What is something people should know before people decide to live in your country?
March 21, 2025
What information should someone know if they want to live in your country?
27 comments
While most Germans are somewhat proficient in English, not speaking any German will make actually living and socializing here much harder.
That we are not just Budapest
I see so many foreigners overly romanticizing our country based on what they see in Budapest. I love my country personally (while also recognizing its many, many issues, especially with the current government), but we are not just our capital, and that goes for both the good and bad things.
There is a HUGE difference between Budapest and the rest of the country, and that also goes for like, the second and third biggest “city” (which are moreso big towns than cities), not just actual rural villages and really small towns. People often emphasise the economic nature of this difference, but it applies to many different things.
What i see the most on swedish subreddits are foreigners that comes here and feel lonely after a while.
Swedes are not imposible to make friends with but i would say that it takes longer time to become close friends with a swede then with others.
My best tip if you want to get friends in Sweden is to sign up for activities and try to make friends that way or try to start conversations with colleagues or classmates and don’t give up just because one swede was not interested in talking to you. Be preperad that you have to work for it to hold for a longer period. Ask them for meetups and keep contant! Otherwise it’s very likely that your friendship will run out into the sand after a while.
Czechs are grouchy curmudgeons but can easily be bribed with beer
**Mittagsruhe**: loud activities are discouraged around noon.
**Abend-** and **Nachtruhe**: noise is strictly regulated at evening and night. People will call police between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.!
**Sonntagsruhe**: most shops (including food stores, pharmacies, and other essential services) are closed on sunday and noisy activities are limited.
-Don’t try to have dinner at 6
-Don’t eat “paella” outside Valencian region
-Locals don’t drink sangria
-“Siesta” is not a common thing, and certainly not in weekdays
-We start partying at 2AM or so. Before, drinks at someone house or the park
-Spain is one of the most climatically diverse countries in the world. Is not all hot and summer
-Most Spanish dislike bullfighting or dont care about it.
-Spanish people work a lot of hours.
-Flamenco is mostly and Andalusian thing
-Spain is one of the least religious countries in Europe
That it sucks. Spain is full of corruption and incompetence.
The darkness. Ok, there will be the mad opposite too with the sun barely setting. But seriously, the darkness, it’s very real.
If you want to live here you have to fight for your rights and strike like the rest of us
No housing. Country is much that same in every way as England.
In Poland don’t expect people to smile in shops or restaurants. It doesn’t mean they will not be friendly, or generous, but prepare to see this a lot 😐
(Norway) u wil NOT make friends (at least not easy unless ur in school or work)
Dont wait for the Red man to turn Green before walking over. Most Norwegians js walk when we see there arent cars coming.
Ppl Dont care what u do in public, like at all.
Kvikk Lunsj>kit katt
Get urself a wool sweater or else u wont fit in(when going on a trip in the woods)
If u wanna ski, do it at ur own risk (u wil prob embarrass urself in fron of Norwegians)
Italy is not dolcevita and aperitivo. We work way too many hours, we’re rude and, for god sake, Italy is not America! people’s culture changes every 20 miles, I have friends 5 miles away from home and we speak different languages
Not just a single thing. Just be curious about the country in general. Learn the language, history, culture and so on. It helps when you move to a certain country instead of away from your current country. I recommened visiting our country first and do some research. And be genuinely intested in a country and its people.
Especially people outside of Europe have a very weird idea about The Netherlands. If you read here people dont know much more than Amsterdam, weed, bicycles, red light district and pressume its an English speaking country and a progressive, socialist utopia for some reason. And thats about it. Even when people write down the consider moving to The Netherlands people cant do a bit of research.
Most people will like you being in Poland and have no issues, but if you do not fully respect culture, do not adhere to norms, disrespect symbols, you will have worst time possible
The winters are longer and darker than you think. From October to February you might never see daylight, except at weekends. You get through to March, and you think winter should be over, but it’s still here, lingering on. I had to scrape frost off the car just the other day. Don’t let the two springlike days in late February fool you into going out without a coat on. And certainly don’t go hiking without full winter camping gear. There’s still snow on the hills and you can still die of exposure up there. Even when it’s not *that* cold, there’s an all-persistent dampness that never goes away. Nothing ever properly dries. Houses get mouldy unless you keep on top of it constantly. Don’t think it’s just like English or Dutch weather. It’s not. It’s much worse. But it lacks the crispness and healthiness of Scandinavian air. It’s like living in a cold, dark, foggy swamp.
