I’ve been thinking about where I would live if I could not (for whatever reason) live in Australia. While there is an awful lot of US nationalistic pride evidenced on this board (and probably for very good reason), I could not imagine anywhere I would rather NOT live than the US! Sorry folks, but when trying to conjure up potential ‘homelands’, America does not even come close.
First preference would be Ireland, then England, Scotland and New Zealand. Continental Europe might suffice (despite some language difficulties) and Thailand, India and maybe even China at a pinch. I’ve always had a soft spot for Argentina and Venezuela, but for the Life Of Me, I cannot countenance the prospect of living in the US.
Does anyone else (not living in the US) have this same sentiment??
Yes, I did. My family’s only been here for almost 400 years, but England, and then other countries started to draw me.
I loved the history in England. The sense of place. The culture. The politeness and kindness of the people. I lived there twice.
A few years later, I found Norway seemed to have avoided all the things I hated about the pollution and mechanization of California.
Still later, my significant other and I (they were Australian, as it happens) almost wrote our families and told them to send our belongings when we were in Zurich. It seemed like a fairy tale.
Then, getting older, and a little more practical, I realized that I had been raised American, and win, lose or draw, had been given opportunities to contribute what I was able, and to change what I did not like. I regret not living in a perfect country, but there’s no place else I want to be.
I like how everyone says this like we had some say in the matter, you know? Like in some pre-birth phase, our spirits were sitting around on the cloud going, “United States of America? Hmmm, might be worth a shot!”
If I couldn’t live in Australia, my first preference would be New Zealand. Second would be in a nice tropical expat community in the asia/pacific region that has good diving (like Vanuatu or the Philippines). Third after that would be America. I don’t really have a fourth.
My preferences are based on climate and language. I really don’t like the cold, so that cancels out most of Europe and Canada.
What are your reasons for the countries you’ve chosen, Kambuckta, and your reason why you just couldn’t live in America ?
Well as an American I can say I do understand. I try to imagine myself living in any of the 48 contiguous states and it just doesn’t appeal to me at all. It doesn’t seem like any of them would ever feel like home to me.
However when I spent a month in Australia I was absolutely shocked by how similar it felt like those same 48 states, or at least some of them. I mean Brisbane could have easily been on the east coast of Georgia (a friendly place with lots of beaches) and Sydney was like L.A. only warmer(both big cement blocks that felt sterile to me). So not knowing too much about you I would think it would be either our media or our politics, both of which can be quite alienating. I know I wouldn’t want to move anywhere where Bush was president.
Now Ireland and the UK both felt quite foreign. And I could see the appeal of living there. Except summer in both of them was one of the coldest seasons I’ve ever experienced, brrr. But certainly they both felt like they could become home.
Last year in the summer. Actually the last couple days in Ireland the rain stopped and it actually got quite warm and muggy. But I guess being so far north it doesn’t take much to get cold.
In an interestin turn, I have never really traveled anywhere - just up to Toronto on my honeymoon. However, I would absolutely love to travel and live in different countries to see what they’re like. Currently, we have plans to go to Germany when some friends move there - so we can crash with them.
I’m not sure what it must be like to live in another country, but I’m willing to give it a shot.
Personally I’m not sure about living in the US (given the choice).
Some warm weather would be nice (no more crappy summers). I also like the idea of so much space (England is so crowded). I like patriotism, the fact that so many people seem proud to be American. I like the idea (if not the reality) of the American dream.
I don’t like guns, George ‘Dubya’ Bush, pollution, arrogance (both in terms of the flip-side of patriotism above, and arrogance in international affairs/ unilateralism (although, of course, you have to hand it to America as the only country capable of acting unilaterally, even though that’s not necessarily a good thing)).
All the above is, inevitably, based on stereotypes, because two short trips to New York and a couple of weeks in Florida don’t really equip me to comment intelligently!
Where else would I like to live? The Loire Valley in France, the Swiss Alps, Florence or Umbria (Italy), Canada or Australia.
I like to think I could live anywhere in the world. I’m sure that’s a naive thought when it comes to some nations - I’d probably leave North Korea screaming after two weeks.
But the US? First of all, it’s mighty big. I haven’t seen a lot of it yet, but I’ve seen a lot I like. Sure, there’s criticism as well, but I’ve got criticism about any place I’ve ever called “home”.
I think I could live happily enough in the US. Then again, I plan to emigrate from the UK in a few years, so I’m not particularly attached to one country.
Also remember the US is a BIIIIIG place. I don’t think most people who’ve spent their whole life here can realistically say much about the country as a whole as a place to live. I’ve lived in 3 different places in the US in my life, and I can honestly say that despite the language similiarity, they’re very different places. The people are different, the feel of the places are different, the whole experience is different.
Deciding that you could never live in, say, New York City does not lead to deciding that you could never live anywhere in the US.
