Emigrating, where is the grass greener?

[Phi for All]

I haven't given this any thought so I'm treating it as if I had to leave the USA in a hurry. So with that' date=' I would pack a quick bag and head to China. We had some Chinese exchange students and I got to know them very well.

 

China is mostly atheist but tolerates non violent religions so if I wanted to taste religion, I could be a Buddhist. China is beautiful, devoid of the "bad" religions and with its million person army I would feel protected.

 

I know its freedoms are limited, but I'm not in want of anything special.[/quote']You may not want anything special but you may want more than one child, you may want to avoid the trafficking in women, and you definitely want to avoid having your organs harvested. China has such a bad worldwide rep for human rights violations. What did the exchange students say about China that would overcome these major hurdles?

Hey, can I move there too? You just described my paradise.

I was going to say no because all the Brazilian women would like you better. But my wife says I can't play with them anyway, so welcome to Phiforallia!

[Sisyphus]

It's about the size of Britain but contains climatic zones stretching from glaciers to rainforest. The most venous creature is the wasp. The beaches' date=' mountains, forests and rolling countryside are beautiful. There are natural hot springs on some beaches so you can dig your own hot pool in the sand.

 

The cost of living is about as low as possible for it to be in a first world country. Most of the electricity comes from geothermal and hydro.

 

You can walk around the back streets and along the docks in Auckland at 2AM and feel perfectly safe. If you look puzzled or lost random strangers will come up to you and offer you directions.

 

All land claims and disputes between the Maori and the European settlers have been settled.

 

Everyone there loves rugby and the fishing is absolutely great.

 

It's probably about as far away from the Middle East as you can get.

 

Other than that, not much.[/quote']

 

Alright, I think you've convinced me. I already knew it was utterly beautiful, just from all the movies that are filmed there, and that there it's industrialized yet unspoiled, stabile yet free. New Zealand is near the top of my list as well. I was just wondering if you guys had anything else in mind, like the politics.

 

I'd also like to offer up Iceland as a choice. Most of what is great about New Zealand can also be said of Iceland: extremely safe, progressive, and with some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet. Culturally they've got the best claim to be heirs of Viking culture, and have the oldest continually operating democratic legislature in the world, yet Reykjavik is a sophisticated cosmopolitan city. They're very socially liberal, but also put a strong value on rugged individualism. They embrace both ancient and modern seemlessly: a vibrant thousand year old culture with the highest percentage in the world of people who believe in evolution. They get much of their power from clean geothermal energy. They've got hot springs, volcanoes, glaciers, and the midnight sun. And the women are totally hot.

[gcol]

My plan was to stay in England until everyone else had emigrated and it would be quiet and peaceful, but the way things are going I may as well go to Pakistan.

[Pangloss]

You may not want anything special but you may want more than one child, you may want to avoid the trafficking in women, and you definitely want to avoid having your organs harvested. China has such a bad worldwide rep for human rights violations. What did the exchange students say about China that would overcome these major hurdles?

 

(applause)

 

That's a good start, but Bettina said something to the effect that China only cracks down on violent religions, so I would have pointed out that Falon Gong is hardly violent, and it's completely banned (not to mention the various constraints on Christianity).

 

Bettina's post strikes me as a great example of the kinds of fallacious inroads China is making in the hearts and minds of modern Americans.

[Dak]

japan. it just looks mental. i mean, talking toilets -- wtf? and, as i understand, japanese rasism ensures that i will be treated as some form of ogre, so, if im understanding this correctly, i can shout 'gaijin sumashu' and jump queues, have my own personal space on the underground, etc.

 

on the other hand, beer is about £8 a pint

 

other than that, germany -- it's allways interested me, for some reason. plus it's beer is nice.

[Aardvark]

.

I'd also like to offer up Iceland as a choice.

 

Interesting choice.

 

 

.They get much of their power from clean geothermal energy. They've got hot springs' date=' volcanoes, glaciers, and the midnight sun. And the women are totally hot.[/quote']

 

Perhaps i'll need to rethink. The idea of living on an active volcano in the middle of the ocean on the Arctic circle suddenly seems quite attractive.

