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Hi everyone, made an account to ask a question, hopefully to get some answers!
I'm a man in my early 20's, and I'm from the United States. I've lived here all my life and am well traveled, but I'm considering moving and want to hear some different opinions on countries they are from.
About me: (I thought it might be important, I hear some countries still have difficulties with ethnic minorities )
Age: 20
Sex: Male
Height: 6'3"
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Languages spoken: English (Fluent) German (Minor) Japanese (Minor) Spanish (Satisfactory)
A few options I was thinking about:
Portugal: Specifically the Algarve. I have friends and a lot of family who live there, and also know the area quite well. The economy isn't great, but over the summer time it gets packed with people coming it, I've been there for quite a few summers. It would be a relatively simple move with family to help set me up, but I don't know if its ideal for me.
Germany: My dad is a German citizen, which means I can get duel citizenship in Germany. That would make getting all my documents pretty simple. Also, it being one of the more stable countries economically, it may be easier to find a job (even though I intend to be self employed). Problem with this... I am not familiar with Germany.
Sweden: I don't know why, but Sweden has always stood out as a country to me. Everyone I met who's from Sweden always says great things about it, and are all very friendly. I have never been there myself and know no lick of Swedish though. But its a country that still has some appeal to me, I would need to know more about it culturally though.
As an aside, personality wise I am a huge gamer. My activity of choice is sitting indoors and playing games (I stream games for 6 hours a day as well, kind of a side job). In the U.S., Los Angeles, I am very stigmatized for my choice of hobby. I don't know if that helps, but its part of my personality that I need to consider.
Germany if you don't want to totally rearrange your life. You can apparently get in relatively easily, speak the language-ish, and it's a strong country. Not sure what your self-employed plan is, but you'll need an economy to fall back on if not and Portugal doesn't have much of one atm.
Plus if you eventually get a German passport, you can shuffle around the EU at your disposal anyways.
Kind of in a bit of a mood to rearrange my life to be honest With a German passport I can shuffle around the EU at will? Its tough to go anywhere in the states without a Visa. I know its easy to travel in the EU to a different country, but is it easy to also settle in a new country and apply for a job?
With a German passport I can shuffle around the EU at will? Its tough to go anywhere in the states without a Visa. I know its easy to travel in the EU to a different country, but is it easy to also settle in a new country and apply for a job?
Yep. You'd be part of the EU, so you could freely live and work in any other member country with a German passport. I'm guessing it's a bit different with JUST dual citizenship though. I can't remember if you can hold two passports (USA + Germany), so dumping your USA citizenship might be something you'd have to really think about in that case.
Excellent, good to know I may need to make a choice. How is schooling in most EU countries? Especially Sweden and Germany. I think I would have to apply, but what is the pricing like for them?
Also, whats the general perception of Americans in these countries? When I traveled Europe is was usually fine, but would living there give people a different view of me?
I would not 'dump' your USA citizenship if I were you. Life is so completely different between Europe and the US you may not want to adapt and move back. I think most people are really ok with Americans. I don't think in Germany they will care if you are from the US, Britain or Scandinavia for example.
If you don't speak the local language it'll be very hard for you do find an adequate job. Unless you want to work in an English-speaking environment?
I am not so sure about your dual citizenship, you should look into that before getting too excited. Germany does not allow that, so you might have to give up your American passport. If you even qualify for German citizenship that is. Not sure it's possible to get it through your father, since you're already an adult. But I am not an expert on citizenship law. Just some food for thought.
Fair enough, I learned that duel citizenship does grant you right for university grants, but I'd still have to pay for rent and food, which is alright. If anyone has personal recommendations please let me know! I'd love to hear some opinions on countries/cities
Fair enough, I learned that duel citizenship does grant you right for university grants, but I'd still have to pay for rent and food, which is alright. If anyone has personal recommendations please let me know! I'd love to hear some opinions on countries/cities
Tuition fees in Germany are negligible compared to the ones you are used to in America. We're talking about €500 a semester. You'll probably have to get used to German as an academic language, though.
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