Europeans who want to live in Europe: what do people from other places in the world better than us?

27 comments

1. Being innovative, curious, and properly socialised. Having a zest for life.

   Sometimes I feel like here in Europe we’re a bit parochial and insular and don’t have that “energy” that I see from Americans, Brazilians, Australians, Indians, Arabs etc. Could just be me though.

2. Diverse breakfast. I feel in Europe 90% of my breakfasts are roughly the same. I wish we had something like Asian savory breakfast foods that werent just egg based.

   Also Asian streetfood, wish we had more real streetfood ij Europe.

3. I think this depends a lot on where exactly you live in Europe, there’s a huge variety of different situations here.

   Speaking as compared to my home region… Sicily… I’d say one thing is definitely public transport.It would be great to have the type of bus and train system that they have in East and SE Asian cities, for example.

   Another would be speed of building or repairing things… they build a new road or hospital in (say) Japan in the same time it takes to make a decision on where to do it in Sicily,in Japan it would already be completed.

4. Air conditioning is long long overdue. Trying to sleep when it’s still 25+C outside is really not fun.

   And the anti-air-conditioning crowd are always the most insufferable with their feigned concern for energy use – they’re always the same people who are first to turn on the heating to 23C and walk around all winter in Summer clothes.

5. You mean like how in Australia, Korea, USA and Canada you get big bottles of free tap water bought to your table in a restaurant.

6. Like how in Japan everything is more communal and people respect public spaces a lot more. I like how open Americans are. I like Africans happy outlook even in the worst circumstances. I like asian pragmatism and family orientedness.

7. Jalapeño poppers. The yanks hit on something there.

8. I’m a bit old for it now, but we don’t really have any 24-hour cities in Europe, where you can go out and get a decent meal at 3am or whatever. I don’t think everywhere should be like that, but it would be fun if some of our biggest cities were a bit more like that.

9. I live in Europe but I research Japan, so I spend a lot of time there as well. Off the top of my head, I think we could learn a lot from Japan’s public transport infrastructure – integrated travel payment cards, high speed trains that do not undermine the quality of local public transport (which is often the criticism in France), fare adjustment at the station of arrival, and just generally a whole lot of investment in the system. The other thing is the approach to urbanisation, which allows the rapid expansion of dense urban neighbourhoods (which, in turn, keeps rents fairly low even in Tokyo). There’s also a lot that Japan can keep to themselves, as far as I’m concerned. among them: bureaucracy, gender inequality, corporate culture

10. Fruit and vegetables in the UK are incredibly bland, some parts of Europe like Italy, Spain and Portugal have great produce, but Asia for the most part is on another level.

11. I can understand, that the US is a country built on immigration, but I think it would be better for the continent in terms of culture, economy and progress if we would finally stop gatekeeping nationalities and focus more on assimilation.

    If I would be a skilled Indian considering moving to another country I would definitely go to the United States instead of Europe. Not only will the outlook for this person be better economically, but they will integrate/assimilate a lot better in the US than here; not only thanks to their efforts but also because of the Americans.

    It’s always ironic how Europeans cry about US racism and stuff but I can only think of disgusting Post-Brexit Racism in the UK against Polish people or other continental Europeans.

    (Edit: What I mean is not to give away citizenships for free but to actually assimilate people coming from other countries to be a part of the society. Kamala Harris would probably be considered Indian if she would live in Germany while in the US she’s just American.)

12. Opening hours. One thing I envy US is that there are always stores or restaurants opened 24/7. I live in freaking capital city and even large supermarkets close at 22, most of them even earlier. Billa in my neighborhood closes at 21, and fucking 20 on Sunday. What makes Sunday so special that they have to close so early? And during holidays, good luck, everything is closed except gas stations. Austrians have it even worse, with everything closed on Sunday.

13. Small talk and just being friendly to strangers. I work in big supermarket ( we have alot of tourist there) and we ( Europeans) look so mean. I found Americans very nice, chatty, they will make my day when they smile to me.

14. I like how open minded and innovative Americans are. Also, as critical we can be about their racism, I feel it’s worse in Europe. The things I hear from people working abroad in Europe are awful, especially in the west.

15. American mentality is typically more open towards people’s success and generally more positive. There’s a lot that is wrong with that country, but people can be a lot more open and positive than in Europe.

16. The respect of Japanese people for public things, the cleanliness and lack of vandalization. Here in Italy people mostly keep their house immaculate (obvs not everyone) but when they’re outside they go berserk: throw stuff on the ground (not only trash but also other more disgusting things), destroy stuff like chairs, seats on public transportation and so on… i wish we as a people were more respectful of nature and the space we have to share

17. 7/11 foods in Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan. They have everything, from the sweet treats & savory options, way better than what we have in Europe.

18. USA : easier to do business, easier to integrate when you’re naturalized

    Singapore/UAE/South Korea: better law enforcement

    Japan: more considerate culture, more disciplined people

19. I am very happy visiting different countries/continents but I love living in Europe, it is home.

    I wish we could all have wider roads and high speed trains. In Croatia, you can literally walk faster than certain trains 😫

20. The wages in the US, especially for university graduates. Yes, I know the work-life balance here is better, but here in the Netherlands you basically cannot get rich from just your salary. If I moved to US, which I won’t, with the degree I will finish next year I would start off with basically double what I would here in NL. 

21. I envy the Japanese people’s sense of civic duty. The way they clean up after themselves at mass events and how they take care of their surroundings.

    I envy the Chinese that in their country public transportation is being built regardless of cost, because it is widely accepted that access to rail is a value in itself.

    I envy Americans for having free toilets in public spaces like train stations etc.

    I think that’s about it. Things like cities full of skyscrapers are a fun tourist curiosity, but I certainly wouldn’t want to live in such a city on a daily basis.

22. Big houses and yards like in North America/Australia. Not shared homes and tiny flats.

23. Asian food. American optimism and simplicity in bureaucracy.

24. Free of charge access for basic human needs (toilets)!

25. It’s hard to think of something that I’d like in Ireland that doesn’t exist in some part of Europe.

    Like good public transport is huge but some of you have that figured out.

    Better respect for older people, again I’d say some Europeans are much better at it.

    Maybe spicy food lol give me Indian, Mexican and Asian foods

26. I’m English, my wife is polish, we live just north of London and have heavily debated moving.

    Food in London is amongst the best anywhere in Europe and even worldwide, fight me. But we have dogshit Mexican food.

    The cost of living is better basically anywhere, the weather is better, salaries are double or triple in some places in the middle East or USA, the upcoming capital gains tax rise makes lots of places more attractive.

27. The optimism and ‘lets go’ mentality of Americans. And we need a little bit more of the social cohesion and working as a group to return, now the individual is too important. Noticed the latter in Korea.