Europe vs. North America (Surprising Conversation with Friends)
- Thread starter Don Draper
- Start date
there is no such thing as customer service in europe. u can't buy and return things with the ease we have here. even when u buy clothes u are barely allowed to touch them. if it's midnight and u need something they don't sell at a bar, you're fucked. america is #1 for consumerism
In europe u will see many men working jobs that here are saved for women and teenagers, such as cashiers
In western europe, food (among many other things) costs an arm and a leg. say goodbye to steak dinners. I don't care how fresh the fruits and veggies are, if u like meat u are gonna starve.
I have heard good things about eastern europe, but can't speak for it firsthand
In europe u will see many men working jobs that here are saved for women and teenagers, such as cashiers
In western europe, food (among many other things) costs an arm and a leg. say goodbye to steak dinners. I don't care how fresh the fruits and veggies are, if u like meat u are gonna starve.
I have heard good things about eastern europe, but can't speak for it firsthand
I did not say you could not find a good restaurant in London. But British cuisine is not considered to be among the best in the world.
Lots of good reasons why I wouldn't move to Europe. If you don't understand why your friends wouldn't live there why didn't you ask them for details? Sounds like an odd conversation to me.
My reasons.
1. I don't want to learn another language, it's too stressful.
2. Nobody would hire me if I don't speak the language, how would I afford it?
3. My family and friends are in Toronto.
4. I'd become European.
My reasons.
1. I don't want to learn another language, it's too stressful.
2. Nobody would hire me if I don't speak the language, how would I afford it?
3. My family and friends are in Toronto.
4. I'd become European.
Ok let me dumb it down for you guys.
The OP`s assessment is pretty much the same conversation I`ve had with many of my friends, from all over the place. Europeans, Asians, Americans etc. They all scratch their heads wondering what the fuck is wrong with this place. The people whom this country supports (i.e. white small town, more than two generations down the line), and whom have all the benefits available at their disposal would not see it, or have that experience obviously. People coming from countries worse off than Canada would also not see it. But if you are a person of color born and raised here like myself, who falls in neither the first category (i.e. faces discrimination and is not recognized on the same social scale as their white Canadian counterpart, and does not have access to the same standard of living not because of skill or talent or hard work, but because of race), or the second (coming from a country worse off than here), it is easy to recognize the deficiencies and inequalities, and you are aware everyday that the same standard of life and opportunities don`t apply to you. It`s like asking a white person about racism. They comment but don`t experience it at the same level as a person of color, and the minute something very minor occurs (i.e. some small business owner doesn`t hire them) they scream reverse racism. It`s the whole idea that if it doesn`t affect you, you don`t know what it feels like, and if you don`t know what it feels like, you are not fully informed.
Besides what was mentioned by the OP, and my own personal experiences, Canada is shit for many reasons. Let`s take a quick look at other posts that allude to this:
TTC drivers not doing their jobs, and assaulting their passengers:
https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?283197-TTC-Bus-Driver-Assaults-Teen-Passenger
Police beating up their citizens with unnecessary force:
https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?283083-Police-brutality-or-necessary-force
Prices of homes skyrocketing, while wages are the same or lower:
https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?283115-Mansion-or-crackshack-!-take-the-test
Corrupt Cops with their own drug grow ops:
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...in-court-after-20-charged-in-pot-grow-op-bust
Acquittals of people who violently kill our citizens and get off on insanity pleas, with the Canadian courts impotent to do anything:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/08/01/stabbing-victim.html
Children who murder other children, and the courts do nothing:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/03/26/toronto-jordan-manners-mistrial.html
and yet swift justice for Jane Creba (by the way, I am glad they caught the people, but the fact that she is an attractive, white blond girl, versus Jordan Manners is probably why they were convicted so fast)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day_shooting
Now, in addition to all of this let`s look at our Arts and Science
Artists:
Canada does not support them and they end up leaving to the US, why? Because it`s better there:
Celine Dion
Alanis Morrisette
Ryan Renolds
Rachel McAdams
Russell Peters
And many many more. And the ones we do have that are supported by talentless unions like ACTRA (that don`t promote diversity, but talentless white canadian talent) suck:
http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20080227_87778_87778
Then let`s look at our beloved sports stars:
Wayne Gretsky-where did he go?
Sydney Crosby- Not here.
