original post haha.
Anyways if y’all have something insightful to say feel free to reply or even PM me, mucho appreciated.

[BieberStance]

I lived in Berlin for 5 Years from 29/30 to 35.
What the other poster already said is totally true. if you plan to stay longer and don't follow some rules and try to learn the local language and get stuck in the expat bubble for too long, Berlin is going to grind you down with full force, in the moment you least expect it.

the housing market is insane. it may isn't as expensive as New York, London or Paris. the main problem is more, that there are basically just no apartments and rooms available on the market. while there is a huge demand. and trust me, the expat is considered very last on the waitinglists.

the summers in Berlin are amazing for skateboarding and for partying. the winters are fine for culture, parties, bars aswell. It gets gray and cold, but never boring. no idea tho how it is at the moment. I bet everything is shut down because of corona.

what else I would consider is your age and attitude. I for example moved away because I felt I just got too old for what the city has to offer. its the perfect place to waste your 20s and experience some stories to tell. after a while it gets repetitive tho. and when you are starting to become more career focused/ work longer hours, there are other cities that are friendlier for that in regards to commuting, work/life balance, governmental and bureaucratic issues, job market, payment, and so on.

[mattchew]

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where do you live now?

[close]

London mate.
Didn’t want to start a new thread as it’s just an idea but also don’t want to derail from mattchew original post haha.
Anyways if y’all have something insightful to say feel free to reply or even PM me, mucho appreciated.

No derailment at all homie. The more people posting in here about their experience living in Europe, the better!

[IUTSM]

Any EuroPals wanna chime in on how beneficial it is for an expat to have a higher degree (Masters level) when trying to get jobs/residence visas? Does a degree/experience go a long way or is money the biggest component to success in trying to get established?

I mean, here in California, shit back in Boston too, I know numerous dudes who overstayed their visa, married a US citizen, and they're all set to stay. Fuck, I know a Canadian-Bulgarian with no income, who got married, divorced, went rogue, got married again and now has a green card.

[OldieButFrenchie]

Any EuroPals wanna chime in on how beneficial it is for an expat to have a higher degree (Masters level) when trying to get jobs/residence visas? Does a degree/experience go a long way or is money the biggest component to success in trying to get established?

I mean, here in California, shit back in Boston too, I know numerous dudes who overstayed their visa, married a US citizen, and they're all set to stay. Fuck, I know a Canadian-Bulgarian with no income, who got married, divorced, went rogue, got married again and now has a green card.

I think if you marry someone, it's pretty much the same everywhere, you're set to stay. As for the degree/experience factor, I think it does go a long way, much more than just "money". actually I've never heard of money being a criteria?
The other big thing IMO is mastering the local language. You're probably not going to find a good job if you don't speak german in Germany, Spanish in Spain and so on....

[mclovin1336]

Any EuroPals wanna chime in on how beneficial it is for an expat to have a higher degree (Masters level) when trying to get jobs/residence visas? Does a degree/experience go a long way or is money the biggest component to success in trying to get established?

I mean, here in California, shit back in Boston too, I know numerous dudes who overstayed their visa, married a US citizen, and they're all set to stay. Fuck, I know a Canadian-Bulgarian with no income, who got married, divorced, went rogue, got married again and now has a green card.

what do you mean by that exactly?

[Giza Butler]

The other big thing IMO is mastering the local language. You're probably not going to find a good job if you don't speak german in Germany, Spanish in Spain and so on....

depends on the city too, here in Barcelona I know plenty of Brits and Americans who have been living here for a while and never had to learn more than "una cerveza por favor".

There are English jobs and the clicks are real, so it also depends on the city.