where should you live in Europe?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
- You want to move to Europe or you already live in Europe and you want to explore other countries/choices where to live? Well that's why I made this video and presentation!
This only covers 5 countries but this video ended up being 40 minutes already, which I didn' t expect. Next time maybe I' ll cover the other 45 :D
If you would like to donate & support my silly little videos: ko-fi.com/helloerika
00:00 welcome to europe
00:17 netherlands pros
04:35 netherlands cons
08:02 germany pros
10:58 germany cons
10:58 germany cons
15:40 france pros
18:43 france cons
23:50 sweden pro
27:05 sweden cons
32:27 austria pros
35:05 austria cons
38:07 things I forgot to mention
40:50 what we learned
Feel free to ad ur 2 cents in the comments about the countries I talk about or no
PS apperently the 49 euro ticket might not exist in 2024 😅 Only got the memo today, kinda sad.
a tik tok on how swiss german sounds like:
vm.tiktok.com/ZGJKjMn6s/
Also sorry for the darkness in my videos sometimes it was more difficult to set up then I thought. And guess what...I bought a 4th laptop and well xD I have to send it back again, it has some issues. I also now think something is wrong with my video files.
instagram for aesthetics: @helloerikapeanut
tik tok for tiktoks: @helloerikapeanut
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/helloerika
SOURCES & REFERENCES:
Firstly this is based on my expereíence living 5 years in germany and almost 2 years in germany and a year in Austria. Also my friends that live in France, Sweden. So I dounble checked my info wih the friends.
Dutch housing crisis
www.dutchnews.nl/2023/02/pric....
dutchreview.com/expat/housing...
Pros and cons germany
www.expatarrivals.com/europe/...
www.simplegermany.com/pros-an...
German taxes
www.simplegermany.com/church-...
Pros and cons living in sweden
ninaoutandabout.ca/pros-and-c...
Swedish marernity leave
www.yourlivingcity.com/work-m...
vitamin d in sweden
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Swedish health insurance
www.ehalsomyndigheten.se/lang...
Austrian friendliness
www.internations.org/expat-in...
Austrian taxes
taxsummaries.pwc.com/austria/...
Swedish pros amd cons
vittana.org/20-pros-and-cons-...
www.google.com/url?q=...
ninaoutandabout.ca/pros-and-c...
www.travelsafe-abroad.com/pro...
Netherlands pros and cons
www.travelsafe-abroad.com/pro...
Homelessness in germany
www.theguardian.com/society/2...
cost of living in europe
www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living...
culture of saying no in france
langster.org/en/blog/10-thing....
www.bbc.com/travel/article/20...
• Living Abroad is Hard ...
purchesing power index
www.stat.si/statweb/en/News/I...
vienna
www.euronews.com/next/2023/08....
www.wien.info/en/livable-vien...
Quality of life
www.numbeo.com/quality-of-lif...
Disclaimer: Sorry if you see misspellings, it happens more often then i notice. 28k subs! Let' s goo! Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video!
✨ And see you soon! ✨
"The dutch language is like a mix of english and german but you have also a potato in your mouth" is the best description of Dutch I've ever heard. I will only use that from now on.
so danish but understandable?
yea@@janmamu8721
To learn dutch, listen carefully to a coffee machine gurgling and rattling. This goes a long way to practice those Gs and Chs.
Dutch was invented by drunk German sailors who were trying to speak English.
That's *literally* how my dutch uncle described the language to me!
The 49 Euro ticket in Germany is not just for one trip, it's a monthly ticket and you can do as many trips across the country as you want, just not with the long distance trains.
I think, the most underrated obstacle to settle in in any country in Europe is language. As long as you don't speak the language of your selected country at least at B2, preferably C1 level, you will always have a very difficult time to find a job or friends, and to become an accepted member of your local community, especially outside of the large cities.
Eastern Ukraine.
I agree 100%
And if you make an effort to learn the language fast, people will appreciate that.
One thing that I see on the internet when people give their opinion on a certain country is that they say that the people in that country are "cold, unfriendly" and while it might be true that some cultures are friendlier than others, a lot of times the problem is that you don't speak the language. Even if the people you interact can speak english they would still prefer to make friends in their language so your social life is going to be pretty surface level.
Language is ez, noob.
@@jeffersonaraujoelcristiano Half of the world just speaks one.
As someone who lives in Italy, trust me, French bureaucracy is far more efficient than you'd think. Italian bureaucratic offices had barely discovered the computer before the pandemic forced them to abandon their constant requests for paper copies and actually join the 21st Century.
Sounds like Germany and electronic payments.
Italy is a bit strange in their love for papers and bureaucracy on the one end and a strong anarchistic streak on the other. But with that food, culture and history... And the landscape... I often feel Italians don't see how beautiful Italy really is.
@@Jk-qx7gm No but it has great cheese and bread...and administration might be computerized but even computers will tell you NO😅 so italian old paper burocracy might actually be better.
You people over there also still use fax machines? Speaking from germany and we do lmao :D
Thats a thing of privacy, less Goverment controll in your Freedom, like they can close your bank accout depending on crimem so with Paper money your safe for that.
Also for that we have the quote : Nur Bares ist Wahres/Only cash is true
But i also pay alot with card but still alot of peole espacilly the older ones are against it + against more Cash Restrictions or Digital €@@ronald3836
The video is so good, that is worth doing a part 2 with maybe: Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Norway and Luxembourg.
It seems she filmed a video about European countries that she'd visited and only Sweden had been visited by her friend. It may be difficult to find an interesting, honest, and meaningful opinion on the countries you named
i think belgium is a perfect starter country for many people too
@@nuf242 what's the advantage of it?
@@nuf242Every job listing I’ve seen requires you to speak French, Dutch & English though 😭
I was thinking of Portugal, since that’s where my dads side was from, and also it’s GORGEOUS there!
