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I've studied in the Netherlands and let's say most Westerners in Europe mistrust us Eastern Europeans. I found I had to make do with mostly fellow Eastern Europeans to befriend. In my experience they become more reserved once I say where I am from.
I also prefer the enthusiastic, more direct and extroverted way Americans communicate.
I have a Dutch degree, but also an American university diploma plus I work in a US-based company. So I'm starting to think why not give US or Canada a shot?
Do you think I have a chance of winning the green card lottery for example and which is the one and true site? Every time I visit the official one I see the message lottery is closed.
I want a place where I can buy a car for cheap and gas is cheap. Where roads are big and in general there are many big open spaces. North America fits the bill better than Europe.
I've been disappointed by the treatment in every EU country I've been - I go with open hands and a need to assimilate to a new culture, to find a new place to call home, but locals are always too reserved for my liking and I feel that I'll have a better chance of being regarded as "an American in making" in the US rather than "X national in making" in any country in Europe which is not mine. We, Europeans are just too set in the notion that nations and ethnicity match or have to match. We do worse with assimilating immigrants and making them feel ready to embrace our societies.
I think it would also help that I have larger exposure to American culture through media than fellow European cultures (not counting my own). I just new the general stuff like capitals, some symbols (car or clothes brands, architecture) and that's it. I haven't' seen as many French movies as American for example. And it's not just NY and LA, I remember watching Roseanne and Married In Children, set in Midwest (if I am correct) and Chicago, respectively. So Rosanne essentially portrayed how your average, blue-collar typical US family lives in its initial seasons. No NY fashion shows and LA decadence early on.
I know Americans have a fetish for the culture of Europe, but I prefer small talk, cheap gas and cars, and friendly customer service over any castles, stones etc.
What part of eastern Europe are you from? Also a lot will depend on how good your English is and whether you have a strong accent or not. But from your post it seems that your English is very good and I'm guessing if you have an accent it's not super thick, so in that case I think you would assimilate very easily. I am of Russian heritage (parents immigrated here in 1989) and every person I meet thinks I'm just an average white American, even Russian people don't know until I tell them because I have no accent. My Dad has a slight accent but gets along with Americans very well and has many American friends. And even though Russia always had a bad reputation in the media I never personally felt disrespected because of it and most people are actually get very curios and ask a lot of questions. Sometimes they will make a joke and call me a commie or a Russian spy but it's never done out of disrespect. Also because of your immigration status you will click very easily with other immigrants, even though I have a lot of white and black friends, some of my strongest relationships have been with people of Hispanic, Asian, or eastern European origin.
As far as cost of living goes a lot will depend on where you live, if you live in a major coastal city it will be very expensive, but if you live more inland like Atlanta or Dallas it will be more affordable and those cities tend to also have more sprawl, meaning more freeways to drive on your car so I suppose that's a good thing for you.
Also if you come from a more obscure country or smaller country don't get offended that nobody in America has heard of your country, many people are very bad with geography and many people think that Europe is a country or only heard of the major ones such as France, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, Greece, Poland, Russia, Sweden etc. Most Americans don't even know all 50 states.
If you are Romani, you'll be treated much better in the US than anywhere in Europe :P
Your post sort of sounds like you have a romanticized view of the USA. I recommend that you travel a bit to the US first before getting too serious about this.
Culturally and socially you will do fine, but the US can be a very difficult place to get settled in without a support network of family, church, or common immigrant community. There are fewer government protections and support of workers such as guaranteed paid leave, sick days, etc - in other words no work no pay - and it can be difficult to get settled and advance financially over time for many people. There is a wide gap between rich and poor compared to much of Europe. Many former co-workers from Eastern Europe returned after several years due to their perceived lack of advancement here.
As far as blending in and being an American, immigrants from Europe generally should have no problems culturally, especially in big cities with a history of Eastern European immigrants (Midwest and Northeast US, and more recently Pacific Northwest).
I am from Bulgaria. This apparently is not cool for Central Europeans, but Western Europeans start acting cold to me once they hear it. Is Canada easier to start from scratch due to it being more social-ist lol? Similar culture and language. I have passed a TOEFL, but need a renewal for Canada. I have a CAE and an American uni degree.
I'll be very honest and blunt here. If you're a white immigrant, you'll blend it way better to American culture than you're a non-white immigrant. Typically, America goes by race, not ethnicity or nationality. Since you're white, yes, you'll be treated better than in Western Europe which goes by nationality and ethnicity more than race.
I've studied in the Netherlands and let's say most Westerners in Europe mistrust us Eastern Europeans. I found I had to make do with mostly fellow Eastern Europeans to befriend. In my experience they become more reserved once I say where I am from.
