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I voted Yes in your poll even though I'm Australian. I did live in Canada for more than half my life, am married to a Canadian, have two Canadian-born kids, and will be returning to live there soon - so I voted as an "honourary Canadian", okay?
I love Italy and wouldn't mind giving it a go sometime in the future. Not sure permanently, but who knows? At least 6 months.
Would I like to live in Europe? Of course I would and Spain would be my first choice, although the economy over there is really poor. I really think Spanish food is great. I've had it in the States and liked it. Since I am a person who loves to eat, being there in that country for the food and wine alone would be enough Also, I think Spanish women are lovely. They have great bodies and are friendly also. I have a knowledge of Spanish as well. Spain is one of the countries I have always liked. One day I will visit, but as far as living there, I am not sure if that will happen but you never know.
The first time was BUDAPEST HUNGARY...I moved there after I taught English in Korea for a year. I only lasted two months in Budapest, before I moved on to South America. Basically the reason I left was because I found Hungarians too insular. Very few spoke any English, and I learned later that Hungarian was the most remote language of any European language. So it goes both ways that few people end up learning Hungarian, and most Hungarians have a real hard time learning a non-Hungarian language as well.
I also found that people had a lot of ignorant stereotypes of Americans that I wasn't ready to take on. I have a calm nature and I am not overweight, so I was continously told that I didn't seem like the typical American. When I asked what was the typical American, they often pointed to their fellow europeans who were eating and drinking and dining in the streets and being loud all day in big groups on their vacations. Apparently the louder and bigger they were, according to the Hungarians, the more likely it was an American. Sigh. Whenever I 'tested out their theory' on these groups, they were never Americans. I hardly met any Americans actually, except for a few young out of college ones who were anything but that stereotype.
I also found the bars and nightlife dull. I'd just come from Korea, and everytime I went anywhere in Korea, I had a lot of fun. In Hungary, I found that as soon as people found out I wasn't Hungarian, then any interest immediately stopped. It makes sense, but exact opposite of Korea, where they see you aren't Korean, and a million questions come at you.
Anyways, I left Budapest and went to South America, loved it there, and later went to New York City and loved it there, and later went back to Korea.
THEN...I decided to try SPAIN. I loved South America, I like spanish-speaking people in NYC. I would like to learn more Spanish again...plus would be cool to be in a european country without the immense language barrier I had in Budapest.
So, off I went, to VALENCIA, SPAIN. Again, I found the people provincial. The supermarkets dull. The people were nowhere as cool as Latin Americans. I DID like that the cities were dense though. But hated that everything closed for a few hours during the middle of the day. Mostly it just made me seriously miss South America which was filled with a ton of really interesting people and interesting mixes of cultures - I spend most of time in Brazil in South America, but went all over that continent.
So, in general, I much prefer South America, North America, and Asia to Europe by far.
But...occassionally...I do think of Europe from the density aspect. I like the pedestrian-friendly cities of Europe. I never found myself that interested in the people or foods though. Funny how whenever I was in Europe, I would quickly gravitate to anything Asia or South American. But when I am in Asia, I have no interest whatsoever when I see something European.
All of that being said...of the places I did visit in Europe...I liked GALWAY IRELAND a lot. I think I could live in Ireland. I know I wouldnt want to live in Spain again. Italy is still interesting to me. I liked the scooter culture of Italy. I'm also a bit curious about Greece as that is a country I didn't get a chance to see. Anyways, Europe always seems really nice 'in the mind', but twice experiencing the realities of living there, and I think otherwise.
Additionally, the U.S. has a ton of what Europe offers and a lot more. I really dislike the sprawl, suburbs, strip mall side of America - and that is prevalent everywhere. But the pockets of 'cool' spots in America can really make up for it. Those oasis places really stand out as much more interesting places to live. I'm thinking of cities like San Francisco, New Orleans French Quarter, San Diego, Miami & Fort Lauderdale, Santa Fe, Portland Oregon, etc. on and on.
I moved back to the U.S. 6 months ago for medical care and some stability but I miss Europe so much.
If I had the $$$ I would live in the Zurich area, Berlin or the South of France. I lost so much money in the economy that I had to regroup.
I'm not young so it makes sense to come back here but it's so crude and ugly. There's so much more crime now, too. The food, wine and coffee aren't very good. And, the right wing is so viscious. People who should be grateful for what they have are actually angry and bitter because they don't have more!
We're struggling to pass health care. It's so basic and it is shameful that as wealthy as this country is that we don't have it already.
I don't sense quality here, but I do in Europe. I think Europeans know how to live. Americans think they know how to make money, have a dozen little kids and live in front of a huge screen tv. All this while life is going on somewhere else.
Most of Europe still has the joie de vivre. Americans will pave over anything of charm for a buck.
Sure. I'll probably retire in about 3 years from the corporate cubicle zone. I lived in Germany for 3+ years while I was in the Army in the 1970s, and I still speak German pretty well. I lived in a nice town in the northeast corner of Bavaria, but would prefer to live in a city with good high speed rail access and good city public transport so I would not need to own a car. I am a bicycle nut, and Germany is bike friendly in most places so between bikes, buses, u-bahn and trains I could get around pretty well. Berlin is a great place, a bit large but so much to do.
I speak Spanish fluently so Spain would be another option. I haven't traveled around Spain much at all in over 20 years so I'd have to explore around a bit to find a place that would suit me. Plenty of good places, the trick is to find a place not drowning in expat residents or summer tourists that offers enough to keep me entertained.
It's a nice to consider moving to Europe again, but not necessarily something easy to do.
Right now I am living in India. I love my country very much its really a beautiful country. Its a heaven for me. I know we have some problem but we are developing and we will solve these very soon.
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In Europe Spain would be my main choice
