What do you love/hate about your SO's country? :D

[BlueCat]

Too busy, but any city or busy metropolitan area is going to be like that. Things are cheap over there, food and everything else. But I miss the australian habitats and smells and foods. Not a huge fan of my SO's family. There's good and bad.

[DemonxOisin]

It's a little more socially formal, by which I mean if I walked around with no shoes on I'd probably get stared at. New Zealand doesn't care too much about that sorta thing; No Shirt? No Shoes? No Problem!

Done, Iīm moving there. Iīm not a big fan of clothes or shoes -.-

[Tooki]

Done, Iīm moving there. Iīm not a big fan of clothes or shoes -.-

It's even better in Australia. In summer, wearing more than a shirt is weird.

[Tooki]

He's from Ireland, freaking adore that country

Love:
-The accents!! So dreamy. Not as big a fan of Dublin accents, but I'm slightly biased haha.
-How friendly everyone is!!
-The hilarious phrases they use. Like in Cork, if you ask someone to do something and they say "I will ya" they mean no. And if they say "Hi howareya" it just means hi, they don't want to know how you are! And my favourite "Few naggins, be grand!"
-The climate, I love that it never really gets properly cold in the winter, and never too hot in the summer! And all those myths about constant rain in Ireland are just not true haha.
-The scenery, I mean, it's Ireland! So many amazing places to see
-I lived there, so it feels like a second home to me. I'm actually a bit sad he's moving over here, because whenever I feel homesick, I feel completely better going to Ireland.
-THE FOOD!! Oh man, I've had the best steak, milk, and cheese of my life when I've been there. SO good.
-Cork. Quite possibly tied with Paris and Montreal for my favourite city!

Don't love:
(can't say hate, that's too strong a word for anything I dislike there haha)
-The politics. I mean, come on, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael both suck, and not one Irish person I know sees a difference between the two. And the government's kind of ruining the country with misuse of the taxes.
-The healthcare system. I can't get sick there without health insurance.
-The fact that 90% of the service work force are foreigners that don't speak English. I am most definitely in favour of immigration, and am far from a xenophobe, but I'm getting sick of going to a restaurant and not being able to order without pointing to what I want on the menu, because the server barely speaks English. It gets frustrating. And I've been made very sick several times from a server not understanding that I can't eat gluten.

We actually do that Hihowareya thing in Australia as well. It happens a lot with people that you meet for the first time.

And the other 2 define Australia . Although in Australia, you need private insurance if you aren't a Kiwi or eligible for reciprocal health care. I think its pretty standard in a lot of Western countries.

[Malaga]

We actually do that Hihowareya thing in Australia as well. It happens a lot with people that you meet for the first time.

I got that Hihowareya thing in America too. I was naive to think, "gosh sales people here are really friendly aren't they?" and I'd always respond, oh I'm fine thanks, how are you?
They'd either ignore it or look at me all confused like.

[kteire]

We actually do that Hihowareya thing in Australia as well. It happens a lot with people that you meet for the first time.

And the other 2 define Australia . Although in Australia, you need private insurance if you aren't a Kiwi or eligible for reciprocal health care. I think its pretty standard in a lot of Western countries.

Haha, see where I'm from, people say Hi, how are you? and they are actually asking, so weird that lots of other places do that!! It took a bit of getting used to haha. It's funny how many similarities there are between countries so far away!

See I'm so not used to paying for things healthcare-wise. It's all free in Ontario (and most of Canada) and where I am now (EVERYONE gets free emergency services in the UK if you live here or not!) so I resent having to pay haha. At least nowhere I've been sick is as expensive as the US!!

[kteire]

TIPPING. Goddamn. I still can't figure out who gets tipped and how much and what for. *headdesk* Why don't they just pay their servers better like they do here?? Wahhh!

Yeah, I'm with you on that one! Serving wage is better than it used to be in Canada (like $8.90 instead of $10.25 minimum wage in Ontario) but I'd rather they just pay their staff better and save me having to shell out tons of extra money even for crappy service!! I love being in the UK now where I only leave a couple pounds for amazing service.

[BlueCat]

I can't get the hang of tipping either, probably doesn't help that I just let my SO figure it out every time, I was amazed though when I learned that you tip hairdressers as well, and probably many other things that I'm not aware of.

One thing that does really bother me in Florida, not sure about the rest of the USA, but tax isn't included on the listed price of anything, it's only added on at the register. It bother's me because I often forget so then when I think something is going to cost me a certain amount, it always costs me so much more and I find it misleading in terms of how much you think you're spending as opposed to how much you're actually spending.

