What Countries do you all live in, and how do you like them?
polycounter lvl 18
I'm American (the fat, important kind). I've lived here my entire life, and I want to leave. Problem being, family and friends, though i'm sure they'd understand. How are things where all of you live?
Replies
I guess I can't complain, it's not too bad. Plenty of stuff to do, bars/restaurants are good, loads of live music, the local shopping areas are actually quite good.
I'm fortunate to live very close to a number of game studios. Blitz Games and Freestyle Games (DJ Hero) are 5 minutes from me, Codemasters is a 10 minute drive. Apparently this has made the town become known as 'Silicone Spa' (it's called 'Leamington Spa').
Oh, there's a castle 5 minutes from my house too
However it has its bad points;
Weather is absolutely shit. Winters here are getting colder (Global Warming? What's that?!), and summers here are occasionally non-existent. This year we probably had 4 or 5 days where the temperature was around 30. Not only is the weather cold, it's often windy, rainy and generally miserable.
It's expensive. Products like electronic goods here generally cost a lot more than they do in the US. Petrol (Gasoline) is also insane. Today I paid £1.25 per LITRE of fuel. Cigarettes cost about £6.50 a pack. I don't drink, but I'm guessing alcohol is pretty expensive too. Our taxes are huge on those kinds of things.
From what I hear, income tax isn't too dissimilar to the US. I've never fully looked into income tax but it's something like the first £5k is tax-free, next £1k is 20%, then like 12% up to £30k. Something like that I think. Then anything over about £55k is taxed at around 50%. I could be slightly wrong here but it's somewhere along those lines.
Violence is kinda a problem in the town-centre areas where I live unfortunately. Most towns/cities have their problems but going to popular bars/clubs on a Friday/Saturday night here will likely result in either witnessing or experiencing trouble. Too many of my friends have unfortunately been on the receiving end of some unprovoked incidents leaving them in hospital.
Also, prepare for some of the worst customer service you've ever experienced if you visit here. Every time I've been to the US/Canada, the biggest thing I notice is just how nice everyone is. Over here, in most shops/supermarkets, you're lucky if you get a grunt of acknowledgement and don't even think about trying to ask for assistance. Bars/Restaurants are usually pretty good but shops... customer service is not a term they're familiar with.
Me too! here it is:
Funny, people think Americans don't have castles
Not gonna lie, your castle is cooler than mine.
I'll back up some of what C22 said, the UK is expensive as fuck. I do drink, and I'll confirm that alcohol is pretty expensive too... but delicious. Its true that the nightlife is famously rough - in the UK going out for a drink means binge drinking. Drinking in general means binge drinking. That said, whilst you may see a fight while your out, you probably won't get in one unless you're a massive twat.
I love English weather. Spring Summer and Autumn. Lovely. Winter is a bitch. It doesn't snow, it just rains, and then in two days in feburary all the snow from greenland will fall at the same time and the country will grind to a halt. Americans will be surprised at how pleasant the summer can be, but generally, think damp.
I'm an american citizen also, so I might be able to give a good idea of the biggest changes moving to the UK from the US might be:
The biggest difference in my mind is space. In the states, strip malls are pretty much the way to shop. I think this is insane. their ugly, huge, and you have to drive to get around them, to them, and anywhere near them. In the UK, we have the highstreet. You walk from your house into town (by town we mean, the middle of town where the shops are) and you will never be on a road without a sidewalk, a road without densly packed buildings, or anywhere you couldnt get a bus/train too. This bit is kinda irrelevent, seeing as we all shop online, and retail stores are dying an ugly death. But it's worth noting, because this is how you will get to The Pub.
The Pub is the greatest thing ever. you go there for a drink and some crisps. See Shaun of the Dead for more on how central The Pub is to your life.
People are more polite on the whole, by which I mean less brash and more, well, english. But as C22 said, we won't smile for you. Tipping culture doesnt exist, the person over the counter doesn't give a fuck about you half the time, and half of that time, they won't pretend to. People don't sit on their porches waving at the neighbours (it's freezing out there, are you mad?) we don't make eye contact on the tube, we don't strike up conversations with people we don't know.
the exception to this is The North. As a southerner living up north, I can say that whilst alot of people up north are... northerners, they are twice as nice, twice as friendly, twice as likely to start up a conversation with you while your having a slash, and twice as likely to bottle you.
Oh! We also have the greatest music scene in the world, London is the second greatest city in the world*, and the English Countryside is the greatest countryside in the world. And the best comedy in the world. God Save Steven Fry!
