England vs Stockholm vs Amsterdam vs Tokyo (high crime, house)

[Geography Freak]

I'm sure you know England is a country, not a metropolitan area...

[poxonyou]

I know, but I couldn't edit the title. I originally thought to compare countries as a whole, but there is so much variation and in all likelihood I'd be living near the biggest cities. I changed the other ones, but forgot to change England to London :/

[poxonyou]

Here's an interesting OECD report that was just released ranking the well being of children in various countries. Out of the countries we're comparing, Sweden does the best, while the US and UK are about equally bad. Japan is OK, not near the top or bottom overall.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/19/4/43570328.pdf
pages 3 and 7, 14 and onward have charts

As for those voting for England (I meant London), please explain why. It's tied for Stockholm for first.

[poxonyou]

Originally Posted by NihonKitty

And basically all of the rain in tokyo occurs during 2 months (late spring early summer). It is the rainy season, so you are making it much worse than it seems.

It seems Osaka gets less rain per year. Perhaps it's not in such a way that affects mood as negatively? There is a lot of rain in Tokyo from March to November though, not just 2 months. There is rainy season late spring, summer rain, then typhoon season late summer-fall which actually results in more rain than rainy season. A coworker just told me today it was one of her top frustrations about living here as well without me bring it up.
Tokyo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tokyo, Japan: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data
Orlando, FL, Florida, USA: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data

Why are you even in Japan?

Because of this: Scandinavia and Japan are probably the 2 most similar regions in the developed world (income equality, crime, atheism etc), because I'm interested in Japanese entertainment, fashion, and I like the challenge and seeing new things. The former has faded since I've been here. I appreciated those things more from afar than I have being here.

Since you seem like a very strong vegetarian (fish seasonings are no good for you) then Its harder but I still won't agree that US is better for vegetarians. Japanese actually consume the lowest amount of meat in the developed world (at least red meat). You should try an Okinawan diet that is almost ENTIRELY vegetarian.

Right. Not saying Japanese are major meat eaters vs Americans, just that vegetarian options are very very rarely clearly listed on menus (have to ask if meat or meat by products are used) and fish flavoring is used in soooo many foods. It's not technically counted as meat, but I can't consume it. Even many salty snacks at the grocery store include some fish flavoring though you wouldn't expect it. Katsuo is very commonly used. Tofu and soy products aren't viewed as vegetarian alternatives here as they are in the US. They're commonly used in cooking and meals, but along with meat or meat/fish flavorings.

[BigSwede]

Originally Posted by Sweden

Oh, you need to come and listen to us Smålänningar... Spelling? Noooo... Skip a few letters here and there... replace the r's with l's...

Småländska is easy.Just skip all the r's to speak fluently.

[BigSwede]

Originally Posted by NihonKitty

^ do you really need to learn swedish? I heard scandinavians can all speak english.

English works fine until you have learned swedish.
I know two americans who live here who both understands and speaks swedish,but they still prefer to speak english and it works just fine.

[Sweden]

Originally Posted by poxonyou

Here's an interesting OECD report that was just released ranking the well being of children in various countries. Out of the countries we're comparing, Sweden does the best, while the US and UK are about equally bad. Japan is OK, not near the top or bottom overall.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/19/4/43570328.pdf
pages 3 and 7, 14 and onward have charts

As for those voting for England (I meant London), please explain why. It's tied for Stockholm for first.

Because I'm used to Sweden and want something else just for a little while (don't comment on my location status, please - I know).
Plus, I'm what could be described as a "closet patriot" (not a nice word around here, it's too... "proud". BigSwede can second that I'm sure) so I can't root for Sweden too much. Might make someone suspect something like that going on.

Originally Posted by BigSwede

Småländska is easy.Just skip all the r's to speak fluently.

Don't forget to add some words that don't exist (like "jämte" and "la" - I always thought they were real words, so imagine my shock when I learnt the truth...).
And I seriously suspect that my laptop is a genuin Smålänning. The r's I type somehow don't appear on the screen. So, if any r's are missing - it's the laptop, not me. Promise.