 

I wonder how hard Danish is to learn?

[CharonY]

Re: China, as long as you keep your head down and do not mettle with politics it ain't that bad. Especially if you got a specialist function as a foreigner (e.g. being scientist) you will be granted certain privileges. So probably having more than one child would not be a problem, if you are a Prof. for instance.

[Aardvark]

Re: China, as long as you keep your head down and do not mettle with politics it ain't that bad. Especially if you got a specialist function as a foreigner (e.g. being scientist) you will be granted certain privileges.

 

A friend of mine is moving to China this month. As a foreign 'expert' he's treated with respect and is privileged. Life is ok there as a foreigner if you are prepared to give up ever expressing any political opinions and have a useful skill to offer.

 

Personally i don't think i'd want to live there, but as an apolitical foreign 'expert' it would be liveable.

[JHAQ]

I emigrated from UK to Canada & then USA . They were the primary choice because of my profession but I equally well could have gone to Australia or NZ . I miss many things about England as the way it was over 50 years ago but now find it over priced , over crowded & a traffic disaster ( but still have nostalgia creep for it ). I live happily in Maine ( retired ) am an US citizen & proud of it . This is a great country & the envy of most of the rest of the world .

[Tetrahedrite]

(applause)

 

That's a good start' date=' but Bettina said something to the effect that China only cracks down on violent religions, so I would have pointed out that Falon Gong is hardly violent, and it's completely banned (not to mention the various constraints on Christianity).

 

Bettina's post strikes me as a great example of the kinds of fallacious inroads China is making in the hearts and minds of modern Americans.[/quote']

I am glad you picked up on Bettina's comments, as China's record of persecution of Falon Gong members (amongst other groups) is absolutely attrocious. China has been accused of systematically attempting to eliminate this non-violent religion, including by executing practitioners or putting them in re-education (labour) camps. Only recently, the Chinese government has even been accused of abducting and spying on practitioners in other countries, including (in this case), Australia.

[Karnage]

Australia. Ive always wanted to see Koalas and the jungles there. Hiking is one of the my most anticipated activities, and i would like to go on a trip thorugh the australian jungles

[Heretic]

I haven't given this any thought so I'm treating it as if I had to leave the USA in a hurry. So with that' date=' I would pack a quick bag and head to China. We had some Chinese exchange students and I got to know them very well.

 

China is mostly atheist but tolerates non violent religions so if I wanted to taste religion, I could be a Buddhist. China is beautiful, devoid of the "bad" religions and with its million person army I would feel protected.

 

I know its freedoms are limited, but I'm not in want of anything special.

[/quote']

 

Were they from former Hong Kong? Because that's a whole other ball game. I'm not sure what constitutes a "bad" religion in their eyes but didn't they destory a series of Buddhist statues and brutally massacre the people of Tibet?

 

I'm not anti-China, I just think you're misinformed. I hope you don't enjoy say posting on forums or say having your own webpage because that kinda stuff the Chinese government doesn't stand for Especially if you're Buddhist.

 

They do not like religions of any kind, and they have plans in motion to violently stomp out all religion from China. If you value your voice and your opinion your won't go to China. You won't have one there especially as an alien.

 

But if you're okay with sitting back and watching your country beat people up for questioning whether or not the government should beat people up, then go for it.

 

P.S.

 

Yes my views are bias because my girlfriends grand-parents live in Hong Kong and communist China destroyed their lives and has beaten and jailed several of their friends for requesting a change, whether it be political or not.

[JohnB]

Hiking is one of the my most anticipated activities, and i would like to go on a trip thorugh the australian jungles

Oh goody, another yank to get lost in the bush. Just remember, always walk downhill.

 

I must admit, I really don't know where I would go. I'd try Phiforallia but by the time I get there;

 

The roads will be Indian, the food British, the communications from Paraguay, the women from Soviet Russia, the police from Brazil and the cost of living from the US.

 

Oh well, I'll just stay in Oz.

[blike]

ROFL Sayonara, why do I see my ugly mug in your blog's gallery.

 

That pic was supposed to be our little secret.

