Jesus Christ. I will not move to Canada, you guys argue too much. North Korea, I do not think so. I am moving to Holland.

North or South? Or the Netherlands

We'll probably end up in the NL. Good food, good folks, weird weather (just like the UK), and everyone* speaks English! Life is slightly more expensive -
the healthcare system can be expensive (I think).

Only problem (for my OH, at least) is the place is flat! The landscape is almost always the same (field with cows, church spire, canal). Not that it bothers me

* almost

Or Michigan?

http://www.holland.org

Which, by the way, would be a fantastic place to retire. Nice weather, nice people, not too far from Chicago (so easy flights to visit the real thing) and the majesty that is Lake Michigan.

Giethoorn looks interesting, Holland's water village

Which?
Holland, Manitoba
Holland Landing, Ontario
Holland River, Ontario
Great Holland, a village in Essex
Holland, Lancashire and Up Holland
Holland, Lincolnshire, formerly one of three 'Parts' of Lincolnshire
Holland, Orkney
Holland Park, a part of Kensington, London
Holland-on-Sea, a seaside town in Essex
New Holland, North Lincolnshire, a village
Holland, a village that is part of Hurst Green, Surrey
Holland, Arkansas
Holland, Georgia
Holland, Indiana
Holland, Iowa
Holland, Kansas
Holland, Kentucky
Holland, Massachusetts
Holland, Michigan
Holland, Minnesota
Holland, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Holland, Missouri
Holland Township, New Jersey in Hunterdon County
Holland, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Holland, New York
Holland, North Carolina
Holland, Ohio
Holland, Pennsylvania
Holland, Texas
Holland, Vermont
Holland, Wisconsin (disambiguation)
Holland Township, Michigan (disambiguation)
Holland Township, Minnesota
South Holland, Illinois
Holland Village, Singapore

?

If NL is English-speaking, has weird English weather, is more expensive than England, has more expensive healthcare than England, and has scenery that's less interesting than England's....













... why not retire to England?

Old joke in Michigan: You may be from Michigan if "traveling coast to coast" means driving from Port Huron to Holland.

I think the poster means the Netherlands...

Yep, but then Holland is only a part of the Netherlands. :-)


As am I am both "Holländerin" and "Niederländerin" I couldn´t resist

So quick question to a Holländerin... Why does 96.34% of the World referes the Netherlands as "Holland"? It's as people would call Graubünden to Switzerland

And a question to a Niederländerin: Why is there just "Holland" and not "The Netherlands" in what concerns the soccer national team?

Because it is easier to say?
People who do not live there (the majority of the World) seem to use these provinces as a shorthand for the whole country.

Officially, this country where I lived is "Koninkrijk der Nederlanden" (Kingdom of the Netherlands).


Why is the United Kingdom often just called England?
Why is the United States of America often just called America?

Easy explanations... but the biggest mystery remains:

Why is Switzerland called Swiss here in EF?

That's not entirely true: I got some of the best healhcare in extremely cheap countries - because a lot of emerging and developing countries have private healthcare for the rich foreigners and crap healthcare for the locals. India (where I would not retire), Thailand (where I would) or the Philippines (probably not) come to my mind.


There are similar compounds complete with golf course in Northern Thailand around Chiang Mai (I think there are around 30k international retirees in the city alone). The parents of a Swiss friend are currently living there and so far love it... they moved there from Malta for cost reasons (and apparently does the novelty value of Malta wear off after some years).

why is the democratic peoples republic of korea called 'north korea'?

Because OH is Dutch - it's a case of him returning to his mothership. I don't particularly have any sentimental attachment to my home country, so anywhere's good. Space, even better

But who knows, maybe by the time we retire, the economy in the U.K. will be such, that it may make sense to sell everything in the NL and convert to loadsa pounds and retire there!

I think we'll keep our options open!

You are utterly wrong. Not only there are a lot of foreigners legally working in Canada but also there is a specific government program to stimulate the immigration of high-skilled workers.

Good weather in Michigan, are you joking? Even in March there the wind is so cold that feels like a razor on your ears!

My kind of weather - we midwesterners are made of sterner stuff.

I love winter - crisp, bracing, sparkling cold - the wimpy Ausserschwyz winter mud season leaves me longing for the real thing. You need a real frosty white winter to appreciate the coming of spring.

As for the rest of the midwestern year: Fall color not to be beat, glorious springs, summer... well on the lake summer can't be beat. I am longing to be able to grow tomatoes without a Tomatenhüsli to keep the plants from drowning. And to be able to grow fruit without the constant fight against wet-weather fungus.

(Midwestern summers away from the lake can turn into Bug Season - that I will grant you.)

But all in all, I love midwestern weather.

To everything there is a season.