As a German, I can confirm these issues with our trains. It worked for almost 200 years perfectly and then, the people decided to make it a private company because a private company would be more efficient than a governmental company. It turned out that you shouldn't listen to economic liberalists and highly corrupt politicians when they say something like this.
Same here in the Netherlands, making such companies somewhat private(weird construction were the government is the only shareholder) also in Hospitals and things like the post office. Now a select group of people make a lot of money, and it's not cheaper at all. Not to begin about quality...
Oh it is not run more efficiently when you hand off the enterprise to your political buddy buddy and their aimless progeny is left with running the show. Shocking! "Private"
UK 😭
Same here in the UK, except instead of one private train company, we have dozens, and the tracks are owned by a different company to the trains, and then the stations those railways run through are owned by different companies too.
In my city, you have to go to a station owned by EMR to get on a train owned by Northern and ride on tracks owned by Network Rail to get to your destination station probably owned by some other provider you’ve never even ridden with.
Unsurprisingly, this results in every single journey being as impractical and tedious as possible, but hey… at least we got rid of all that parliamentary bureaucracy… except for how the government still overlooks routes and prices, completely destroying the entire point of privatisation.
funny because in sitzerland exactly that works highly effiecient
As a Frenchwoman, I'd like to add that no one will judge you if you buy a baguette at the supermarket. Because most French people buy it themselves in a supermarket. In fact, in some supermarkets, the bread is better than in some boulangeries. And there are many French people who have never eaten a snail in their lives and find it disgusting. Fun fact: I've only eaten them once, and that was in Spain, in a paella
I had my first snail in Paris when I visited and... I was very happy. The flavor of the sauce they were cooked in was excellent and the snail itself was pretty pleasant just a little chewy!
Les baguettes sont, en général, bien meilleures dans les boulangeries (et j'en ai gouté beaucoup dans différents supermarchés !)
Baguettes are, in general, much better in bakeries (and I tasted a lot in different supermarkets!
And snails don't belong in a paella. At least not in a typical Valencian one.
@@mariembalo3076 There are a few bad bakeries that don't make good baguette, but most bakeries are good. Yet baguettes in supermarkets generally aren't bad either, just not especially good.
@@hannofranz7973. Yes, they do! In Valencia: rabbit and snails are definitely in their paella!
The train system as a first con! XD That's so on point! We have saying: The German Railway got only four problems - spring, summer, autumn and winter! Greetings from a german. :D
Once she said what you guys do at winter time.
All I could think of was when the polish railway lady boss said in an interview as to why are trains stuck in winter: "no sorry taki mamy klimat", "sorry that's just our climate"
Here in Portugal, we have so many Golden Visas, tourism, immigration, local tourist accomodation, that Portuguese people either have to:
- Pay 300.000 euros for a "new" apartment.
- Pay 800 euros monthly rent for a one room apartment.
- Pay 400 to share an apartment with 5 other people.
- Live with your parents.
- Move to a village.
- Be homeless.
Life's good, never have I thought that living in a car would be so luxurious and cheap.
same in Sweden but mostly because of immigration
There is no country in the world where living is more affordable, you can pay a monthly rent of 800€ with your 1.600€ salary in Portugal, or pay 400€ with your 800€ salary in Bulgaria, or pay 200€ with your 400€ salary in Albania, or pay 100€ with your 200€ salary in Algeria, or pay 50€ with your 100€ salary in Senegal, or pay 25€ with your 50€ salary in Ghana, or pay 12.5€ with your 25€ salary in Gambia, or pay 1€ from your 2€ salary in Uganda... You chose where you would rather live and what to do with the rest of your salary.
Best comment ever 🤣
Tell me more about living in a car haha
This is the same basically in all Europe.
I think the best way to explain Austria is: even tho Viena is the electet many times as the best city to live in, they are kinda proud of the fact that they are also one of the unfriendliest countries in Europe. Greetings from Austria! I had to laugh many times because your Opiniens about Austria are very spot on.
Vienna is going to have you disappeared cos of cocaine.
As a Czech, I was hearing about Vienna beying the best city in the world for my entire life, when I arrived there, first what welcomed me was ugly patched sidewalk like from 90s and rest of city didn't look better, people were rude and we were cheated in caffé. And only people who spoke English were muslim sellers in their little shops, native Viennese people were answering in German only and people say that we are bad in languages. 😀 I hope I offended everyone from Vienna. 😀
@@PidalinMost austrians hate people from vienna. They are entitled and think to highly of themselfes. You probably have something simular in czechia where people from big cities are view differently than people from the land. It's like that all over the world, in the US they hate people from NY and LA, in germany it's berlin and in other parts of the world it's no different. People from bigger cities just tend to be bigger assholes. But that you haven't found a nice spot in vienna can't be a serious claim if you were anywhere near the center. Even tho the people aren't the best the city is still very beautiful.
@@kommdegaya753 Yes, it's the same here, but I am born in Prague, so I know that people from smaller cities and villages spread mostly absolute nonsenses about people from Prague, so maybe it's the same even with Vienna. I spent most of my life out of Prague in many different places, so I know how life looks in other places and what nonsenses people believe about capital city.
In fact - standard of living in Prague is worse than in smaller cities because of crazy prices of housing and people are actually more friendly in Prague than in small towns. When I am in Prague and then I return to this sh*thole, I am always very sad and I really want to return to Prague, but with today prices of housing, it's sci-fi to return there. I still have permanent adress in Prague, so when I go to some hotel and they see my ID card, it's higly probable that I will be cheated because they hate people from Prague and they think they are rich for some reason, it happened to me several times, like when I stayed in pension in Moravia region, they were counting more beers than I actually had in their restaurant, this happens all the time when someone thinks you are from Prague, so you must be rich, but these villagers are super rich compared to how average Praguer look, they own houses and big cars, in Prague you own max 4 chairs and TV.