1. English proficiency is quite low outside of Bratislava and few other major cities.
2. Dealing with foreign police, which handles all paperwork related to foreigners living here is absolute bureaucratic pain in the ass.
3. In our default behaviour mode, we may seem grumpy and unfriendly to strangers, not smiling a lot. But once Slovak starts to like you, you have a friend for life.
4. Quality and availability of shops and services drops rapidly outside of urban areas, at least that was my personal observation in comparision with rest of the Europe.
5. You will be much better off living in Czechia. Even Slovaks don’t want to live here.
Our life it’s not like your vacation.
we work more hours and get paid less than most countries of West Europe.
We don’t make siestas, stores are closed because it’s lunch time it’s not paid time but it makes you spend most of your day out of home at work.
If you come without knowing Spanish you’re going to have a very rough time finding a job and integrating and navigating beaurocracy.
You have to learn French if you want to integrate. I have had some internationals assume that we are as fluent in English as the Danes and Dutch and we simply aren’t. You will have a very difficult time getting by on just English.
Join a club. Otherwise, making friends will be hard.
Austrians generally do not interact with random strangers.
Austrians generally differentiate closely between work colleagues one is friendly with an actual friends with whom one does things in one‘s free time.
Austrians are generally reserved and stick to their established group, even when just going out to events.
The place to socialize and meet new people is the club.
There‘s clubs for every possible hobby one can imagine, from mountaineering to bird watching to model train building to table top games, to really weird stuff like the club for the preservation of the dress apron.
It is expected that people socialize there, there’s an informal atmosphere there, like people address each other with the informal you right from the start, and so on.
Also, all people there already share a common interest, so talking about that wouldn‘t be bothering them, while it might bother just some random stranger.
Again: Join a club.
🇳🇱
– A bike is by far the best way to get around, so learn to ride one. Traffic rules are more considered guidelines. Especially in the big cities, cyclists rule the streets. Pedestrians are at the bottom of the traffic food chain.
– Most people have the same thing for breakfast every day, same goes for lunch.
– Dutch people have a reputation of being cheap/frugal and it’s not untrue. We brag about finding a good deal and saving money. ‘That’s a nice jacket you’re wearing!’ ‘Thanks, I got it on sale with 45% discount!’ Get familiar with the Tikkie if you’re planning to do things together.
– Don’t show up to anyone’s house unexpected.
– When we swear, we use diseases as curse words and adjectives. [It’s not a random diagnosis, but an insult.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_profanity)
– The word ‘lekker’ literally means tasty, but it is used for anything remotely pleasant. Lekker slapen, lekker weertje, lekker bezig, lekker op vakantie
A personal annoyance. If you’re from outside Europe – learn some basic etiquette.
That there is a difference between Sie/Du and Vous/Tu.
How to hold a knife and fork, how to eat in general. That you let people get out of the train before you enter. That you respect people’s dinner times and don’t interrupt them then. That you don’t ring a doorbell after 21h if you know people have young children. That you thank a waiter for serving you, even if you hated the food. That you’re friendly to and interested in people, even if they just came to clean your office. And much, much more. There are excellent books about this.
All the things your parents are supposed to teach you if you live in a civilized country.
Belgium – there’s way more than 50 shades of grey here. There’s about 200 rainy days a year, but it feels like a lot more because of the lack of sunshine.
It seriously messes with people.
Bring a tent because in Ireland, there are damn all houses available to buy or rent.
1. Trying to get a job is a living nightmare, trying to get one what would pay house and other bills is even worse
2. English language is very important to speak and understand in order to work and live here.
3. House prices are insane and many others costs are insane
Apart from that i imagine the actual immigration stuff is another nightmare.
UK here. We don’t care too much about the quality of food. All you’re doing is making a turd for tomorrow.
Portuguese here.
Are you from a poorer country? While salaries here may look high, remember that the cost of living is also very high: in Lisbon a one bedroom apartment costs more than the minimum salary.
Are you from a richer country? The cost of living here is still high and may be not that different from your country.