[Sora1101]

One thing that does really bother me in Florida, not sure about the rest of the USA, but tax isn't included on the listed price of anything, it's only added on at the register. It bother's me because I often forget so then when I think something is going to cost me a certain amount, it always costs me so much more and I find it misleading in terms of how much you think you're spending as opposed to how much you're actually spending.

I live in the U.S. and that STILL doesn't make sense to me, it drives me crazy because tax is different on everything so it's not like you can really use mental math to figure it out anyway.

[Tooki]

Haha, see where I'm from, people say Hi, how are you? and they are actually asking, so weird that lots of other places do that!! It took a bit of getting used to haha. It's funny how many similarities there are between countries so far away!

See I'm so not used to paying for things healthcare-wise. It's all free in Ontario (and most of Canada) and where I am now (EVERYONE gets free emergency services in the UK if you live here or not!) so I resent having to pay haha. At least nowhere I've been sick is as expensive as the US!!

People seem to say it, but don't care . You can pick up when it's real or not.

I know in Australia, New Zealanders get free healthcare. And they have reciprocal health care for the Scandanavian countries, UK/Ireland, Canada plus others.

But yeah, it's not like the US

[Ianthe]

I got that Hihowareya thing in America too. I was naive to think, "gosh sales people here are really friendly aren't they?" and I'd always respond, oh I'm fine thanks, how are you?
They'd either ignore it or look at me all confused like.

I'm American and work in sales/service, and if somebody pulls the "hihowareya" with me, I tell them. Don't ask me if you don't want an answer!

All my loves/hates are silly, minor things, but here goes.

What I love about Maritimes Canada:
Poutine. 'Nuff said.
People seem to generally be easygoing. When I visited his city, I expected it to be like the cities I've lived in before (Las Vegas and Phoenix), but everyone seems to be more, ah...well behaved.
It is absolutely gorgeous out there. And I can't wait to live where the leaves really change color!
East Coast Canadians have the most adorable accents and vocal lilts. They go "eh" and I get all kerfluffled.

What I don't love:
No decent Mexican food! I lived in the Southwest US for most of my life, and this oversight is unforgivable. J and I had to go to multiple stores just to find tortillas! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT. I mean, I can make tortillas and fake my way through some decent Mexican dishes, but where do I go when I just need a quick and dirty carnitas burrito?? NOWHERE, THAT'S WHERE.
Their current PM reminds me of a prior US President. One I wasn't fond of.
Their sales and income taxes are unbelievably high, and everything costs more.

[alNimsa]

My SO is in Saudi Arabia and there is a lot a woman from the western world can hate

- many people in Saudi think women are less worth than men
- women are basicly slaves
- women have to ask for permition to leave the house, go working or travelling abroad
- women are not allowed to drive cars
- I canīt visit him because i donīt get a visum

I canīt tell much abouth things I love in Saudi arabia, as Iīve never been there

[Zephii]

Love love Canada for
- The snow!
- Their gay people can get married (this is super important to me )
- The people are nicer, generally. (But, it's a sickly kind of nicer.. a stuck up polite kind of nice that can get irritating)
- The sun just doesn't seem to ever go down in summer.
- They pay less tax and aren't forced to pay superannuation.
- The immigration paperwork is cheap
- It's easy to find eggnog at Christmas/Yule
- Hockey is better than Rugby.
- You can live in someone's basement and they think that's normal.
- It's normal to pack your food up at a restaurant and take it home with you. And they always give enough for two meals.
- Cost of living is low.

Hate:
- It's cold
- And dark. The sun comes up after 8am in winter and goes down by 4pm. It's depressing. Winter lasts 3/4 of the year.
- They have a very lazy unhealthy lifestyle.
- They talk really really slow, and it's hard not to interrupt them because they stop mid sentence, and you think they are done but they are not.
- They have no problem pointing out you're a foreigner.
- Most of their malls don't actually have a supermarket in them.
- Everything is spread out.
- They can't drive in a safe manner.
- Their wages are shit.
- Tax isn't included in the price of things, so you go to pay and suddenly it's more than you thought it was.

I'm on the fence about:
- They build ten houses all at once, all looking exactly the same as the one next to it.

[lucybelle]

Re: tipping- No tipping in Costa Rica!!! I always forget how great that is until I go back to the USA and pay so much more for a meal because of tipping. I always leave at least 20% because I know being a waitress sucks, but damn it makes the check sky rocket. Here, if you go to a really nice restaurant and spend over $80 you can leave $4 or so. But only if you want to. Nothing is ever expected.

[MadMolly]

- They have no problem pointing out you're a foreigner.

This got on my nerves sooooooooo much. Talk to anybody at all and they don't even reply to what you say but stare at you and say, "You're not from around here!" Yeah, no shit. Can you tell me where the kitchenware is already?