*New York, who can compete with that?
like creationtwentytwo I'm pretty much equidistant between London and Birmingham
I can't exactly vouch too much for what others have said being a more rural sort apart from the pubs.
The weather is rarely bitingly cold though the constant drizzle can get a bit depressing and if it isn't drizzling its perpetually clouded over however that and often the lack of a proper summer have never really bothered me, I'm not really one for anything over 20 degrees to be honest. Really climate is quite subjective.
As for the customer service thing that hasn't ever really been a great problem for me. I always found the forced cheeriness of American retail staff a little grating (or maybe they are genuinely happy to be working at a supermarket, i know i wouldn't be).
All in all i like it here even if the game industry in the UK seems to be shedding jobs on a daily basis.
Best beer ever, chocolate and fries. Hmmmmm
edit: the weather sucks though.
=]
I've aslo lived in Scotland (Thurso), and Greece (Nea Makri) as well..and have nothing but fond memories of those places..would love to go back to both one day
I love it here. Been here my whole life, Have visited the USA for a few weeks, thought it would be similar, was pretty different and I didn't even see that much.
Melbourne used to be really good for games companies, but recently it has pretty much gone down hill
I live in Kazakhstan by the way. Its cold, and and I am holding an antenna while standing on the roof to catch the wireless internet while I hold my laptop on the other hand.
dont ask me how do I type <.<.
I'd move to America if i could. i guess you always want to be the place you're not.
shame there's not many game jobs up north
I wouldn't change where i came form tho. I'd proud to be British.
although americans have that whole 'we're amazing' thing about themselves. whats with putting up american flags outside your house? are there people putting up other flags, so its away to tell what type of people live where?
Pro's: shopping, public transportation, night life, price of soju, some of the food.
Con's: taste of soju, seaweed, old people, tv commercials, taxi drivers, people peeing in the street, the crazies to the North.
Taxation is really heavy, which can be a bitch, 40-60% depending on your bracket. But we get "paid" to educate ourselves and if you lose your job you are not totally screwed. This also means that it is ridiculously hard for game studios to stay open, since the government chooses to give back money to individual projects that are deemed tasteful or culturally aware etc. instead of tax breaks.
Everything is close by, it takes five hours to drive from one end of the country to the other. We also have a metric shit-ton of all that old shit that Americans love, such as tiny houses, quaint castles and royal guards with silly hats.
We unfamiliar with the concept of embarrassment, which means beer drinking nudists in summer colonies and "well poured" draught in the more shady bits of Copenhagen. That is essentially a prostitute/barmaid/stripper that uses her lady-bits to operate the lever that pours the beer. I shit you not.
Oh, and there is a bit of Copenhagen called Christania, which is an old military complex taken over by hippies in the sixties, claiming it to be a sovereign state. The main street is called Pusherstreet and illegal soft drugs such as cannabis and shrooms are sold there openly. The government don't really intervene, because it doesnt really hurt anyone.
Thats about it, I guess.
There's some bad things - some of them still annoy, others I got used to. Traffic is just crazy. Cleanliness and manners are not widespread especially with poorer people. There's many things a westerner can find disgusting. Bureaucracy - stuff takes time, especially banking. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube are blocked - there are ways around that so it's just a minor hassle.
Before living in China I lived in Oslo, Norway, London and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I just love moving around...there's so many great things to see in the world
Joe: Cons: Soju?? That stuff is great....try Chinese liquor if you think Soju is bad
Fixed that for you.
haha, I want to try it now if it's that bad.
that boggles my mind, it's called customer service :P
I saw the same level of service in Ireland. But if it bothers you, visit New York City, that place is full of assholes.
I've worked at 2 fast food places and a call center, and the "forced" cheeriness is annoying.
You're not the only one. I as customer prefer genuine grumpiness over fake smiles... then again that's usually what you get in europe....aww heck, people should just cheer up for real
america is not a country, its a continent.
Spoken like a true Canadian!
I think Canada is a really great place to live. We have lots of major cities with big gaming companies, and tons of great places in between.
I love living in Toronto, and despite wanting to be in the gaming industry, I'm just as happy to not ever move. We get the most and best of each season; burning hot and humid summers, freezing cold and snowy winters, beautiful chill falls, and lovely cool springs :P Okay, pros and cons with that, but I quite like having a mix of all seasons and temperatures.
We're also nothing if not ridiculously polite. Expect to hear the word 'sorry' a lot. Like, a lot.
Other major cities are great too. Vancouver is awesome, and doesn't get as cold. Montreal is really cool, and gets much colder lol. There are other great cities, but those are the major places for game studios.
So, come on over to Canada, eh?
fix't
Do you get unicorns too?