@@Pidalin Yeah it's def a rant with a comedic undertone. People are quick to judge everyone not core austrian, so people from germany(preißn) or even the traditionlly distant viennese people, but not in a particularely hatefull way. The core traditions of austria are mostly in Styria, Tyrol, Salzburg and lower Upper-Austria. The viennese kinda have their own thing going and are def a bit more entitled. The thing is that austrians are in general quite cold(not as much as germans but still) and the language is mostly spoken with a comedic and slightly insulting undertone which can be seen as rude by an outsider.
About the French rudeness, this stereotype comes from Paris and it is kinda true FOR PARIS. I cannot stress enough how different Paris and the rest of the country are, it is true for Paris but not for the rest of the country
@@Jk-qx7gm Paris is an incredible city. If you can afford spending a bit of time to get out of the usual 5 days tourist trail, you need to get lost in the city, be curious, you will find that Paris is unique.
I'm from the country side in France and it took me some time to love Paris, it's an acquired taste. I'm talking about the vibe the people and culture. The architecture its instantly beautiful, no acquired taste here.
After 20 years in Paris I'm still discovering some new beautiful stuff (that I didn't know about) some secret places etc...
About the rudeness, Parisians come from all over France, and all over the world, ...therefore I don't think they are more rude.
But it's a big vibrant city, and people behave like they are in a hurry (not as much as in New York but kinda)
The drawback with Paris : housing is very expensive (almost as expensive as London)
@@Jk-qx7gm To be honest you won’t, by hearing everyone say that Parisians are rude, you will realize that it's not that bad in reality. From my own experience I have almost never had a problem with Parisians, they are quite normal actually 🤷
Je voudrais habiter en France mais je ne veux pas habiter à Paris, parce que je ne parle pas bien le français, alors, les parisiens n'aimeraient pas moi. Alors, j'habiterai dans une ville différentes. J'espère sera courant en français.
Honestly, I find it's ONLY TRUE in the subway 😂😂😂 that's the only time people are grumpy, cause it's crowded, but usually it's fine.
I was about to get into it with this African lady on there, but we both chilled out 😅
No it's not just true for Paris, unless all the tourists from France I met were from Paris. Honestly, French people live up to the stereotype, plus they travel and never learn a word of English or the local language. It's ridiculous and they're quite unliked as tourists, same goes for Italians.
It's mind blowing how adult French people manage not to know the very basics of English these days.
I am currently in Germany on holidays from Australia and as my first time overseas, all I can say is the culture is so different and there's so much history in Europe. I'm not sure whether I would want to live here because I miss Australia already but I might settle for Holidays to Europe every couple of years until I've explored enough. I would love to do the Netherlands in a few years and then Scandinavia. Love your videos cheers :)
How did you realise the cultures were totally different?
I'd love to know some cultural differences you've noticed!
German people from the north struggle to understand dialects. But I really can’t understand how they don’t. Maybe it’s because I grew up with different dialects around me, but northern Germans really are ridiculously bad at this. And they can’t even roll their Rs. Just very… Inflexible. In my experience they struggle more with accents and dialects in general. Even outside of Germany.
@@ubermut1379 Is that because people speak Hochdeutsch in northern Germany?
Australia don't have much history cuz the continent was colonized only in 1800s. aborigines had rich history though, they were exploited.
As a German I can say Germany does not have universal health care. But we have a mandatory health insurance system. Our health care system is not financed by the government but by some kind of health insurances. Statutory health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung) functions in accordance with the solidarity principle. The individual insurance fees are based on the financial performance of the members, the health services are the same for everyone.
For anyone who plans to work, study, live in Germany for a longer term, it is essential to understand our German national health system. You can get into great trouble in Germany without a German health insurance. If you don't have a valid health insurance you will be billed with around 750€ each month you forgot to apply for a statutory health insurance.
As a short-term tourist you do not have to deal with this but especially as a self-employed "digital nomad" you have take care. Without a health insurance you cannot get medical care without paying yourself for it. Around 100,000 people in Germany don't have access to the German health system.
Es ist kein Hexenwerk! Man kann sich freiwillig versichern lassen bei einer gesetzlichen Krankenkasse oder man kann alternativ eine private Versicherung abschließen unter solchen komplizierten Arbeitsumständen
Yes, and I dislike the way it is unfair. If you call a doctor for an appointment, they tend to give you an appointment a few days or even more than a week later. Yet as soon as you tell them you are privately insured, you get an appointment on the same day. I always ended up paying the bills myself. It reeks of corruption.
As a comparison, a German friend of mine was in the UK last year and had a small accident. He was accepted in a hospital, treated, and they never asked to see any sort of medical insurance card, and didn't even ask for his address. He didn't even have to pay for anything. That is more like universal healthcare.
@@almerindaromeira8352
If you earn above average, this may not be a real problem.
But for average migrants, there's a lot of bureaucracy to contend with. The legal obligations in the German social security system are very strict. Not paying taxes in Germany is less dangerous than not paying compulsory health insurance.
Ordinary German employees are only allowed to leave the statutory health insurance if they earn more than 69,300 euros a year. The average annual income of an employee in Germany is only €49,260. In most cases, migrants in Germany earn significantly less than EU citizens.
@@jorgruthschilling you keep telling me how dangerous it is, yet you never mention the actual process, which as a migrant myself, I know well. That means you just want others to have fear of some mystical paper forms.
A) If you get a new job, you have 15 days to register with a new Krankenkasse or you can change yours, if you so choose. Just tell your employer and HR does everything.
B) you can go to a gesetzliche Krankenkasse and request a voluntary status (freiwillige Versicherung). Based on your income statements you will have to pay the insurance yourself every month. It's pretty good if you are self-employed.
C) you may go to any private insurance company and register yourself with them. It's cheap if you're healthy, later in life you might regret it, who knows.
Voilà, you are now insured!
@@almerindaromeira8352 As a foreigner, you may not be aware that most employees in Germany are not allowed to withdraw from statutory health insurance (GKV). This option is not available to most migrants.
Most Germans are not free to choose between statutory insurance (GKV) and private insurance (PKV). For most normal families, private health insurance is significantly more expensive than statutory health insurance.
Your advices could cause serious harm to migrants coming to Germany. "C) you may go to any private insurance company and register yourself with them. It's cheap if you're healthy, later in life you might regret it, who knows. Voilà, you are now insured!"
"That means you just want others to have fear of some mystical paper forms."
You don't understand that you can get into very serious legal and financial problems if you do not adhere to the social insurance laws in Germany.
We have a very famous German saying that describes our German approach to organizing our society.
"Von der Wiege bis zur Bahre, Formulare, Formulare!"
“From the cradle to the grave, paper forms, paper forms!”
Nobody needs to be afraid of the enormous bureaucracy in Germany, but you cannot ignore these things in Germany as a migrant.
BTW, 3,541 Euros was the median monthly wage of full-time employees with German citizenship who were subject to statutory health insurance in 2020. Median wage means that half of the employees earn a higher salary, the other half a lower one.
With an average of 2,638 Euros, foreigners in Germany earn significantly less than German citizens. You can opt out of the statutory health insurance in Germany only if you earn more than 5,500 Euros each month.
By the way, the compensation for trains is an EU-wide rule: you get 25% back if your journey is delayed by 1 hour, 50% if it's 2 hours or more. You are also entitled to food and drink in proportion to the delay. Anyway, some companies may have even better rules (for example, RENFE in Spain offers 50% discount if your AVE high speed train is 15 minutes late and 100% if it's 30 minutes late. Deutsche Bahn would go bankrupt with that rule).
So that’s the real reason the UK wanted to leave the EU…
I remember it's (or was?) 100% money back when your train is half an hour late in the Netherlands.
“Going to the dentist in Sweden can be very expensive. A single filler can cost up to €150”
Me: *Painfully laughs in American*
Americans go to Mexico for dental care
Erika, your video is very well investigated and nicely presented. I laughed about your national changes in flags and clothing. Well done and funny to see. Thanks
Another excellent video!!!! I spend Christmas in the Netherlands almost every year with my family that lives there and love it! We also visit Berlin frequently as some of the family is based there… Despite the winter weather, I love those countries ❤
I just Found this video at 5am and I couldn’t be happier. I love your personality and style. Please make more of these. 😊
Always wanted this kind of video. I would love to see more videos like this with more countries and more points (like engineering skills, design philosophy and architecture, startup scene) to compare even if the video is long (or in multiple parts). Also Erika, could you tell us more about the dutch healthcare system and how it compares to other countries. Btw love the IKEA hat in the Swedish segment 😂😂
This is a great overview. Exactly the type of summarising I was looking for. Great video
excellent video, the Lidl Jubileum shirt just killed me :) if you decide on part 2, may I suggest picking from Balkans, Eastern and SW Europe? to have a mix of places. cheers
Omg this is probably the best video I have seen in a while comparing countries in Europe! Also, I loved the vibe of the video, thanks Erika! 😊
You forgot to talk about Europe
The radio tax/extortion fee drives me crazy... It goes against my principles to be forced to pay for a service I never asked for. And then if you dont pay, you'll get a note from your local court house saying you really should pay or they will make you pay and it will be very inconvenient for you...
They can literally come to your home and take your personal belongings... A FRIGGIN TELEVISION AND RADIO PUBLIC BROADCASTING ORGANISATION has government authorization to come to your home and take your stuff for not paying them... Insane.....
It is an evil tax and sadly suggestive of what is to come.
This is genius! I live in the NL and everything is totally true. Thanks for the amazing content ❤
Do you like the food? :D
@@user-rn2ng7eo4h yeah ethnic Dutch food like kebab
Erika, great job. Loved this information!
for me it is mind-blowing that just now you have found shops with more milk options like 2023, It is not a bad thing it was just a culture shock for me since I took it for granted
38:32 pretty sure you meant "...from Dortmund to Berlin" :)
I myself live in Dortmund and I think the travelling times you've described match up pretty well with the ones from here to the capital city.
Great video, though! Been to Sweden this year and absolutely fell in love. Your list of cons about moving there were a big help and a great starting point for me to further deep-dive into research.
Strong work Erika! Very comprehensive analysis with Pros and Cons!
What a great video! I live in Enschede right now to study at UT but only as an exchange student for a year with the Erasmus program. And I find the cultural difference you mentioned to be so true :D Originally I study in Hamburg.
was studierst du ?
The thing about southern German/Austrian "Unfriendliness" is rather that we are quick to criticise something. We even got a word for that (granteln as a Verb or Grantler as a noun). And also: the most unfriendly people are in cities like Vienna or Munich (Munich got some contagious toxicity in the mood, ngl), but in smaller cities like Regensburg in Germany or Salzburg in Austria, people are pretty nice.
@@cayenneta that's impossible!
except "granteln" is not German but Bavarian/Austro-Bavarian, which is the language spoken in Bavaria and Austria. Please don't call it German, thanks.@@cayenneta
@@cayenneta we actually have a word for that too.....
I can confirm that people in Vienna are very unfriendly, only people who were kind to us were muslims for some reason.
Here in Czechia, I would say it's vice versa, people in small cities are very rude, but in Prague, everyone is chilling. But there is a difference between classic oldschool villagers (who can be kind, but they almost don't exist anymore) and small town peolpe who are extremely rude and agressive, especially when you don't belong to their social bubble. When I go to Prague, I am always shocked that people talk to me in shops and they are helping me when I am asking something or have some small talks, here in small town, everyone just jumps to a car and disapears, so there is noone you could talk to, because there is noone outside, you see people only in their stupid cars and behind their 3m tall walls and fences. I thought Vienna will be similar case as Prague that people mostly lie about Viennese people because they just hate capital city as here in Czechia, but when I arrived to Vienna, pretty much everything negative I heard about Vienna was confirmed in first 2 days - people are rude, when you ask something, they don't help or answer something in German and walk away, we were cheated in caffé (they printed two breakfasts to our bill instead of just 2 coffees which we actually had) and city looked very damaged - like patched asphalf sidewalks, graffiti everywhere, everything covered under stickers...very weird experience, I didn't expect it that Vienna is that ugly, people here complain about Prague because they hate capital city, but they should be glad that we have what we have.
In Lisbon, it was vice versa, people were that helpful, that it was really annoying, they were helping even without asking for help which is another extreme, I don't know what is more annoying. 😀
@@Pidalin There's nothing to excuse about the cafe thing. That's just bad. As for unfriendlyness: I worked in vienna for a little over 10 years and i can't say the same. The real viennese i worked with have never been unfirendly. It's just not part of the austrian culture to start talking to a stranger for no particular reason other than to start a conversation. I have seen that being counted as unfriendliness, but that's a misconception about the word friendliness in my opinion.
Two more things: the viennese pronounciation of words sounds more grumpy than the one in Salzburg for example. So there's instances where the same thing said by someone from the west of austria and from vienna sounds more unfriendly from the viennese even though that's not the intention behind it.
And secondly: i don't know in which language you conversed with the people in vienna, but i would guess english?
-> "thanks" to there being so many germans, any hollywood movie and tv show broadcasted in austria since both are a thing, is dubbed in german. (if the audience is big enough, that has been done and so the swiss and austrian "benefit" and add to the numbers of potential german speaking audience.) That means that there's a huge shift in the population between generations in their english language abilities. (as the most spoken second language)
Most people from the age of 40 downwards (thanks to schools and the internet) can speak english, but with most it's not on the same level as the czechs, slovaks, polish...
Above that age, language skills are rare. So if you encounter austrians of the age of 60 for example your chances of talking to them if you don't speak german are slim. Then it's down to hand guestures and facial expressions...
Awesome video. Thank you.
Your coffee is on the way.
Please review more countries.
This is a very well put together video. Thank you so much :)
Hello from Sweden! Really great video! Most of the things are true and very well explained. I don't really know how it works in other cities in other cities but atleast where I live (Gothenburg) all types of doctor checkups are free due to something called närhälsan (Nearby Health) which is a doctor checkup area in most major neighbourhoods. This thing gives free checkups and the queue is normally really fast!
Introvert life in sweden is so real and honestly sometimes a bit relaxing. Sweden is kind of built (socially and infrastructurally) to be very tranquilising and calm which might be a turn off for some people but really good for others. Even bars and other party areas are still relatively calm and relaxing even during happy hour (most of the time). Personally I love it but it's really up to the person.
Again really good video! keep it up :)
Wow. Relaxing. I thought Sweden was one of the most dangerous countries in the world. In Europe for sure. No offence but is this true?
@@carlosvazquez3678 I have heard that gang violence has been a problem that exists in sweden and there have been new regulations that the government is rapidly putting up to fix it. For myself and my city I have not witnessed anything. I think it matters on what city you live in. I feel pretty safe here and nothing has directly attacked that idea. It is no way near "the most dangerous countries in the world" (far from it, I don't know where you got that assumption from? #26 in peace, #11 in Safety and Security, #72nd in Murder Rate, and 4.7/10 in the criminality score following with a 7.46 government resilience score) but there are problems which are being rapidly fixed! Hope that answers your question :)
@@geranienbaum I see. I thought that military forces had to help police to control the mafia installed in Sweden since this country open the borders to immigration. Apparently, crimes are related to rapes. Like the girl 9 years old raped by a guy from Algeria. Sweden is not even included in the top 10 safe countries in the world. I never been to Sweden maybe media exagerates this.
@@carlosvazquez3678 Some places are real bad, most of the country less so. There is a simple way of estimating whether you are in one of the former or the latter, and all Swedes know how to figure that out. However, I will not state it, for reasons.
Unfortunately Sweden is on a downward spiral and there's no escaping that spiral any time soon. It's a train crash in slow motion. It's sad.
I've lived in France, Sweden and Germany, and I have never had problems making friends in them, with the least successful being Sweden (probably because it was for the shortest time). The problem is finding good friends. That always takes more time.
in Sweden, even the old lady in the supermarket had no problem conversing in English, small towns are here charming . and French intercity buses are really cheap
I have lived in NL since last century and was surprised to find that one of the largest supermarkets here wanted Dutch, German and English to work on the tills. Admittedly, this town is only 6km from the German border, but it is very different to requirements for till-workers in UK where in big cities their english is often very poor.
@@bluur101 Quite often, the Dutch and Scandinavians speak better English than native English, sadly.
We are generally lazy when it comes to speaking foreign languages. for obvious reasons.
@@dandare1001 I (a Swede) got a shock first time I heard that. British people saying that my English was better than many natives. I feel that my English is rusty so how can it be better than people speaking it every day.
@@reineh3477 Lots of people simply don't bother to learn English properly at school, or hang around others who have a limited vocabulary, and watch the wrong things on TV, so they never get particularly proficient.
I don't know about Swedes because I don't speak Swedish, but I speak German, and I meet lots of Germans who speak German poorly. My German isn't great, yet I have corrected quite a few on their grammar, so I assume Swedes are the same. Aren't they?
super helpful video and BEAUTIFUL TOPS you are a vibe
thank you SO much! I'm thinking about moving from Russia to Europe and I've found your video very informative and supportive
don't know why but you seem to have a kind of charm on me. I tend to be more relaxed while watching you speak.
Great video!! Now please make one video where you compare - every - single - country in the world. Please :)
Amazing video and comparison, thank you!!
Love this video and can’t wait to see part 2.
The style changes are amazing 😅
Ugh... I needed this. I'm a chinese American considering moving to either DE or NL. Social connections, maybe a different professional route... IDK
Also, love how smugly sarcastic you are lol. If we lived in the same city I would definitely organize a party with you
Thanks so much! Super helpful 😊
Great video, thank you for sharing! :)
You are awesome and really funny! Good Job!
I didn't watch your whole video yet, but your map of France at 0:15 includes the French speaking parts of Belgium and Switzerland 😁
this video is really well made. Awesome work!
I absolutely agree with you, when you pointed at Belarus on the preview
It was quite fun watching. So detailed too. Indeed no country is perfect
The weather in the Netherlands is changing rapidly towards hotter climate. We had drought and summers above 30 degrees for the last 5-8 years, like the rest of Europe
looks like nice weather.
it's still extremely cloudy and cold , dont forget that all of the world is changing like this, so the gap between countries stays the same
Hello from Slovakia, liked this video, thank you.
This was a really helpful video, please make part 2. Also, suggest the best country to move as an expat. Great work 👏
Church Tax is not mandatory. And even if you opted in accidentally in some way getting out is easy, just go to a local administration office and sign the paperwork.
My experience with this is:
Easiest appointment I ever had there and also the 2nd lowest fee I have ever paid. I think it was 30€. (about 8 years ago)
Wish getting out of GEZ was that easy.
This was the perfect video for me as an Aussie trying to decide which country to base myself in…My name is also Erica so i got a little giggle
I feel that for me personally France is the winner, as an aussie i would be to scared of the cold with some of these countries
Thank you Erika 😊
An Indian I know has been quite concerned about that when moving to Berlin but has been positively surprised by his resilience to winter temperatures
I have Australian friends who came to settle in the south of France near Toulon, they love their lives here, the spirit match their mentalities perfectly
Thank you Erika. Job well done in my opinion.
I think your research is SPOT ON! Regards from Sweden...
Very nice! I'm close to getting my degree and was actually thinking to move abroad for some time for my first job (I'm from Germany). Very difficult decision, as there are so many interesting places to go ... if you care to make a 2nd part, maybe you could include countries like Denmark, Italy or Czech :)
czech is a language
was hast du studiert ?
@@marvin2678 Ya Czech Rep
Produktdesign
Nice video, as an American who wants to get out these are fun. Next places scheduled to visit: DE and AT. Nice!
Have fun, from an austrian
Thanks for the video!
so accurate about Austria. Congrats on the video!
I am an American (Los Angeles, California ;w;) , and for reasons people might understand, I kinda wanna move to another country. Whether or not I end up in Europe, this video was really helpful for me! I learned a lot, so thank you Erika and comments section.
I wanna move to America from my third world shithole country, so I can't understand you at all, lol. What bothers you most in your country?
American here, also from California - I've been living and working in Switzerland for the past 5 years, so it is definitely possible if you put your mind to it. No regrets here 😊
It will be hard to move anywhere else when you live somewhere with perfect weather! Although it is very expensive there...
srr, I see you might be somewhat into Anime?
Seen Flanders no inu already?
It's 1 of the most known anime within Japan btw.
I would say, it's nice to live in,
however, other than that,
unless you like great food, old buildings/architecture and beer,
it tends to be quite boring.
Belgians came up with the Big bang theory, the BMI calculation, the internet (Mundaneum in 1910) and so on.
Even though a Belgian came up with asfalt, it's not clear when you look at the state of some of the roads, (which might be bc they have a lot of them).
Here's a docu about Belgium btw.
th-cam.com/video/B31Vgqytoa4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PuETjbeFifuQ59Y7
I wouldn't classify as a pro the proficiency in English, since if you intend to move to a country you will eventually have to learn how to speak the local language, unless you want not to integrate in conversations, in everyday life, in understanding the country you have chosen to live in. So it's quite the contrary in fact, since if people answer you in English (as they do in the Netherlands if you are beginner in Dutch), you will never learn the language, even if you want to. Basically every foreigner in Italy can speak Italian at a conversational level, which is not the case in the most English fluent countries in Europe such as the nordic countries and the Netherlands, where you can also attend university in English (and certainly not a perfect one, so it's not even good to learn English).
Great video Erika! Informative and entertaining!
Yes Erica. I so looking forward to. Icing to Europe to live. Very soon. Great video
Great video. It would be nice if you put an icon in the menu so people can support your channel financially. I’ve seen other TH-camrs do that. That would reduce the time it takes to go to a webpage. And I would love to see other videos on this topic :) Tschüss 👋
On Germany:
Yes, there is a lot of bureaucracy, and I hated it while living there, but at least it works. I'm now living in Portugal and miss "German bureaucracy".
At least, if you submit a form, it will be handled. You can call the tax office or health insurance, and speak to a person. You can make appointments and they will be honored (if you're on time).
And btw. doing taxes in Germany is pretty easy IMO, elster is really good and has explanations for literally every field.
Who's elster
@@meetimian3383 that's the tax software
The german online tax website
please i have a question is it true that german citizen who move to another country to live there should pay taxes to germany for 10 years ?
thanks for this erika, this is a good introduction for me as an asian immigrant flying out soon, keep it up
Good job researching all this 👍🏼
Austrian here specifically living in Dornbirn aswell. Well one thing important to mention on housing prices is that they are very dependent on the state you live in. For example Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg are known for their horendous housing prices and very big coorprate housing markets. Vienna on the other side has one of the most affordable housing in the whole of europe specifically for a big city! One rule of thumb is that the more east you go the cheaper austria gets!
Ok. That's fantastic information. Thank you for sharing. I'm thinking about moving to the Austrian state of Burgenland.
@@CoughFee Burgenland has the lowest cost of living of all of the states but comes with the disadvantage of not so saturated job market and general lower household income
I was born in czech but lived in netherlands for years before i came to mongolia my national country. I wanna go back there to study and eventually live again so im relearning dutch and studying the programs and unis. Im glad u talked about it
I'm up to when you said "no floors" I've never seen your channel before but I'm subscribed, you're so cool and Im glad i randomly found you
You are v engaging w your content. Amazing
I'm from the States, so you know, there's that.
I've been to all these countries and a few more to spare in Europe and have found people to be almost universally lovely. Yes, even in France. Yes, even in Paris. But then, I've also found people in New York City to be friendly and welcoming, so maybe I'm just very lucky. Or, perhaps, if you treat people with respect, most of them will return the favor?
I'm so tempted by these places, but unfortunately, I don't have highly in-demand skills. I actually preferred Belgium over the Netherlands (GASP!!!), though admittedly, I didn't spend as much time in The Netherlands. Same with Denmark over Sweden. Though in all those cases, the lack of daylight/seasonal depression thing worries me. After spending time in Lyon, France, I thought a lot about possibly living there, but I have a nearly pathological inability to speak or understand French.
Since I have a hard time making friends in a place where I do speak the local language, I imagine it would be extra difficult in another country. Still, if my wife ever decides it's time to move to Europe, my bags are packed. Though I suspect I'm too old, and the fact that we don't have children would make us less attractive as immigrants.
❤🎉 thanks for that! I totally agree. These stereotypes about unfriendliness are just so silly, objective and often untrue. I think you're have the perfect mindset about that and wish everyone would understand this
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I'm french. Despite the usual clichés about americans (obnoxious tourists... assume that the world revolve around America etc...not the best skills at understanding/being open to cultural differences etc..) I love americans. I think they are often fun and have a positive attitude, nothing is ever impossible.
Every culture has its plus and cons though.
It's not easy to fit in in France if you don't speak the language well. But it's not impossible.
The best way for americans is to come with a business project (much easier than come and look for a job)
If you start a business here you get a residence card (carte de séjour)
Your tax information on Sweden is way off. 20-25% income tax for most Swedes is not true. Most local municipalities has an income tax above 30%. I don't know of almost any that have below that. Then you have the counties tax on top of that. I believe my current tax rate is 34%. If you earn above a certain limits you will also need to pay government tax but most doesn't reach this limit
I loved this video! it is so important to me since i am thinking on whats the best place for me to live on, this video is more than entertainning, its also a support of my lifetime decisions! greetings from Mexico :)
Why are you leaving Mexico?
@@user-rn2ng7eo4h good question, although is a decent place to leave (not to mention literally the best food) im chosing to move because of corruption and certain behaviors that are normalized by people that simply don't go well with the type of life I want for myself, the honest and good people can get punished for playing clean, basically speaking. But don't get me wrong, its not a bad place to live, its just not suiting me
That is very good and deep explanation; very good.
Germany has the biggest market in Europe for vegan supplies, I think of that as a pro aswell.
I always appreciate comprehensive information like this! Definitely want to live in Europe someday. Do you know by any chance know how Flanders is similar/different to the Netherlands as well as Wallonia to France? I feel countries like Belgium can go under the radar of most people but I’m curious
As someone from Flanders I can tell you that housing is WAY more affordable than in the Netherlands (like the Dutch come live here because they can't afford a house in their own country + their houses are way smaller). Belgium has the population who are the richest people by median wage and possessions (so the wealth is best distributed among every person instead of a few disgustingly rich people making up most of the wealth in rankiings where they say the average income).
The Dutch are more assertive while we are more passive overall, but when on the road expect people to behave like maniacs because they don't follow speed limits, stick close to your bumper and don't always use indication when changing lanes lol.
Comming there You should see Netherland(s) is the LOW LANDs, which they are.
The has same culture and language.
In a very short version the dividing is a warline. You can defend the Shelde river into Antwerpen
In a version You has`-had the germans and the other the french influence. They both use Euros, a lot of very food and many of exenent. They also have very good milk, cider and wine.
The price level for Holland ad Belgium i almos the same.
Speaking english will help You very much.
Im a #cold one#. Next year we visit Norway and partly Sweden half way up. #not so many people3 as in Flanderen.
I'm from Belgium/flanders: We, Flemish people are more reserved and less direct then the Dutch, we have a french/ burgundian eating culture, houses are more affordable, we speak french and english as a second language, we love biking as a sport and techno-music for parties. In flanders we feel more like individuals and less like one big herd (->dutch). The dutch love to look down on us but we don't give a f. :). Hope this helps you a bit, you are more then welcome in Belgium!
Great work-life-balance, paternal leave shoudl also be mentioned for Germany.
Nice video!
Excellent video! Thank you
Funny video, I quite like it! Also, it's funny to hear what you call innovations in the NL. All listed things are available for already literally years in Poland :)
If you proceed with p.2 I would be really keen to hear about Iceland, GB, Italy, one of Baltic countries and one of Balkan countries. Cheers and good luck with your laptop!
I've also lived in Germany for 1.5 years now, in a suburb town right outside Cologne. None of the doctors I met spoke English 😂 And due to my mom's illness I had to go to a few of them even at the time when I didn't speak German at all. Man that was a motivational thing for me. I even made a habit of just going to various doctors with other Ukrainians just to help with translation. Dentists are the toughest to understand so far😁
Did you go to the doctor in Cologne or in the suburb?
