Would anyone jump ship (leave their country) if they could?

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Veritasiness

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I love my country. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It's not perfect, but no country is. But that's why laws and such can be changed, and we vote people into/out of office every so often.
Exactly.

I was born and raised in the United States, and I like it very much. I'm fully aware of how other countries (mostly Europe) view us, and I'm fully aware that being an American anywhere else is essentially a target on my back - for mockery or worse. But even these things aside, even if I could blend perfectly well into the society of another country, I don't feel a connection to any other nation. No other nation gave me or my family (its last four generations, at least) the opportunities and privileges the United States has given us. I have no problem saying I'm proud to live in the States.

If I had no choice, and had to go to another country, Canada would be my first choice if it'd take me. It's close, accessible, everyone speaks the language, and so on. If that was not an option, then being a Jew I'd go to Israel - the only country in the world I know for certain will take me.
 

JCBFGD

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crepesack said:
My girlfriend and I have pretty much decided on getting the hell out of the US as soon as college is done with...where we'll go? Probably Japan or Canada...
I wouldn't go to Japan. It's very racist and sexist there. And Canada is only a slightly improved US...right now, they're going through their version of President Bush; a man ignoring and trying to revoke everyone's rights while simultaneously making some money on the side. Damn Stephen Harper.

Stilkon said:
I'd like to leave the states. Japan would be nice. Or Italy...
Italy's current government is racist against anyone who isn't Italian. They've recently (successfully) set into motion legislation that bans non-Italian food. Essentially, they have scaled back Nazis in power.

sevreon said:
I'd love to leave London to go to the US.
Leave London. That's a great idea. But don't move to the US. Politically and socially speaking, the UK & the US are almost identical.

OT: I choose Belgium. It's a beautiful country with a rich history, it's more free than the US, and it has powerful socialist parties. I plan on moving there at some point, dunno when though.
 

crepesack

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Jake Martinez said:
crepesack said:
Jake Martinez said:
crepesack said:
If there were no financial/language barriers to your moving to another country would you?

My girlfriend and I have pretty much decided on getting the hell out of the US as soon as college is done with...where we'll go? Probably Japan or Canada...
You'll never get into Japan. It just won't happen unless you marry a Japanese, so give that one up.

I moved to Australia a few years ago. Didn't really care to at the time, but I am married to an Australian woman and that's just kind of how it went...

To be perfectly honest, I'm glad I did. The Australian economy is super hot right now and the US economy is in the crapper. I've already bought 2 rental properties back in the US with my snazzy Australian dollars and I'm looking for a third.
Not when you've both got PHDs. Oh and I'm prepared for a long wait for naturalization and on top of that I've got family there.
Look, I hate to bust your bubble, but really - it won't happen. I lived there for about 16 months while I was working for a company that shall remain nameless... the topic of conversation amongst every single gaijin I met was the same - Inability to get a Japanese visa and/or immigrate to Japan.

I would highly recommend visiting this link if you are considering academic work in Japan - http://www.debito.org/whattodoif.html#academicjob

Also I would recommend visiting the rest of that site. It's filled with lots of good practical information and most of it is accurate and up to date.

Anyway, I will say this as succinctly as I can: Japan does not want you. If you can accept that, and fight against it anyway, then you may have a chance of immigrating. But then, you'll have to live with the fact that you're living in a country that literally does not want you there.

I love visiting Japan, I've got lots of good friends there. But it is not a place that welcomes forgieners at all. Be warned.
Wow. That's quite the site. Do you know how long the wait would be otherwise? Or is it outright denial of visa. As I understand countries like Japan will let you in....depending on what country you're from. I can get a taiwanese passport in a heartbeat and then do a political hopskip from the US to Taiwan to Japan. I also didn't know about the discrimination that occurs in academia in Japan...is this in all professional jobs or just in education?
 

Veritasiness

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Leave London. That's a great idea. But don't move to the US. Politically and socially speaking, the UK & the US are almost identical.
Ohhhhhh no we're not. I really think that's completely incorrect, and I imagine that there are some UK people lurking somewhere who can back me up on that. The cultural differences may seem small if you don't live in either country, but they are in fact very large - there's just no language barrier to cross, which actually makes things more complicated because we use the language in different ways.

As far as everyone wanting to go to Japan... I'm sure it's lovely but it's not the incredible place you imagine any more than the United States sucks as much as you wish it does - and it's not an easy place to live.
 

James Crook

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MasterOfWorlds said:
James Crook said:
snip for space.
I certainly hope you weren't thinking about moving to the US then. Granted, if you put your future child/children into private school, the education is much better and well rounded. We have our issues like every country, but I live here, so I'm a little biased. XD
I'm pretty sure that if I wind up in the U.S. with a bunch of interesting degrees I'd get a high enough salary to put my kids in private school...
Just in relation, most private schools in France are hardcore, authoritarian catholic prisons full of devoted nutjobs, whereas the public ones are also authoritarian and arbitrary but with more incompetence related to the functionaries not doing their damn jobs. In fact, there's no difference between private and public. In private, you're bullied by the authority (teachers, monitors, bureaucratic cunts at the administration), and in public, you're bullied by the other students.
To put that in example:
- lunch time in private: don't say a fucking word or you'll get detention/slapped/your ears pulled/yelled at ;
- lunch time in public: hall monitor is there, but doesn't give a crap if someone steals your stuff or starts a food fight.
 

