jhuskey said:
Its quite a while since I was there. As a traveller I found it quite expensive to live at the time. It is a good town with an inland port on the Rhine. Very cultural place as I recall.
Kind regards,
Americans....Have you ever wanted to Leave?
- Thread starter Stiff Upper Lip
- Start date
Its quite a while since I was there. As a traveller I found it quite expensive to live at the time. It is a good town with an inland port on the Rhine. Very cultural place as I recall.
Kind regards,
have i ever thought about moving? yea, i'm a big outdoors guy and australia or new zealand sound like great places and even Canada...but when i look at all the things we take for granted here, i would never move
and to everyone who *****es about who the president is and threatens to move, DO IT! if Kerry was elected and conservatives started *****ing like this i'd tell them the same, no one is forcing you to stay, if you don't like it then you are FREE to leave. I hear realestate in Tehran isn't too expensive, even Mogadishu. You are more blessed than you realise living here.
I don't agree with everything Bush's admin does but how immature are we going to be about it cause our guy didn't win? If you are so furious that the majority of voters in this country voted for Bush and it drives you insane, then pack up your bags and leave because i'm sick of hearing you ***** and ***** and ***** when you should have been out the door a long time ago
i say this on all the forums that bring this topic up, if anyone wants to have a very civil conversation about politics with me send me a PM or email cause i love to do it, but if you are going to spin everything and not be open to someone else's point of view then don't bother. maybe by having a civil conversation with someone of anotehr point of view, you could persuede them to believe what you do, or you could get insight on how they think
and to everyone who *****es about who the president is and threatens to move, DO IT! if Kerry was elected and conservatives started *****ing like this i'd tell them the same, no one is forcing you to stay, if you don't like it then you are FREE to leave. I hear realestate in Tehran isn't too expensive, even Mogadishu. You are more blessed than you realise living here.
I don't agree with everything Bush's admin does but how immature are we going to be about it cause our guy didn't win? If you are so furious that the majority of voters in this country voted for Bush and it drives you insane, then pack up your bags and leave because i'm sick of hearing you ***** and ***** and ***** when you should have been out the door a long time ago
i say this on all the forums that bring this topic up, if anyone wants to have a very civil conversation about politics with me send me a PM or email cause i love to do it, but if you are going to spin everything and not be open to someone else's point of view then don't bother. maybe by having a civil conversation with someone of anotehr point of view, you could persuede them to believe what you do, or you could get insight on how they think
Amen. Although I do disagree with a lot of Bush's policies, I did vote for him. However, I would have supported Kerry had he won. Just like I supported Clinton - who I thought was a great president - for eight years. Our biggest problem is the fact that our democratic society is based off of a two party system.smnw10 said:
Stiff Upper Lip said:
OK ,bad points first.This according to my Swiss friend and Co-worker.
Expensive
Heavy chemical industry
Not his first choice for cities in Switzerland
On the other hand
On the Rhine
Everything is close in Switzerland
You can stand in one location in Basel and touch 3 countries
30 minute drive from French wine country
Climate is reasonable
Thats what I got from our brief conversation this morning, hope this helps.
I've been in some tight fixes overseas, even having machine guns pointed at me or being threatened with violence. Usually the thing to do is to talk to people (even officials and especially in their own language). Things usually calm down very quickly in such cases.
I recall that story of a couple of travelling Brits who befriended a guerilla group who kidnapped them in the Colombian selva. The guerillas had originally planned to demand a ransom but their plan didn't materialise when they came to understand the 2 guys they had kidnapped weren't really so bad. After one or two shared jokes over some weeks, they simply let them go.
Of course, even I wouldn't be foolish enough to travel to Iraq or Chechnya. But I'd probably do O.K. in North Korea or Colombia. Certainly I'd learn as much Korean as possible before the trip.
I've learned that people are essentially just people and it's the politicans that poison peoples' minds against one another.
I recall that story of a couple of travelling Brits who befriended a guerilla group who kidnapped them in the Colombian selva. The guerillas had originally planned to demand a ransom but their plan didn't materialise when they came to understand the 2 guys they had kidnapped weren't really so bad. After one or two shared jokes over some weeks, they simply let them go.
Of course, even I wouldn't be foolish enough to travel to Iraq or Chechnya. But I'd probably do O.K. in North Korea or Colombia. Certainly I'd learn as much Korean as possible before the trip.
I've learned that people are essentially just people and it's the politicans that poison peoples' minds against one another.
