Why moving to another country?

World's too big and interesting to stay in one place!

And discovering people's way of living/thinking is exciting!

My dream life would be only travel ... with a certain period in each country, long enough to go behind the touristic venues

Very simple: I wanted to see a different country and experience a different mentality. And now I start feeling moving to a different place again, preferable one with a better weather or a greater gradient between summer and winter but that's not a neccessity.

We came over because  my husband and I thought it would be great for him to accept a job offer that was made to him!  We decided it would an invaluable experience for our children (teenagers)  and for us!

And was it or is it still an experience? How did your kids integrate such society, I mean must be fairly different from western (school, mentality, ...)? How about security, is it safe to go out to pubs, pictures, restaurants at night?

We are still enjoying it.  We are learning something new everyday.  Our whole family will be in language and culture school in August.  The kids seem to be doing fairly well.  They attract attention wherever we go.  They are boys and there seem to be a lot of young ladies here who want to help them learn Russian or who want to "practice" their English with them.  We have felt very safe.  We have only been stopped once to show our documents.  But, that was May 9th, Victory Day, the big 60th anniversary and there was a heavy police presence out on the streets.   My 17 year old has been out past midnight with friends and has not had problems.  We generally switch from public to private transportation that late at night.  The boys walked home from the tram-vi stop and I sent his friend home in a taxi.  He lives at the University across town.   There seem to always be police or soldiers out on the streets.

I'm leaving the US for Canada because I have grown to hate the US. I disapprove of most of it what it does and am tired of being so alienated. Canada is more like me - shares more of my values - so I am choosing a different country.

Anyone else in this forum leaving their country for similar reasons?

I moved from the U.S. to Italy three years ago to be with my Italian husband.  Before meeting my husband, never thought much about moving out of the country.  Visit different countries yes, but the thought never crossed my mind about moving.  Now we're planning on moving back (back for me, first time for my husband) to the U.S., for many reasons.  One is the economy here in Italy sucks big time.  I understand and realize no country is perfect.

blackpurl, what can you tell me about russia?  How expensive is it there compared to where you're from?  I've tried learning russian, but finding someone that speaks it is hard.

Hi Cactus Jack,

I think you should create a new topic about life in Russia

cactus jack wrote:

blackpurl, what can you tell me about russia?  How expensive is it there compared to where you're from?  I've tried learning russian, but finding someone that speaks it is hard.

Hey Cactus Jack,
I am currently working in Rome for the next two weeks!  I just picked up my email at an internet cafe and found out that someone wanted to know about Russia.  Russia is a very cheap place to live.  We are currently studying the language with a tutor 6hours a week for 18 dollars... and will start language school in August.  I can speak well enough to shop and get around the city.  Russian is not an easy language to learn but even Russians correct each other! 

Some of the major Universities in the US teach Russian or if you can find a Russian community perhaps you can put an ad in a paper.  Most people are willing to help with language learning.  There is a high value on it!  I have already been approached to teach English. 

I am from So California so Russia seems very cheap to us.  We pay about four rubles for a loaf of bread... 17 cents.  And I only paid 300 dollars for my 5.1 digital camera!  A taxi ride is about 2 dollars.  A pizza will cost about the same as the taxi!

If  you have any more questions let me know!

peace, Blackpurl

Ok Julian, you're on!

While my friends were playing with Barbies and planning their weddings and how many children they would have, I was busy studying National Geographic choosing which country I would move to first. LOL As long as I can remember, I always wanted to live in different places. First, I started changing cities in Canada (3) and then I moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and then I married a Greek and moved to Greece. I'll be 39 years old in 2 weeks and if given half the chance, I'd move again. I absolutely love it. Life is just too short to waste in one spot on the planet.

When I was 15 my parents moved us all to Germany. At first I was pissed off - I had to leave my friends and school in Londond and you know what teenagers are like... I obviously caught the bug though because after university back in the UK I moved to work in Brussels and then to Warsaw to take part in a European Voluntary Service project and be with my Polish partner.

I find people who have always lived in one place can risk getting stuck in their ways.

Experiencing other cultures as more than a tourist is very enriching

It's always nice to live in an other country, and benefit from both cultures - I have been living in London for 6 years now, and still enjoy meeting with the french community, while enjoying all the benefits of living in a multicultural city such as London.

Emmanuel

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore!"  I think that's why lots of us move. That's what landed me in my Austrian kuhdorf/cowtown.

...given half the chance, I'd move again. I absolutely love it. Life is just too short to waste in one spot on the planet.

Seawitch: HALLELUJAH. There's gotta be a word for people who are always seeking out the new. Neophiles. Something like that.

My love for faraway places aside, there is much about my home in the US that I love. I still have one foot firmly planted in Seattle, I'm not a full time resident of Austria. Politics/values in the current US zeitgeist can be VERY difficult for me, but I still appreciate the land of opportunity. Interestingly enough, it has been living outside of the US that has helped me learn what it is I love about America.

And even though I live sometimes in a postcard of snowcovered alps and sometimes in a fantastic west coast city, I dream of living somewhere else, even...I wonder what it would be like to work in Bangalore, or somewhere in East Asia, somewhere TOTALLY different from where I am now. Being a foreigner is hard, but that thrill of being new to a place is what makes live worth living!

A-hem. Calming down now.