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To start off, I'll talk a little about myself.
I an currently living in Oregon in the United States and I HATE it here. I am so done with gun crime, mentally ill people not being taken care of, homeless people, gangs and drug crime. I know other countries may have this too, but I do not think Australia and New Zealand are even close to as bad as the United States.
More about me:
I am a gay male who is about to turn 18 on April 17th, so it is time that I start to look at my options in life. So far, I know I will go to a community college for two years. That is as far as I have planned.
I have traveled the country my whole life and my conclusion is always the same. It's dirty, dangerous, and there aretoo many drugs. After I came to this conclusion I decided to research better countries. At first I had narrowed it down to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, And Canada. Then I shortened my list. (Canada is too cold for me and Japanisn't a place that I would want to plant my roots forever)
So, weather is also an important thing for me. I grow palm trees and bananas inside our house as a hobby, I love it. (the winters usually get -20C here, so I can't grow them outside)
As for my career:
In the future I would like to Flip Houses, Invest in Real Estate, and be a Developer. All of which require me to do something before then. I am currently in between wanting to get a Business Degree, and a Marketing Degree. Then with one of those degrees I can find a job.
I do not know if this is possible for me, but I also thought it would be nice to finish my last 2 years at a university in one if these cities. (I need 4 years to get a Bachelors and community colleges only offer two years, then I need to transfer).
I hope I have provided enough information for everyone to help me make my decision.
Thank You!!!!
I'm waiting for the horde of non-Americans to flood this thread with the typical grass-is-greener comments stating "Why would you wanna leave America, people would kill to live there blah blah blah high taxes boo hoo"
Just wait for it.
To the OP, I feel you dude. I live in America too, and I think people in other first world nations such as Australia, Canada, etc. dont know how lucky there are. Despite more job opportunities and higher incomes, the USA is not a place where I would want to identify myself with if given the choice. I'd rather identify myself as being a part of country that is not known for anything but being peaceful, rather than identifying myself as part of American society that idolizes social parasites such as kim kardashian, the only industrialized nation that doesn't have universal healthcare, a society that embraces violence as a means to solve everything, a society that has a history of lynching and torturing people based on their skin color and their sexual orientation, a country that still has the death penalty, and still hasn't legalized gay marriage in some states, and the only developed nation with the highest number of incarcerated citizens.
OOH OH , but we have JOBS and cheaper prices!!!!!
I'm waiting for the horde of non-Americans to flood this thread with the typical grass-is-greener comments stating "Why would you wanna leave America, people would kill to live there blah blah blah high taxes boo hoo"
Just wait for it.
I don't see that much on the city-data forums.
But as an American living in Asia, I do hear that from Filipinos and Indonesians...why do you work in Asia? Why cant you work in the U.S.? Don't you miss home? But, if I were you...
how much do you have saved? On a student visa there are limitations on working
Permission to work
Students and their dependant family members with permission to work must not undertake work until the main student visa holder has started their course in Australia. They are limited to 40 hours work per fortnight while their course is in session, but might work unlimited hours during formal holiday periods. Holders of a Postgraduate Research (subclass 574) visa who have started their course have unrestricted permission to work.
Student visa holders found to be working in excess of their limited work rights might be subject to visa cancellation.
To the OP, I feel you dude. I live in America too, and I think people in other first world nations such as Australia, Canada, etc. dont know how lucky there are. Despite more job opportunities and higher incomes, the USA is not a place where I would want to identify myself with if given the choice. I'd rather identify myself as being a part of country that is not known for anything but being peaceful, rather than identifying myself as part of American society that idolizes social parasites such as kim kardashian, the only industrialized nation that doesn't have universal healthcare, a society that embraces violence as a means to solve everything, a society that has a history of lynching and torturing people based on their skin color and their sexual orientation, a country that still has the death penalty, and still hasn't legalized gay marriage in some states, and the only developed nation with the highest number of incarcerated citizens.
OOH OH , but we have JOBS and cheaper prices!!!!!
- Many Australians idolise the Kim Kardashians of the entertainment world. Australia, culturally speaking, mirrors America a lot.
- Australia isn't without its senseless violence, people are regularly bashed, murdered, raped etc. Sure, it's not on par with say Camden, New Jersey, not even close, but it's not to say we are without our problems.
- Have you done any reading on Indigenous Australians and what happened to them? The massacres, rape, stolen generation etc?
- Nowhere in Australia has legalised gay marriage.
Trust me, I don't take for granted living in Australia. And on many fronts, Australia is a lot better than the US. But at the same time, it's not some utopia, we have our social ills and checkered past.
To start off, I'll talk a little about myself.
I an currently living in Oregon in the United States and I HATE it here. I am so done with gun crime, mentally ill people not being taken care of, homeless people, gangs and drug crime. I know other countries may have this too, but I do not think Australia and New Zealand are even close to as bad as the United States.
More about me:
I am a gay male who is about to turn 18 on April 17th, so it is time that I start to look at my options in life. So far, I know I will go to a community college for two years. That is as far as I have planned.