Moonlight Butterfly

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Mar 16, 2011
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Im okay with Britain but it would be nice to live somewhere with no grass as I'm highly allergic to the pollen. Maybe I could buy a boat to live on or something.
 

FallenTraveler

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Malo_Tux said:
TO ENGLAND! I wanna get outta the states before shit hits the fan.
this.

I would love to travel, but I would also love to stay right where I am, it's a pretty comfortable little burg.
 

Kenami

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sevreon said:
I'd love to leave London to go to the US. Preferably to some large city, with a nearby beach, and for it to be sunny a lot.
So if anyone wants to swap, let me know :D
I'd like to swap! I live in New York and though I love it a lot being unemployed with a college degree sucks!
 

Fewell

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Aug 12, 2011
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Already have left the states. Eating food that isn't full of poison and living in cities designed for people instead of cars is nice.
 

crepesack

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I find it funny that people in the US want to go to the UK and people in the UK want to go to the US...I guess if you're somewhere long enough you start to get more and more pissed off with it. Like a kid who keeps kicking your chair on the plane.
 

The_Emperor

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Mar 18, 2010
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Malo_Tux said:
TO ENGLAND! I wanna get outta the states before shit hits the fan.
I don't get why so many people have said they want to move to England, it's pretty shit to be honest.

Personally I want to get out of England and go to Canada/Australia/Netherlands
 

Jake Martinez

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Apr 2, 2010
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crepesack said:
Jake Martinez said:
crepesack said:
Jake Martinez said:
crepesack said:
If there were no financial/language barriers to your moving to another country would you?

My girlfriend and I have pretty much decided on getting the hell out of the US as soon as college is done with...where we'll go? Probably Japan or Canada...
You'll never get into Japan. It just won't happen unless you marry a Japanese, so give that one up.

I moved to Australia a few years ago. Didn't really care to at the time, but I am married to an Australian woman and that's just kind of how it went...

To be perfectly honest, I'm glad I did. The Australian economy is super hot right now and the US economy is in the crapper. I've already bought 2 rental properties back in the US with my snazzy Australian dollars and I'm looking for a third.
Not when you've both got PHDs. Oh and I'm prepared for a long wait for naturalization and on top of that I've got family there.
Look, I hate to bust your bubble, but really - it won't happen. I lived there for about 16 months while I was working for a company that shall remain nameless... the topic of conversation amongst every single gaijin I met was the same - Inability to get a Japanese visa and/or immigrate to Japan.

I would highly recommend visiting this link if you are considering academic work in Japan - http://www.debito.org/whattodoif.html#academicjob

Also I would recommend visiting the rest of that site. It's filled with lots of good practical information and most of it is accurate and up to date.

Anyway, I will say this as succinctly as I can: Japan does not want you. If you can accept that, and fight against it anyway, then you may have a chance of immigrating. But then, you'll have to live with the fact that you're living in a country that literally does not want you there.

I love visiting Japan, I've got lots of good friends there. But it is not a place that welcomes forgieners at all. Be warned.
Wow. That's quite the site. Do you know how long the wait would be otherwise? Or is it outright denial of visa. As I understand countries like Japan will let you in....depending on what country you're from. I can get a taiwanese passport in a heartbeat and then do a political hopskip from the US to Taiwan to Japan. I also didn't know about the discrimination that occurs in academia in Japan...is this in all professional jobs or just in education?
I think your milage may vary depending on what you are attempting to do. If you just want to work over there, it's easy enough to do - but you have to be prepared to be exploited to some degree or another. I won't go into my own personal experience but it wasn't good. Japanese society is really just no good for forgieners and I can not recommend working and living there as you will find that there are very little laws in place to protect you from various states of duress (it is a well known fact that Japanese labor laws are very exploitive of overseas workers).

Also, unless it's changed recently (and I don't think it has), if you opt for citizenship in Japan, you need to turn in your passport for any other country you might hold and renounce citizenship. The effect of this, of course, carries on to your children - they will forevermore be Japanese and unable to claim American or Taiwanese citizenship.

Frankly, I feel like it's shit. I know a lot of weeaboos that have gone over to Japan and come back with their hopes and dreams busted with the reality of the situation. I would recommend that if you are dead set on it you go for a work visa with all the intention of coming back.

But like I said, if you are prepared to fight for it, be humiliated on a daily basis, never accepted as an equal, probably never have any japanese friends and give up all claim to any other citizenship - well then Japan may be the place for you ;-)