If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#21
|
|||
|
|||
The Reids wrote:
I assume you don't speak all European languages? Plus a some thousand dialects. Reminds me of again. Jens |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
The Reids writes:
are you offering, Mixi? I'm not an EU national. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
Mxsmanic wrote: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) writes: You have to ASK?????? (I've been sorely tempted, too, in view of our current government - but at my age there are too many potential problems.) If you have the financial means to retire, Europe can be an attractive place to do it. I don't even have the "financial means" to retire here in the U.S.! Europe would add the need for health insurance - Medicare and my "Medigap" insurance won't cover me anywhere but here (and I could hardly expect to benefit from another country's "National Health" plan when I've never worked or paid taxes there, and am not a citizen). Also, I''m nowhere near fluent in any language but English, and it's much harder to become so when one is elderly. |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
Juliana L Holm wrote: One of my favorites is the backpackers note not to wear jeans in europe sinde you will be identified as an American. On my last few trips to europe it seemed everyone was wearing jeans! I've certainly seen "designer" jeans on plenty of young people in Paris and Vienna and Brussels! (Jusging from the variety of languages I overheard them speaking, they were definitely NOT Americans.) |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
Rita wrote: I think all advice on what to wear or not wear while traveling in Europe is dumb. From my observations, Europeans dress every which way and there is no standard to adhere to. Neat and clean is good wherever one travels, and beyond that, suit yourself. Dressing for comfort and packing light are good rules to follow and I like clothing that can stand up without frequent laundering, but that's a personal preference. Personally I'd rule out jeans because they are bulky and also slow to dry if you have to wash them out. But again, a personal preference. And if you don't want to be recognized as being American, you'd have to keep your mouth shut for the entire trip! It's the accent, not the wardrobe - although I have been asked if I were English, a few times. (Apparently the difference between an English and an American accent are not quite so obvious to French and German-speakers as they are to Yanks and Brits.) |
#26
|
|||
|
|||
Tim Challenger wrote: On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:37:59 GMT, Rita wrote: I like clothing that can stand up without frequent laundering, just like most of my clothes when I was a student ... ;-) Ummmm.... I THINK she meant "remain wearable", not "stand alone" 8-) |
#27
|
|||
|
|||
The Reids wrote: Following up to Mxsmanic The fastest way to obtain the right to live in Europe is to marry a European national. are you offering, Mixi? This could be a way forward for you. But Mixi is an American ex-pat - even with a residence permit, I don't think that qualifies, does it? |
#28
|
|||
|
|||
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
Mxsmanic wrote: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) writes: You have to ASK?????? (I've been sorely tempted, too, in view of our current government - but at my age there are too many potential problems.) If you have the financial means to retire, Europe can be an attractive place to do it. I don't even have the "financial means" to retire here in the U.S.! Europe would add the need for health insurance - No, it wouldn't necessarily add that. See below. Medicare and my "Medigap" insurance won't cover me anywhere but here (and I could hardly expect to benefit from another country's "National Health" plan when I've never worked or paid taxes there, and am not a citizen). Once you become a legal resident in the EEA, you will typically be eligible to use the health service in the country where you reside. (Is there any EEA country where this doesn't apply, out of interest?) The UK NHS is a good case in point. When you move here, you register with a local health centre, and are usually appointed a specific doctor. You're asked simply for your address. Even foreign students can benefit from this. When I moved back to the UK after over a decade in the US, all I had to do was say where I lived. Same thing with my partner when he moved here from the US. IOW, there was no 'test' as to the right to live in the country. By and large, the NHS doesn't care. There is inevitably a little (and I think it's a _very_ little) health 'tourism' in the UK, but the way the NHS operates, it provides services to you when you live here. I wouldn't worry about never having "worked or paid taxes here." That's the way the world works- people move, but the health care systems in Europe tend to be viewed (correctly IMO) as a right, not a privilege. Anyway, rather than see yourself as burden to the health system or the state, you should view yourself as a gift to the country you choose to retire to. You will be supporting the local economy through paying rent, buying food etc., and presumably attending the occasional opera performance! -- David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk photos at http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer |
#29
|
|||
|
|||
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) writes:
... and I could hardly expect to benefit from another country's "National Health" plan when I've never worked or paid taxes there, and am not a citizen ... Why not? Also, I''m nowhere near fluent in any language but English, and it's much harder to become so when one is elderly. Age is not an impediment to the acquisition of additional languages. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
#30
|
|||
|
|||
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:
And if you don't want to be recognized as being American, you'd have to keep your mouth shut for the entire trip! It's the accent, not the wardrobe - although I have been asked if I were English, a few times. (Apparently the difference between an English and an American accent are not quite so obvious to French and German-speakers as they are to Yanks and Brits.) I want to be recognized as an American. For one thing, I want the extra leeway that you get as an American when you speak a language pretty good, but not perfect. Same as I give non-native English speakers. Everyone makes mistakes, and I know I will, but I'd be terrified to speak if I thought everyone would hate me for my mistakes! Plus I think I am very different from what people expect from an American. I see myself as a citizen of the world as much as a U.S. Citizen. I strive to keep up with non-american world news (and yes, from non-american news sources where I can.) I really want people I meet to know that there is a different side to the United States, and not judge us monolithically. But I still won't wear trainers on the street. Though that is largely because I don't want to dirty up any gym I work out in. -- Julie ********** Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
rec.travel.europe FAQ | Yves Bellefeuille | Europe | 5 | January 21st, 2005 12:46 PM |
rec.travel.europe FAQ | Yves Bellefeuille | Europe | 0 | September 29th, 2004 05:19 AM |
rec.travel.europe FAQ | Yves Bellefeuille | Travel - anything else not covered | 0 | April 17th, 2004 12:28 PM |
Observer: Terror cells regroup - and now their target is Europe | Tam | Europe | 2 | January 13th, 2004 01:56 AM |
rec.travel.europe FAQ | Yves Bellefeuille | Europe | 0 | October 10th, 2003 09:44 AM |