[Sayonara]

ROFL Sayonara, why do I see my ugly mug in your blog's gallery.

 

That pic was supposed to be our little secret.

 

Because it's the best pic ever!

 

I think a better question is, why did you announce it to all of SFN if it's our little secret?

 

You WANT them to see it, don't you.

 

 

Go on everyone, go look. He is naked except for the peanut butter.

[penagate]

I can't quite make up my mind between Australia and New Zealand. Both have great people and both are beautiful but in utterly different ways.

 

Most of them involving farm animals.

 

(Don't listen to me, I'm an Aussie.)

 

I don't think our culture is more US influenced though. We drive on the left and use the metric system. What more could you ask for?

[migratingfishsw]

For me it's definitely New Zealand, I like the thought of all the (livable in) space

[CharonY]

if you are prepared to give up ever expressing any political opinions and have a useful skill to offer.

 

Actually it may not be true as such. You should only avoid voicing political opinions on a public platform maybe. Though as foreigner you may get by with it (if you are somehow important that is). A friend of mine organized a meeting of German and European economy grad students in Beijing a while back. There were certain discussions (with role-play and stuff) and interestingly especially the Chinese students were quite heavy in criticizing the government (not only regarding free market, mind you). The very same students, btw. who eventually might get leadership positions in China.

 

China is repressive, but unless you make some organized protests or anything that only resembles (or might be interpreted) as civil disobedience one should get by.

 

Also I found that for some reasons Japanese people really like the German language. Quite possibly the only persons on earth. There are an astonishing number of reference to German words in Japanese pop culture. English is catching up fast, though (though I think rather due to its usefulness).

[Sayonara]

English is 'catching up'? English gairaigo (loanwords) may have come along after Dutch and German ones, but they are the most common in Japanese by a long looooong way (unless of course you count Chinese kanji, haha).

[CaptainPanic]

Funny to read that people would like to emigrate to "see something new". That's a reason for a holiday, not to emigrate. Emigrations is, imho, rather permanent... not 3 weeks, not even 3 months or 3 years, but more like 30 years. It means building up a new life, breaking bonds with the old life. Most posts in this thread don't seem to realize that. Most posts are about "where would you like to work for a couple of months"?

 

I'd emigrate to Scandinavia because they have a great economy, which is mostly technology based. There is a lot of space for everybody. It is similar enough to what I am used to, so I am sure I can settle there... I wouldn't go mad within a month from the culture shock. Canada could be neat too, for pretty much the same reasons. I guess I like the cold better than the warm climates. And New Zealand? Well... it's a little far away from everything else. You get kinda stuck there with no possibilities for short cheap holidays

 

I'd love to check out China and Japan though... but I am not sure I have the patience to live there for very long... and if I don't go mad there, they'd probably kick me out for being the rude and blunt person I am.

[npts2020]

I kinda like the U.S.ofA. but I can think of a few I wish would emmigrate. Trouble is that no other place would likely accept them.

[Gilded]

I'd emigrate to Scandinavia because they have a great economy, which is mostly technology based. There is a lot of space for everybody. It is similar enough to what I am used to, so I am sure I can settle there... I wouldn't go mad within a month from the culture shock..

 

I don't know if you count Finland as being a part of Scandinavia, but it's sad how many people here are xenophobic (some people blame basically everything from unemployment to social care problems on immigrants). I think at least Sweden and Denmark are more open-minded.

[bascule]

Sweden or France seem like my kind of place, although the language barrier and cultural acceptance may be a problem, especially with the latter.

 

Possibly Amsterdam? New Zealand? Canada?

[ParanoiA]

Japan. I'm short so I'd prefer a country full of short women.

[SH3RL0CK]

Being a citizen of the USA and having traveled to many places overseas, I'd have to say it is pretty good in America. As the culture of other places are different, I would want to stay in the USA as I would feel out of place elsewhere. But if I had to leave I would pick Australia first. I'd also have to strongly consider New Zealand (though I've never been) and Canada.

 

I'm not very good with other languages (though I seem to get by when visiting), so an English speaking country would be important.