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181 points feraligators | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source

I've long considered leaving this country for a multitude of reasons.

I'd be curious to hear some first hand experiences of those who've made the move to Europe and what you think of the process and considerations one should make.

A few questions to start the conversation:

- Where do you live?

- What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make (i.e. pay, housing, friends, etc.)

- What have you gained?

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thenoblesunfish ◴[] No.30073405[source]
I'm sure others will cover the shorter-term aspects. I'll add that, particularly if you're not young or have a family, it wouldn't hurt to consider the fact that you will probably have a great time for the first N years, but there might be a slump when you realize that you will probably never really integrate and will have a smaller social circle because of it, in a place where people seem to have smaller casual groups of friends, in general. I live in Switzerland, which is particularly harsh on this front - I do not hope to really integrate and accept that as a cost of the other benefits of being here - maybe my grandchildren will. I think it's fair to say that in America, you're American a lot faster.
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interator7 ◴[] No.30073499[source]
What do you mean by integrate? As in, it's harder to find friends? Or that there's cultural issues barring you from being as close friends as you would someone from the U.S.?
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lordnacho ◴[] No.30073788[source]
Not the GP, but I think you might find in Switzerland (I lived there) that it's not so easy to make friends. When I'm in America, people will just straight up come up to me and talk, so the culture seems to be a bit more open. In Switzerland, socializing is quite different. For a start, there's a local language that isn't the one they teach you in language classes. It also appears much of the socializing happens around existing institutions, eg your school friends, or the rowing club, all things that as a newcomer you won't have a history with.
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bogomipz ◴[] No.30094060[source]
Is this true in all parts of Switzerland? Or is it not an issue in the cities like Zurich, Geneva etc?
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1. lordnacho ◴[] No.30097147[source]
Hard to know. Of course in ZH you can find a lot of expats to hang out with, but that doesn't necessarily mean the locals are easier to get close to.