Were these all old doctors? I can't imagine a 40-50 year old well educated person in Germany that doesn't speak English. Most of all outside the former eastern bloc 😮
@@jan-lukas suburb, because it was easier to get appointments
@@DenzelPF-jl4lj no, middle-aged as well! And yes, whether in ophthalmology, ortho, urology or neurology - noone, literally noone spoke English. Turkish - yes, but otherwise - only German. That's why there is a segment of Russian-speaking doctors, but the waiting times are extra long and I find them very dismissive: one of them just prescribed my mom a cream, when a German orthopedist performed a surgery.
And don't get me started on receptionists: to make an appointment you've got to speak German.
That's why I learned it in 1 year and now I even got a job in German in my field (marketing)
@@anastasiiazdorikovaI am a doctor and a native Turkish speaker and I have C1 level English and b1 level Ukrainian, do you think I could find a job easily in Germany? If yes I would like to start learning German. Russian is on demand bcs there is no doctor who can speak Ukrainian or some people from Ukraine only know Russian? What do you think?
As a frenchman, i find your pro/cons very well balanced and mostly true.
I love your videos, I’m learning English with you
one more thing is in france is internal public transport is great like most moderately sized towns have like a bus system that just goes within the town so theres that on top of the cross-town public transport
I went to Amsterdam at the middle of september this year. the weather was lovely. I have some Dutch friends and everytime we went out to eat, it was not Dutch food, as none of them wanted to eat it.
liberal self hate
Same in Norway, but that is mostly because we prefer our more traditional foods homemade. Some of that food is rather.... "Exotic" for todays standards, like Smalahove/Cooked Sheep Head. Almost nobody eats that anymore for obvious reasons and the people I know who have eaten that, I can count on one hand.
I have family in rural West Norway and Komle is very popular among them.
Thank you erica for the information 😊
Why am I just discovering this channel just now. An easy subscribe!
Everything you mentioned in the Netherlands you can also find in Poland but cheaper. We have gyms that require scanning your finger, we have the same stuff in shops.
Yes. And both are leaning towards right wing politics :) Congrats
@@nightline9868 Netherlands if far from right wing, i lived in both. Its as liberal as it gets and full of migrants and crime especially in Amsterdam.
@@nightline9868 You can't be serious. Dutch people are so woke it's crazy. Their right wing can't even be called right wing. Netherlands is infested with kebabs and others, crime rates have gone up significantly. There's nothing remotely right wing about any western European country, there's no patriotism left, they've bought into the globalist/multicultural nonsense.
The fact that you thought about mentioning the train subscription for a discount means you are truly part Dutch! Goed gedaan!
Came here wondering if any country would be welcoming to outsiders in today's world. And after 44 minutes of your video, I guess I'll just watch some more of your adorable videos and forget I came with an agenda 🙂
recently played the little chef game, i finished everything, your illustrations r so cute :))
Great video Erika! This kind of content is very popular and it might bring more people to your chanel. Keep in mind that 10 minutes or less videos are better for the algorithm so maybe it's better to do parts for the next ones. Whatever decision you make, the peanut army will love it!
As a single woman safety is my first priorty and Germany is really scary. I don't like it that I have to live in constant fear that something bad might happen with me on the streets or in the train. I think twice before leaving my house in the evening after it gets dark like even for grocery nearby.
why is Germany bad for safety compared to other European countries?
Has Germany really deteriorated by that much? If so, that’s very tragic. Hope things get better soon. Plan to come back home soon.
@@a.r.stellmacher8709 I live in Ruhrgebiet and it's so. Even in the small cities. I have had some really horrifying encounters I must say.
Maybe you'll be safer if you have a car and I hope things go good for you.
I'am also a single woman and never had to fear anything. But I'am living in Baden-Württemberg near Karlsruhe. As tommy a famous german streamer once said " Ruhrgebiet alda dort passiert alles. 90% von allem passiert im Ruhrgebiet" meaning everything you see happening in germany it happens in the Ruhrgebiet.
Great video, wanting for part 2
About the winter in Austria: In Vienna or Lower Austria (i.e. not the mountains) winters aren't that cold anymore. Which means sadly barely any snow anymore in winter. Only a few days in November with a bit snow and a few days last week with a dusting of snow this season here in that area of Austria.
Also inflation here was higher than in Germany the last few years. Like drive over the border and the stores might have cheaper prices for the same stuff in the same store chain.
Yoo, I find the dutch language charming (am german)! And you have funny words
"Pindakaas"
"Schoonmaker"
and ofc
"GEKOLONISEERD" :D
One should also mention, that it's common for doctors not to put their opening hours on the internet in germany
Germanys premade food is abundand and significantly more affordable than Dutchland
It's true that German efficiency has succumbed to Bureaucracy! Even ppl born, raised in germany, speaking german fluently no problem have big trouble deciphering what the heck the
>insert institution< is writing you by letter. Yes... letters are very common here.....
Spaniard living in edgy and techno Berlin. The video is very precise. I really liked it. I would add that the public transport inside of Berlin works really really well. About the kitchens on rented flats, it is changing now also and getting better. The thing in Germany is that there is a huge lack of flats so landlords know that the flat will be rented even without a kitchen. Burocracy, I think, is getting better now and more digitalized. Income tax is easy to do online with private companies software who make everything very easy. Most people don't use elster but these programms or online apps. It is true that Germany is very affordable and at the same time it has high salaries. And yes, the big con is the language. It is stereotypical to say it, but yes, German language is difficult and needs time and constant motivation. I still recommend Germany a lot.
Graçias!
Very well presented...and fun to listen to.👍
Interesting and well presented. I like your relaxed style! One small point to help: a *demanding* job is difficult, challenging. A job that is *in demand* means that lots of employers want you.