Also, most houses here have no central heating so be prepared to feel cold at home during winters.
27 comments
While most Germans are somewhat proficient in English, not speaking any German will make actually living and socializing here much harder.
That we are not just Budapest
I see so many foreigners overly romanticizing our country based on what they see in Budapest. I love my country personally (while also recognizing its many, many issues, especially with the current government), but we are not just our capital, and that goes for both the good and bad things.
There is a HUGE difference between Budapest and the rest of the country, and that also goes for like, the second and third biggest “city” (which are moreso big towns than cities), not just actual rural villages and really small towns. People often emphasise the economic nature of this difference, but it applies to many different things.
What i see the most on swedish subreddits are foreigners that comes here and feel lonely after a while.
Swedes are not imposible to make friends with but i would say that it takes longer time to become close friends with a swede then with others.
My best tip if you want to get friends in Sweden is to sign up for activities and try to make friends that way or try to start conversations with colleagues or classmates and don’t give up just because one swede was not interested in talking to you. Be preperad that you have to work for it to hold for a longer period. Ask them for meetups and keep contant! Otherwise it’s very likely that your friendship will run out into the sand after a while.
Czechs are grouchy curmudgeons but can easily be bribed with beer
**Mittagsruhe**: loud activities are discouraged around noon.
**Abend-** and **Nachtruhe**: noise is strictly regulated at evening and night. People will call police between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.!
**Sonntagsruhe**: most shops (including food stores, pharmacies, and other essential services) are closed on sunday and noisy activities are limited.
-Don’t try to have dinner at 6
-Don’t eat “paella” outside Valencian region
-Locals don’t drink sangria
-“Siesta” is not a common thing, and certainly not in weekdays
-We start partying at 2AM or so. Before, drinks at someone house or the park
-Spain is one of the most climatically diverse countries in the world. Is not all hot and summer
-Most Spanish dislike bullfighting or dont care about it.
-Spanish people work a lot of hours.
-Flamenco is mostly and Andalusian thing
-Spain is one of the least religious countries in Europe
That it sucks. Spain is full of corruption and incompetence.
The darkness. Ok, there will be the mad opposite too with the sun barely setting. But seriously, the darkness, it’s very real.
If you want to live here you have to fight for your rights and strike like the rest of us
No housing. Country is much that same in every way as England.
In Poland don’t expect people to smile in shops or restaurants. It doesn’t mean they will not be friendly, or generous, but prepare to see this a lot 😐
(Norway) u wil NOT make friends (at least not easy unless ur in school or work)
Dont wait for the Red man to turn Green before walking over. Most Norwegians js walk when we see there arent cars coming.
Ppl Dont care what u do in public, like at all.
Kvikk Lunsj>kit katt
Get urself a wool sweater or else u wont fit in(when going on a trip in the woods)
If u wanna ski, do it at ur own risk (u wil prob embarrass urself in fron of Norwegians)
Italy is not dolcevita and aperitivo. We work way too many hours, we’re rude and, for god sake, Italy is not America! people’s culture changes every 20 miles, I have friends 5 miles away from home and we speak different languages
Not just a single thing. Just be curious about the country in general. Learn the language, history, culture and so on. It helps when you move to a certain country instead of away from your current country. I recommened visiting our country first and do some research. And be genuinely intested in a country and its people.
Especially people outside of Europe have a very weird idea about The Netherlands. If you read here people dont know much more than Amsterdam, weed, bicycles, red light district and pressume its an English speaking country and a progressive, socialist utopia for some reason. And thats about it. Even when people write down the consider moving to The Netherlands people cant do a bit of research.
Most people will like you being in Poland and have no issues, but if you do not fully respect culture, do not adhere to norms, disrespect symbols, you will have worst time possible
The winters are longer and darker than you think. From October to February you might never see daylight, except at weekends. You get through to March, and you think winter should be over, but it’s still here, lingering on. I had to scrape frost off the car just the other day. Don’t let the two springlike days in late February fool you into going out without a coat on. And certainly don’t go hiking without full winter camping gear. There’s still snow on the hills and you can still die of exposure up there. Even when it’s not *that* cold, there’s an all-persistent dampness that never goes away. Nothing ever properly dries. Houses get mouldy unless you keep on top of it constantly. Don’t think it’s just like English or Dutch weather. It’s not. It’s much worse. But it lacks the crispness and healthiness of Scandinavian air. It’s like living in a cold, dark, foggy swamp.