P.S. Tss, like Norrländska is any better. Just skip all the å's...

[NihonKitty]

Originally Posted by poxonyou

It seems Osaka gets less rain per year. Perhaps it's not in such a way that affects mood as negatively? There is a lot of rain in Tokyo from March to November though, not just 2 months. There is rainy season late spring, summer rain, then typhoon season late summer-fall which actually results in more rain than rainy season. A coworker just told me today it was one of her top frustrations about living here as well without me bring it up.
Tokyo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tokyo, Japan: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data
Orlando, FL, Florida, USA: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data

It's exactly the same as Florida, all the rain is in the summer. Fall and Winter in Japan are sunny alot. Even august is usually sunny most of the time. The day long rain youre complaining about only really happens alot in late spring and early summer. And no Osaka is better because the culture is different and I am from Kansai.

Because of this: Scandinavia and Japan are probably the 2 most similar regions in the developed world (income equality, crime, atheism etc), because I'm interested in Japanese entertainment, fashion, and I like the challenge and seeing new things. The former has faded since I've been here. I appreciated those things more from afar than I have being here.

What makes you think sweden will be any different? It is western so youre culture is similar but thats the only major +. If you want income equality japan is ranked #2 in the world only behind denmark, if you want healthcare than japan again is ranked #2 for preventative deaths, after france (higher than scandinavia), if youre looking for low crime rate, japan has lower crime than ALL western nations scandinavia included.

Right. Not saying Japanese are major meat eaters vs Americans, just that vegetarian options are very very rarely clearly listed on menus (have to ask if meat or meat by products are used) and fish flavoring is used in soooo many foods. It's not technically counted as meat, but I can't consume it. Even many salty snacks at the grocery store include some fish flavoring though you wouldn't expect it. Katsuo is very commonly used. Tofu and soy products aren't viewed as vegetarian alternatives here as they are in the US. They're commonly used in cooking and meals, but along with meat or meat/fish flavorings.

Thats the thing tons of vegetarian meals are direct rip offs of japanese food. But if you cant consume fish by products (seasonins) then as I said it makes it harder, but I still disagree though. Maybe because they dont list it its harder but there are more "vegetarian meals" there than in the US.

Since you are from Florida you seem to not like the big city life (and tokyo is the biggest city in the world). Many of your complaints are the same I read about from people who moved to NYC. Maybe sweden will be better because Its not as dense as Tokyo. I think Japanese culture is also really different for you so any of the above will be better for you again. Why dont you just move back to the US?

[poxonyou]

It's not Japan vs America. At this point in history, like I said before, I'd likely chose Japan over the US if it were just those 2 choices. I don't disagree with most of your points about Japan, when compared to the US, aside from the weather. I've lived here for 3 years and have no reason to make crap up about the weather. I wish it were better. This is from the climate site I linked. Precipitation rank: Globally, 3372 are dryer, 840 are wetter. Osaka is a bit dryer. You claim this comes almost all at one time, but the links I gave say otherwise, my personal experience says otherwise, looking at recent weather history in Tokyo says otherwise. Typhoons don't last for just a few hours for example, at least not in Tokyo. You're right, it is much dryer for about 3.5 months in the winter, dryer than a few places at the same time on this list. I suppose the question is, would I exchange this wetness and hot, humid summers (though short) for the cold and shorter daylight hours of Stockholm, but overall dryer weather and more mild summers? (High temperature rank: Globally, 300 are cooler, 2680 are warmer. Precipitation rank: Globally, 986 are dryer, 3226 are wetter.) But I really can't say any more in regards to Tokyo weather specifically.

[ChunkyMonkey]

Sweden in general is very family friendly with lots of nature and low crime. That is very true. However, the school system is really has a different philosophy than the American schools. My experience with the Swedish school system is quite a bit more focus of letting children be children at least in the early grades, which is nice in some ways but academics suffer greatly.

The schools generally want to be inclusive so they teach at a lower level so that everyone feels comfortable. That is nice for some kids, but the schools absolutely do not challenge kids and will not help those that excel.