>Amazing climate
>Lots of good beaches
>Food is great
>Everything is cheap
>No pollution
>Renowed for the hospitality and warmth of its people
>No racial/political divisions and conflicts
>Terrorists don't give a shit
>Beautiful cities and landscapes
>Calm and peaceful
>Extremely interesting historical and cultural wise
What is, in your opinion, the best place in the world to live? If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
there is no such thing as best place to live, you just need country that can provide you with basic shit, and you can then make your life good anywhere
>>Everything is cheap
>>No pollution
>>No racial/political divisions and conflicts
>>Terrorists don't give a shit
Alberto...
I mean like Western Western Europe. Portugal Spain Italy basically
>Warmth of its people
>No racial/political divisions and conflicts
>Terrorists don't give a shit
>Sben
...
Yes, now shut up before everyone floods this place.
>Western Western Europe
>Portugal Spain Italy
You're special, aren't you?
fpbp
The pic looks overpopulated.
It's not. It's an historical centre mainly full of shops, student homes and a university at the top of the hill.
The city isn't particularly dense, populationally.
>western western Europe
Is it even a thing?
Anything east of Vilar Formoso is Eastern Europe.
it all makes sense now
Also, if Portugal is so good, why there is a bunch of portuguese people flooding my country to work in shit jobs?
What do them squiggles in the box mean?
Kicked out for not being good enough to live here.
Please stop embarassing yourself and the rest of us in this thread.
>Food is great
Do you even have sopa de macaco in Portugal? It is uma delicia.
...
You're just mad because you're not Western Western, and will never be.
>Western Western Europe
I'm going to use this from now on
Australia objectively has the best everything
t. euro migrant
we're literally further west than you
That's either Sourthern Europe or the Mediterranean
Portugal isn't Mediterranean filth. We're Atlantic filth.
Are Portuguese the new shitposters ?
>retards who don't know what they are talking about
One could actually say you are too Western, compared to the perfectly central position of France.
Why can't Brits do anything right? Even their country is in the wrong place.
I just wanted to chime in and give my opinion.
I'm a senior Software Engineer/Consultant. I have worked with Telefonica for 15 years, Vivo 3 years, Vivendi around 4.
During my time in those companies I have traveled (and lived) in many different countries, mostly for work related reasons (training or giving support).
Here are my impressions of some of the countries I have lived in:
Germany (Munich and Frankfurt) - Heart of Europe, easy access to any other European country, very developed, decent public transportation, high wages, affordable food (IMO), decent rent prices compared to other important European countries (like France and England). Can be boring and depressing during winter due to grey weather and not a lot of snowfall in cities, people are bland and lots of immigrants can be seen nowadays.
Spain - Bad for work, lower wages (if you're not very experienced or in a field in demand) - lots of protests going on during my time there (2013-2014) so I had a bad impression of it. Nice architecture and women overall.
England - boring. Too many immigrants in London and Manchester, dirty, actually didn't expect to see this much littering, it's worse than Germany and Spain for sure, also the people are boring, rent is ridiculously high but so are the wages if you have the qualifications. It's good for events, museums and general "culture related stuff''.
Switzerland - Very high rent, extremely high wages, extremely boring to live in unless you're a fan of hiking and snowboarding/skiing. A little dirtier than I expected, graffiti here and there, more immigrants than I imagined, but extremely safe, safer than Germany and England I'd say. Good public transportation.
when did you go to London?
I went back last year and was pretty surprised at how clean it was
What about Portugal? Italy?
t. autistic shit that only cares about working
If you don't have a decent job to pay for a decent life you'll be miserable.
>If you don't have a decent job to pay for a decent life you'll be miserable.
t. nihilistic workaholic that can only find sense in life in acquiring money
>decent public transportation
I heard it never is London or Paris tier and people need cars. Is that true?
Also how's food there? London wasn't so good with food but I could at least survive by Indian and Chinese food
In the US you have to. We don't have the stay with your family culture here your expected to move out asap or you're a loser. Healthcare that isn't dogshit is only obtainable through a career, and food and everything else costs money. I don't know how you pay to live.
Well the US isn't the world my friend :)
There isn't a single part of the world where food and shelter don't cost money.
How do you survive without a job? Rich parents? Great, I don't have that option.
The way you worded your post seems a little weird to me - I get you're asking about Germany right?
I never needed a car there.
I took the Straßenbahn in Petuelring up until a point, then used the U bahn (U3 or U1 if I'm not wrong) to Marienplatz. In general, both Munich and Frankfurt are easy to commute in I'd say, never had any problems there. Paris I can't really talk about.
Food prices are quite reasonable in Germany, even during the winter you can find decently priced fruits and vegetables.
If you're talking about London, I think everything is overpriced there, but maybe that's my impression because I moved there right after living in Munich, which, for a very developed city, is very cheap I find. In fact, Munich was one of the favorite places I lived in - quality of life is really high, different seasons along the year, friendly people, very low in crime and beautiful.
Great place to move to if you're thinking about that.
Frankfurt not so much.
Sorry, I haven't lived in Portugal and Italy - I did spend some time in Singapore and Japan if you want to know about those countries.
I went to London back in 2004 (around February I believe) and stayed until October 2006. I lived near Tower Hamlets if that matters to you.
there is a thing called friends and family and as you said our catholic culture basically make our family pay your spendings until you earn a really high paycheck and an education to do the same with your kids. So meanwhile you can really enjoy life a lot, also your family wants you to do that, that is the difference between protestant and catholic countries. Also here the government usually is big enough for public servants to have life-long stability as bureaucrats and simply enjoy life as well. Most writers, musicians, painters, architects did that way
>How do you survive without a job? Rich parents? Great, I don't have that option.
Good but that doesn't imply you should shut yourself from the world and just focus on working for the rest of your life and revolve all of your tastes around money and acquiring it. I mean you literally sound like a workaholic that only cares about production, efficiency and work
Spanish cities are fantastic except for the crucial detail of unemployment
Munich seems good. I guess I may think about working there later.
Can you describe your experience in Japan and Singapore? Japan doesn't seem to be a place where I can get by w/o knowing Japanese
>I mean you literally sound like a workaholic that only cares about production, efficiency and work
that's what I am. I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Why do you think I'm a software engineer first and foremost?
I only work as a consultant for the money, I'm not good dealing with people, I've never been, and I never will be.
Maybe it's not the way you'd like to live your life but it works for me.
I base the ''best places to live in'' according to wages/rent/security because those are the places that offer me what I'm looking for - stability for work. If you're more interested in ''fun'' and ''tourism'' or whatever, that's completely fine by me, but don't judge me just because I'm different to you.
Interasding. My family is Catholic but we've been here for many generations and protestant culture has become the norm. Same for most Catholics here, except recent immigrants.
western europe is not like that you dumb portuguese
>that's what I am. I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Well ok, I am just saying this endless pursue will never end if you are willing to sacrifice everything to satisfy your base needs and greed. I've seen tons of people literally lose their minds over this nihilistic philosophy my friend
Yeah, I speak italian and usually talk with some americans-italian guys and most of them claim to be hardcore catholics when they actually look more like hardcore protestants with a catholic overlaying.
it's definitely an interesting difference
when I went to London you had to pay 20 pounds just to walk through any of their cathedrals, which is something I've never come across before. You can go to France and see fucking Notre Dame for free, but a protestant one costs a ridiculous amount of money.
Munich is a very ''adult'' city, if you understand what I mean.
Trains/trams/buses are usually on time, it's very ''predictable'' and stable - in my experience people won't bother you at all (unlike in Berlin for example) and you'll hardly find any problems in daily life. If you're looking for a place with stability in Europe with decent employment opportunities in Engineering and IT, this is it. German is required though, I have a B2.2 Zertifikat from Goethe Institute and could deal with work-related issues mostly, and general life wasn't a problem, but I suggest you try to learn some German before going (I studied for 1 year before going).
About Japan - There I lived in Kyoto for a very short time (3 months) and Tokyo (2 years).
Not sure which city you're more interested in so I'll give general impressions of both cities.
Tokyo - now, there's big, then there's Tokyo. This place is gigantic, even if you're from New York I think you'll be somewhat overwhelmed the first time you arrive here. Too many things to do, too many of them not worth your time.
Stay away from Nigerian bars (trust me, they spike your drinks). Stay away from ''pure Japanese prostitutes'' on the streets (they are Chinese, usually being abused).
Japan, and this I mean for large cities, unlike what most people believe in - is very easy to ''navigate'' if you're an English native speaker. Most Japanese people WANT to practice their English with you, so they'll go out of their way to help you finding something/catching a train etc. Note that this does not mean that they are ''oh so polite'' like most people would have you believe - they just want to get better at English and they'll use every opportunity to do it in my experience.
Tokyo is crammed - if you don't like people, this is not the place for you. You WILL feel like a sardine on public transportation - Those videos of people being pushed into trains? They are real. The rent in Tokyo is ridiculous. (character limit)
Yep, sounds about right.
>when I went to London you had to pay 20 pounds just to walk through any of their cathedrals, which is something I've never come across before.
That's really stupid, unless it's meant to help pay for the upkeep of the building.
I am a biomedical researcher. Does Munich have good biotech industry or so?
Also, for Japan, I would be interested in hearing about Kyoto as my father was there for like 3 months (He kinda liked it) but that was like in mid-90's.
And, uh, what was your impression on Singapore? I heard people saying SG to be soulless and so
Singaporeans are all highly autistic
sorry, hit the character limit. Continuing
-
If my company had not paid for my accommodation, I'd probably have stayed in a share house (these are fairly common in Japan - you usually rent a very small room with furniture - and share the kitchen/bathroom/living room etc).
People in Tokyo are EXTREMELY formal and BUSY. These people NEED TO GET TO WORK. Trust me, work is number one priority here, I have never in my life (not even in Switzerland or Germany) found a place where people care so much about work and punctuality.
You're expected to arrive 15 minutes (at the very least) EARLIER and leave 2 or 3 hours LATER (at the very least) than your schedule. Not doing so can be seen as laziness or lack of respect for your company. This may be relaxed if you're foreigner (that's the case for many foreigners) but it wasn't the case in my situation due to my position there (I was the senior responsible for learning and implementing IPマルチメディアサブシステム in my company in Brazil at the time.)
I had an entire Japanese team paid to teach me in English, but bear in mind that I HAVE NEVER FOUND ANYONE who had that privilege. As I said, Japan is easy to navigate in if you know English. But not to work in (unless you're an English teacher, then you don't need to know Japanese at all most of the times).
As I was saying, during my time there, I worked up to 15 hours per day. I didn't enjoy my experience as much I thought I would because I absolutely did not have time to do anything except working/commuting.
Don't get me wrong, Tokyo is a great place, but I think you're better off there as a tourist than as an actual citizen.
I'll continue about Kyoto in my next post because I'm about to hit the limit again...
sorry, it's taking long to reply because I'm typing on my phone - would you rather know about Singapore or Kyoto?
Singapore is like a fascist country. Hand out the death penalty like it's candy.
Kyoto.
Like Mainlander level? Just curious cuz I didn't find Taiwanese or HKers autistic. (Well I am Korean so what I see as 'autistic' or 'not autistic' may differ but that was my impression)
>You're expected to arrive 15 minutes (at the very least) EARLIER and leave 2 or 3 hours LATER (at the very least) than your schedule. Not doing so can be seen as laziness or lack of respect for your company. This may be relaxed if you're foreigner (that's the case for many foreigners) but it wasn't the case in my situation due to my position there (I was the senior responsible for learning and implementing IPマルチメディアサブシステム in my company in Brazil at the time.)
Holy shit no wonder nips aren't having kids and commit suicide.
Bear in mind that Japan has a very ''community'' oriented mindset.
Your own problems don't matter much.
When you work for a company - you're there to help the company grow.
Here's an example - say you worked your ass off, studied and did your best to bring something new and exciting which is going to make your company profit more/spend less and be more productive in general - no one is going to give you a pat in the back or tell you how great of a job you did in my experience.
You're just doing your job.
Also - you're not supposed to use ''sick days'' for leave - you're actually expected to work even when sick. This happened to me and it caused a MASSIVE SHITSTORM for HR related reasons (I complained to my company back in Brazil).
I know of a horror story about a guy who had to work 1 day after his stomach surgery...
Anyway, as I said, Japan does have a lot of problems with this. Oh, something I forgot to mention - even though there's this stereotype of Japanese people being diligent and hard working (and I'm not saying they aren't) - there are many people there who are just spending time in the office - they're not doing much except being there for the ''time required''.
Also - partying with your boss and other employers is seen as something you have to do to show you care about them and the company. So basically you usually spend more time with them than with your family, this was literally the case for most of the Japanese people I met in TOKYO. Other cities are different but Tokyo can be quite hellish in this regard.
Jesus christ, Japanese society is fucked up. No wonder the problems they have can be explained through their shitty and toxic work culture.
Kyoto, right.
From what I know, great opportunities there if you're in medical research (and to answer your question, the same applies to Munich from what I remember, specially if you're looking to advance your studies *master's degree and such).
Kyoto is an incredible place, it has a plethora of Education institutions, cultural opportunities and is doing well economically.
It has that ''small town'' feel while still being a big enough city. Public transportation is more restricted than in Tokyo obviously, but it's still quite decent.
Not once have I experienced any delays. Get that? not once. I have a friend who has lived there for 2 years and only had his train delayed once. It's incredible, in MY experience.
The city is extremely clean - the people can be seen as ''nosy'' and maybe a bit ''arrogant'' (that's what other japanese people will tell you, mostly) - though in my experience they are receptive and quite helpful. They are traditionalists and have a lot of pride in their local culture.
One thing that annoyed me was the amount of tourists - they are everywhere. Also, not many places to go out compared to Osaka or Tokyo, and the city isn't very charming outside of temples if you're not into traditional japanese architecture.
Biking can be a little of a problem - Police is very strict and they'll apprehend your bike if you park it in irregular places (you'll also be fined).
Extremely safe to live in, comfortable, not a lot of noise and great food.
I think if you're into Medical Research you should look for the Doshisha University.
Here, I pulled the link for you (in English)
Do brits really think Europe is expensive and polluted? wanna come spend a month in Argentina m8?
Here's the breakdown of the schedule of a work colleague of mine back then
Wake up -> commute for 1 - 1/2 hour -> work for 16 hours -> drink with boss after work -> sleep in capsule hotel -> wake up next day, go to a 7/11 and buy NEW UNDERWEAR AND TIE BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO SHOWER THE DAY BEFORE -> visit family after 2 days of absence to have dinner with them -> repeat schedule ad eternum (he had been doing it for 20 years or so... typical salaryman)
Not even kidding.
There are documentaries about these things.
If you're interested in knowing more, I can link you to some mate, here, watch this if you're curious - it's depressive to say the least.
why is data never available for Greenland?
According to World Atlas and Factbook (CIA Info Dump) Greenland stands at 100% literacy rate.
Maybe the UN chart denies that position but does not have the data to back their claim up.
Or could be that they define literacy differently than that Worldatlas and Factbook.
Bump for interesting thread
yeah, kinda sad to see it die, I posted a lot in hopes of helping other people out there.
Kinda tired now, I'll go to sleep, I hope this thread stays alive and that it was helpful to someone.
Don't hesitate to tell more about Singapore if the thread is still around when you come back.
Maybe not as exciting as brbr boy but I got to visit hati and not for tourist or honeymoon related stuff, it was right after they're major earth quake.
It was awful, as close as I've come to the African documentaries you see. Had to regularly fend off looters from the food storage bins. Shitty experience all around. I'd like to go and see most of Europe but with all of the immigration crisis and stuff it seems less and less likely that I want to go to the tourist hot spots. Any good "out of the way" recomendatuons to vist I guess? Was thinking about fuck off were full land and maybe norway/Iceland but I'd have to go through and learn the language first and that shit seems hard.
place isn't mattered, but money.
even though you live in developed country, you can be very miserable up to your family's wealth.
>Europe
>good food
brazilian bro is being very helpful,
please continue
I'm a bit too old to be moving away and I like it here (Annecy area)
so I personally think this is the best for me,
weather is nice, mountains and lakes around you, a bit of tourists but not a shitty kind of tourist. food is basically french and italian,
less than 1 hr drive to Geneva
The tourist hot spots are the safest places in Europe, at least it's not the hood where you could bump into serious problems if you look like the typical burger tourist.
Everyone speaks English in Iceland and Norway.
Can outsiders please stop visiting norway and iceland? It's fucking shit first of all and it's not for everyone to partake of it like some sort of fucked up tourism colonialism.
>Portugal, Spain and Italy
>Western Western Europe
What is the UK then? Northern Northern Western Western Europe?
I enjoyed your posts a lot
Western Europe in my understanding includes all European nations that weren't commie (and so Greece is Western Europe).
I can only talk about where I've lived, and mind you I'm an expat burger (not military).
>Germany
Really clean and eco-friendly. Good public transportation, felt very safe (although this was 7 years ago and I don't know if it's still the same). Reasonable food at okay prices. Rent a little too pricey in cities with more than >20,000 people. Easy to find employment if you have some kind of schooling background (white collar or trade, just need the exp.). Overall too much rain and clouds, not a very joyous people from my perspective. Half the Germans I met seemed to have a built in guilt about being German and what Germany did 80 years ago.
>Portugal
Very sunny and warm (at least below Porto) all year round. Good and cheap food (if you like meats and fish), nice people. Also lots of cafes with good espresso/sweets. Public transportation is 'ok'. In the larger cities it works well enough, but in smaller cities it's a bit less reliable. Hospitals are developed enough and so are the highways, but many people outside of larger cities still lead very rural lives. Hard to find employment, even harder to find employment with a decent wage. Easy enough to own a small house with two basic jobs, but hard to own a half decent car and buy nice electronics on those wages.
>Italy (Northern only, South Italy might as well be a different country)
Temperate climate. Winters generally don't go below -2c unless you go up 1000m. Spring and August between 10-20c. Summer is 3 months, very few weeks/days where it hits 35c+. Public transportation works well regardless of where you live. Comparable to Germany. Food is A+ at crazy good prices. People are a bit cold to anyone not from their immediate area. Many foreigners not welcome. Americans/Germans/Austrians/Spanish/Greeks/Portuguese well accepted if integrated. Great coffee (at €1) everywhere. Expensive highways.
you mean southwestern europe
You mean Southern Europe?
If you do, you're correct. Western Europe looks boring as fuck desu. Spain, Portugal, Italy on the other hand are based.
portugal urbe always looks to me like a "cleaner" version of galician cidades
Kill yourself macaco
It sort of is. This sort of style becomes more apparent the more South you go until Lisbon, with more austere granite houses in the north (continuing to Galiza), and with some white, flat-roof houses south of Lisbon in Alentejo and Algarve especially.
Between Porto and Lisbon you get this, for the most part:
en.wikipedia.org
wtf, I'm western western europe now