this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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Some young American workers are moving to Europe in hopes of a healthier and happier life.

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[–] HollandJim@lemmy.world 149 points 1 year ago (11 children)

25 years I’ve been abroad (The Netherlands) and the work-life balance is why I stayed. They insist I take days off (still foolishly work like an American) and have already booked out a 3 week vacation for later in the year…and I’ll still have nearly 2 weeks of vacation left. We can roll a few weeks of vacation over to the next year if not used. Even though the Dutch have NO holidays from June to Christmas, I’m still able to take 4 day weekends when I want to.

The downside is family left behind may begin to resent you. My family have developed this red-hat victim culture. I can’t bring up how I live abroad or else it starts fights - they don’t want to talk to me now.

[–] kilgore@feddit.de 65 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Same with the resentment! Lots of people in the US don't want to hear how much better it is elsewhere. GrEaTesT NaTiOn oN eArTh!

[–] Kleinbonum@feddit.de 56 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's funny, because if you're living in the US and bringing up topics (like e.g. healthcare, parental leave, vacation time, sick days, the school system, universal access to universities and higher education, traffic deaths, gun violence, etc. etc. etc.) the reaction is often "well, if you hate it so much, why don't you just leave?"

And then, when you actually leave and live a much more enjoyable and happy life elsewhere, the reaction is "we don't want to hear about it!!!"

[–] woobwub@feddit.de 19 points 1 year ago

They didn't want to hear about it in the first place ;)

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[–] where_am_i@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

looks like you should stop talking to that family of yours

[–] HollandJim@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Too late. They stopped taking to me.

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Conservativism rots the brain. Imagine disowning your own fucking family simply because they moved to a different place. Disgusting.

[–] AllonzeeLV@vlemmy.net 16 points 1 year ago

Doesn't sound like a massive loss, friend. People grow apart, even if they are your blood relatives. The family you choose is far more important, especially if your family gets angry and even writes you off at your lack of equivalent suffering. Americans are so weird about suffering being a positive, "character building" experience for its own sake.

I'm jealous of you btw, you did what I was too chickenshit to do and you reached the promised land.

[–] supercriticalcheese@feddit.it 13 points 1 year ago

Sorry to hear that.

I have my family sparsed all over Europe and the world. Just because we are away doesn't mean we don't talk with eachother.

Of course my parents would prefer that we were nearby but they understand.

Lifebalance is just as important as money in the end.

[–] Stanley_Pain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Seriously been considering moving the family to the Netherlands or Sweden.

Lived in a few places in Europe over the years. Currently in Canada, which is slowly sliding into being a hellhole like America. 😓

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[–] Zpiritual@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why the resentment though? Is it because they're thinking that they had it terrible and therefore you should too? That you're not a loyal worker and therefore less of a person because of that?

Or can it be that they feel left behind and you talking about how great it is to them sounds like you don't miss them or regret moving away?

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[–] Sodis@feddit.de 12 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I also moved to the Netherlands recently (but from Germany) and their holiday schedule feels really weird to me. You get a lot from April to June and then nothing until Christmas. They should've spaced that out better.

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[–] kilgore@feddit.de 99 points 1 year ago (3 children)

As an American who has been abroad for many years, can confirm! I'm visiting the states at the moment and its crazy to hear a family member talking about trying to convince their boss that the employees should get five paid sick days a year instead of only three. Three! A year! Insane.

[–] Hyperreality@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What are you supposed to do?

Turn up, shit yourself, keep helping customers?

Or do you turn up, shit yourself, then get fired?

[–] catarina@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago

Ok, but what matters is your turned up /s

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[–] InternetPirate@lemmy.fmhy.ml 52 points 1 year ago (1 children)

America becoming a third world country.

[–] Pinto23@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Always was

(••) (••)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)

[–] woobwub@feddit.de 45 points 1 year ago

If only they would leave their political affiliations and a few bad bits of their culture in the US too, that'd be great. They're otherwise very welcome here, as is anybody else who wants to embrace the European lifestyle and integrate, Iranian, Afghan, Australian, Kenyan, Brazilian, Turkish, whatever.

[–] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (4 children)

If I had the money, I'd be running for Europe right now. America has gone to shit and it is only going to get worse from here

[–] Garzak@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The paperwork and logistics is going to be a bitch, but if you can start looking for a job in Europe from your current location, the move itself might be less expansive than you expect.

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[–] topperharlie@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (6 children)

as an European I have to say:

please stop advertising this, they will all come here with their American dreams and turn Europe in USA.

I'm yet to see two of them actually connecting the dots between the "American dream" and the horrible labor laws. They want the wellbeing we have but they also want the rampant capitalism, they think "socialism == communism"

[–] Tyrannosauralisk@kbin.social 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

American here - this stuff is actually widely known and accepted among our progressives, who are the people most likely by far to leave.