I have traveled the country my whole life and my conclusion is always the same. It's dirty, dangerous, and there aretoo many drugs. After I came to this conclusion I decided to research better countries. At first I had narrowed it down to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, And Canada. Then I shortened my list. (Canada is too cold for me and Japanisn't a place that I would want to plant my roots forever)
So, weather is also an important thing for me. I grow palm trees and bananas inside our house as a hobby, I love it. (the winters usually get -20C here, so I can't grow them outside)
As for my career:
In the future I would like to Flip Houses, Invest in Real Estate, and be a Developer. All of which require me to do something before then. I am currently in between wanting to get a Business Degree, and a Marketing Degree. Then with one of those degrees I can find a job.
I do not know if this is possible for me, but I also thought it would be nice to finish my last 2 years at a university in one if these cities. (I need 4 years to get a Bachelors and community colleges only offer two years, then I need to transfer).
I hope I have provided enough information for everyone to help me make my decision.
Thank You!!!!
Well Australia is not a utopia. Here there is a really serious drug problem too. I often hear it in the media too. Ice is a huge problem here.
Well for me I live in Sydney and if I was an outsider, I would choose either Sydney or Melbourne for Australia. But you said you will grow bananas at the front lawn. Well it looks like Brisbane would more suit you, or if not head to North Queensland where it never gets cold, and there is universities up there such as James Cook University. Or if it is New Zealand I would choose Dunedin as the University dominates the city. It is cooler in weather there but New Zealanders I find are a bit more friendly than Australians.
- Many Australians idolise the Kim Kardashians of the entertainment world. Australia, culturally speaking, mirrors America a lot.
- Australia isn't without its senseless violence, people are regularly bashed, murdered, raped etc. Sure, it's not on par with say Camden, New Jersey, not even close, but it's not to say we are without our problems.
- Have you done any reading on Indigenous Australians and what happened to them? The massacres, rape, stolen generation etc?
- Nowhere in Australia has legalised gay marriage.
Trust me, I don't take for granted living in Australia. And on many fronts, Australia is a lot better than the US. But at the same time, it's not some utopia, we have our social ills and checkered past.
I'm not saying that it's some utopia. I'm saying that it's so blatanly obvious that countries like Australia have a seriously better reputation as a society than the US does. THERE IS A REASON why nobody generally has anything bad to say about Australians except that they ride kangaroos.... ask any non-american what they think about America and what will they say? They're all fat, they're violent, they have guns, they have a million school shootings, they're extremists, and the list goes on...Anybody who can't see that is clearly looking at America through rose-colored glasses. We're not gonna argue about who's **** stinks more, because it's so clearly obvious that America's racism/discrimination/history of violence/ etc. is 10x more than it is in little itty bitty countries like Australia, Canada, etc.
I'm giving you people a compliment, just accept it for god's sake.
Thread caught my attention because when I was in college in my early 20s I fantasized about the perfect place to live. Thinking that a Mediterranean / Southern California like climate with no major natural disasters like earthquakes and other variables (which I forget). I thought Perth, Australia was the perfect place. A large enough city but removed from a lot of political strife by being on the 'other side' of the world. Enjoying the breezes of the Fremantle Doctor - is another one of the things I recall.
Here's some advice.
1) Rather than concentrating on what you don't like (which is good that you've identified some things) concentrate on acquiring skill set that is readily transferable in today's business climate and get a better understanding of what may be needed in Australia / NZ. See above comment with link.
2) Real Estate is 'local' so if you plan on getting an education / advanced degree that relates to real estate, concentrate on doing projects related to the Australasian markets.
Focus on the things you want in a living environment. There is obviously good and bad in any location, but you seem fixated on the transference of the USA's worst stereotypes and take them too much to heart, which indicates to me that you haven't developed enough sense of self identity through achievement (readily understandable at your young age). The 'place can influence you but it can't make you'; that's a decision I gather you have to evolve through - you are young, so don't worry about it, unless there is indeed a pressing circumstance in your current living condition that is destructive to your well being.
Why not differentiate yourself as not being those things you detest and focus on what you can add to your existing location / condition? I realize we all at some point need to get the gypsy wandering / ideal location out of our system. My advice is take advantage of your current youth to get skills that are in demand.
This can be anything from Real Estate development course work or general business (say purchasing with a concentration on international focus) that enables you to continue studying those regions that interest you. For a crazy idea to get some time in the country / region - since you seem to convey you are an upstanding citizen - why not try an international law enforcement agency - if it fits your aptitude. You could go undercover as drug mule (help fight aspects you dislike about USA) while using it to get you to Australia to check things out?
Or better yet, based upon your 'rant' contact Spy V Spy and do a documentary of how an 18 yr old American becomes their biggest fan and writes a book about them? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_vs_...ustralian_band)
Now back to regular programming of city versus city (which always reminds me of "Spy Vs Spy"
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