Science:
We follow and don`t lead in everything we do. Our "space program" rides on the back of the US
Politics:
We follow the US. We haven`t even had a civil rights movement, or discuss issue of race in Canada, yet everything that I have seen indicates to me that this place is racist to its core. Americans have more awareness of these issues, even if they are at conflict.
When will we have a person of color as Prime Minister? Probably Never. And why is that?
Our military has technology that is decades old.
But I forgot, we got Canadian Beer, and the "best backyard in the world", whatever.
We have the second largest oil reserves in the world, and oil is expensive here.
We club seals to death for a useless outdated trade while the world takes notice:
http://www.independent.co.uk/enviro...e-world-calls-for-a-trade-boycott-470506.html
We don`t even meet the worldwide Kyoto protocols for climate change:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/709146--canada-s-kyoto-view-triggers-a-walkout
I really could go on about why Canada is shit, but I`d be here forever.
This place SUCKS ass. Too many stupid people running the show. It doesn`t reward those who work hard or are smart. It rewards lazy ignorant white people three generations down the line period. But they can`t compete in the global market place, so that only leaves one place for Canada to go: Down.
i concur with this post. Yes, I was born and raised in europe but have fallen in love with Toronto and Terb.
A while back I was chatting on the internet in a private chat room with some people from the UK , and some Germans. Some of these people visit Toronto and other Canadian and American cities quite often. Often enough to know what a Tim Hortons is. In the conversations I would mention how I go fishing just 90 minutes from where I live, I have a cottage lakeside, the low cost of food, housing, fuel ect. All the good things that make Canada what it is, because I would mention the good things that are available in Canada, these people would get angry at me and tell me that I mention these good things too often. In the end, they actually banned me from the chat room.
It would be hard to find a better place to live than Canada. I am not saying that there are no places as good in this world, but if you lived in Europe you would pay higher prices for many things.
Quick story.
I know a Swiss girl that lives in Canada now, she went back to visit her family. When they went shopping one day, she treated her sister, aunt and mother to a Coca-Cola at a restaurant without thinking. The bill at the restaurant for 4 Cokes came to$22.
Story #2
Chinese food is very trendy now in Switzerland. Chinese food for 2 people will cost you $90. BTW - No take out, it is just not done there.
It would be hard to find a better place to live than Canada. I am not saying that there are no places as good in this world, but if you lived in Europe you would pay higher prices for many things.
Quick story.
I know a Swiss girl that lives in Canada now, she went back to visit her family. When they went shopping one day, she treated her sister, aunt and mother to a Coca-Cola at a restaurant without thinking. The bill at the restaurant for 4 Cokes came to$22.
Story #2
Chinese food is very trendy now in Switzerland. Chinese food for 2 people will cost you $90. BTW - No take out, it is just not done there.
So Winstar, why are you still here? The terms of your probation won't let you leave?
Please tell us why you live in Canada, if it's so bad. We may have a solution to you problems. You never know.
Please tell us why you live in Canada, if it's so bad. We may have a solution to you problems. You never know.
Here is just one example of why Canada is great. All my Polish Canadian friends cheer for Russia when Canada plays Russia in hockey. Did you know that one million Canadians trace their roots back to Poland? Did you know that many of them left Poland to escape the Russian occupation?
Fair point.
I am in the process of leaving. Found a place, got a job, doing what I love, and will be moving there within the next couple of months. And it was much easier for me to get a high paying job there than here. The place I am going rewards and values smart people.
There's moving smartly and moving stupidly. While I do not like it here, I am not just going to pack up and leave and do so in the most vulnerable way. It's a process that involves immigration protocols that I must follow between both countries, the process sometimes taking years. Plus, although I do not like it here, most of my friends and family are here, and do not necessarily want to move for reasons relevant to them. Leaving them is also a big consideration. Both of these issues are irrelevant to my view on Canada though.
But to get back to the OP's original point, the girls definitely are hotter, nicer, kinder, and enjoy sex (and don't sabotage things with the idiocy Canadian girls seem to do) elsewhere. I see my move from Canada as evolving forward and not behind.
Well then, I must give you some props. You put your money where your mouth is. Good for you. Many other people I know moan about how this and that sucks in Canada but have no plans to leave because they know they have better economic opportunities here and that is most important to them.
It is not fair to not tell us where you are going, so we can trash it. You say it rewards smart people more than Canada? That narrows it down a lot. US? Singapore? You think they are less racist? I can't wait to hear which country it is.