I also prefer the enthusiastic, more direct and extroverted way Americans communicate.
I have a Dutch degree, but also an American university diploma plus I work in a US-based company. So I'm starting to think why not give US or Canada a shot?
Do you think I have a chance of winning the green card lottery for example and which is the one and true site? Every time I visit the official one I see the message lottery is closed.
I want a place where I can buy a car for cheap and gas is cheap. Where roads are big and in general there are many big open spaces. North America fits the bill better than Europe.
I've been disappointed by the treatment in every EU country I've been - I go with open hands and a need to assimilate to a new culture, to find a new place to call home, but locals are always too reserved for my liking and I feel that I'll have a better chance of being regarded as "an American in making" in the US rather than "X national in making" in any country in Europe which is not mine. We, Europeans are just too set in the notion that nations and ethnicity match or have to match. We do worse with assimilating immigrants and making them feel ready to embrace our societies.
I think it would also help that I have larger exposure to American culture through media than fellow European cultures (not counting my own). I just new the general stuff like capitals, some symbols (car or clothes brands, architecture) and that's it. I haven't' seen as many French movies as American for example. And it's not just NY and LA, I remember watching Roseanne and Married In Children, set in Midwest (if I am correct) and Chicago, respectively. So Rosanne essentially portrayed how your average, blue-collar typical US family lives in its initial seasons. No NY fashion shows and LA decadence early on.
I know Americans have a fetish for the culture of Europe, but I prefer small talk, cheap gas and cars, and friendly customer service over any castles, stones etc.
I don't know if you will win the lottery or not, all you can do, is enter it & find out. Once the lottery is open, send in lots of envelopes, it will increase your chances.
However sometimes people are not discriminated against becasue of national origin, but because of other habits, that people may find annoying.
Plus Americans can be friendly but it is not a deep friendship, when they say drop by sometime, they do not mean stop in soon, it is just a figure of speech. Life is not like the tv shows.
I was in eastern Europe (Poland) this summer, so I have a taste of eastern European culture. One thing you may notice is that Americans are bizarrely friendly especially compared to people in Europe. When crossing paths with someone, it is appropriate to at least smile or say hello. Americans will also make casual comments or conversation with strangers they've never met. For example, I was at the store the other day and I picked out frozen pizzas for my family. As sooner as I walked away with them I exchanged a smile as I passed a man who said, "You're going to eat both of those by yourself?" I've noticed that this doesn't really occur in Europe or at least from what I've noticed. I was only there for 8 days or so.
I'll be very honest and blunt here. If you're a white immigrant, you'll blend it way better to American culture than you're a non-white immigrant. Typically, America goes by race, not ethnicity or nationality. Since you're white, yes, you'll be treated better than in Western Europe which goes by nationality and ethnicity more than race.
Sums it up very well and confirms my impressions about the Old vs New world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SMF575
I was in eastern Europe (Poland) this summer, so I have a taste of eastern European culture. One thing you may notice is that Americans are bizarrely friendly especially compared to people in Europe. When crossing paths with someone, it is appropriate to at least smile or say hello. Americans will also make casual comments or conversation with strangers they've never met. For example, I was at the store the other day and I picked out frozen pizzas for my family. As sooner as I walked away with them I exchanged a smile as I passed a man who said, "You're going to eat both of those by yourself?" I've noticed that this doesn't really occur in Europe or at least from what I've noticed. I was only there for 8 days or so.
STOP IT, you make me even more envious! I like this treatment, it makes you confident that there is still humanity left. And they say US is individualist, to me Europe is far more individualist and isolating. Even those little, light words make me feel good. It's refreshing not being robotic.
I don't know if you will win the lottery or not, all you can do, is enter it & find out. Once the lottery is open, send in lots of envelopes, it will increase your chances.
However sometimes people are not discriminated against becasue of national origin, but because of other habits, that people may find annoying.
Plus Americans can be friendly but it is not a deep friendship, when they say drop by sometime, they do not mean stop in soon, it is just a figure of speech. Life is not like the tv shows.
Yes, but in Europe deep friendships are also rare. I don't have the nerve to wait for a coconut person to open and let me in...
Edit: The site is down and will be restarted tomorrow:
Due to a technical issue, the DV-2019 entry period that began on October 3 has been closed. Entries submitted during October 3-10 are not valid and have been excluded from the system; they will not count as a duplicate entry. The technical issue has been resolved and a new full entry period will begin at noon, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday October 18, 2017 and will run until noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday November 22, 2017. Only entries submitted during this period will be accepted and considered for selection in the lottery. Please throw away any confirmation number or other documentation that you have if you submitted an entry during Oct. 3-10.
Last edited by eriko88; 10-17-2017 at 03:07 AM..
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