Oh look! another one of those “foreign country” lists, only this time it’s all about “friendliness” towards newcomers — specifically expatriates — to the country. (I’ll talk about that definition further down the page.)
Here’s the list in its entirety.
Let’s just talk about that “friendliness” thing. The article states:
The result comes from a survey by InterNations, an expat guide, which asked foreign residents in 53 countries around the globe to rate their new home.
Expats were asked about their social life, whether they felt at home, how easy it was to get used to the culture and the friendliness of the local population.
Right away, I’m going to disqualify from the list any Muslim country — e.g. Turkey and Kuwait — because if you ain’t Muslim yourself (and follow their specific brand of Islam withal) — your treatment by the locals is not going to be that friendly. That Qatar (22), for example, ranks far ahead of the United States (38) makes the whole list suspect.
Other than religion, which is an obvious speedbump, let’s see how friendly the locals are when you don’t speak — or don’t attempt to speak — their language. At best you’ll get a shrug; at worst, you’ll encounter withering xenophobia. This is especially true of nations for whom English is not the de facto language of government, or where English is hardly spoken outside a few places in the cities.
I’m not going to re-rank the listings because it’s a big job, and I haven’t been to most of the countries on the list anyway. But from what I’ve seen…
The only countries I’d even consider moving to — becoming an expat — on the basis of the likely friendliness of the locals, anyway, are the following (in no specific order):
Chile — been there, loved the place, loved the locals that I met when I was there, and I’d make it my first order of business to become fluent in Spanish within a few months, by crash courses, immersion, whatever. I’m pretty sure I could fit into the culture without much difficulty and I’m pretty sure I could make a go of living there for the rest of my life. And I love Chilean food, all of it.
Czechia — never been there myself, but everyone I’ve spoken to who has been there for longer than a year has had nothing but good things to say about living there, and that’s good enough for me. I’d need a lot longer to learn the language because it’s not Anglo-Romantic or Germanic but Western Slavic, although written in Latin script and not Cyrillic. (This latter factor would disqualify several of the other countries, such as Greece, because I’m not interested in learning how to read as well as to speak.) I don’t think that immersion would work because there are no points of linguistic similarity between the European languages I do speak and Czech. So: a struggle, but probably worth it. As for Czech food: like German, it’s apparently heavily weighted towards pork, which does get a little tiring after a while. That said, I want to try their pork knuckle (koleno) because apparently it’s incredible. And there’s always goulash, which I could live on quite easily, and schnitzel, although I prefer the Austrian veal dish to pork.
Poland — same as Czechia. I have never met a native Pole (and there have been quite a few) whom I’ve not liked immediately, but I realize that learning the language would be hellish difficult (it’s close to Czech, actually). But I’d be willing to give it a shot. The only (minor) problem might be the Polish cuisine; I’ve eaten more than a few Polish dishes in and around Chicago and Milwaukee in places where I was the only customer not speaking Polish, and on the whole I found the food to be bland and kinda tasteless. And I don’t care much for pirogi…
Netherlands — I’ve been there a couple of times, and I’m pretty sure I could fit in there. I found the Dutch to be warm and friendly people — in the cities, anyway — and while parts of their culture jar me a bit, they are cosmopolitan enough to where I could adapt quite easily. The cuisine is likewise quite cosmopolitan and if I wanted, I could always get something familiar — possibly the only advantage to having grown up Afrikaans is the Dutch-like food I had as a kid. (Pannekoek, yum frigging yum.)
Belgium — just not in Brussels, which I hated. I could handle Flemish without too much problem — it’s reasonably close to Afrikaans, actually — and the food is lovely. I know someone who moved from South Africa to Antwerp, and she and her husband fitted in without any trouble whatsoever.
In passing: one thing I have learned is that Chile, Czechia, Belgium and Poland all have pretty reasonable attitudes towards personal gun ownership; the Dutch rather less so.
Missing from the above list is Argentina, perhaps because not that many people have moved there and the sample was too thin, but I might be persuaded to look at Buenos Aires. At least they and the Uruguayans have the right attitude towards beef… and I’ve been ordered to put Buenos on Ye Olde Bucquette Lyste by someone who said she’d move there tomorrow if she could.
In a lot of these countries, I’d never even try to move there because one of my absolute must-haves is the ability to drink water from a tap without suffering any short- or long-term physical illness. (Bye bye, India.)
As for pretty much all the rest: pass*.
*Some people might be wondering why I no longer wish to live in Britishland, but the reason is simple: the cities and larger towns are too crime-ridden, and in the country a newcomer mostly faces at best indifference and often withering xenophobia. Maybe I might be persuaded to try a few places in the UK, but overall the quality of life Over There is no longer as attractive as it once was, despite sausage rolls and Wadworth 6X. Of course, I have several friends in England, which might make it easier to settle in; but all in all, that’s not enough to sway the argument. (Sorry, Sorensons and The Englishman.) I should also point out that I have somewhat fewer friends in Britishland than I once did, because quite a number have moved abroad and have no intention of ever coming back. In fact, there is a far greater chance of several more coming Over Here to live with me… because they absolutely hate what Britain has become (neo-fascist). And I’m pretty sure that my ummm speech would not be to the liking of the fuzz.
*Also, France. There are parts where I could settle in quite easily from a cultural perspective, but let me tell you, the Frogs are not that friendly towards strangers. Some expats have lucked out in this regard, but it’s not the way to bet — hell, I’d be speaking French fluently within a month or so, and still I’d struggle. And like with the Brits, French TV really sucks. And Man shall not live by French bread and cheese alone, although I’d give it a college try.
And you all know how I feel about Strylia.
Milei seems to be turning Argentina around but it’s far too early for any judgement.
Sadly, I have come to fear for my native UK. But I’m too old and insufficiently prosperous to be an acceptable immigrant anywhere I’d choose to go. So I choose to fight, in my own modest way.
New Zealand would be my choice in the Anglosphere. I used to speak French so France would also be a possibility. South America has historically been bad for the family but Chile and Uruguay do have considerable appeal.
While living in another country for a few years might be fun (assuming it is not an an Uncle Sam sponsored trip where people are trying to kill me, like my previous years abroad) there is nowhere I would want to move permanently. The US is my home.
That said, if I had no choice it would probably be Germany. I’m first generation so I still have relatives there and while my German sucks I would at least have a head start on the language. The problem of course is that even though I am ethnically German and have a very German name and look extremely German, I would always be a foreigner there. That and no concealed carry.
Give me the US.
Belize is actively recruiting American retirees with their cost of living, housing, and top of the line healthcare. The added plus is that English is the language spoken there.
1) You can’t just move into the UAE or Saudi without a job and when that job ends you need to leave. I could certainly live in Abu Dhabi but never Saudi.
2) Warsaw was great but Polish is so difficult that I never even mastered please or thank you.
3) The Brit sailors all bragged about retiring to Malta. I never have been there but it was highly recommended.
I’m told that most Uruguayans are at least conversational in English, so while one would want to learn Spanish there, one can “get by” in English while doing so relatively easily.
I’m also told that in in the Manila area of the Phillippines that English proficiency approaches 100% and they’re more pro-American than Americans are. Shame about all the typhoons that hit them each year and the overcrowding.
FWIW, my company has been hiring a ton of Filipinos in the past few months and I’ve had to speak directly with each of them to assist in their IT setup and all of them have been perfectly fluent in English and sounded like they had American accents, so that seems to be borne out. I also watched a concert from there a year ago and it was about 95% in English, and what little the hosts said in Filipino they immediately also said in English. The couple of songs sung in Filipino language got big cheers, though.
A notable absence:
Israel!