I've lived in England (London) for years in the past due to my job at the time, and enjoyed it there. However a comparison of which is "better" - Toronto or London - is not easy.
First off, middle class people who aren't interested in art and culture so much generally have an economically better time of it here in terms of where one lives, disposable income, cost of day to day stuff. Gas is cheaper, big cars and minivans are cheaper, houses in the burbs are cheaper, eating out is cheaper.
If one is wealthy, especially if one is from family money and doesn't work full time, living in the London area is very nice as they have great restaurants, great high-end shopping, lots of really nice museums and art galleries that would take years to see all of them. Whatever purchase of excess you desire is right there at your fingertips. I remember hearing about this small shop out of the way in central London whose specialty was the custom manufacture of household items made out of solid 9kt gold. They made solid gold telephones, Kleenex box covers, etc,mainly selling to Middle Eastern buyers. Gee, who wouldn't want a solid 9kt gold desk telephone (30 ounces of gold material + labour)? Or indulge in Art Auctions where paintings go for millions, or, well, my point is the money spent in London on basically ultra-high end shopping is out of this world. Granted most is for export to very wealthy people in other countries , but London, more than anywhere else on earth, is the shopping centre to the super-rich. If one had the time and money and inclination, life in London is great...you need your city townhouse, and then your country house. Think of it as cottage-country in reverse: there your primary residence is your big beautiful country house with many acres and clean air, and your city place is a place you come to when going to the theatre or shopping. If one has to work, the wife and kids live in the country place and you stay in the city place during the week, going to the country place on weekends. Weekends mean you leave work after lunch on Friday and come back around 11am on Monday. A nice arrangement for weekday outcall hobbying. The air quality in London is bad...like blow your nose and black soot comes out bad (diesel buses, cars). Take lots of holidays to France, Italy and Spain.
For the middle class Brits though, esp the lower middle class to middle middle class, they often live in apartments, have no second home, enjoy little in way of nice shopping or fine dining, and are lucky to go on vacation to seedy places near Malaga Spain for a week. Some save up and go to Orlando Florida to take the kids to Disneyworld. The only benefit to these people is the museums and art galleries, many of which are free or cheap. I was in the middle class when I was there and loved the museums and went every weekend to one.
The middle class here often can own a home, two big vehicles, eat out a lot, buy a wider assortment of middle class stuff, and have a life filled with the benefits of higher buying power.
The rich in Toronto can not get the never-ending buffet of luxury that the rich in London get. Sure, we have high end jewelry stores, high-end car dealers, etc. but it is nothing like comparable. There in addition to local rich people they service the rich of many if not most of the non-G8 countries so there are people dropping serious money there. What Vegas and Macau are for high roller gamblers London is for high roller shoppers. Toronto has good theatre, next best in NA after NYC. London does also. In the English speaking world London, NYC and Toronto are the three big theatre towns, probably in that order.
If I was super rich I'd like the London life. Cottage country does not appeal to me, but having a couple hundred acres of rolling meadow where decorative horses gently graze and an 18th centrury manor house a three hour drive from London does appeal lol. Better than a Rosedale home and cottage on Lake Muskoka. London is one of the few places where being rich and not having a job is more prestigious than having a job socially. Most of the artisan class like the super rich there as they keep them employed buying gold telephones and such. Here, heck, if one went into Birks on Bloor St and said you wanted a solid gold desk telephone they would look at you like you were either nuts or had far too much money for your (and society's) good. In London they would say "Do you just require one, Sir?"
Since I'm not super rich, I find life in Toronto more enjoyable.
Would I rather be a middle class Frenchman in a quaint small town in France, or a middle class Canadian in small town Alberta or B.C.? Probably the French lifestyle would be more enjoyable for me, with pate and fresh bread baked daily, and the culinary market. Ah well, the grass is often greener so they say.
They have first class high end SPs in London for hobbying. They have first class high end SPs here for hobbying, so in that respect both cities are good. Here hobbying is cheaper, so more value for the money.
First off, middle class people who aren't interested in art and culture so much generally have an economically better time of it here in terms of where one lives, disposable income, cost of day to day stuff. Gas is cheaper, big cars and minivans are cheaper, houses in the burbs are cheaper, eating out is cheaper.
