What I learned from living abroad for five months is that a) every benefit that a country has has an equal and opposite downside. b) you start to miss a lot of the small things that you take for granted (in my case, real Gouda on real bread) c) living somewhere is not the same as visiting some place. Not to say that you shouldn't try to pursue this. But be sure to put on your long-term glasses. Do you still like the place when the weather sucks, your commute is slow and you have to fill in yet another damn form at the municipal office? Because there's gonna be days like that, and on those days your old home seems impossibly far away.
a) The fear of losing steady, quality internet access would be enough to keep me home b) You're probably very much right about that. There are some things I probably won't realize I appreciate so much until it's gone. Hell, listening to kleinbl00 talk about the poor beer situation in the Pacific Northwest is enough alone to make me feel sorry for him. God. What if I move somewhere where the only option for beer is Tsing Tao? I mean, if that's the case, I'll have to learn to like sake. ::shudders:: 3) You are very much right. There are some places I don't mind visiting, but I could never see myself living there willingly. Though, at the same time, there are places where I think I would love to live, but I wouldn't see any reason to visit there for any length of time. Is that something you have to do often? What's so important that they make you fill out form after form. Not saying that this is or isn't the case for you, but since we're talking about forms, I've heard in some countries, like Southeast Asia again, bribes are often considered a bureaucratic lynch pin. I honestly don't know if that's something I could see myself doing.You have to fill in yet another damn form at the municipal office?
I think you'll like Nomad List then. You can sort by internet speeds, weather, cost of living and more. Not getting kicked out; social security; you being registered; not losing your new job, your driver's license, your insurance, your healthcare. To live anywhere for more a year or so often requires mountains of paperwork. You mentioned in your post that you want your life to be more exciting. I think that you need more than the desire for excitement to actually live abroad and not regret it, because there are enough bureaucratic roadblocks to curb anyone's enthusiasm. For excitement, go travel more. For a completely different life, go live abroad.What's so important that they make you fill out form after form.
What about things like books though? I personally moved across the Atlantic myself, and I think the biggest thing I miss six years later is my and my extended family's libraries. I love travelling, but I just can't see myself lugging my whole collection around :(
Dude. The ENTIRE WORLD has better internet than the shit we have here in the USA. I mean, I moved back to the US over a DECADE ago, and I still don't have the cell phone quality or signal that I had in eastern fucking europe just after the Soviet Union fell. Seriously. You go overseas and you will be PISSED at how shitty the IT infrastructure is in the US.
I can't stop marvelling at how much better Russian Internet access is overall: speed, cost, choice of providers (each with their own thing, many details shared among various brands), free Wi-Fi at places... The country that invented the Internet not being able to do good by their people is astounding.
Well, when you look at how capitalism works in this country, it makes sense that everything we do would suck. Because people get rewarded for cutting corners, and they make more money. They they use that money to fortify their position with lobbying and government contracts. And then they stop innovating because they have a nice, cushy defensible position. It's humiliating when one of my European friends come to visit. They pop open their phone and try to find a wifi signal... but they can't. Because the city doesn't provide wifi. So we go to a Starbucks. But they are in bed with ATT, or whoever, so you have to have an account and pay for their internet. And meanwhile the dude has been trying to check one thing in one app for, like, 45 minutes, but we can't get a reliable wifi signal anywhere... It's like I want to just go find a FAX machine and tell them to send a fax instead.... So embarrassing.
a) We're number 14! We're number 14! We're number 14! b) You've never had good sake because only every 20 years or so does the US bother to import it. For those couple-three years, though.... also keep in mind that decent sake is served chilled, like white wine, not hot. The reason Americans think sake should be hot is that's the way you hide truly shit sake, which is what most servicemen got during the occupation of Japan.
Do you have any sake brands you'd recommend? Some of the liquor stores around here are willing to entertain the idea of stocking weird stuff if you ask nicely. It's been a while since I've last had sake, but I think my biggest hangup is that the flavor is a bit cloudy, which doesn't describe it well, but it tastes a bit like you'd think cotton would taste like. So, not yummy.
I should have mentioned - I have blazing fast fiber at home, and just got it at work too. I don't know stats off the top of my head, but that ookla speed test? Pegs the needle on download, and nearly so on upload. But not available everywhere, yet.a) The fear of losing steady, quality internet access would be enough to keep me home
Here's what I get at work (at home it's faster) :
We do have good steaks here - and venison and lamb; and seafood of course; but what really shines is the bacon. OMG. There's many different types and they're all delicious. American-style bacon is called "streaky bacon" but there's also middle-bacon, shoulder-bacon, and a couple of other kinds too. "Spoiled for choice" is what we say here.
I googled, as I was unfamiliar with the term. I've not seen those here, but they look tasty. Lots of what we call crayfish around here though, in America we called them rock lobsters. Here's a dog fetching one: