Since I’ve retired I’ve had a strong desire to move and live in another country. France, Italy or the Canary Islands would be great. However, I too found the OP offensive, but was then shocked by Rhum Runner.
[sup]That’s my two cents worth.[/sup]
Rhum Runner, you’re way out of line. So chula thinks Europe is a better place for him to live in. Big deal! Why does he need to “leave his American passport and citizenship, and all the privileges and protections that it affords, at the boarder”??? You were offended? OK!! But you’ve overreacted big time, even if you don’t think so.
And for the record, I know exactly how chula feels. I don’t make a very good Indian myself. Not unlike him, I can’t imagine living in any Indian city other than Bombay (grew up there) and Poona (where I live now). Spicy food gives me instant ulcers. Politically, I too believe in human rights and socialism (the European brand of), both of which are seriously lacking in India. I too believe that long vacations are a human right. If we had a decent prublic transport system, I’d be using it more than I use my own. I relate better with Europeans than I do with the average Indian. I’m not hospitable and generous to a fault, and everybody is not welcome in my home. And I hate the way the political class in this country gets away with everything, including murder.
And I’m not just curious about Europe either. I have lived, studied, worked and travelled (as much as my meagre student salary allowed) in Europe. I have several friends there, from most European countries, with whom I feel almost as much at home as I do with my childhood friends in Bombay. As of now, I know that I’d be happier living in Germany (my country of choice) than I would here.
And FYI, I live an extremely comfortable life in India, more so than you would imagine. So just in case you think I want out of here just for a better standard of living, you couldn’t be farther off the mark.
I can understand that another Indian would find my opinion offensive, but if he told me to "get out and stay out’, I’d bash him in the head. Because in spite of everything I’ve written here, I still love my country, and I’m proud of it.
And now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, are there any European damsels looking for an Indian groom?? I speak fluent German, and I’m willing to learn Italian and Spanish 
Seriously though, I’ve tried to find my way into Germany via the job route. I did in fact find a job in the automotive industry. Unfortunately, the economic downturn in Germany caught up with me before I got in. The labour office in Munich said they couldn’t justify allowing a foreign worker in when there were so many unemployed Germans already floating about. Which kinda sux, but that story belongs in another board!
So, if someone said to you they are thinking of leaving Illinois for California because they prefer California’s lifestyle, food, politics, etc. would you say the same thing? What’s wrong with liking another place better? Millions of Americans move every year. What’s wrong with preferring to live in Europe? There are millions of Europeans quite content with it and who would not move to the USA if you paid them. Not even ice-cream appeals to everyone and different colors were made to suit different tastes.
As someone who has lived in several places on both sides of the pond I would be glad to share my experiences and thoughts but not on the board. Feel free to email me if you like and I will tell you the secrets you need.
Gosh there’s some knee-jerk defensiveness going on here.
I’d say try Amsterdam, as it’s far and away the best European city I’ve been in, ever. However, the weather sucks. Barcelona also has good reports, though I’ve never been, and the weather’s better.
Oh dear… I´ll rather reply to the original post…
I´m not an expat, chula, but welcome to Europe!
Your choice of work places doesn´t sound too tempting, though - what are you, an expert on international law? Human rights? (Just interested… that´s the two things I can think of that The Hague and Geneva have in common.)
Well, Coldfire´s right, it´s not far from Amsterdam, and that certainly is a nice town. However, as processed food goes, the Dutch are in the top league in Europe, I´m sorry to say. (Don´t want to offend anyone, but the veggies are almost all grown in greenhouses and thus sans taste, you can´t get nice dark bread, and I wasn´t too fascinated by the rest of the Dutch cuisine, either. The cheese is good, though. And there´s a lot of Indian food.) But the people are nice and most of them speak good English.
Switzerland - well, the food certainly is better, and I think it´s a pretty country (haven´t been there, though). Oh, and it has the same coughcough merits as Amsterdam…
The weather is probably better than in the Netherlands, too.
Of course, if you can get a job somewhere else, then Spain is wonderful country to live in (Barcelona!), and Portugal and Southern France are probably highly recommendable as well. Or what about Italy? If you´re limited by your profession, that might be difficult, though.
Oh, by the way, if you´re thinking of marrying a European and then getting the citizenship, please note that Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, and while they do have multilateral agreements with the other EU countries as to work permits etc., it´s not quite as easy to move around as with an EU citizenship. (Much easier than with any other non-EU citizenship, though.)
What about Febo croquettes!?!? Pure ambrosia.
I understood what you meant.
I’d subscribe in a heartbeat if I didn’t have obligations here.
Maybe you could marry Coldie :), Gay weddings are all the thing over in clogville, from what I hear.
I got here (England) mostly by being in the right place at the right time. I worked for an American software company in Texas. An opportunity came up to do a 3 month stint in England and I was the best person for the job at the time. After the 3 months I went back to Texas and spent the next 9 months lobbying my company to send me back. We got the work permits in place, and I moved back to England. I was on a work permit which pretty much tied me to the company. After 4 years residency, I applied for and got a permanent resident visa. This would allow me to change jobs easily, but I couldn’t go on welfare. After 1 year of PRV, I applied for and got British citizenship and all the benefits that go along with it. I’m still an American citizen too, I have dual nationality. The coolest part is being able to use the short line at airport passport control where ever I go.
[drive-by posting]
universe.zip I really like your username…
[/drive-by posting]
First of all, I’m female. I thought it was pretty obvious that names ending in “a” are feminine.
You’re helping me think about this, universe. It’s really southern Europe I’m interested in. I’ve spent over a month in Switzerland and it’s not really my thing. I guess I don’t really think of Geneva as being part of Switzerland since it’s so international, but it’s still too quiet for me. At this point I need to talk to people who work in my field (you guessed it right) about what kinds of possibilities there are in Europe.
By the way, I’m not sure how serious I am about this. It would be nice if it all worked out, but I doubt I could just make it happen.
Heck, are there any European damsels looking for a Canadian groom out there?
(I can claim right of abode in the UK if I jump through enough hoops, if that helps. But I’m attracted to Scandinavia. Maybe I could migrate across the ocean like my uncle Eric from Sweden did, but in the reverse direction…)
Delete Universe?
| OK | | Cancel |
No-no, he genuinely doesn’t like the guy.
You don´t wanna know the size of that file, believe me - if you delete it, it´ll take all eternity
anyway, chula, I´ve been thinking about the job issue. I bet there are many NGOs that could need someone with your knowledge. Of course, they tend to be notoriously underfunded, so you may not make the big money, but I guess it´s enough for a living (which is cheaper anyway if you go to Spain or Italy). Plus, you´d be doing something good, really helping people, and your posts sound like you might enjoy that…
So for now it´s just a dream - and not all of them work out. But I think you should try and make it happen, because, after all, you´re talking about your life and your way of living, and that´s pretty important. You should try it, and if it works out, that´s just great, and if it doesn´t, at least you won´t spend the rest of your life wondering “but maybe, if I´d tried…”
good luck to you!
FWIW, I saw nothing offensive about the OP. (But then, I’m on the Left Coast 
)
I could pass your phone numbers along to my sister-in-law if you’d like…
Well, if all goes well, I’m going to be in Sweden this summer. I could make a side trip other than the one to Amsterdam… 
If I may just refine the statement I made above. I’d like that my European damsel be settled in Germany, and preferably in Munich. See, I just love Munich
I’m not fussy. Really!
For the OP:
I’m also an expat in Europe. Not to rain on your parade, but just so you are aware, getting a job/residency/work permits, etc in Europe isn’t as easy as you may think.
The first thing I’d do is to see if you can get a job with a company that has offices in the European country of your choice. You can do a transfer and they’ll pay for the move, relocation, etc.
It’s quite expensive to ship your things over for just a year or two, so I’d be wary of bringing too much.
Me? I married a Yerpian, so I get to stay here and work with only muddled beaurocracy to deal with.