1. English proficiency is quite low outside of Bratislava and few other major cities.
2. Dealing with foreign police, which handles all paperwork related to foreigners living here is absolute bureaucratic pain in the ass.
3. In our default behaviour mode, we may seem grumpy and unfriendly to strangers, not smiling a lot. But once Slovak starts to like you, you have a friend for life.
4. Quality and availability of shops and services drops rapidly outside of urban areas, at least that was my personal observation in comparision with rest of the Europe.
5. You will be much better off living in Czechia. Even Slovaks don’t want to live here.
Our life it’s not like your vacation.
we work more hours and get paid less than most countries of West Europe.
We don’t make siestas, stores are closed because it’s lunch time it’s not paid time but it makes you spend most of your day out of home at work.
If you come without knowing Spanish you’re going to have a very rough time finding a job and integrating and navigating beaurocracy.
You have to learn French if you want to integrate. I have had some internationals assume that we are as fluent in English as the Danes and Dutch and we simply aren’t. You will have a very difficult time getting by on just English.
Join a club. Otherwise, making friends will be hard.
Austrians generally do not interact with random strangers.
Austrians generally differentiate closely between work colleagues one is friendly with an actual friends with whom one does things in one‘s free time.
Austrians are generally reserved and stick to their established group, even when just going out to events.
The place to socialize and meet new people is the club.
There‘s clubs for every possible hobby one can imagine, from mountaineering to bird watching to model train building to table top games, to really weird stuff like the club for the preservation of the dress apron.
It is expected that people socialize there, there’s an informal atmosphere there, like people address each other with the informal you right from the start, and so on.
Also, all people there already share a common interest, so talking about that wouldn‘t be bothering them, while it might bother just some random stranger.
Again: Join a club.
🇳🇱
– A bike is by far the best way to get around, so learn to ride one. Traffic rules are more considered guidelines. Especially in the big cities, cyclists rule the streets. Pedestrians are at the bottom of the traffic food chain.
– Most people have the same thing for breakfast every day, same goes for lunch.
– Dutch people have a reputation of being cheap/frugal and it’s not untrue. We brag about finding a good deal and saving money. ‘That’s a nice jacket you’re wearing!’ ‘Thanks, I got it on sale with 45% discount!’ Get familiar with the Tikkie if you’re planning to do things together.
– Don’t show up to anyone’s house unexpected.
– When we swear, we use diseases as curse words and adjectives. [It’s not a random diagnosis, but an insult.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_profanity)
– The word ‘lekker’ literally means tasty, but it is used for anything remotely pleasant. Lekker slapen, lekker weertje, lekker bezig, lekker op vakantie
A personal annoyance. If you’re from outside Europe – learn some basic etiquette.
That there is a difference between Sie/Du and Vous/Tu.
How to hold a knife and fork, how to eat in general. That you let people get out of the train before you enter. That you respect people’s dinner times and don’t interrupt them then. That you don’t ring a doorbell after 21h if you know people have young children. That you thank a waiter for serving you, even if you hated the food. That you’re friendly to and interested in people, even if they just came to clean your office. And much, much more. There are excellent books about this.
All the things your parents are supposed to teach you if you live in a civilized country.
Belgium – there’s way more than 50 shades of grey here. There’s about 200 rainy days a year, but it feels like a lot more because of the lack of sunshine.
It seriously messes with people.
Bring a tent because in Ireland, there are damn all houses available to buy or rent.
1. Trying to get a job is a living nightmare, trying to get one what would pay house and other bills is even worse
2. English language is very important to speak and understand in order to work and live here.
3. House prices are insane and many others costs are insane
Apart from that i imagine the actual immigration stuff is another nightmare.
UK here. We don’t care too much about the quality of food. All you’re doing is making a turd for tomorrow.
Portuguese here.
Are you from a poorer country? While salaries here may look high, remember that the cost of living is also very high: in Lisbon a one bedroom apartment costs more than the minimum salary.
Are you from a richer country? The cost of living here is still high and may be not that different from your country.
Also, most houses here have no central heating so be prepared to feel cold at home during winters.