We just get fucked out of political power at the federal level by the outsized representation of small-population, rural, die-hard-conservative states. For example if the presidency was by popular vote we likely wouldn't have had a Republican president since 93 which would have made the supreme court liberal by 8-1.

At the most fundamental level, the US political system just wasn't built to handle the increasing rural/urban population disparity, and at some point things will need to change. What that change looks like is anybody's guess. One scenario is that with the economic failure of the backwaters, plus the housing crisis and additional automation, it becomes economically feasible to just build/buy enough housing in the backwaters to be able to have a controlling share in the vote. Which obviously sucks in a lot of ways but it might be the solution with the lowest barrier to entry.

[–] ramin_hal9001@forum.fail 19 points 1 year ago

I wouldn't worry too much about that. The most reactionary people in the US, those who think socialism is communism and horrible labor laws are "freedom," are too heavily indoctrinated into their own little death cult. They honestly believe there is no country more free than the US and are genuinely fearful of the idea of living anywhere else, they would never move to Europe.

People who live in reality, on the other hand, see how horrible it has become in the US and are looking for a real "land of opportunity," where you do not have to be a willing slave to capital in order to have the right to the basic necessities of life. They are fully disillusioned with the "American dream," and so are more open-minded toward socialism, and are more willing to agree that maybe most countries in Europe provide them with real, actual freedom far more that what they have living in the US.

This has been my experience with immigrants from the US, anyways (and, full disclosure, I am an immigrant as well, just not in Europe).

[–] Watson@feddit.de 19 points 1 year ago

Clumping 332 million people together and expecting that they're all the exact same.

Come on, buddy.

[–] Garzak@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

That’s a weird take on the subject, most American I’ve met or worked with where surprised but happy about our ways.

We might have met totally different kinds of people.

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[–] raz0rf0x@pawb.social 33 points 1 year ago

If you understand that the high salary is to meet the high cost of living in the United States then you'll understand that it isn't a pay cut. Take that one step further and consider the fact that the higher cost of living does NOT come with a higher quality of life in the US.

[–] iamyourunspokenmind@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Honestly, I moved to Germany two years ago, and I would only go back if my family needed my help in the US. Life feels a lot easier, and more comfortable. Yeah, the winter sucks, but even then I'm outside more than when I lived in the US.

[–] dercybercop@feddit.de 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

There is no bad weather, just bad clothes.

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[–] Saneless@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A lady I work with in the Netherlands sent me an email Friday. I responded and got an OOTO message saying she's out till 7/31

Definitely jealous

[–] LiquorFan@pathfinder.social 39 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Damn, isn't 8 years a bit much?

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[–] pepperonisalami@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm in Asia and receive OOTO emails all the time, meanwhile we work even during holidays 🙃. A co worker is a Chilean, and during her 3 weeks leave to go back home after years of not taking any leave, she worked day and night, slept only 3 hours the whole stay. We Asians were successfully brainwashed into the hustle culture

[–] Hyperreality@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It's a thing I like about Germans. They tend to be more strict about working hours than other EU countries, let alone somewhere like America.

I worked in the Netherlands for a while, and we'd get loads of German visitors. When we were nearing closing time, we'd often have German visitors going "It's his 'Feierabend'(end of day). He can't help you anymore". Especially when they had a problem that would last till after closing time to solve. And then when you told them "no, no. It's fine." they were genuinely grateful. They didn't expect you to work, when you were no longer being paid to.

You shift starts. You work. Your shift ends. You are no longer working.

The unsurprising result: experts often say German workers outperform American workers. Turns out strictly enforcing working hours, allowing workers to recuperate when they're not on shift, means they end up working harder when they are on shift.

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[–] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd do it if I could afford it or was younger. Honestly wish I had. The sacrifice now, with family and kids, is too massive.

[–] Steeve@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 year ago

You can get a new family and kids! Or bring em I guess

[–] hardypart@feddit.de 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Muss gerade an diesen Bericht von kürzlich denken, ebenfalls vom glorreichen Business Insider:

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-germany-relocation-american-move-disappointing-2023-6

Lustiger Kontrast.

[–] ChojinDSL@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Was für ein dämlicher Artikel. Wäh, wäh, ich wohne in einem kleinen Dorf und habe nicht Zugang zu allen Modern conveniences wie in einer grossen Stadt. Wäääh... Echt, jetzt?

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[–] 3l3s3@feddit.de 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Generell lustiger Artikel, danke.

[–] sab@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago

"We live in a small German town called Otterberg" had me laughing out loud.

I was wondering where she could be living - maybe Munich or some other city in Bavaria, where people are not exactly known for warming up easily on foreigners (read: people from more than 20 minutes away). But no - she's living in Otterberg. Hilarious.

[–] NorskSud 14 points 1 year ago

Moving abroad is always challenging and not for everyone, some people can't adapt to a different way of life.

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