If one is wealthy, especially if one is from family money and doesn't work full time, living in the London area is very nice as they have great restaurants, great high-end shopping, lots of really nice museums and art galleries that would take years to see all of them. Whatever purchase of excess you desire is right there at your fingertips. I remember hearing about this small shop out of the way in central London whose specialty was the custom manufacture of household items made out of solid 9kt gold. They made solid gold telephones, Kleenex box covers, etc,mainly selling to Middle Eastern buyers. Gee, who wouldn't want a solid 9kt gold desk telephone (30 ounces of gold material + labour)? Or indulge in Art Auctions where paintings go for millions, or, well, my point is the money spent in London on basically ultra-high end shopping is out of this world. Granted most is for export to very wealthy people in other countries , but London, more than anywhere else on earth, is the shopping centre to the super-rich. If one had the time and money and inclination, life in London is great...you need your city townhouse, and then your country house. Think of it as cottage-country in reverse: there your primary residence is your big beautiful country house with many acres and clean air, and your city place is a place you come to when going to the theatre or shopping. If one has to work, the wife and kids live in the country place and you stay in the city place during the week, going to the country place on weekends. Weekends mean you leave work after lunch on Friday and come back around 11am on Monday. A nice arrangement for weekday outcall hobbying. The air quality in London is bad...like blow your nose and black soot comes out bad (diesel buses, cars). Take lots of holidays to France, Italy and Spain.
For the middle class Brits though, esp the lower middle class to middle middle class, they often live in apartments, have no second home, enjoy little in way of nice shopping or fine dining, and are lucky to go on vacation to seedy places near Malaga Spain for a week. Some save up and go to Orlando Florida to take the kids to Disneyworld. The only benefit to these people is the museums and art galleries, many of which are free or cheap. I was in the middle class when I was there and loved the museums and went every weekend to one.
The middle class here often can own a home, two big vehicles, eat out a lot, buy a wider assortment of middle class stuff, and have a life filled with the benefits of higher buying power.
The rich in Toronto can not get the never-ending buffet of luxury that the rich in London get. Sure, we have high end jewelry stores, high-end car dealers, etc. but it is nothing like comparable. There in addition to local rich people they service the rich of many if not most of the non-G8 countries so there are people dropping serious money there. What Vegas and Macau are for high roller gamblers London is for high roller shoppers. Toronto has good theatre, next best in NA after NYC. London does also. In the English speaking world London, NYC and Toronto are the three big theatre towns, probably in that order.
If I was super rich I'd like the London life. Cottage country does not appeal to me, but having a couple hundred acres of rolling meadow where decorative horses gently graze and an 18th centrury manor house a three hour drive from London does appeal lol. Better than a Rosedale home and cottage on Lake Muskoka. London is one of the few places where being rich and not having a job is more prestigious than having a job socially. Most of the artisan class like the super rich there as they keep them employed buying gold telephones and such. Here, heck, if one went into Birks on Bloor St and said you wanted a solid gold desk telephone they would look at you like you were either nuts or had far too much money for your (and society's) good. In London they would say "Do you just require one, Sir?"
Since I'm not super rich, I find life in Toronto more enjoyable.
Would I rather be a middle class Frenchman in a quaint small town in France, or a middle class Canadian in small town Alberta or B.C.? Probably the French lifestyle would be more enjoyable for me, with pate and fresh bread baked daily, and the culinary market. Ah well, the grass is often greener so they say.
They have first class high end SPs in London for hobbying. They have first class high end SPs here for hobbying, so in that respect both cities are good. Here hobbying is cheaper, so more value for the money.
This post is RIGHT ON!
I have lived in Europe and still spend time there every year. You have NO IDEA what the word "bureaucracy" means until you have to deal with any type of business in Europe! Let's not even try to discuss the cost of living, medical system, pollution, traffic, or the rampant cancer of corruption at every single level! Are some things better in Europe? ABSOLUTELY..but not better enough to live there!
Europe is a FABULOUS, MARVELOUS, EXCITING place to visit, even to spend an extended vacation, but at the back of your mind you will always have that reasurring fact that you will be back in Canada eventually!
The only thing Canada does not have are areas like "squares" or piazzas" where people can meet and hang out, that's the only thing missing here, other than that, WE HAVE IT MADE IN CANADA!!!!!!!!
ONLY people that are brain dead would say " Canada is shit"
PS..Monty Python your sig quote is PERFECT..try reading what the bird posts in the Mac vs PC vs Linux threads!!