Dreaming is nice...
Hey Kwramm how long you lived in Shanghai? My wife is from there,
I agree too many people in Shanghai and takes for ever to get across the city,
It has grown and still growing,
I fell in Love with Shanghai and course my wife 10 yrs ago,
Would love to move back someday if my wife ever wanted to go back,
We were just there this past summer, world expo really made the city feel too busy,
Anyways i agree Shanghai has tons of things to do and see,
It's just like Australia except there's grass.
Jackablade & ZacD - Mmmmmmaybe we could setup some 'hobbit culling' in nz (cause they are totally over-populating there...)
- and see if the meat is as lean and healthy as kangaroo meats nom nom.
Pros: What other country has bars, sexclubs, hookers, shops where you can buy drugs, and primary schools within a 100 meter radius?
Cons: What other country has bars, sexclubs, hookers, shops where you can buy drugs, and primary schools within a 100 meter radius?
I had a chance to live in Italy for three months earlier this year and absolutely loved it. I've always been interested in Italian art, food and history, so it was good to be able to see a lot of it firsthand. I'd like to do more traveling and get away from the US more simply because it's tiring as hell being around here. More travel is definitely in my future, most likely to England and France, probably topping it off with visiting a bunch of places I didn't get to go in Italy.
every time i come back from somewhere, there's plenty i'd bring back with me, but also loads i wouldn't trade for the world.
Such as ninety percent of the people being really good, patient, considerate drivers, and the other 10 percent being forced by law to drive around with a huge flashing sign on their car that reads "i'm a massive knobhead" so you can see them a mile off and avoid them (this is true, by the way). Just came back from a long weekend in brussels, my GOD. Driving through london was heaven in comparison.
and i know it's an old dull cliche ... but people being able to queue patiently,and take their rightful turn, or happily give it up to someone else if it makes no difference. It really is a beautiful thing. You shove me in the back one more time Frenchie, and i swear i will turn around and twat you.
and the variety in the landscape, it's incredible. Driving across England particularly, it's a maximum of 45 minutes to take you to somewhere totally different and even more stunning than the previous (assuming you hit the right weather, which is not nearly as rare as people make out).
crappest country ever. seriously.)
Cold winters hot summers. Slow and expensive internet and yeah, did I mentiоn the dicktatоrship? If the cop think you're talking too loud with your buddy on the street he can first punch you and then ask you to be quiet(saw it with my own eyes). You go to Jail for insulting the president(no kidding). A lot of poor angry unhappy people. Things cost more then in more advanced countries while people make a lot less. You can get kicked out of the university for your political views. And you relatives cold loose their jobs too because most of the jobs belong to government. I wasn't allowed to pass my Japanese test in the uni 'cause the headmaster didn't like my hair. More then a half of population are alcohol addicted. Or at least it seems that way from where I'm sitting.
And the best thing? absolutely no perspectives whatsoever. get in line, down to work. You can make some money if you work your ass off but you'll hardly ever do anything worthy. And if you'll manage to build up some sort of steady business government will take it away or decide that there are to many private companies competing with the governmental, so they'll close you down and make you pay some fat fines on top of it, just like they did with my mums business.
Seriously. Don't mean to be a nagger guys, or rain on your parade. But enjoy your countries. Seriously.
cant belive Im the first to report in..
-11 Celsius today
beat that! (also all I have to say about sweden)
lived and studied in japan for 2 years, best years of my life.
going back (home!..kinda?) with my girlfriend over the new years to meet her parents and what not..... PLAY TEKKEN !!!
pros : It has a lot of frontiers with foreign countries, so it can look a bit like Spain or Italy, or Germany, Bretagne is a celtic land...
Tons of stuff to see, since France has been invaded by pretty much all Europe through ages. A large part of our history is shared with England which explain why we lovely hate it.
Great museums, castles...
Good food, wine...
freedom of speech...
cons : 50% of french are complete retards, our president is one of them (might be subjective opinion)
lol jackablade, reminds me Flight of the Conchords with all the NZ, Australia rivality.
Games studios it lacks completely but 45 minutes on the train and Brighton has 3 cool studios and an abundance of animation studios aswell, and next is horsham with Creative Assembly which is an hours drive.
There's about one company making games here. thankfully i work there.
Country pretty much sucks. Low pay, high cost of living. Most of the people are stupid sheep. But that doesn't seem to be localized.
I have cheap and fast internet at least. ( 9 euro / 100 Mb). It's a beautiful place. But as far as job opportunities go, it sucks big time.
Basically it's an interesting blend of former communist habits mixed with democratic/capitalist freedoms and advantages.