James Bruce Gil said:Carrera,
I also travel every year and although I have been doing it since my teens there is still plenty of places to go. Although I am now with in a month of 57 years old I have not yet travelled to North Korea. I would be interested in travelling there if this "axis of evil" statement wasn't quite so fresh.
I would avoid the compelling of students to travel, most would chose to do so if they did not accept the propaganda they are fed in the media and travelled to one of these countries they are encouraged to despise. Once they get started they don't seem to stop. That is my obeservation anyway.
Kind regards,
Carrera said:
Carrera,
I've only ever felt threatened twice:
On the first occasion as nineteen year olds we blunded into the working girls area of Barcelona. I think the heavies thought I was bring some competition on their patch. I was ready for the worst, but we both realised what was going on and moved off steadily in the direction we came from. A fellow tracked us for a while and eventually gave up.
On the other occasion we were in Flores heading eastwards towards Timor when the Dili massacre occurred. (We hadn't heard about it) The Indonesian Army became suspicious of us for some reason. I was carrying three cameras and quite a bit of film. I think they did not believe that I was not foreign press. They exposed all our film and sent us back to Lombok. From there the government immigration officials made it very clear that they would be watching us. They did day and night. In the end we travelled back to Denpassar and flew home.
Kind regards,
Hey Stiff Upper Lip,
First, reading your comments makes the death of my cousin in 9/11 a bit easier to accept. It's your attitude and perceptions that make this country great - not the freedom to express them.
Second, have you ever read anything by Pico Iyer. He's a brilliant, young American travel writer that espouses a modern view of WORLD 'citizenship'. He wrote a wonderful speech for the graduating class of Harvard. Cultural differences are to be understood before judged and acted upon.
Third, Switzerland is very beautiful and the climate/terrain makes for exceptional cycling. BUT, practice your German! The lakes region around Lucerne is postcard perfect. I lived and studied in Louvain (Belgium) for several years and enjoyed how central that country is. Switzerland is also very central - buy in ITALY!
Last, Florida has a great climate for year-round cycling. BUT, it's flat.
Thanks for the thread.
First, reading your comments makes the death of my cousin in 9/11 a bit easier to accept. It's your attitude and perceptions that make this country great - not the freedom to express them.
Second, have you ever read anything by Pico Iyer. He's a brilliant, young American travel writer that espouses a modern view of WORLD 'citizenship'. He wrote a wonderful speech for the graduating class of Harvard. Cultural differences are to be understood before judged and acted upon.
Third, Switzerland is very beautiful and the climate/terrain makes for exceptional cycling. BUT, practice your German! The lakes region around Lucerne is postcard perfect. I lived and studied in Louvain (Belgium) for several years and enjoyed how central that country is. Switzerland is also very central - buy in ITALY!
Last, Florida has a great climate for year-round cycling. BUT, it's flat.
Thanks for the thread.
As the US government has the potential to change significantly every two years with congressional elections - why would one leave because of Mr. Bush winning another term? It would certainly seem better than the alternative was.
Millions of people attempt to emigrate to the US, legally and illegally, every year. Large numbers also make the same attempts to emigrate here to England. Certainly, the US has much to offer it's citizens. Having lived there for over 5 years I feel a strong affinity towards it as a nation and to the people. Those of the south and midwest were particularly warm and gracious, after we became accustomed to each other's "unique" accents.
I'm very happy living back in England, but as one of my sons finishes his education in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to take up work and live in the US.
Millions of people attempt to emigrate to the US, legally and illegally, every year. Large numbers also make the same attempts to emigrate here to England. Certainly, the US has much to offer it's citizens. Having lived there for over 5 years I feel a strong affinity towards it as a nation and to the people. Those of the south and midwest were particularly warm and gracious, after we became accustomed to each other's "unique" accents.
I'm very happy living back in England, but as one of my sons finishes his education in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to take up work and live in the US.
iluvfreebeer said:As the US government has the potential to change significantly every two years with congressional elections - why would one leave because of Mr. Bush winning another term? It would certainly seem better than the alternative was.
Millions of people attempt to emigrate to the US, legally and illegally, every year. Large numbers also make the same attempts to emigrate here to England. Certainly, the US has much to offer it's citizens. Having lived there for over 5 years I feel a strong affinity towards it as a nation and to the people. Those of the south and midwest were particularly warm and gracious, after we became accustomed to each other's "unique" accents.
I'm very happy living back in England, but as one of my sons finishes his education in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to take up work and live in the US.
Accent? I don't have an accent! I talk good. Dang nab it. Y'all talk funny though.
